The Counsel Of The Wise

I recently finished some counseling which was very helpful, though my problem isn't solved, I'd learned all I could from my counselor. I've been amazed at how many ways it helped me, though my problem still remains, and I began to think, 'imagine what life would be like if I always had a mentor person around'. I bet I'd be a new man within a year.





I was watching "The Empire Strikes Back" today and thought about how Luke had Yoda, and Obi Wan had Qui Gon, etc, and realized I was an apprentice without a master.

It's amazing how different the priorities of the world are. If I could rebuild it, we would have masters and apprentices, knights and padawans. So many mistakes that could be avoided if we only had accountability, an extra person thinking.

I read in Ecclesiastes the other day this line that has been stuck in my head in the whole "two are better than one" passage. King Solomon says "Woe to the one who falls and has no one to help him up".

A New Hope?

I was watching an interview with George Lucas today and he was asked what the 2 sunsets represented in A New Hope. It has always been a powerful scene in my mind, the sweeping and swelling music of John Williams as Luke looks out to the horizon and sees this stunning view. Lucas said that it represented life outside the box, the adventure that one can pursue in the horizon. He says that the characters live in the boring everyday life and look out at the sunset, and when they decide to chase after the adventure, fulfill their destiny they head out towards the sunset in glory and hope or the darkness of space in courage and fear.

I guess this isn’t a revolutionary idea, but today I was trying to figure out which character I was, Luke, or one of his cousins who just sit at home and eventually get turned into burning corpses. In the story it’s only after everything is lost that Luke decides to begin a new life. I wish I had that kind of opportunity at a soul level. I wish that I could head off for the sunset and change completely, but I have a feeling I’d have just called the neighbours and asked if I could live with them.

I’ve also been realizing the immense separation between soul/mind and body, it’s really strange how in our minds we can desire something so much and yet we fail to live out those things. As well, how much social ideas affect our life and actions. For instance if I wanted to head out to New Zealand with Danny and give up on everything here it would be immensely difficult, just because no one does that. I’m expected to fulfill the same roles as all those around me, and to be almost the same with just enough uniqueness to pretend that I am different, pointing at a straw and calling it a hay field. Everyone dreams about it, but no one does it. I guess they dream about the fun parts, not the sleeping in the mud parts.

As well it’s amazing to me how much fear sculpts everything we do. Maybe it’s only at the end of our rope when we realize that we face death and the loss of everything that we can have to courage necessary to act. I am amazed constantly by how much fear shapes everything we do. Fear of failure, fear of everything. I’m afraid.

Fear as you know leads to the dark side, maybe I need to get rid of my fear. I tried doing it near the end of school, and everyone thought I was crazy, I did worse than ever at school, even if I was a lot more at peace.

So ya, if I could actually sell all my stuff and get a plane ticket and go it would be so amazing, I’d be my own hero, but I’m sure after a month I’d be begging to come home and say anything to recant and to try to remake my life from the shambles. But I wish I had the determination to actually set out and live my life, live it the way I want it to look, and be the person I want to be. If instead of just dreaming, I would actually act. That’d be amazing.

I could live my whole life perfectly and struggle to succeed, but I think when I lay on my death bed at 42 from heart disease, I’d have traded all that time from now till then, just for one chance at adventure – as I believe one Scottish Rebel William Wallace said in Braveheart. I think that maybe life would be infinitely more meaningful if I became that person. But I’m pretty sure I won’t. I’ll catch a break, figure out a life, get a job, tell myself it was the right thing. But I think every time I see that sunset I’ll always remember what might have been.

Ethos

I'm starting a new plan for trying to change my life, it's to reorder my ethos - my whole life ethic a bit. I'm using texts from three different religions in as much as their creeds help me to live as a better man. Don't worry I'm not converting to anything else, I'm fine being a Catholic Christian. Here they are:

1. Buddhism: I find that the ethics of Buddhism are actually quite easy to reconcile with Christianity, their way of life is difficult much like Christianity's, but I find that while I disagree with their theology and much of their philosophy, the actual pragmatic morality/religion part, I do agree with, here it is:

Buddhist Eightfold Noble Path
i. Right View
ii. Right Intention
iii. Right Speech
iv. Right Action
v. Right Livelihood
vi. Right Effort
vii. Right Mindfulness
viii. Right Concentration

Jedi: thank God only about 2 people even know this blog exists, because shaping your life after Star Wars isn't really 'cool' in any sense of the word. I read the jedi creed the other day and found it to be a very good mantra, it's basicallly just western style buddhism, but I like it. You can also Christianize this by just switching 'The Force' with logos which is Plato's concept of God which St. John uses in chapter 1 of his gospel to describe Christ as the eternal divine omnipresent deity.

There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force (or logos).

Christian
“We gladly suffer, because we know that suffering helps us to endure. And endurance builds character, which gives us a hope that will never disappoint us. All of this happens because God has given us the Holy Spirit, who fills our hearts with his love.” - St. Paul, in Romans 5:35 (CEV)

God blesses those people
who depend only on him.
They belong to the kingdom
of heaven!
God blesses those people
who grieve.
They will find comfort!
God blesses those people
who are humble.
The earth will belong
to them!
God blesses those people
who want to obey him more than to eat or drink.
They will be given
what they want!
God blesses those people
who are merciful.
They will be treated
with mercy!
God blesses those people
whose hearts are pure.
They will see him!
God blesses those people
who make peace.
They will be called
his children!
God blesses those people
who are treated badly
for doing right.
They belong to the kingdom
of heaven.” – Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sermon on the Mount (CEV)