Today my spirituality is taking me down a political road. A Human Bill of Rights and Responsibilities has been rolling around in my mind the past few days – a spiritually-based statement that acknowledges the importance of basic human needs and our personal role in ensuring their availability for everyone. But before we get to that list of rights and responsibilities below, let’s consider other attempts to outline our “rights”….. Read the rest of this entry »
Evolution to Oneness
Archives for category: Culture
When I was young, I was not a bully. In fact, I was probably the anti-bully. I spent my time either trying to be invisible so as not to attract the attention of bullies or I served as an appeaser, someone trying to smooth things out to prevent conflict.
Michael Adelberg and I worked together at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – he in the DC area, myself from Denver. I retired from the government a few years ago to pursue my spiritual teaching. Mike continues on in what he describes as his “health policy wonk” role but he’s pursuing a broader path as well. In addition to authoring historical pieces, he’s now published his first work of fiction – A Thinking Man’s Bully. Read the rest of this entry »
Everything is connected – everything – and art and life bob and weave in a wild dance together in that great amalgamation of all that is. So who influences whom in this interplay? Over 100 years ago, Oscar Wilde wrote “Life imitates Art far more than Art imitates Life”. Yet, if you stop to think about it, it’s easy to see how art influences life and then our lives influence our arts – on and on in a continuous circle such that if we try to say “life imitates art” we stop briefly and ask ourselves “is that how that quote goes?”. Go Google the phrase and some of the top search returns are asking that same very question. Read the rest of this entry »
Tim Tebow has sure fired up the Denver Broncos and at the same time ignited a firestorm of response to his unorthodox style of play and his Orthodox display of Christian faith. Tebow has become a flashpoint for supporters and attackers to clash over in our ongoing culture wars. It’s a fascinating story to watch. I keep wondering what greater understanding is coming out of this debate for us all. Here are some thoughts on that subject – Read the rest of this entry »
Today is the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Today my heart and prayers are with those who lost friends and family members on that tragic day.
Much has changed in our world since that day….there are aspects of life where humanity has come together in its love and concern for one another……and, there are many things that we may not have chosen to experience as a part of modern 21st century life ….but even in those experiences we can affirm Read the rest of this entry »
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. ” …..Martin Luther King, Jr.
I don’t like to dwell on negativity, but sometimes we have to look at things we don’t like so we can learn from them. The contrast between what we desire and any negative experience creates a gap that we need to transcend. The first step in moving across the gap is to bring its existence into our awareness.
Humanity is currently experiencing such a gap. As we look out of the world, Read the rest of this entry »
Today, I want to simply bring to your attention a recent article of mine about filmmakers Kell Kearns and Cynthia Lukas which came out this week in Science of Mind Magazine’s online edition. I have known Kell and Cynthia for several years and twice hosted them for presentations when I worked at New Dawn Center for Spiritual Living in Aurora, Colorado.
Kell and Cynthia are all about bringing the experience of Oneness into our lives…..something that is obviously near and dear to my heart. Their new movie is called “Globalized Soul”.
Here is the link to my article at Science of Mind’s website. Check it out….and check out the trailer there for their new film!
Peace and love,
Mark
I’ve gotten hooked on American Idols this season. Judging by the ratings, I’m not alone.
I have watched the program in the past and loved the singers, but I grew weary listening to some of the negative comments made by the judges. I sometimes felt the undue criticism was given only to make the program more controversial and drive up ratings. It drove me away.
This year, the program is better than ever! The judges have a great chemistry and you can tell they all truly care about the performers. When there is any criticism, it’s always constructive. You can tell that Randy, Jennifer and Steven truly want to bring the best out of the contestants. And when you get down to it, don’t we all want everyone to do their best? I know I do, so I am loving how the judges are drawing out the finest from the performers.
And these performers are fantastic! After they got down to around the final 12 or so, I’ve not wanted anybody to leave – they all deserve to win! And, as someone said one night, they are all “artists” – not just pop stars. They represent all kinds of musical genres.
I’ve been thinking recently that the program offers some lessons for all of us…
Answering that internal call – each of us have something within us that pushes us to express ourselves in our own unique individual way. It could be expressing creative talents like the “idols”, but it can also come out in so many other ways…teaching, writing, sewing, leading, working with your hands, programming computers, wiring buildings, parenting your children…and on and on. We frequently feel frustration when we don’t answer the call. We feel joy when we do.
