SPIRITUAL EXPLORATIONS – 179

WE ARE EXPLORING THE PRACTICE OF SIMPLICITY

+ In 1973, at a time when more and more people were talking about the importance of ecology … Small Is Beautiful: Economics As If People Mattered  (by E.F.Schumacher)  was published. Here he advocated the use of small appropriate technologies over the traditional Western obsession with "bigger is better." Schumacher's attack on unbridled growth and the depletion of the earth's natural resources spoke to many people who were ready to commit themselves to a more spiritual way of living. The Times Literary Supplement ranked Small Is Beautiful as one of the 100 most influential books published since World War II.

< http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/practices/naming-the-days/view/23949/e-f-schumacher-day

+ The connection between Simplicity and Spirituality is profound.  It is definitely worth exploring as we have been doing here.  We will soon move on to the next practice, the closely related Soul practice of Delight, but the Soul practice of Simplicity needs to be constantly held up as an essential practice for anyone desiring to realize what it means to be heavenly, to be authentic, to be loving and compassionate.  And, as Schumacher pointed out, our planet needs us to do simplify our lives if we are to prevent ecological and economic catastrophe.  To repeat what Gandhi said: “There is enough for everybody’s need but not everybody’s greed.”  Are you too greedy?  Am I too greedy?  Living in the affluence most of us take for granted is probably all too greedy when we compare our situation with so many other people on our planet. 

+ Simplicity is not one of the 37 Spirituality & Practice practices BUT put Simplicity in their Search Engine and you come up with 314 items including 117 quotes, 156 books, 11 practices, 9 teachers, 1 arts link, 11 e-courses, 7 films and 1 blog as of 6/4/16.  Go to http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/search/?q=Simplicity

+ I would love it if you offered a guest post on this practice or any practice.  And, I have work to do on my Simplicity Page.  Maybe you can help.  Send an email with the subject “Simplicity” or “Guest Post” to John@abundancetrek.com.

+ You can always find a link to any of the Spiritual Explorations posts by going to http://abundancetrek.com/sepostsaccess.html

A COUNTRY BASED ON CHRISTIAN VALUES

+ A FACEBOOK EXCHANGE > J. Barrett Lee shared Oliver James Davis Jr.'s photo.
 

One friend said: "and to think, America voted Jimmy out - for Ronnie 'aw shucks' Reagan. Ugh."

Another friend argued that the "government doesn't know the best way to help the poor since each situation is different; that's why its better to give to local organizations."

I responded: ... there is just as much waste in charitable organizations as in government, maybe far more. Government keeps salaries down for the most part. Check out some of the salaries of the staff of non-profits. And check out how much is spent for fund raising. Sometimes 90 per cent. Government gets a bad rap these days. It doesn't deserve it. People are so misinformed.

He responded: "I agree with you that some charitable organizations are wasteful and some to the point they are being deceptive. ... but in general, the government does not do a good job of distributing funds properly or knowing if funds should be given out at all. The government gets a bad rap because it has earned it."

I responded: The poverty rate was cut in half during the years that the Great Society was well funded. Funding has been reduced over and over again since the late 70s.

And then Barrett blew me away with this remarkable post: 

"What troubles me most (and is the reason why I found this statement compelling) is the moral and spiritual issue at hand. People in this country tend to associate of Christian values with white, middle-class, American, capitalist/consumerist values. For a profound and disturbing treatment of this connection, I highly recommend reading Max Weber's classic book: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Christian imagery is so often used to baptize the myth of 'self-made' individuals who 'pull themselves up by their own bootstraps', as if such a thing were even possible.

"The gospel is neutered of its radical nature in such a context. Salvation is reduced to individual afterlife concerns and morality is reduced to private sexual concerns. It is assumed that Jesus has nothing to critique about the most basic, fundamental values of our society (which basically boil down to works righteousness). Material wealth is implicitly (if not explicitly) associated with God's blessing (and therefore approval of one's lifestyle).

"Also within this system of assumptions, aid given to the poor is considered 'charity': an extra expense freely given out of one's surplus whenever the giver feels so inclined. These funds are usually the first to be cut in a perceived crisis. There is no room in such a philosophy for a moral obligation to give. Furthermore, the 'charity' serves only to underwrite the status quo of the current economic order, making the wealthy appear benevolent and generous. This creates a dynamic where the egos of the rich must be stroked if one wants to really help the poor.

"I believe that Jesus advocated a transformation that goes far deeper than either government-based relief or private charitable giving. The revolutionary coming of God's kingdom 'on earth as it is in heaven' involves a total reversal of the status quo in the re-ordering of human society: 'The last will be first and the first will be last.' As white, middle-class Americans, this should quite literally scare the hell out of us. The prophet Amos talks pretty extensively about this as well (see Amos 5:18-24). It seems to me that God is interested in justice, not charity (or even worship): 'Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.'

I responded: Amen! Such a compelling and compassionate and comprehensive statement, Barrett. TYSM. / copying your statement onto my journal and now asking permission to blog it.

Barrett responded: "Permission granted."

I responded: Barrett, the more I read your statement, the more impressed I become. Wow. This is one of the most powerful and succinct arguments for creating a just society I have ever seen and that it is based on biblical values makes it even more impressive. Bravo.

JOYFUL WANDERING -- 26

+ This post is incomplete. I am working on it today, 11/28/11.

+ I thought that I would see where I have been so far in this particular form of Joyful Wandering.  I began the Joyful Wandering series of posts on May 21, 2010 so I have averaged about one and a half per month. 

