We Call It Life, But Is It?

We live and we call it life.  But is it?

Oh, yes, many call it a blessing.

A gift so precious, it is the most valued.

What lengths man would pursue for it.

But then we continue to ask for answers.

Why is it so full of deaths and afflictions?

Such a repository of snares, enemies, and ills?

So many calamities, miseries, and enemies.

And even whilst the first of those are still with us,

Others crowd in to harass  our benighted living.

And no doubt we heap blame on the world.

Not really knowing why we are so attached to it.

Unable to detach from such strong bonds.

We blame it for its addictive vanity and deceit.

Unable to fathom the real reason why.

When in all honesty the problem is us.

Hollywood and Bust

Once upon a time, we trooped in droves to darkened movie theaters and expectantly turned to Hollywood for entertainment and artistry.  These creations eventually latched on to us to become treasured ageless classics artfully depicting  people and events  worthy to aspire for and emulate.  

And to this day, we hearken back by repeatedly watching them in the darkened comforts of our homes coming from the newfangled devices we have acquired.  And re-living the missed thrills and emotions evoked from them.

Now what do we get as almost daily fare for our entertainment from Hollywood?  

Movies that feed on our eternal childhood fantasies, as immortalized in the comic books of the past, now made even more escapist and unreal as quickly as evolving technologies could churn them out.  CGI gone wild and beyond!  The new blockbusters are simply “adaptations” of comic book heroes of our youth and beyond, as scary and unreal as they can be made to act and look.

Where are the countless creative minds of the past?

Are we now forever shunted to our childhood daydreams, like mature adults refusing to grow up and face our gruesome realities?  Escapism lived to the utmost?

Or is Hollywood simply turning on the money machine via surefire  blockbusters?

And the crowding viewers do not disappoint.

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As a kid, I was an avid consumer and collector of comic books of superheroes, lapping up any and all items where their images were emblazoned. I devoured  anything and everything my little grubby hands could reach, though admittedly there were not too many of those items around. But to this day I fancy myself as possessing as much trivia about them as the next guy, or next kid.

I even resorted to drawing them on paper and collecting those, too.

But we understood there was always going to be a point of satiation. And indeed, we woke up one day, and found our interests having shifted to other more mundane things.

That is our usual expectation of life. Moving on to things that matter more.

Hollywood, please take note. It is not always about the money.

Ever wondered why they are called comic books? And not fictional books, fantasy books, or even, dime books? Maybe, because somebody is laughing all the way to the bank?

Seriously, because at some point, most or all of them were part of the “funny pages” of the typical newspaper.

Now it is serious business.

The Walls Within

There are many walls in our lives.  

We see walls in our houses, separating different uses of living spaces.  

We see walls in the houses of our neighbors, isolating their privacy from the public.

We see walls most everywhere, all designed to separate, to keep apart, to protect.

But we can declare that these are walls that do not separate us in alienation and estrangement from the rest of humanity.

But there are walls that do. These are the walls in our minds.  The walls that we willingly or unwittingly build  that put us at odds with the rest of the world. The walls that tend to alienate and make us indifferent of others.

Many believe that solitude is akin to creating walls. But this is not necessarily so.  For many solitude opens to a greater and kinder world, devoid of constricting walls.  Like walls of indifference, hostility, enmity, discrimination, and yes, arrogance. 

Many ardently believe that in solitude one is most attuned to the rest of the world. We are most aligned to our humanity when we do live in the world, but not to be of this world.

Those walls we need to break.  The walls within.

A FRESH MORNING REFLECTION

Nobody, not even God, begrudges a reasonable desire to  freshen our lagging spirit with a change in scenery.   We are simply cautioned against their too free use for it is easy for them to lead one astray

What is needed more for our own good is really a renewal of good intentions and noble motives for serving higher causes.

What is the lasting good for continually seeking new sights?  Doesn’t that pursuit simply distract us from our nobler purposes?

Desire only enough to improve the quality of our lasting good works and our lives.

Worthy thoughts to have as we wake up each morning of the rest of our lives.

This reflection is about something more direct and straight forward.

The temporal nature of man is a big burden he carries all his life, seeping into the very marrows of his existence.

Thus when he begins to address his impending mortality, he initiates the process of accepting and preparing for it. One then finds in most instances that man continues to cater to this fleeting nature with the plans and resolutions he makes.

Thus he is wont to declare, that because he is close to the end of the road, he needs to take life easy, enjoy new sights and experiences, take leisurely trips, bond more with friends and relations, etc. A common thread in all this is that they all partake of the temporal nature of man.

Remember what the Scriptural admonition for death is? Remember the incident about the man who wanted salvation and so asked Christ what he needed to do with his life knowing it would be taken away from him at an undetermined time?  The answer was curt and succinct. Live your life like you would live the last day of your life.

Implying that the inevitability and urgency require that one focuses on spiritual matters that lead to eternal salvation.

Our late father was one person who was gifted with unique insights into the higher purposes of man. Thus, years prior to his passing he had tried as much as he could to shed himself of the trappings and frailties of this life. Devoting instead his efforts to things that transcended this temporal existence.

But he was also a frustrated man. Having wished and worked so much for more of life, he felt that fortune and ease had escaped him.

The lesson left behind for us to learn is the delicate balance we need to put between spiritual matters and the  alluring things that this life dangles before and offers us. As man, we need to steadily straddle between the two. Except that after this life, only the other remains.

This will be a constant struggle throughout our entire lives.

Observing The World About Us

During bouts of sleeplessness or idle times, one scans through social media groups to pass the time.

And invariably one inherits the feelings of helplessness and depression.

For what we read are mostly a litany of the things that are observed as being wrong, most everywhere our heads are turned.

Do we need to be constantly and incessantly reminded?

Do we really need to know all the wrinkles we can observe in and around our surroundings?

Isn’t it sufficient especially after all these times to keep those in mind and accept them as there?

But then start unobtrusively doing whatever little things we may be able to do both individually and collectively.

In our lifetime and beyond, most of these things observed will still be with us.

There is nothing humanly possible to remove all of them.

As one problem is resolved, another one pops up. Life is meant to be like this.

So judge rather the efforts expended than the problems solved.

There is no going around that.

Much like we are admonished, lighting that solitary candle rather than loudly cursing the darkness may be more cleansing.