The majority of us are raised in the Judeo/Christian tradition. It is true that an ever increasing population of Muslims has existed as well. There have been Native American traditions and Wiccans and a few others. I believe it is safe to say, all have taught their children the same basic tenets in life. Simply put, the golden rule. We teach our children right from wrong. We teach them the Bible stories and about forgiveness and understanding. We teach them about charity, compassion and caring. These are the behaviors that will gain entrance into heaven, or whatever your conception of the afterlife is to be.
Concurrently we start teaching the " exceptions. " We call that a denomination , a sect, or any number of different things, but what they are, are the exceptions. Exceptions to the rules that are acceptable, justifiable, for reasons having nothing to do with the spiritual instruction we have received. We may disguise these instructions as " life lessons " or simply being pragmatic. So, for those reasons I say we all live exceptional lives. I am no different than anyone else in that regard, I live a life of exceptions. I label those exceptions beliefs. They are my beliefs, my interpretation of the rules. When I was young I was instructed in those beliefs just as surely as I was instructed in the spiritual. As I grew and matured, a debatable statement, those beliefs were modified. They are modified to fit my current environment. I feel it is that way for us all. Face it, if you lived in a Monastery your beliefs and behaviors would certainly be different than what they are now.
The balance we must strike is between the spiritual and the pragmatic. We know the rules, I would suggest those rules are an inherent property of being human, but we live by the exceptions. In my belief, only one man lived without exception, and he was crucified ! There have been some that lived with few exceptions, but they are exceptional people. Ideally we would all live that exceptional life. Those that strive to do so are often viewed as being pious. That is a cover for our own shortcomings, our list of exceptions. We believe that they are just keeping their list hidden. That is the struggle we all face daily. Some will choose to ignore the spiritual altogether, that I believe, is a temporary solution. I question the sincerity of that action. Denial first requires acceptance of a precept. You can't deny something that you don't believe exists in the first place ! Yes, you may doubt, but you have to acknowledge existence to deny it. The most difficult person to convince of anything is yourself ! That is simply because we will make an exception based on our current needs or wants. That's what people do. The person that denies themselves in favor of doing what is right is an exceptional person. They are exceptional for not making an exception ! That's how it works. The goal ? To live a life without exception ! I've fallen way short of that goal. I'm thinking I'm exceptional. Wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing ?
Concurrently we start teaching the " exceptions. " We call that a denomination , a sect, or any number of different things, but what they are, are the exceptions. Exceptions to the rules that are acceptable, justifiable, for reasons having nothing to do with the spiritual instruction we have received. We may disguise these instructions as " life lessons " or simply being pragmatic. So, for those reasons I say we all live exceptional lives. I am no different than anyone else in that regard, I live a life of exceptions. I label those exceptions beliefs. They are my beliefs, my interpretation of the rules. When I was young I was instructed in those beliefs just as surely as I was instructed in the spiritual. As I grew and matured, a debatable statement, those beliefs were modified. They are modified to fit my current environment. I feel it is that way for us all. Face it, if you lived in a Monastery your beliefs and behaviors would certainly be different than what they are now.
The balance we must strike is between the spiritual and the pragmatic. We know the rules, I would suggest those rules are an inherent property of being human, but we live by the exceptions. In my belief, only one man lived without exception, and he was crucified ! There have been some that lived with few exceptions, but they are exceptional people. Ideally we would all live that exceptional life. Those that strive to do so are often viewed as being pious. That is a cover for our own shortcomings, our list of exceptions. We believe that they are just keeping their list hidden. That is the struggle we all face daily. Some will choose to ignore the spiritual altogether, that I believe, is a temporary solution. I question the sincerity of that action. Denial first requires acceptance of a precept. You can't deny something that you don't believe exists in the first place ! Yes, you may doubt, but you have to acknowledge existence to deny it. The most difficult person to convince of anything is yourself ! That is simply because we will make an exception based on our current needs or wants. That's what people do. The person that denies themselves in favor of doing what is right is an exceptional person. They are exceptional for not making an exception ! That's how it works. The goal ? To live a life without exception ! I've fallen way short of that goal. I'm thinking I'm exceptional. Wait, is that a good thing or a bad thing ?
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