What Is Your Purpose?
That will determine how you play The Game.
I attended a Paul Simon concert last night. (The picture is not from the concert.) Before the concert, I really couldn’t say that I was a fan. I enjoyed some of his songs. Last night he started with about half an hour of new material. That led to some of his hits and his favorite songs. The first half hour helped me see the spiritual side of Paul Simon. Once I saw it, I saw it in other songs as well.
His purpose last night seemed to be to advocate for God’s love and acceptance for all. Simon accomplishes his purpose through his music. The venue had a seating capacity of around 2500. It seemed nearly full. He is performing six nights. He is selling his message - not giving it away. He is in business. You can have a spiritual purpose and be successful in business.
How about you? What is your purpose?
Sometimes we get caught up in other things. We forget. We need to be reminded. I was reminded last night. I saw many fans swaying to the music. I wonder how many were reminded.
Try to imagine unconditional love. It is difficult to imagine. The message I was given is that there is no judgement. God is not judging you. Some Christians talk about unconditional love and believe we can only receive God’s love through Jesus’ death on the cross. If that were true, God’s love is conditional. It is not. God understands.
Each of us is given talents and struggles. That is the game. Some of us have more talents than others. Some of us have more struggles than others. Some of us will seek God. Some will not.
You can make choices without judgement. By judgement I mean believing that you are choosing between good and evil. Most of your judgements are brain programs put in place before you were seven. When you get beyond thinking, you are beyond judgement and find peace.
Make choices that make you happy. Seek fulfillment. Seek your heart’s desire. With all your seeking, also seek to minimize harm.
That can be tricky. We can often analyze a situation and rationalize that what we are doing is minimizing harm, when time will tell that there were unintended consequences.
Enter the Goldilocks principles. Private action can be harmful by theft. Public action can be harmful by waste. Political action can be harmful by oppression. Foreign action can be harmful by invasion. Governing action can be harmful when unsustainable.
Takeaways:
It is okay to make money, while delivering a spiritual message.
God’s love is unconditional.
You are much more than you believe.
Seek happiness while minimizing harm.
Beyond thinking is no judgement and peace.
The last song last night was Sounds of Silence.