Spreading Some Light (Hopefully)

Good Morning My Confidants!

Everybody is wondering what and where they all came from...

Everybody is worrying 'bout where they're gonna go when the whole thing's done...

But no one knows for certain and so it's all the same to me....

I think I'll just let the mystery be.

I hope this finds you happy and well. And if it’s neither, then I hope that maybe something I say in this blog may make you happier, or feel better.

I believe in spreading happiness. Light. Love. I think it’s important. Because really, no matter what we believe, how strongly we believe, where our faith lies, we don’t know for absolute sure what happens next...after we leave this plain of existence. We don’t and won’t know who’s right and who’s wrong until it happens, until we breathe our last breath, when we are no more on this Earth.

I have had so many people in my life ask me, “Well if there is no heavenly reward, then what’s the point of all this?” A street evangelist asked me the same when I told her and her husband that I didn’t follow their way.  ”Why go through all of this? Why be a good person if when we die, it was for nothing?”

Well, I couldn’t disagree more. It isn’t for nothing. Not at all.

I used to work with this terrible person who was obviously a sociopath. And I asked him, “Why don’t you steal? Why don’t you kill those people that you hate so much?”

His answer?

“I could get caught and then I would have to go to jail.”

And all I could think of was, “Really? That’s why? Because you might get in trouble?” But then I didn’t know as much about sociopaths as I do now.

“How about because it makes the world a better place? How about because you don’t want anyone to steal your stuff? You don’t want anyone to kill you?”

He looked at me as if I had started speaking Farsi.

See, I don't think that being a “good” person is about some heavenly reward.

I know that’s not what my mother believes. She thinks that we need to be good good good good good so that we can be rewarded one day in Heaven with a big mansion and crowns and stuff. And that’s okay. I am not slamming her beliefs. Or anyone else's! That's not my place and I don't want to offend.

I mean I like the idea that we shouldn’t do good just so that we can get accolades and rewards. I hear that!

 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.” Matthew 6: 5 & 6

My only problem with it all comes just a little later in the chapter, with verses 19 through 21: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

For me it lies in those last words: “...there your heart will be also.”

Maybe a person is praying in their room in the dark where only their Father can see (and I am way cool with that) or giving in secret, because they aren’t looking for praises and tributes (and I am way cool with that as well!).

My “issue” is that “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven” part.

Because I don’t believe any of us know if there is a heaven or not. People want to believe. The idea that our allotted time on Earth is all there is scary. It seems especially unfair if it’s a baby or a child who dies. I totally get that. It really can be scary.

It really can make a person ask themselves, “Well then, why don’t I just f*ck everybody over, like my boss does and so-and-so does. They seem to be doing fine for themselves! Why am I doing the ‘right’ thing if nothing comes of it? Why did I waste my time?”

This is what I think.

I think that I want to have Heaven here on Earth. I want a good life. I want others to have a good life. Right here on Earth. I want to hold a door open for someone not because it adds another diamond to my crown, but because it helps another person out. I want to gift someone something they need because they need it and sometimes I have enough to share. It makes the world a better place. People who have a door held open for them often hold a door for someone else. I see it all the time with double sets of doors, and when I hold the first set and let them go first, and then they turn right around with a big smile and hold the second set for me!

And helping others feels good!

According to the article, “10 Benefits of Helping Others,” from University College London, “There is some evidence to suggest that when you help others, it can promote physiological changes in the brain linked with happiness... It creates a sense of belonging... volunteering enhances an individual’s overall sense of purpose and identity... help to put things into perspective and make you feel more positive about your own circumstances... people are more likely to perform feats of generosity after observing another do the same...This effect can ripple throughout the community, inspiring dozens of individuals to make a difference...” and it “can improve your ability to manage stress and stave off disease as well as increasing your sense of life satisfaction.” *

It's possible that this is only because of things like simply be that a “heightened sense of well-being might be the byproduct of being more physically active as a result of volunteering,” or “because it makes us more socially active,” and “volunteering alleviates loneliness and enhances our social lives.” **

But I think it’s a lot more than that.

For one thing, “helping others triggers a release of oxytocin”,*** and “oxytocin is a hormone produced in the brain that also acts as a chemical messenger and has an important role in many human behaviors and social interactions, including sexual arousal, recognition, trust, romantic attachment, and parent-infant bonding.” ****

So right there, rewards right here on Earth, and what’s wrong with that? Because if a God did create us, surely this God created oxytocin, and meant for it to do what it does. And if God didn’t have anything to do with it, it’s all the more reason to celebrate that helping each other feels good and is good for us! 

But I also believe something else. I very much believe that what we put out into the word comes back to us. That what we think about, and thank about, we bring about. I believe that it covers everything from stubbing our toe and our reaction to it (which spreads ripples outward that bring in more like ripples) or whether we help someone carry their groceries from their car to at least their front porch (which spreads ripples outward that bring in more like ripples). I truly believe that there is some kind of...I don’t know ... Universal Law that responds to everything we do. And therefor by helping others, by being good to others, by being fair to others, being truthful to others, reaching out a hand to others...why others are more willing to do the same, if not for us directly, then someone else in need.

And if we were to do simply do that, this world would be a Paradise.

And that answers the questions, “What’s the point of all this? Why go through all of this? Why be a good person if when we die, it was for nothing?”

Because it’s not for nothing! We are making a beautiful world! We are making a wonderful place for us all to live. Like bees making honey! And honey is not only delicious, but it makes us healthier. And IF it turns out that there is a reward in a life after this one, well so much the better! We helped each other not for “rewards,” but simply to make this planet a better one!

So what do you say? Let’s make some honey together! We could have a lot of fun!

Some say once you're gone you're gone forever

And some say you're gonna come back

Some say you rest in the arms of the Savior, if in sinful ways you lack

Some say that they're coming back in a garden

Bunch of carrots and little sweet peas

I think I'll just let the mystery be

Namasté,

BG “Gentle Ben” Thomas

Jan 4, 2024, Entry #004

 "Let the Mystery Be" lyrics by Iris DeMent

* 10 Benefits of Helping Others: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/students/news/2020/apr/10-benefits-helping-others

***  The Neuroscience of Giving: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/vitality/201404/the-neuroscience-giving

**** Oxytocin: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22618-oxytocin