Image by Gerd Altmann
Narrated by Marie T. Russell.
Editor's Note: As you read this article, if you're not comfortable with "religious" terms or if the name "God" doesn't match up with your beliefs, you can use the word Love instead of the word God.
Most human beings want the same thing. Food. Shelter. Clothing. Good health. A sense of purpose. Education. Productive work. Prosperity. Friendship. Love. Happiness. For some, children and grandchildren. Inner peace. A meaningful existence. A life of decency and dignity. A worthy legacy.
If we want all these things for ourselves, then how much more do we want them for our children and our children’s children and generations yet unborn.
And most of us think that this is what God wants for us too.
We are saddened when we see people who think that accumulation of wealth and communal standing, and establishing influence and power, will bring satisfaction through prominence and prestige—even if it takes cutthroat business practices, ruthless competition, and unfettered greed.
And in so many ways we see the world diminished when we witness that the greatest motivation of big business and multinational corporations (with some notable and praiseworthy exceptions) is making huge profits, accumulating wealth, and gaining territorial and political power and prestige.
Add to this the shadow-secrets that exist when there are so many actions hidden from public view by the wealthiest and most powerful people in the world who use their fortunes to manipulate and attempt to control the world for their own purposes.
There is nothing wrong with striving for monetary gain. It is in many ways a measure of success. It provides for the necessities and perhaps some of the luxuries of life. And happily, good and well-meaning people often use their wealth to promote and support worthy causes.
Yet, all too often, self-serving people and entities darken the world’s pursuit of Oneness and fragment the journey toward love.
Deathbed Wishes: I Wish That...
Every time I have visited a seriously ill person and every time I have prayed with a dying person, no one has ever said to me, “I wish I had spent more time on my business. I wish that I had bought a fancier house, more cars, better golf clubs. I wish that I had gotten more degrees, more titles, more awards.”
No. Sick and dying people have said to me, “I wish I had spent more time with my wife/husband/partner. I wish I had spent more time with my children—more baseball games, dance recitals, camping trips, campus visits—more playing with the grandchildren. I wish I had spent more time at my synagogue, church, mosque, temple. I wish I had spent more time volunteering in my community, helping where I could.
"I wish that my family will remember me for my presence, not for my absence, and my friends will remember me for how much I cared about their lives. I wish that I will be remembered not for getting but for giving. I wish that my children will count their inheritance not in money, but in how much I loved them.”
Why should every human being not want the same thing? Why should self-interest and self-aggrandizement override the personal need for a life of satisfaction and honor and for the collective need for a world of love and loving kindness?
What We and Our World Need The Most
How do we get what we really want—what we and our world need the most?
How do we live worthy and worthwhile lives and attain what is really important to us and right for the entire world?
There are still far too many who are left on the outside looking in.
Ambition, hard work, and devotion to achieving a life well-lived all too often are thwarted by the ills of society—racism, discrimination, the cycle of poverty, the drug culture, and the violence that erupts when dreams are shattered and hopes are crushed.
Once, a while ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson (from 1963–1969) declared a “War on Poverty.” Tragically, in all too many places, poverty won. We found that there was no magic wand, no magic formula to cure the ailments that beset us.
It is now up to us to reverse the failure. Those who “have” can—and must—find the prescription to boost up those who “have not.” There does not have to be a socialist- or communist-driven imperative for total equality. But there can be a formula that enables us to move toward a coequal and just existence.
An economically segregated society is no longer acceptable. And it is no longer tolerable that so many people do not have what they need and want.
The Voice of God
From the depths of our knowing, the Voice of God speaks to us:
“My precious children. I have given you all the resources you need to provide for and take care of yourselves. You have the ability to have all you want—not just for the few, but for all—if only you will truly understand that I made all of you, and that I want the best for each of you, and that you can use the talents I have given you to care for and about each other.
“If you have been blessed with good fortune, please share your bounty.
“If you have been blessed with prosperity, please share your resources.
“If you have been blessed with contentment, please share your joy.
“And to My sweetest children—who feel as if you do not have what you want, you often face disappointment, you feel left out or beaten up by life—please hold My hand.
“If your spirits have been broken by the vicissitudes of life, together we can revive them.
“If your souls have been soiled by the grime and pollution of life, together we can purify them.
“If your hearts have been hardened by the disillusionments and sorrows of life, together we can soften and heal them.
“How? Trust in yourSelves. Trust in each other. Trust in Me.
“Be strong and of good courage.
“Together, we can overcome.”
God is not like Santa Claus, whom we can ask for worldly possessions, good grades on a test, or victory for our favorite sports team. God is our guide and our protector. God provides strength, courage, direction, and vision for our journey, and sets us on the pathway to self-determination and accomplishment.
And God reminds us that, ultimately, success is not measured by what we have, but by who we are—solid in our sense of Self and filled with soul-satisfaction.
What a world it would be if every person could know with absolute certainty that there is no need for competition or dominance or a lust for power, but that there is more than enough in this world for every human being to have everything we each need and desire, and to live in love and peace.
Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted with permission of the publisher
Monkfish Book Publishing. MonkfishPublishing.com/
Article Source
Radical Loving: One God, One World, One People
by Wayne Dosick.
For many of us, it feels as if our world is breaking apart. Long-held, comfortable beliefs are being shattered, and we face unprecedented questions and challenges. How do we heal the harsh divisions of class, race, religion, and cultures that plague us? How do we vanquish sexism, rigid fundamentalism, unabashed nationalism, senseless hatred, and violent terrorism? How do we save our precious planet from the threats to its very existence?
In this book is a bold, visionary, Spirit-filled blueprint for the redemption, transformation, and evolution of our emerging new world through radical loving and a day-to-day sense of the sacred. With age-old wisdom wrapped in contemporary garb, sweet, inspiring stories, keen insights, and gentle guidance, Radical Loving is a call to renewal and to Oneness?a promise that Earth can be Eden once again.
For more info and/or to order this book, click here.
About the Author
RABBI WAYNE DOSICK, Ph.D., D.D., is an educator, writer, and spiritual guide who teaches and counsels about faith, ethical values, life transformations, and evolving human consciousness. Well-known for his quality scholarship and sacred spirit, he is the rabbi of The Elijah Minyan, a retired visiting professor at the University of San Diego, and the host of the monthly Internet radio program, SpiritTalk Live! heard on HealthyLife.net. He is the award-winning author of nine critically acclaimed books, including the now-classic Living Judaism, Golden Rules, The Business Bible, When Life Hurts, 20 Minute Kabbalah, Soul Judaism, The Best is Yet To Be, Empowering Your Indigo Child, and, most recently, The Real Name of God: Embracing the Full Essence of the Divine.
For more info, visit https://elijahminyan.com/rabbi-wayne
More books by this Author.