More than few folks have asked me what I am doing for my vacation this year — what I am going to do to “enjoy myself”.  And they have invariably expressed some degree of shock — if not a touch of downright dismay — when I tell them that I am using this time as a period of creative solitude; that I will be primarily “holed up” at work; writing & being & writing some more. 

 

Of course, such a choice is anything but “depressing” or “boring”, and it actually has nothing at all to do with ascetic denial or self-deprivation.  To the contrary, with no less than a great touch of irony, this particular decision is one that will inevitably being me the greatest Bliss during these holy-days.

 

For you see, the true Joy in life is NOT found in “fun” or “entertainment” or “fellowship” (though these things do make for fine times indeed).  No, for each & every one of us, true Joy comes only in those moments when we are giving others the unique gifts that each of us has to give; true Joy only comes when we are being used for a Purpose we recognize as a mighty one –- one far greater than our own selfish wants & wishes; true Joy only comes while booming our true Selves forth as true Forces of Nature — not pandering to our ego’s feeble bag filled with complaints & longings, mewling meekly that the world will not devote itself to making us happy.

 

No, for the last decade of my life I have known a very different Truth — namely that my life does not belong solely to myself; that my it actually belongs fully & completely to the entire community of Heaven & Earth.  And as such, as long as I continue to live it is my honor & indeed my privilege to do for the entire Universe whatever I can — be that spiritual work for the Cosmos as a whole, environmental work for the planet in general, ethical work for my animalian brothers & sisters, or liberation work for all of Humanity.

 

 

 

Frankly, I don’t want to be found one day laying on my deathbed with resources left over & energies unused.  No, when I die I want to be thoroughly spent for the causes of Love & Peace & Freedom. 

 

And so I give myself the greatest gifts anyone can give —

 

*In serving my community I give myself the gift of Meaning;

 

*In caring for the less fortunate I give myself the gift of Purpose;

 

*In being Kind to strangers I give myself the gift of Contentment; & *In sacrificing for my enemies I give myself the gift of Joy. 

 

 

 

And I give these gifts by working hard — by doing what I ca do in the tie I have been given to do it.   I don’t do so in every moment, and yet I do so intensely & I do so repeatedly.  For the harder I work, the more I give, and the more I Give, the more I Live.

 

Indeed, life is no mere flickering candle to me, slowly burning over many a season to one day arrive at a faint and wispy end.  No, I have chosen a different path — I have chosen to live as a radiant torch; a blazing flame that I am only assured of holding for this one moment.  And while I’ve got it in my hand, all I want to do is to make it burn as brightly as possible before passing it on to my future’s bearers of its Love’s great Light.

 

(inspired by George Bernard Shaw)

 

Filed under: Wisdoms from the Journey by Scaughdt