This blog is more than an account of Near Death Experiences. It ponders in detail the tough questions of life. Who are you, and why are you here in this physical world? What happens when you die, and is there a judgment? However, most anything could appear here. This is not a news blog, archived posts are just as relevant as new posts. Check the boxes at the top of the page for the Contents, Contact, Forum and other links.
We are all engaged in service to others in some way. Most don’t appreciate the products made, or the services given by companies, organizations, and institutions as benefitting others. These are the workplaces of our country. If they weren’t helpful to others how could they exist? Commerce is people helping each other in a multitude of ways. Exchanging values for other values needed in life.
Spiritual service is entirely different, it is giving from the heart with no expectation of anything in return. Spiritual giving is the most fullfilling thing you can do in life. It is a healing for both the giver and the one who receives the gift. It is not a burden, but a blessing.
Giving money may or may not be spiritual service. Depends on the attitude of the giver. Mother Teresa was known to turn down large gifts of money, asking the potential giver to come work beside her. She wanted them to see and feel the good their money would do. She wanted them to be helped along with the poor receiving the donation.
You could volunteer for some worthy organization needing help. Many near death experiencers have volunteered to work in Hospice with patients in the last stages of their life.
Help someone learn to read at the library.
Visit someone in a nursing home. I know from experience many of these people have family that almost never come to visit.
Offer to run errands or drive an elderly or sick neighbor to doctor appointments. Visit them often.
Keep packed snacks in your car for those who are asking for money or food at street corners.
Find the spiritual service you like best and do it. There is no end to the opportunities for service. Helping others is helping yourself. Just being a good listener for a troubled teen is spiritual service to others. The world needs a lot of good listeners right now. Don’t judge, just listen and love.
When I was in the Navy we had to check the integrity of the ship on a regular schedule. If the integrity of the ship was compromised all on board were in danger. The same is true with integrity anywhere. We are experiencing a recession right now because of a lack of integrity. Some of our business leaders decided to take unsafe chances for larger profits.
The lack of ethics, honesty, truthfulness, and integrity is everywhere in our society. It’s lacking in government, business, advertising, and most other institutions. Yet it is paramount to our survival as a country. Large powerful countries are first defeated from within before they lose on the battlefields. Defeated by the greed, avarice, and excessive desires of those in powerful positions to possess material wealth far beyond their needs, while ignoring the needs of others. In a democracy we must elect those leaders that will work for the betterment of all, rather than the betterment of themselves. The same applies to the leaders of all our businesses, and institutions. Without integrity the ship is lost.
Intregity begins with the individual. Each of us know right from wrong, we know what the rules are, we know how to be honest with others, and ourselves. Give full measure to others, pressed down. Practice living in truth. If you are misleading others, cheating them in any way stop it, because what you do to others you do to yourself also. We are spiritual beings, no one gets away with anything. The good we do others will be rewarded, and the harm we cause others will be repayed. What is at stake is your joy, and peace, don’t throw it away. Live in honesty, and make integity checks of your life on a regular schedule.
This spiritual element is a willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others. Tolerance and respect are the key words here. We live in a country of great diversity, it is what makes this country strong. A non-judging attitude avoids condemning others because they don’t think like we do, act like we do, look like we do, or belong to the same organizations as we do. Respecting others beliefs will lead to them respecting your beliefs. Tolerance of the rights of others is what this country is about.
One of the perks of non-judging is not having to forgive. If you don’t condemn others for being different, you won’t need to forgive yourself as often. The opposite of non-judging are “control freaks,” those who think everyone should act and think as they do. Control freaks are the ones that believe their way is the only way. There is no one right way, no one right path, and no one with all the answers to all the questions. All paths eventually lead to unconditional love, some loop, and fork, others go straight, but all lead to God. Treat all others with respect, all the time.
Forgiveness is closure. It releases past hurts, and anger to make way for a new beginning free of stress. Do not hold anger at anyone or anything. Doing so will only hurt you, while doing no harm whatsoever to the object of your anger. Anger binds you to the cause of your anger, and holds you in the past, reliving the incident over and over. Anger is like battery acid, it eats away at the object holding it. Free yourself from the past now by forgiving. It is wise to forgive quickly, so you can move on to other experiences. There is nothing that can’t be forgiven. It doesn’t matter how unfair or terrible you have been treated, forgiveness is your release, it does not condone or pardon the harm done to you. No one gets away with anything in life. The rule “you will reap whatsoever you sow” is aways in effect. Let God handle it, forgive and get on with your life.
Self forgiveness is as important as forgiving others. You need to forgive yourself for all the mistakes you may have made. There is nothing that can’t be forgiven. Remember God’s love is greater than any mistake you have made or will make. Learn and move on.
A lady wrote me to say her life was ruined by her dentist who molested her while she was being treated. When I asked her to forgive the dentist she became angry at me adding to her pain. She had been suffering for three years trying to “get back” at the dentist who harmed her. Three years she didn’t have to waste, if she could have forgiven. Forgiveness would not have made the hurt any less real, nor would it have condoned the incident. But it would have released her from the hurt, and given her three years of life back.
A most profound forgiveness was shown in Georgetown, PA. by the Amish community. A gunman had killed five of their children while they were attending school before killing himself. The Amish community not only forgave the killings, but dozens of Amish neighbors came out to mourn the gunman at his funeral. Such expression of God’s love is seldom seen. It brought tears to my old eyes in reading about it.