+ I have explored ideas such as:

THE UNIVERSE IS A FREE LUNCH (post 1)

WE ARE ENJOYING ABUNDANCE RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW (post 1)

TWO MINDS ARE BETTER THAN ONE (post 1)

WE ALL SHARE ONE CONSCIOUSNESS (post 2)

MYSTICISM, THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY, IS AT THE HEART OF ALL WISDOM TRADITIONS (post 2)

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS COMPASSION, PEACE, JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABLE ABUNDANCE (post 2)

I AM, YOU ARE, A FANTASTIC AND WONDERFUL PERSON (post 2)

THE POWER OF PRAYER (post 3) (also post 10)

BREATHE DEEPLY.  BREATHE FULLY.  BE STILL.  BE SILENT.  BE SOLITARY.  BE SIMPLE.  BE CENTERED.  BE GROUNDED.  LIGHTEN UP. LOOSEN UP. LET GO. LET GOD. CELEBRATE. ENJOY. BE GLAD ALL OVER. (post 4) (also post 8)

BE HUMBLE AND BE DETACHED (post 5)

BE SOLITARY (post 6)

THE CHARTER FOR COMPASSION (post 7)

THE CHURCH OF I AM (post 7)

JOSEPH NAFT ON WILL (post 9) (also post 10 and post 11)

JOSEPH NAFT ON SPONTANEITY, CREATIVITY AND ECSTASY (post 9)

JOSEPH NAFT ON PASSION, FAITH, GRACE AND AWAKENING (post 10)

WE ARE INTIMATELY, INTRICATELY AND INFINITELY CONNECTED BY A MATRIX OF UNCONDITIONAL, UNLIMITED, UNITING LOVE WHICH IS MIRACULOUS, MYSTERIOUS AND MARVELOUS. (post 12)

FALLING AWAKE (post 12)

JOSEPH NAFT ON THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH OF BUDDHISM (post 13)

JOSEPH NAFT ON MEDITATION, AWARENESS, RELAXING, STILLNESS AND INNER PEACE (post 13)

ECONOMIC JUSTICE (post 14)

HONORING THE EARTH (post 14)

JOSEPH NAFT ON THE PATH OF LIBERATION (post 14)

+ I have linked to some great music including:

NEW SOUL (post 1) (unfortunately this link no longer works as of 11/28/11.  Hopefully I can find a new one for this great song,)

+ I have cyber-explored some places on the planet including:

ROCHESTER (post 8)
FENWAY PARK (post 13)

OUR CURRENT UNEMPLOYMENT CRISIS IS HUGE

+ DailyKos offers "Official Unemployment Hits 9.5%" by Meteor Blades. Excerpts:

• "The official count – known as U3 and dutifully reported by most of the media – fails to show the true extent of the wreckage."
• "In late May, 74% of economists surveyed by the National Association of Business Economists said the economy would begin expanding this quarter although they expected unemployment to continue rising into 2010 before beginning its recovery. One disturbing trend can be found in how long it took in the four previous recessions before the number of workers with jobs equaled the number employed at the beginning of those recessions. In 1974, the job recovery took 19 months; in 1981, 28 months; in 1991, 32 months; in 2001, 47 months."
• "'There are going to be massive, massive numbers of people who are out of work for long periods of time,' said Andrew Stettner, deputy director for the National Employment Law Project. 'It’s one of the most important aspects of where the economy is right now.'"
• "(A) pair of scary charts (in the article) compare the past 40 years. The first shows a huge rise in the current recession over past years of workers who have permanently lost their jobs instead of being temporarily laid off. The second shows that for every job opening there are now nearly six people queued for it."

GO TO ARTICLE

A RENEWED CALL FOR A GREEN NEW DEAL

Common Dreams offers "Why We Should Listen to the Protesters: The way out of the credit and the climate crunch is the same - a Green New Deal" by Johann Hari. Here are some excerpts:

+ We are facing a collapsed economy and a rapidly warming world because an extreme ideology has dominated world affairs for decades.

+ The climate is currently going the same way as the banks. Last month, the world's climate scientists gathered in Copenhagen to explain we are facing "devastating consequences" - not in some distant future, but in my lifetime and yours.

+ A major study by the University of Massachusetts compared the effects of an old-style stimulus that simply gives people more cash to a green stimulus. They found that a green stimulus creates four times more jobs, and three times more "good jobs", defined as those that pay more than $16 per hour. Why? Because a green stimulus is labour-intensive: you spend more money on people and less on machines. And the money you spend stays at home, making it easier to sell: you can only insulate a loft in Hull in Hull; you can only build a wind farm in the Mid-West in the Mid-West.

WEALTH AS PROGRESSIVES DEFINE IT

Common Dreams offers "Beyond Scarcity: Re-Inventing Wealth in a Progressive World" by Joe Brewer. Excerpts:

• We are bound to make the world in our own image. So we had better be sure we have the right values in mind as we think about our selves in this historic transition.
• Conservatives treat wealth as material accumulation - those who show discipline and work hard can be seen through their material success. We progressives see wealth at a more fundamental level. The progressive understanding of wealth comes from a deeper idea: Wealth is seen as the well-being of individuals, society, and the earth. Wealth is already present in nature; it is not “created.” Clean air and water, strong communities, and fertile soils are inherently valuable because our well-being depends on them – independent of markets.
• The source of our wealth is the foundation of well-being. Our rewards are many - providing for our families while also resting peacefully at night because we devote ourselves to helping our neighbors. One very important way that we protect our communities is by challenging perspectives that threaten our ability to provide for one another. We reject the false choice of “making money” versus “doing good” and instead create new institutions that promote well-being across society by valuing the work of nonprofit employees, teachers, social workers, and anyone else who dedicates themselves to the betterment of society.