The pettiness of such behavior by those who oppose Obama, as a person, speaks more to a case of clinical hatred than it does to what should be a practice of mature intellectual discent.  These persons who relish in such behavior, and any discussion of it,  are neither Republican or conservative.  They are simply persons who choose to be called self-serving and delusional.  And, strange as it may seem, they  in fact, would revel in my taking the time to reveal this deep seeded desire of theirs.

A person can be thankful of all of what Life has provided without having to mention the name of the responsible party. For most, this practice is a sure sign they feel safe, are enjoying  fulfillment, regularly experience a spiritually rich oneness, and are very much well-centered. I consider myself one of those persons.  I have no need to mention “God” in thanksgiving because my life is dedicated to a gratifying pursuit of the spiritually intimate connection I share with God.  We are, my buddy and I,  One.

I mean…its not like Life would ever take offense to having ever gone unnoticed.  You, I, and even those who cast these stones of dimwitted dispersions upon Obama neglect our weath of blessing daily.  If we did take to truly appreciate all of our blessing and giftedness our world would be in a far better set of circumstances than it is at present.  With this said, the comments about Obama’s omission, leaves me to believe the detractors choose to be clueless about how Love and Life really works in the first place.

When I give a gift at Christmas to a loved one, I find greater pleasure in watching the gift’s blessing being appreciated than I do recieving thanks for having given the gift in the first place.  This IS how life works. This IS how ignorant God is to our silliness. If you really gave thought as to how many  illusions or lies are ignored on a daily basis by Life, you would truly begin to appreciate the holy and gracious ignorance of God as a whole.  But, there seems a self-selected few who seem to think there to be an almighty scorekeeper who sits in some lofty perch with a piece of chalk in hand and a chalkboard keeping score of the number of times praises and thanksgiving are heep onto this Great Scorekeeper of Life.  There is NO grand czar of scorekeeping.

So, what is my take on why those who choose to  believe there is a Great and All-Ego Driven OZ?

For centuries, we have all been taught we are clueless sinners and idiots.  Wars and individual moments of verbal and physical acts of violence are designed especially to reinforce this belief.  There are those, as we have read about in this recent fiasco with Obama’s Omission, find the smallest opportunity to reinforce our stupidity and ignorance, our weakness and our vulnerabilty, so they can feel better about how small and petty their view of their lives are viewed by their Self.  If we choose to join them in their nightmare, we then follow down that predictable path of sensational violence and pain.  And, of course, a reliance upon a god that requires us to maintain this deluded empty view of Self.

Whether we like it or not, we are extraordinary and miraculous creatures of a The One who will always love us.  I  love Life.  I love Love.  I Love that The One Life that has chosen to live in me allows me to be great, magnificent, and everlasting.  I am grateful for God’s ignorance of the lies I tell myself.  For if I am allowed to create these delusional moments that result in utter failure, I am also allowed to dismantle them to discover my true, honest, and real connection with all of what is good, great, and magnificent in Life.

   “After studying the practice of mindfulness in my spirituality and mysticism class,”  Jennifer Langione  writes in the Huffington Post “Spirit” section,  ”I put down the article I was reading on the top 10 industries hiring recent graduates; I asked myself, am I happy right now?  Am I taking advantage of my education, the relationships I have fostered over the past four years and the freedom of being an adult without all the “real” responsibilities?”

Several years ago, I would join midstream the army of writers who would create the blogosphere right here on WordPress.  Blogging was well underway by the time I would join the frey.  Everyday I would try my best to write something I believed significant.  But, the fervor, the passion, and the substance of my thoughts seemingly ran dry.  In the end, I began to realize I was writing to gain an audience of readers; writing to sensationalize my thoughts to the point of irrelevancy.  Other than the “get-a-life” spammers tapping into the blogg there would be no audience.

Today, after a long hiatus away from adding any entries, I choose to begin anew, inspired by the young woman writer quoted above, by pondering my happiness. Am I happy right now?  Am I taking advantage of the full width and breadth of the intellience and beauty of the talent gifted to me?  If not….why not?     When I first began writing this blog I had no idea for whom I was writing, I simply wrote entries a if I were speaking to the wall.   I demoted my thoughts to a point of paralysis; losing touch with any reasoning for why I should continue much further any entries.    So, I ventured out beyond this diary-like world of WordPress to find an audience.

Over the last couple of years, as my wife would say, I have been pretending to be “Dear Abbey,” on an social networking site (Answerology) answering questions.  Questions dealing with intimacy within a relationship, spiritual intimacy, and politics, are categories with whom I felt more comfortable answering.  Ultimately, the questions I would choose to answer would recieve some tenet of my version or vision for how I have come to discover life works.  Doing this inturn would fulfill my need for padding my own comfort zone.  I even think there was a time when I would write how some persons would visit Answerology to simply feel good about answering somebody elses problems, but, ignoring or not attending to  their own unanswered issues.   While I never really paid much attention to Answerology’s rating system….it was nice to get a STAR……

As strange as it may be for me to write, I am happy right now!  I will always, whether I like it or not, BE happy.  Most of the persons with whom I meet during the day all feel my well-balanced approach and/or centered qualities do tend to affect them.

