A Continuous Process of Growth

To all the prophets of doom, the naysayers and the negativists who have done little more than whine endlessly while foretelling imminent doom over the last two years, I have this to say.

Bah, humbug!

Amateurs are terrifically annoying. When will these men and women start to pay attention to the real signs of the times rather than their apocalyptic fantasies? Put another way, if you are incapable of hurtling a truly effective jeremiad, don’t bother. Nonprofessionals who do so are tedious rather than alarming.

If you want the end of the world, this old prophet is here to tell you that it’s possible. But it will be the end of your world, your life. You have free will. If you choose to end your life before the next batch of miracles get started, that’s up to you.

It’s not time for the end of this world.

The apocalypse is nowhere close. Unless you happen to be living in a galaxy where the sun is about to become a red giant.

In that case, jump!

Our lives are a continuous process of growth, whether we live for but a second or a hundred years. It makes no difference. Life is our spiritual job. We were born to dig deeply, constantly, unrelentingly within ourselves to learn the true purpose of our being.

You, like me, are here to add value not merely to our own lives and that of our families and a few close friends. We are here to expand the meaning of all creation.

I remember polio and its devastation. We were incredibly excited at the thought of vaccines.

Since the 1980’s I’ve watched the devastation of AIDS across the world. Hope plays off against fear. Forty years later many countries remain without effective treatments. Weekly in the United States dozens of undiagnosed and untreated men and women die from AIDS. Around the world humans continue to die from an epidemic that can be treated, if not cured.

Yet.

For reasons beyond my comprehension, the existence of Coronavirus variants baffles most people. Live through an epidemic or two. It’s a great way to learn that variants are normal.

Diseases grow and change. Like teenagers.

What about you?

At the end of 2021 A.D. have you matured into someone greater than you were one or two years ago? Someone better?

What are you doing about life? How are you growing? What have you done this year that is new, more beneficial, unlike anything ever before in your life?

How have you spent your life busting out of the old spiritual prison walls surrounding you? How have you become more the human being you always wanted to be?

If you’ve focused on the negativist prophets of idiocy, stop right this very minute. You do not have the right or permission to continue.

You have spiritual work to do. You need to become more deeply the person you were put in this life to be. You are needed to develop creation.

Starting right this second your job is to drag yourself into our present reality. The one where, in spite of illness, death, political stupidity and breathtaking economic fluctuations that have us all on our heels, you move forward with your life.

Life is a continuous process of spirited growth. In the event that no one else has told you that you can move ahead with your life — no matter what — I’m here to give you the word.

Do it.

Decide how you are giving up sluggish nonspiritual lethargy. Give up self-pity. Put aside reflexive self-centeredness. It drags us down. It leaves us in the depths of spiritual self-destruction.

That is boring.

It is perfectly acceptable to have a positive attitude about life and where we are as human beings. All of us. Together. Yes, the world is going through hard times. So what? This is not new. We’ve been there before and, because of our strength, grit and determination, we’ve come through.

Human beings have been through hard times since this planet was created. Tough times will continue until the lights go out.

We get through the hard times when we pick up the gauntlet. When we are willing to progress through hard times back to greater stability. Yes, these are hard times. That doesn’t give anyone the right to throw in the towel. Going to extremes only leaves us in extremities.

Growing, moving forward, becoming more ourselves, moves us forward.

Leave this year growing toward whomever it is you will be next.