Listen to the wisdom of others but also follow your heart – when presented with a choice, it’s sometimes easier to follow the lead of others. It’s good to gain wisdom by listening to those who have gone ahead of us, just like the idols listen to the judges and their musical coaches. But at some point, after taking in the guidance offered by those around us, we need to also listen and heed our internal compass. Each of us has the ability to tap a wisdom that flows through us and offers us direction specifically for our lives. Often the idols have chosen songs over the objections of their coaches and more often than not it turned out to be the right thing to do. Watching someone follow their heart is a beautiful thing.
We are all here to raise each other up – just as I described how the judges on American Idol have truly shown an interest in drawing the best out of each artist, we can do the same with those around us. I have loved how the idols obviously care about one another and are truly saddened each week when one has to leave due to the nature of the contest. Similarly, we are surrounded by people who care for us just as we care for them. We want the best for our loved this just as they desire the best for us. Think about those you care about deeply – you want them to feel joy, happiness, love to express themselves to the highest of their capabilities. We can all play a central role in the lives of one another, to call out the best in those around us, to encourage others to live their highest possible lives, to follow their dreams.
Every one of us is an “American Idol” wanting to live out our dreams. Let’s all vote for each other to make it happen!
Mark Gilbert
Seems like everywhere I look, people are expressing their opinions very strongly! The path of their life has helped them forge their beliefs on which they hang their opinions.
Yet sometimes, I wonder if people truly understand the underlying causes of their strongly held argument. Do they really know what their basic intention is?
What do I mean by their basic intention? By that, I mean do they see everything as interconnected and all “one” or everything as separate and apart?
Recently I wrote about the fact that there are two kinds of people – those who see everything as interconnected or part of a oneness – and those that see everything as separate and apart. Although I like to write and talk about Spiral Dynamics and Integral Theory, both of which outline a series of worldviews through which humanity evolves, it seems to me that most of our differences can be boiled down to these two groups of people.
In a way, Spiral Dynamics does acknowledge these two groups of people – as the “spiral” swings back and forth between a focus upon individuality and a focus on the collective. But beyond this focus, Spiral Dynamics speaks to a higher level of consciousness, where we start to sense and know that everything is connected. Yet I believe that people at all levels of consciousness have within them a sense of this oneness. Consider that all of the major religions have some form of the Golden Rule as a basic tenet – which has been around a long time!
OK – Think about this – and yes I know you can accuse me of oversimplifying here – but when we look at the arguments for and against the recent healthcare bill, and a lot of reasons have been put forth both for and against it, at the heart of every argument is a basic feeling that either collective care and concern for all is more important or an individual person/company/country is more important. If we believe that we are all connected, then we would want everyone to have access to affordable quality healthcare without any strings attached.
Recently a disturbing trend has come to my attention – there is a rise around the world in human slavery. When I first heard this, I thought how could this be in this day and age? Recently, I saw one of those Ted talks by an individual who was reporting on this phenomena. Then in the past few days, I received a blog I read routinely calling its readers to action – to do something about this disturbing trend in human slavery. How could there be slavery in the the 21st century? If we all saw ourselves as all “one”, then there wouldn’t be.
This past weekend, I went to my first “protest” rally in decades. Mary and I marched down the streets of Denver to the capital building where about 150 of us gathered on the steps to protest against the expanded use GMO food. Now at first blush, it would seem that the use of GMO food could be construed as being for the collective. After all the companies that have promoted GMO food say that its expansion will allow us to feed more and more people around the world. But the facts don’t bear that out. Here’s a website if you want more details on that.
For me – although I’m not in favor of GMO food – an even bigger issue is why any corporation would push back against the labeling of such food? There have even been companies fighting against the labeling of any food as “GMO free”. Why? If we are all “one”, when would we not want all of us to have access to that knowledge? If we see ourselves as separate and apart from one another, then I want my company to succeed and have greater profits even if it means a loss of freedom for you.
So here’s an assignment for all of us – as we look at people disagreeing on an issue – push behind their arguments to see if they can be divided into these basic intentions. Does one argument serve to continue a sense of separation and divisiveness? Does one of the arguments tend to support seeing the unity among all people? Which position are you going to be favoring?
Something to think about…
Mark Gilbert
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