“Even in decline,” the Tibetan master Sakya Pandita said, “the virtuous increase the beauty of their behavior. A burning stick, though turned to the ground, has its flame drawn upwards.”

I felt this yesterday, Monday, after skipping the news from Washington as message after message came. There is nothing there for me.

Like this message: Thank you for the lovely photos of your day…… Your flowers, as always, lift my spirits. I was neither anxious nor confused today……. I spent my day not watching or listening to the news or everyone else’s sorrows and laments…….but reflecting on and embracing my life challenges…..and filling my day with the most positive things I could.
Susan.

Or this one from Maggie: Thank you so much, Jon. I did not watch today’s news, either. Instead, I exercised and read. It felt great.

For now, I’m not interested in following politics; I’m a rich man in my own life.

I’m searching for meaning, kindness, empathy, and hope, not power. I can’t find them in the places they call news; all I feel is anger, vengeance, and grievance. The entire system is corrupted by greed, cowardice, and rage. It’s time to seek alternatives instead of succumbing to anger and hatred. I can’t make it as a more muscular man.  I’d get my butt kicked.

They’ve caused enough damage.

I’m seeking a place where truth and kindness still live and thrive. Where honesty and empathy still matter. Where lying is a bad thing, if I can’t find it out there, I’ll find it here, where it still lives and was often hiding.

I need a spiritual path, and I’m on one.  I’ve got to find what I want within me. Even the giant and bloated religions have nothing much to say about us. So I’m on the path; it is my faith and salvation.

The answer is inward, not outward.

 

God is in Barbara, who never stops caring for those everyone else forgets.

Until recently, spirituality was widely seen as a way of getting closer to God. Then, people like me became interested; I do not believe in a narrow and clearly defined God. I can’t embrace dogma.

Spirituality is about finding the God in me and discarding many of my worst traits.

To borrow a cliche, I am taking charge of my well-being. Spirituality is a broad concept that asks me to connect with something greater than myself and find meaning and purpose in life. It can be expressed in many ways, including meditation, prayer, empathy, help for the struggling, and being in nature. 

 I’m trying all of them and loving what I find.

I’ve received many messages this week telling me that people like me are turning inward and away from the awful din and chaos of mislabeled politics or the news. It’s good news to me, Maria and I are there.

I was not alone in saying I skipped the frigid and pompous ceremony they called an inauguration. It was mostly, it seemed to me, a gross new kind of cultural masturbation. It had nothing to do with me or with the people at large. I could smell the sweat from Washington. The more aggressive men were having a party. They wouldn’t let me in the door, bless them.

I have never loved myself as much as those self-adoring people on the news do. I am grateful for that because when I feel low, I know I have work to do to be happier and better and to search for peace and meaning.

That is my spiritual mission: I have a right to be happy and to do good. None of them looked pleased to me.

Yesterday, like Susan, I read, wrote, took some flower photos, meditated, and made my appreciation count. I felt good, not angry or full of resentment.  I do this whenever the outside world brings me down, frightens me, or causes me to drift back into anxiety and hopelessness. I just don’t let that happen. The man was honest about his plans, and people wanted him to carry them out. And he is.

It has little or nothing to do with me; I will not let politics ruin my life or soil my soul with anger or fear, or crap on my values. Other people have different feelings; they will live with theirs, and I will live with mine.

When I get upset, I go right to my gratitude list, which I have memorized and written on paper. I carry it in my wallet at all times in case I forget. It works for me every time. I live in a world of love, caring, and honesty. That’s all I can do; it’s all I will do. No red or blue person will take that from me.

My Gratitude List: Maria, my daughter Emma, My Farm, My Blog, My Photography, Our Dogs, Our Animals, our work, our creativity, our love of our lives and pride in our commitment to good, the Cambridge Food Pantry, my remarkable new cat, the wonderful people who read my work, the nature all around me, the ability to love and the worth to be loved.

And I will never forget my flowers and cameras; they have changed my life, opened me up, brought out my art, and lifted my soul.

How can I be discouraged or depressed when I have all that to celebrate when I sink or when I allow the outside world to defecate all over me and people with pure hearts and souls?

Many others are turning to a spiritual path, not one of greed, hatred, power, and domination.

Mark Zuckerberg has muscled up and joined Mr. Musk, the new (old) President, and a growing Army of Oligarchs in calling for a more masculine world.

If I weren’t crying, I’d laugh. The more masculine world is tearing our country apart and burning down the world. I grew up with young men like him. It was sad to see him crawling like that, and yes, I like his hair.

Yet, I also feel something different happening, a hope and promise. A call and yearning for a spiritual, empathic, and feminine world is coming. I see it in my messages, the books I read, and the painful feelings I get when I look outward instead of inward. It’s right there.

It’s coming; I can feel it.  Ironically, those tough men will bring it on. There are no simple answers for people like me or those who message me thoughtfully and in increasing numbers. But there is a path to something better.

Women and now and then men repeatedly tell me that they are looking down for happiness, into themselves, into the meaning of finding themselves, looking for ways to feel good and do good.

Faith is not a topic, a course, a building, a church, a synagogue, a mosque,  a book, or a testament. Susan spent the day looking for God. I sense she may have found them. Faith, like suffering, is a choice, not an obligation or weapon.

It is the process of becoming, finding our God, whatever or wherever they are, and making sense of the questions and answers we have struggled with all our lives. I’m near the completion of the life journey that will end us all. My answer is to end my life honestly and openly and do the best I can to make living easier and better for people less fortunate than me. I will add that to my appreciation list.