care | Espirational

“Every day is a good day.

There is something to learn, care and celebrate.”

― Amit Ray, Walking the Path of Compassion

So what does it mean to celebrate? What does celebration look like?

I believe celebration is a state of being, not just a party. For me celebration is about acknowledging that life is good. We sometimes get so caught be in what we see as the bad stuff we forget. Even when we try to celebrate we tend to overthink and overdo to the point that instead of celebrating we feel burdened. Have you ever heard someone say, “I hate Christmas! I’ll just be glad when it is over?” Perhaps you have even said it yourself.

When we fail to see that life is good, we are denying the goodness of the Universe. We cannot say God is good then turn around and say life stinks.

We come into this world straight from oneness with God, The Creator, the Universe. And we remember that oneness… for awhile. Then we start to forget. It doesn’t take long for the separation that we are taught from birth to take over.

We create our own reality and it all starts with our basic assumption about the Creator and the nature of life. If we believe that life is hard, full of suffering and our punishment for the “fall” in the Garden, that is what we will get. If we believe we cannot be truly happy on this earth, then that is what we will get. If we believe that life is good and we are supported by the Universe that is what we will get, even if we don’t always understand how the Universe works.

I believe that God is good and so is life. Everything else is simply an illusion. Easy to say, but not so easy to live. It is easy to become overwhelmed by the darkness in our world.

Sometimes we have to start back with the basics, by celebrating little expressions of the goodness of life. I like to celebrate when I see a beautiful sunrise and say “Yay God! One of my favorite celebrations involves eating when one of our special dairy free, gluten free, fat free, reduced sugar hot fudge sundaes because life is definitely still good.

It’s time to wake up. Let celebration become your state of being. Start celebrating by acknowledging even small things that tell us that life is good.

—Genie

Let’s Talk About It

We are talking about Celebration this month in The Espirational Community on Facebook. While due to the founders of this site’s personal backgrounds this is a Christ based Website this site and The Espirational Community is a place for people of all faiths to gather, discuss and praise the God of us all. Please consider this your invitation to join our community and participate in the discussion of this timely topic.

I have been blessed to have experience several wonderful examples of community throughout my life so far. I grew up in a church that was a close, loving “church family.” We cared for each other, prayed for each other and helped out in tangible ways when needed. I did not realize at the time how much work it took to build and maintain such community until a new pastor came and it was quickly destroyed. In college I was a part of small group of students, faculty and students who were the “spiritual core” of our campus community. That group provided a place for me as a student who didn’t fit in other areas of campus life.

Since I have experienced community I feel lost when it does not exist. I have tried to find it and have had hopes that I had found it, only to be disappointed. I’m not sure there are many people left who understand the concept of community or know how to build or live in it.

But one thing I know for sure, is that creating a sense of community where we care for and support each other is something that we desperately need right now. In fact, I believe it is the only thing that can heal the wounds created by the last election here in the U.S. and that continue to be created. As the new regime continues to force harmful policies on our country, people are going to be harmed. People are facing the possibility of losing not only their insurance coverage, but their access to medical care at all. Right now, people are afraid of being forced from the country they have come to love and call home because of their ethnic or religious heritage, even if they are citizens. People are being attacked because they are Muslim, or even “look” Muslim. Jobs are at risk. Families are at risk of being torn apart.

Who is going to help pick up the pieces? I believe there are good, kind-hearted people out there who will respond to these needs, either out of their spiritual practices or because it is just the right, moral and ethical thing to do.

I have been struggling with what to do in the aftermath of the election. Until recently the only thing I really felt “called” to do was pray including joining online prayer and meditation gatherings for specific causes. We attended an Indivisible meeting in our community, but their strategies just don’t feel right for me to implement. Then while driving into the Walmart parking lot I encountered human need first hand — a family including three young children, not from an Islamic nation, but who could have been mistakenly labeled as such holding a sign saying “lost job, please help.” In the part of the country where I live this left me a bit shaken to say the least.

I felt fear for this family, but it also left me with a clear focus on what I am to do. I am to help pick up the pieces of human lives damaged by nationalistic policies as I am able and the need arises. I am open to what that might mean in terms of action, and I am trusting Spirit to guide me. In this specific instance after a brief talk with the mother, I went back to Walmart and bought a gift card wishing I could do more.

It’s wake up time folks! If this country is to survive we have to stop blaming people we see as not the right color, nationality, religion or who have not realized our idea of the American dream in terms of wealth. It is time to start protecting the vulnerable, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, and mourning with those who mourn.

In short, it’s time to be more Christ-like.

Then the King will say to those on his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the wold. For I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.

Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these you did for me.

Matthew 25:34-40 — New International Version.