Each morning I sit at my desk with a view as Dawn paints a variety of coral pinks on the sandstone outcrops of La Cumbra Peak. I have lived in various places in Santa Barbara... some where I saw Dawn rise from a completely different perspective. In San Roque Cathedral Peak looked greater than La Cumbra Peak. Elevation wise the two aren't even close and I think of these views sometimes when I get locked into my own beliefs. I.e., Christian imagery of life after death is everywhere in our culture. I don’t dismiss it, nor in anyway intend to demean this outlook; but, I do believe that it is important that I ought to be free, but careful, when I express my own spiritual imagery of the unknowable.
I came to believe with raw nerves and was sensitive to every implication and nuance expressed by folks I met on "the path". I know that I was barely able to tolerate most people’s concept of God and dismissed any and all visions of life after death; whether it would be the Christian heaven/hell or the Eastern ideas about reincarnation. To me it was adding an additional burden of belief onto an already sketchy proposition that God could and would relieve me of my disease if He were sought. Even using the male pronoun for my ambiguous perceptions of God was too much to swallow. I now understand that my own ideas are not superior to anyone else’s along these lines, that it is imperative that I respect the beliefs of others and do the best I can to not become dismissive of them.As I awaken now I see a variety of colors painting the landscape of a universal love some call God. And I understand that, as I move in position, those views change with me.
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