Choosing

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My Letter to a Friend

You once mentioned that I am somewhat alone in holding the views and positions that I do in life. You once mentioned that I’m labeled a liberal, even though I don’t think of myself as fitting under a stereotype, yet others think of me that way. But, I’m not really alone and so, I will answer the unasked question of why I feel and think, and act, as I do.

My answer is this.

….Because I see how people are treated in the world. I’ve seen people of all walks of life – normal people, people who struggle to get by, struggle to eat, struggle to find work, struggle to stay alive, struggle against despair, and struggle to not commit suicide, because they’re buried by unending hardships of life, and drowning from going so long with the lack of any hope. This is happening to more and more people in this time and place. I see people who through whatever circumstances – get bent and broken, hurt, harmed and killed. I witness people who oppose others living their own life differently, and ask myself, why don’t they have the right to try to live their life, and live it as best they can.

My answer is this.

….I have the right to care about other people if I so choose to. I have the right to help another person if I want to help them. I have the right to feel what I feel about helping. I have the right to choose to help when and who I can help, and especially when I know someone absolutely needs help.

I know what suffering and pain is. We all know what it is. We see it in our own life, and sometimes we see it in others’ lives. I have the right to muster whatever effort I can to help end whatever suffering may be possible, with me only being one person…. who could join with another one person…. who could join with another one person….

My answer is this.

…When someone’s belief is “Those people are evil.” I have the right to say, “I disagree”, and I believe, “No, they’re not evil just because you name-call them that.” When someone’s opinion and belief is, “Those people deserve to suffer.” I have the right to say, “I disagree”, and then believe, “No, they don’t just because you say they deserve to suffer.”

When someone believes the Internet rumors, or the powerful people’s name-calling, the Internet speculation, the claims of those on TV, and “he said it, therefore it’s true”, I have the right to believe that the rumors, the name-calling, opinions, speculation, claims and “HE SAID IT THEREFORE IT MUST BE TRUE” are only that – opinions and beliefs, which just as often are proven not true as they’re presented, and yet still cause pain, suffering and harm to people. I have the right to say, “I disagree”, and then oppose the words, and demand proof. And I’ve witnessed that the proof, many times, never shows up.

When someone says their beliefs about others are Facts, I have the right to say “I believe they are not FACTS, because you don’t prove them, while there can be opposing FACTS which have been proven.”

I have had experiences being the target of prejudice, of disrespect, of hatred, of harm, of rumor, name-calling, claims, and “he said it, therefore it’s true.” I’ve been the recipient of religious people “bearing false witness” against me for whatever reasons they have. I’ve been targeted and harmed from it.

All of these actions of mankind are chosen actions. No one is a programmed computer who has no freewill. When human beings choose to target someone, humans do it – very many times – because it is a belief, and we humans hold within our hearts and minds the willingness to target and harm another human being. In our world now, with the choosing of impatience and animosity, the greatest majority of targeting and attacking is ONLY based on beliefs and attitudes, and not actual proven FACTS.

My answer is this.

…I choose to work hard to help prevent and oppose threats and bullying. I choose to add effort to helping people who want the right to live their life as best they can. I choose to work hard at helping to prevent and oppose prejudice, and rumor and the harm that comes from “somebody said it somewhere, therefore it’s true” or “The President said it, therefore I believe it.”

And each time someone says, I’m a fool or says I’m stupid or I’m an idiot, to be this way, with insults and raging at me, I will continue to work to say, “That’s only your opinion, and I disagree with it, but you have the right to choose what thoughts live within your own mind, your own heart, and within your own soul.”

And so do I.

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Do We?

Is the inflicting of pain and suffering what we want our life filled with? Of course not, but more people do just this without even thinking twice. When we go through life on automatic, without thinking once or twice or any, we let our issues, our hurts, our frustrations, our pains, our suffering, our misunderstandings and our prejudices which are all wrapped up in our subconscious, choose how we respond to other people within the relationships and interactions of our every day world.

For us to do differently, we have to think about it. We have to observe ourselves – think about how we relate to people – and think of the experiences that others may have of us.

Responding with compassion, or mercy – answering a situation with conscious patience, or understanding is not an automatic act which we can do ‘in our sleep’. We have to choose to act with compassion or mercy, or patience and understanding, …
or love.

If we’re not thinking of these, if these are not on our mind, we’re not doing these.

How often do you check to see if you’re breathing? How often do you examine your breathing in and out?
This act of breathing is automatic, and for the most part, we don’t check to see if we’re breathing. We go about our life on automatic with our breathing. We don’t consciously inhale or exhale, …

unless we choose to consciously.

There are many exercises for consciously breathing – and for many purposes. One example is for athletics. I.e. For learning better swimming techniques, one must consciously be aware of one’s breathing in and out. Other examples are for many meditative or yogic practices.

For this article, the exercise of consciously being aware of breathing in and out can also serve to lead us to be aware of this one moment right now in which we are breathing (even while reading this article). If we realize that we can only breathe in this moment that we call Now, we have realized a great truth. We cannot breathe during times past, and we cannot breathe during future times. We can only breathe during the moment of Now.

This Now moment, also is the only time we can choose to bring forth an act of compassion or mercy. In this Now moment, represented by our awareness of our breathing in and out, right now, is the moment when we can choose to show patience, or kindness to whomever or whatever we’re in the vicinity of. In this Now moment, is the only moment when we can show Love, or forgiveness, or encouragement. In this Now moment is the only moment we can listen to another or comfort another, or support another in need.

This Now moment is the single most powerful, opportunity for accomplishing any and every transformative or healing act. This is because, we are conscious when we are recognizing NOW. And we can consciously choose to express any quality of Love which we want to – Now.

The question then begs, “What can we do NOW – while we’re noticing that we’re breathing in and out – to bring Love, Joy, Patience, Forgiveness, Mercy or any of these qualities in the world – right NOW?”

It’s okay to stop reading this article, and NOW act consciously to demonstrate Love and show this Love through any of these qualities.

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Freedom and Love

Choosing our freedoms (or freewill, whichever word we use) is important to Americans, also to Texans, and even to people in the world. His freedom to choose was also something Christ sought when He prayed, “Father, take this cup away from me.”

However, His prayer was not “God, help me no longer love You or them anymore”, which is also a freedom we humans can and sometimes do choose of our own freewill.

Freedom and Love MANY TIMES do oppose each other – like when we must choose one or the other. Which is the most important if freedom is our reason to no longer love? Yet, sometimes, when they conflict, choosing love (instead of choosing freedom for our self) is the factor we invoke, like choosing to donate an organ to help another, or choosing to spend our money on our children rather than ourselves when we choose their well-being first, or when our actions are to benefit all people and not just to benefit our self, like Christ, when He prayed, …

“Yet, Father, let not my will, but thine will be done in me.”

And we find that Loving God and our neighbor is a freedom no one can take away from us. We will always have Infinite Freedom to Love.