Pass the Potatoes, Peas, and Philosophies

A childhood friend sent me this:

“God is a synergetic experience. Science can never reveal it, philosophy can never come to it – only a poetic approach, a very passive, very loving approach, can.” Osho

I had no knowledge of Osho, but these words seem full of wisdom. Come to find out, Osho was a well-known professor of philosophy who formed his own counter-religion, ministering mostly to the wealthy who richly rewarded him for assisting them in accepting their greed as good. It seems that Osho was a proponent of responsibility only to oneself.

Another friend who writes a spiritual blog wrote these words today:

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens (Ps. 68).

The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28)

We all recognize that eating once in awhile is not enough to sustain our lives; we must be fed constantly in order to live. God's ministry to us is constant and on-going; He bends low to hear our cry and to meet our daily need. And if He asks us to serve Him, it is that we may imitate Him by serving his "sheep." Jesus asked Simon Peter to "feed [His] sheep." from the blog One Bird Watching by Gayle Nolan

I came to adulthood, marriage, and motherhood at the time that gurus spread across the land promoting self-fulfillment through the pursuit of pleasures, irresponsible sex, and drugs. Many of these gurus became wealthy and were apparently worshiped by their followers, even when it was obvious that the gurus were using their followers to feed their own greed. We seem to easily fall into the trap of deifying people who pretend to lift our burdens, while they are actually feeding themselves and their own egos.

Even saints are also sinners; no person is infallible. We must stop allowing those with the loudest voices and longest speeches to take over our consciousness. A truly spiritual person sets an example and then leaves their own spirit to continue to inspire us. He or she does not need the constant control of others to feel powerful.

Like a good grandmother who offers a peaceful place at her table to all who come, much of enlightenment happens when we are simply having our physical needs met. But we must be careful of those who offer easy fixes like mind altering substances and soulless sex, and feed our greed with fear of not enough to go around which leads to competition and hoarding.

A good grandmother offers assistance, but expects that the family values will be taken from her table to the hearts and minds of others. The spirit of the family is offered with the lovingly shared fruits of the labors of each member who contributed to the meal. Perhaps we should take the time to look at our own families and define what values we want to pass on as we pass the potatoes and peas.