Monday, August 28, 2017
HOME EVERYWHERE
HOME -
EVERYWHERE!
(Including poem/song: Home)
By
Francis William Bessler
Henry Lake, Idaho
8/28/2017
As I write this, I am now 1,742 miles from home - that is my home in Laramie, Wyoming. It matters not what my journey is, but it just so happens that my companion, Nancy Shaw, and I are out visiting various family. We have not finished our planned journey yet, but 1,742 miles into it, is it likely there has been any change in precious from mile 1 to mile 1,742?
I don't think so; and when I ponder the matter, that should tell me a lot. Realistically, it should tell me that as my - or our - current journey is, so should be all of life - from the first to the last. In this case, in terms of precious or worthy, mile 1,742 should be seen as no more or less in value than mile 1. The last should be seen as equal to the first - and the first equal to the last - be it in miles traveled or in moments spent - sacred wise, from beginning to end.
Indeed, as I write this, I am overlooking a beautiful lake in far eastern Idaho just outside of the wondrous Yellowstone National Park. That lake is called "Henry Lake," but should I be any more or less happy here than I would be if I were looking out our front window at our permanent home in Laramie, Wyoming?
Again, I don't think so. Why? Because, sacred wise at least, given that God is probably equal to Infinity, and thus must be everywhere, God is probably no more or less present in one location than another; and that is the tale that should tell all. Reasonably, if God is no more here at Henry Lake, Idaho than it is in Laramie, Wyoming where Nancy and I live, then it makes no sense to believe that any place in existence is more sacred than any other place. Or so, I Believe!
It is said that home is where the heart is; and, for me, that certainly rings true. Wow, what a wonderful truth that is! Isn't it? I'm "home" now here at Henry Lake - just as I was "home" a week ago in Laramie.
And when I pass from this wonderful world, I will likely be at home there too. Why? Because at that place and at that time, my heart - or soul - will be just as much at home at it is now. My God will be there just as much as My God is here now. How nice it would be if all believed that! Don't you agree?
I'm a firm believer that the "tale of life" is also the "tale of truth." But to really know the truth, one needs to be truly observant of life. Take it as it is. Life tells all - if we are observant; but it does not tell much of anything if we refuse to observe. Does it? If all we do is listen to what others tell us is the truth, then we fail to observe life the way it really is.
I know that because earlier in life, I failed to look at life the way it is too. I did not equate life with truth, but I did yearn for the truth. I think we all do. The way I went about it, however, was to listen to what others taught was - or is - true. Blindly, I believed what I was told - and not what I might "observe" myself. Perhaps that is just the way of the world, but oh wrong I was!
In the GOSPEL OF THOMAS, a gospel banned in the 4th Century by some who believed that truth can be gleaned from without - or only from another - Jesus said in Verse 70: If you bring forth that within yourselves, that which you have will save you. If you do not have that within yourselves, that which you do not have within you will kill you. That may be putting it a bit harshly, but it's only to say that if you rely only on others - and what they supposedly know - those others - sincerely and otherwise - may mislead you or "kill" you.
Amazingly, that lesson comes from a man who so many have been taught believed and taught otherwise. Growing up as a traditional "believing that all are sinful" Christian, I know that when I was a kid, I was taught that Jesus taught that I had to follow him rather than learn on my own. I may be paraphrasing a bit, but in the GOSPEL OF JOHN, Jesus supposedly said: I am the way, the truth, and the life - and those who believe in me shall be saved, but those who do not believe in me will be damned.
What is that to say but that I "must learn" from another and not "bring forth from within?" If I believe that I "must listen" only to what Jesus offered in John, then it is totally unlikely that I will believe that my own observation of life is adequate - or at least, useful. If I believe that I must rely only on Jesus to lead me on, it is certain that I will rely only on one outside myself to learn the truth - just what I believe the Jesus of Thomas discouraged.
What can I say? Was the Jesus of Thomas correct? Or was the Jesus of John the correct tales man? Am I to believe that I should not believe in my own observation - or what? Was John right - or was Thomas the wiser one? Am I to believe that when I die, I will find My God as much there as here - as my own observation tells me - or am I to believe as John would have me believe that when I die, I will find God more there where I will be than where I was?
To each, his or her own, but I believe the Jesus of Thomas had it right. John may not have believed in what he could "bring forth from within," but I do. I trust my own observation of life in that I see no evidence God is more present in one than another - and that's why I "know" that wherever I go, I will likely be at home - in this life and the next. My observation of life - brought about from within - tells me so.
That is not to say that I cannot learn from others. Of course I can learn from others, but most essentially, I can also learn from myself and by myself - trusting in my own observation of things; and what I can learn from within - or by myself - is far more certain than what I may think I can learn from another.
Hearsay knowledge can be useful, however, I think; but it's value depends on its source. Did that source determine some alleged truth on his or her own based on a personal observation of life - or was that source "told" his or her "truth"?
Beware of anyone who declares that "God told him" - or her - what they know, simply because what has allegedly been learned was taught by hearsay - rather than from personal observation. What good is that - relating to the Jesus of Thomas dictum that we should bring forth from within where "within" means "self" - not someone else? "God" is "someone else," not "self" - and to learn something from one claiming to be God in terms of an alleged truth is to rely on someone else. Isn't it?
If, however, you have something to teach me that came from your own observation - or from the observation of another - then what you may claim to be the truth may actually be the truth. As your student, I may be wise to listen to you, but Heaven help me - so to speak - if all you have to offer came to you strictly by hearsay. There is no "within" in that. Is there?
For what it's worth, as I am looking out at Henry Lake now, I am "observing" that which is before me - and that, I think, is the essence of learning from within. Henry Lake is not in me, but by observing it from without, as it were, it is being instilled within. Later, when I tell about it to another who has not been here, that one can learn from my observation. That kind of learning is fine, but beware of any so called "truth" not initially gained by or from observation. I leave you to ponder the idea and take from it what you will - and wish. OK?
In the meantime, I am pondering being at home at Henry Lake. God-wise, or the Presence of God wise, there is nothing here that is not also at Meadowlark Lane in Laramie, Wyoming - when I go back to "that place." I'm home now at Henry Lake - and because I am for the reason I am offering that "being at home is simply being where God is," it is likely that I will always be at home wherever I go - in this life or another. What does your own observation of things tell you?
A brief poem called "Home" will follow. Thanks for listening!
Gently,
Francis William Bessler
Home!
By
Francis William Bessler
August 24th and 28th, 2017
(First verse written August 24th,
Second verse written August 28th)
I'm here on Mother Earth
and I'm so glad that I am here.
I'm here on Mother Earth
to find the life I have is dear.
All I have to do is look at life
with opened eyes and heart
and know that if I do that,
it's the best way for me to start;
and as I start, I will continue on
and always love the life I own.
For sure, no matter where I go,
where I go will always be home.
It's not for me to think that Paradise
can only be found in some far-away land.
If God is truly everywhere, as I Believe,
then Paradise must always be at hand.
So let me go out a current front door
and wander where I will
and know that what I find will be Paradise
whether the weather is stormy or still.
I know not how life has come
or how it may eventually go.
But no matter how it comes or goes,
I know I will always be at home.