Don't Believe, Be

  "Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you see," was a saying in the 'show me state' of middle America where I grew up.Too many points of view cloud the landscape of reality; can it be possible to take it all as Truth?

   Beliefs form, we accept some, we encounter other points of view, then hold steady or grow our mindset. Each individual has a mind. Where do these thoughts, beliefs, insights come from? What is the meaning of thought? Who knows the real truth of anything? Steady as she goes.

   A civilization can be mislead as to its own healthful point of view. Many outlooks and practices and value judgements make up the whole. Seeming clashes of choice occur in the philosophical development through the days and the decades. Feeling compromised or vulnerable to opposing attitudes about what is 'right' can make a populace unsteady and bring out the fears and distrust of 'other'. Fine-tuning toward compromise can create a pathway to tread but it dilutes the individual essence of the original insights. Working together becomes difficult when beliefs are taken too seriously and given too much room to determine the direction of experience. Clarity and shadows merge; thought becomes a mess of confusion.

   Some individuals want to explore. Others hold to what they know and feel safe in. Why not have room for all possibilities in a culture? Why try to influence others? How to find a higher point of view that excludes the necessity of collision of choice? Some current undercurrents of philosophy in our culture have evolved to believe, to Know that it is not only possible but necessary and inevitable that the next step in human mind development is happening individually and in large numbers Now.. We are choosing to grow. We are recognizing ourselves in others. The refusal to allow defeat, the belief in benevolence and balance in natural living have reached a point of becoming in material reality. 

   See the shadows and acknowledge them and grow into the heart. Fill the dreams and the mind with beauty and hoped-for discoveries in daily life. Build a firm foundation for the worlds we inhabit. Give the future your confident faith. Beyond any particular belief system, thought orientation, leadership, or instinct for survival, the grace of the Lifeforce we all share can be felt, appreciated and celebrated.