The Sasquatch Soul: wandering, searching deeply, and avoiding photos.

Observations from the Sun

January 16, 2011 at 11:41 pm (Completion, Devotional, Philosophy, Religious Commentary, Social Change, Uncategorized) (change, cycle of history, decisions, heart, inner transformation, life, love, nothing changes, original, outer transformation, philosophy, Social progress, Solomon, sun, Wisdom)

A very wise man once proclaimed: “What has been is what will be and what has been done is what will be done and there is nothing new under the sun.”

There is a huge part of me that would like to believe that this is a false statement. I’d like to think of humanity as progressing. I’d like to think that if I could look back in time 1,000 years, I would be able to perceive INTERNAL human progress in our present day and age. Obvious inventions have come about that have transformed our outer lives, but according to Solomon, whether your point of comparison is 50 years or 5,000 years, the same scenarios keep repeating themselves. The problems may look wildly different, the settings have changed, the lifestyles are unrecognizable, yet the philosophical issues that are at the root of this ceaseless cycle of all humanity are identical no matter how much time has gone by.

That does this mean then? Should we desist forward movement because despite our best efforts history shall inevitably repeat itself? Never! Instead, it is a poignant reminder to me to keep a very close watch over my heart, my motives and the way I live life. My life (and yours) may be akin to millions of other lives throughout the centuries this globe has been spinning, but there IS one thing that is new: my heart. My heart is entirely new to this world and the conventions and vain repetitions thereof. What I do with my heart, my life, will dictate how I conduct myself under this ancient, watchful sun that has seen the same play enacted countless times.

Just today while reading Walden I was struck by several statements he made referring to the heart of man:

“While civilization has been improving our houses, it has not equally improved the men who are to inhabit them. It has created palaces, but it was not so easy to create noblemen and kings…and the bad neighborhood to be avoided is our own scurvy selves” (p.30).

Take care how you live. We may all think we are bold and brave and original. We’re not. I think I need to try harder, not to be original (since that theory is shot to pieces), but to be loving. I do not want to be remembered for creativity, brilliance or humour – I want to be remembered for walking in the noble, difficult, well-worn path of Love.