MEET THE NEW YEAR, SAME AS THE OLD YEAR?

~2012 is just days away; the year everyone seems to be talking about. Some folks like to interpret the alleged Mayan prediction as being the literal end of the world as we know it. Some folks claim that the world is not going to end, but this particular civilization will. Other folks believe it’s not going to be the end of anything, but stand firm on the belief that a shift in consciousness will occur causing structure to collapse and people to awaken to the bigger picture. Just like Y2K, I don’t think anything of great magnitude is going to happen. Thousands upon thousands of people will gather in Times Square to watch the ball drop, wish each other a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year and by the time they recover from their hangovers on January 1^st, the same shit will start all over again. We will continue to make the same mistakes, swallow the same lies, follow the same traditions, believe the same illusions and allow the faceless controllers of the world to create distractions and continue to pull the strings.

~I’m not at all thrilled about how jaded I’ve become to welcoming a New Year. With all the wake-up calls this world has encountered throughout the past centuries, we continue to remain asleep. I certainly don’t want to be burdened by the thought that the human race is hopeless. I want desperately to believe things will get better; that the quality of life will improve for all the underprivileged, undernourished, suffering citizens of Planet Earth. I don’t particularly care in what manner this improvement will come about. I welcome change for the better and it doesn’t necessarily have to occur the way I envision it. I’ll take it any way we can get it. Whether it’s going to be Jesus crashing through the clouds carrying a sword and riding a White Horse, the spaceships circling down from other galaxies, or rays of positive energy beaming down from distant stars, I don’t care; just bring it on!

  

~Are we on our own? I certainly hope not, because if we are, judging from our past history and recent events, we’re doomed! I would love to be convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that there is a God of Love sitting on a heavenly throne who we can summon at a moment’s notice to intervene in our affairs and make all things right. I don’t know of a time in Biblical history, from when man first acknowledged the God of Abraham, that there was ever a day of peace on Earth. If this God of Abraham is real, why has he been so removed from the hearts of men that they can kill, cheat, lie and ravage the planet which nourishes them? Could it be the God of Abraham is just the figment of one man’s imagination who won favor with his people simply because of the gratifying promises they needed to hear? If actions speak louder than words, there certainly isn’t enough action occurring to prove this particular God’s existence. The God of the Bible seems more like wishful thinking. This doesn’t mean I don’t believe in a Creator. The One I need to believe in is just too big to put in a box.

~Have earthlings been visited by other life forces? Logic tells me that humans of past civilizations were either very much advanced, or alien beings were here to help our primitive ancestors along. Explain the mathematical precision of the Pyramids, the plumbing in the lost city of Pompeii, or the location of Stonehenge aligning with the latitudinal and longitudinal position of the winter and summer Solstice? How could early civilizations, such as the Egyptians and Mayans, have known Earth’s place in the solar system and invented advanced calendars when future civilizations reverted to believing the world was flat? Where did the knowledge disappear to?

~Do humans have eternal souls inhabiting temporal physical bodies and is life just a recurring chain of events whereby we ultimately become one with the Creator when we attain the highest level of consciousness? Not a bad thought and it certainly makes more sense than being banished to Bogey Land or meeting our deceased loved ones on golden streets beyond some pearly gates. Is all physical life just a means of a Spiritual Creator entertaining himself? Is the gift of life we live strictly for the purpose of fulfilling the Creator’s personal need of expression? Does each of us eventually return to and become One with the Source of all creation?

 ~I don’t know the answer to any of the above questions but I do know that anything’s possible. My resolution for the New Year is to be more open, more positive and more loving. I will openly admit that I can’t be sure of anything except for the fact that one day the physical body I inhabit will perish. If another journey is awaiting me, I welcome it. I only hope I learned a few lessons in this lifetime that will bring me closer to home. In the meantime, I wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year and a step closer to the Light.        

HAPPY CHRISOLSTICHUWANZUKA

Thanksgiving is here and gone, and once again, Christmas is fast approaching. I’ve noticed many homeowners are taking advantage of the unusually mild weather by decorating their houses with lights and the larger-than-life blow-up displays that seem to get more over-the-top every year. The main streets of the village have already been lined with holiday trimmings and as I drive through the neighborhood, I snicker with ill-feelings towards the lunacy and hypocrisy of the season.    

