ASSURANCES

      Some things in life are assured: taxes, death, corrupt politicians, less sleep and more bathroom trips after 50, at least one new diet a month that promises: better sex, drop 20 pounds in 20 days with no exercise, fewer bathroom trips and better sleep, etc. The newspaper/nightly news will lead with a scary story, Oh, and of course the Cubs sucking.

     The world (man) is always presenting some new and improved way to solve problems, to address the issues of living. All that is required is your vote and/or your money/credit card number and everything will change for the better. In truth, nothing in the news today is new. Politicians may not technically belong to the worlds oldest profession (I have my doubts) but if not they have been plying their trade nearly as long. Additionally there was a time, and not that long ago, when leeches and blood letting where central to a patient’s care and most patent medicines would definitely make you feel better, considering they consisted mostly of alcohol and some form of opium, and little else.

     We are asked to trust people and institutions, to place our faith in governments and “learned” experts. Yet the same problems that plagued the ancients still plague us today: healthcare, jobs, secure borders, taxes, immigration, elder care, safe and available food, education, road and bridge maintenance, etc. Studying the history of worldly assurances; both micro and macro, it becomes apparent that outer assurances have done little to fundamentally change the world.

     What of spiritual assurances?  Living on the Spiritual Basis, we have found the timeless assurances of spiritual teachers becoming real for us once we stepped out in faith and wholeheartedly embraced the work. By placing our trust in the miraculous, turning from the outer to the within through prayer and meditation, trusting in infinite God rather than our finite self, we found peace and the ability to meet calamity with serenity. Our new reliance based on the work done in raising our consciousness, expanding our conscious contact with God, not the assurances of others. The promise of eternal life beyond the limitations of the flesh real, for we are now in the world but no longer of it. Now if I could just cut down on those bathroom trips in the middle of the night, maybe if I change my diet...