Even though I may be happy, I tend to drift away from my happiness to experience all things related to what discord, distraction, and disappointment provides.  I tend to lose a sense of becoming more mindful of my present needs for the more uneasy feelings or outcomes of  anything related to what delaying the enormous blessing of what could be a promising future.  Right NOW….I am happy.  I am not happy with my lack of mindfulness; my willingness to prove to my Self that I should deserve less than that to which I have been destined from the very beginning of Life.

I THINK I do these things for a particular set of reasons.  All of which, I am sure play a significant part of what as  become my verson or vision for how I THINK love and life is suppose to work.  I do fear the thoughts of others when it comes to hearing what I would have to offer.  My childhood memories and experiences of rejection and the related pain of feeling less somehow still affect the decisions I am making now….Even as I experience life in this fifty-five year old body.

For what it is worth for you to read….and for me to write……Right NOW….I am happy!

I am fifty-plus years of age.  I can not count how many times I have been asked that question and have felt dumbfounded that anyone would ask such of another person. For I have never felt abandoned or left alone by God.  I have always felt a closeness, an intimacy with The One (God) in both good and bad times.

I am not quite sure how others hear or read those words.  I often wonder if they are read as if to be arrogant, conceited, egotistical, or self-centered.  I rarely choose to make much of my relationship with God because I see no reason to personally egocentrically profit from something  that has left me with so much spiritual/physical/emotional richness from the very beginning.

If I do make much of it, I do so to leave behind a message of EveryOne having the capacity to share in an unmatched spiritually rich love from The One (God) in you and I.

I am often intrigued by the response I get from those who claim to have a personal relationship with God…BUT, are unwilling to actually say “I am with God!”  They  tend to quote a biblical verse here and there where The Father claims to “be with you always.”  However, taking ownership in the relationship “to be with God” never seems to happen.

I think there is a line….no a fence…no a wall…no an ocean of their own percieved guilt, shame, and sin that stands so intimidating before their mind’s eyes it tends to convince them that taking ownership in a relationship WITH God would seem disingenuous or…at least dishonest.

For God’s Sake….its The One (God) we are speaking about here folks.  An unconditional love is waiting for you to accept as yours, understand as free, and appreciate as always available for your use.  It sits at the very tip of your nose and as close as your next breath for you to see.

I recently had the opportunity to read a very good blog entry about spiritual intimacy.  Lori writes at the outset…”Let me just say at the very beginning that in my opinion intimacy with God is not a very nice addition to the Christian life…  (Rather)*… it is the very definition of salvation!”

For those of you who want to experience a more satisfying life….You must try to understand her message (and mine as well).  Taking ownership of a relationship WITH God is laying claim to a life that is free from all the pain generated by those silly versions or visions for how you THINK love is suppose to work.  You open your Self up to appreciating how real happiness is not only possible, but, easy to possess.

Let’s take Jesus’ journey through the desert. All those temptations he with which he had been faced.  Each time Jesus is faced with a temptation he makes one simple claim each and everytime.  It may have been with different words…BUT, he lays claim to having a friendship WITH God that is unerring and unbending.

Some, I would imagine, will read my take on Jesus’ responses and assert….”Well…that was Jesus!  He was the Son of God.  He had a will that was much stronger than ours.”  To that response I would refer them to read the final conversation Jesus has (before the Ascension) with Phillip in the Gospel of John.

The apostle wants to know how he can go to the place where Jesus says he can not go at this time.  Jesus, always the teacher, walks Phillip through the basic steps of the core messages of his teachings…and he concludes with “you will accomplish miracles as great and even greater than mine.”

I contend this part of the Synoptic Gospels is the centerpiece for how truly close is the relationship we have with The Father.  The writers of John’s Gospel, in their reflections upon the meaning of Jesus’ life made a stark discovery.  Not only was God an active participant in their life.  They too could be a reciprocating force for acknowledging this relationship by denying their afflictions as a force that defines them and leads them…They could actually pick up their matts and genuinely claim to walk with God at their side.

If you do not believe me….read what Lori said in her latest posting about spiritual intimacy…”The more you seek Him for Him alone, the more you learn His ways and His will!

“I always thought doing God’s will meant closing all doors that might be “iffy” and hanging out in one or two “safe” rooms.  But,  the closer I get to God the more He kicks open every door in the room and even gives me tiny pushes in directions I would never have considered.”

WE, each of us, has an opportunity we wish to come true.  BUT, wishing is simply fantascizing something from nothing.  A real miracle happens when we becoming WILLING to participate in our lives.  A real moment of happiness occurs when we choose to say “There must be a better way of living my life!” genuinely seeking to know how real life works.

Finally, choosing to lay claim to being WITH God eliminates the attention we have paid for centuries to the outcomes of our stupidity and willingness to be ignorant.  We NOW have a connection right now with knowing what makes other people say and do the things they do.

Once more I love what Lori offers….”The more intimate I am able to get with God the more I feel I am able to connect with others. 

“I don’t think there is a greater longing or need in our world today than honest, intimate connection to others.    If we can learn this act from God, how to be “one” with Him and then perhaps with each other we will not only fulfill our own needs and destiny,  but, we will prove ourselves to be real, authentic children of God!”

This is the essence of spiritual intimacy…….

“You ARE loved….and Loved RIGHT NOW!”