As a kid, I loved Christmas. The months from June to December seemed to crawl as the joyful anticipation of the holiday grew more intense with each passing day. I think it was a combination of things that made Christmas so special for me. It goes without saying, receiving presents topped the list, but aside from that, it was the magical, dreamy feeling in the air. Somehow I was always taken over by an overwhelming, indescribable sense of security, peace and happiness. The people around me appeared to be curiously happy and friendly. Family gathered at each other’s homes to share meals, make conversation and exchange gifts, and maybe it was just my naïve, childlike way of looking at things, but love seemed to shine in everyone’s eyes. In my world, at Christmastime, everything ran smooth and each minute unfolded as if it had all been divinely planned.

Sitting tightly together in overcrowded pews, our family attended midnight Mass probably so we wouldn’t have to interrupt the Christmas Day festivities by having to attend church. To put it mildly, we got it out of the way! Year after year I listened to the choir sing the old familiar hymns about the little town of Bethlehem and the Savior being born to a virgin. It was hard to tell whether or not the congregation was sleeping or listening attentively to the repetitive sermons of the presiding priest as he recounted the heart wrenching tale of Mary and Joseph’s cold winter’s night. When the Mass was over, everyone greeted each other with hugs, handshakes and joyful exchanges of “Merry Christmas.” Looking back, it’s hard to tell if I really believed the far-fetched chronicles of the first Christmas. Everyone else seemed to, so how could I not have? Was it really such a far cry from the fable of Santa and the Flying Reindeer?

Today the world’s a much different place than it was fifty years ago. I don’t believe it’s at all necessary to rehash just how appallingly commercial Christmas has become. The complaints coming from Christians about how the real meaning of Christmas has been lost are unrelenting. My question is does Christmas even have a REAL meaning? It’s sad, but the older I become, the more I begin to realize NOTHING is real! As people evolve, technology advances, and information becomes readily available, if we choose to do so, we can easily discover where many, if not all, of our rituals and traditions originated. All of our practices, our belief systems and our holy days can be dated back and attributed to the miraculous synchronicity of the Universe, such as the placement of the moon, sun and stars, the timing of the tides and the harvest. Somehow, man wasn’t satisfied with his equal role among the wondrous workings of nature and in an egocentric effort to answer the unanswerable, decided to create religion, deeming him significantly more important than all living things and ultimately waging war upon all that has been designed to sustain him. Pretty sick and unfortunate if you ask me!         

I’m not going to expound upon why I don’t believe in celebrating Christmas or any other religious holiday. If anybody’s interested in broadening their minds or perhaps gaining some enlightenment, they can research the information for themselves. It’s right at their fingertips. What I am going to touch upon, however, is how tradition has enslaved us. The economy, after a few botched attempts at getting jump-started, is failing miserably. A vast amount of the population is unemployed and good-paying jobs are extremely hard to come by. Christmas, which has become the mother of all economy boosters, is once again right around the corner and the retailers are counting on the crumbling middle class to max out their high-interest credit cards in hopes of remaining in business. Parents will sink deeper into credit card debt not to disappoint their wide-eyed Santa believing children. Even though most people these days cannot afford to squander what little money they have, the guilt, obligation and pressure of having to make Christmas happen puts them in the poor house a little longer. When do we come to terms with the fact that all the stress and anxiety we put upon ourselves is nothing but illusion. We created it, we can eliminate it. If upcoming generations would bring up their children without feeding them the fairy tales that eventually lead to disappointment we can end this holiday stress! If upcoming generations raise their children without indoctrinating them with the guilt-ridden untruths of the religions of their ancestors, maybe we can put a stop to holiday lunacy.

Just for shits and giggles, why don’t we just admit to each other that none of us are sure about anything except death? Why don’t we just tell our kids the truth; humans have been on the earth for millions of years and we still haven’t figured out the meaning of life. Why not put an end to all the bullshit self-righteousness and encourage each other to simply love one another and enjoy the very limited amount of time we’ve got here. No one’s any better than anyone else. We all come and go through those revolving doors into eternity. If the answer is out there, one day each of us will find it. If it’s not, what does it matter?  Don’t stress, don’t worry and be happy! Happy Chrisolstichuwanzuka to all, and to all a good night!