QUALIA LXII: Living a Life of Quiet Desperation: Walking a Mile in Their Shoes or in His Shoes? From the QUFD website, at: http://go.to/QUF D

QUALIA LXII: Living a Life of Quiet Desperation: Walking a Mile in Their Shoes or in His Shoes?


Exploring QUFD Principles,
from the QUFD website,
at: http://go.to/QUFD

By Father Jerome

  1. This will be a personal 'reflection'. That I might consider my 'Life' to be a Life of quiet 'desperation', perhaps I might say is a reflection upon the varied circumstances of the various protagonists of the popular ABC-TV sitcom "Desperate Housewives". Just like those 'Perfect' and 'Not-So-Perfect' lives, my Life and its circumstances have evolved to 'Be' That Which They/It Are/Is. This is not to say that I am not 'comfortable' with my Life but there are certain things that always seem as though they could be better!

  2. But, as an ordinary human being, just like anyone else... Okay, I'll 'qualify' that! I'll say, "To a Certain Extent...", further implying that, Yes, I have made certain 'decisions' in my Lifetime, some of which I might say that I am 'proud' thereof but also others that I'm not so 'proud' of! But, I guess, again, this merely places me quite squarely and certainly with the rest of us!

  3. And this is not to say that I might have 'issues and concerns', just like anyone else! Because, the 'Reality' of my Life is that I do NOT have, almost any of the nominal 'issues and concerns', that might normally belabor anyone else, and certainly those protagonists of "Desperate Housewives"! Because, those nominal financial/economic, domestic/personal/professional-relationships, spiritual-religious and familial 'connections'... I just seem to have avoided, passed-over or long forgotten!

  4. So, in comparison to those 'desperate housewives' (and others!), I just do not have to 'deal with' or worry about any of that 'stuff' (which saves me from unimaginable stresses and strains!) For this, I am glad and relatively 'happy' therewith, in that such a 'Life' has been the result, consciously or unconsciously, of 'decisions' and 'choices' made a long time back and continuously in my Life that, as I have said, I can mostly be quite 'Proud'of!

  5. But, again, let me 'qualify' that statement just made! Because, again, this is not to say that I haven't 'been there'! Actually, the Reality is, that I HAVE 'Been There, Done That'! (Played the 'Game', i.e., spiritual, religious, financial, job/career, familial and all kinds of personal and professional 'relationships'!) It is just that, I have 'moved on'!

  6. So, I remember exactly what those circumstances and 'realities' are/were about! (Well, at least my subconscious, in the Collective, does!) Even the circumstances of the times when I was 'On Top of the World', as it might be called, in whatever it was that I was involved with at such a time! And even the very detailed circumstances of my homelessness and poverty, and the trials that I did endure!

  7. So, as I say, I've 'Been There, Done That', with regard to the usual things of a person's 'Life'! But the somewhat 'quandaries' and 'issues/concerns' of my Life now, revolve around those consequences and circumstances that are the result of the combined 'decisions/choices' that I have made, mostly to forego almost all of the above and to... follow my Heart, Soul and Consciousness!

  8. And it hasn't been easy, doing so, as my homelessness, poverty and lack of most all nominal 'essentials-of-a-human-Life' do attest thereto! But it HAS, mostly and Graciously (and Thankfully!), been 'Happy'... and I use THAT word with 'qualification', in that I can be 'Happy' with what I 'have', which is not to say that I could be even MORE 'Happier', in different circumstances! But, I DO Accept, That Which Is!

  9. Anyway, to get to the 'gist-of-the-matter', the 'quandaries' and 'issues/concerns' that I have, do relate to the relative 'Happiness' that I DO have now. Because, as the title hereof implies, it is both a matter of What I Do and of What I don't Do, and sometimes there is Conflict and sometimes there is Harmony with these 'issues'!

  10. Because, inevitably, as a logical consequence of the basic 'decisions/choices' that I have made, regarding my Outlook or Viewpoint, or Perspective-On-Life, almost any and everything that I 'experience', or am 'exposed to', causes me to not only evaluate (i.e., Judge!) that 'experience', not only in the 'light of' my own personal 'Perspective', but also with respect to the 'Ultimate Perspective', of Right versus Wrong or Good versus Bad! And, Believe Me, the 'results' of such 'considerations', can be quite 'trying' upon the Soul!

  11. Because, at any moment of my Life, I can be 'experiencing' (and 'feeling'!) the 'Reality', of someone's situation somewhere, whether actually (in Reality!) or in retrospect ('In Virtuo'!), via whatever the Media might be! And this brings me to the main point of this discussion... Does (or Should?) One 'Walk a Mile, in Another's Shoes', or Does (or Should?) One 'Walk a Mile, in His Shoes?'

  12. Because, for me (and this is my 'quandary'!), it is hard to Choose! I have 'feelings' that go both ways! I can 'feel' the humility, the humbleness and humanity of the human condition, but then, for the exact same situation, I can 'feel' His/Her Love, Compassion, Empathy and so much more, as though I was there, on the 'Other Side', the side of Spirit/the Soul, of such people(s), 'experiencing' both the humiliation and the Spirit of the people-who-do-thusly-suffer whatever it is that their 'situation' does bring, whether it be war and pestilence, or famine or atrocity, or disaster or any other man-made 'inhumanity-to-Man'! (This is, unfortunately AND most 'enlightenedly', a 'natural consequence', of one being able to 'access' the Collective Consciousness of all of Humanity, IN-the Moment)

  13. 'Being There', in the Collective Consciousness of Humanity, as I 'experience' the terrors and tragedies of Humanity, is most enlightening and most 'Humanizing'! But, 'Being There', as well, in the Consciousness-of-His/Her-'Regard-and Concern' for whatever-it-might-be that befalls His/Her 'People', can also be 'trying' and wrenching upon one's Soul! (AS one might so Be Granted such 'access' TO the Incorporeality and Consciousness of God IN-the-Moment, as determined ONLY by Him/Her, relative to the individual Soul and the circumstances so-Granted-Access thereto!)

  14. And I take this, and these, 'experience(s)' not-at-all lightly, because the Honor and Humility of Being Able to Walk A Mile, in BOTH Their as well as His/Her Shoes, is a Privilege that my situation-in-Life dost Grant and Accord unto me, and I am Most Grateful therefor. Because it has made me that which I am... in other words, I AM THAT I AM! The Human Being that ALL could, and should 'Be', as Each of Us was so Born to Be, in Accord with our Individual Destiny! (See An Evolutionary Maturity of the Human Mind, and the 'tale' of the great 'jig-saw-puzzle' that is Humanity!)

  15. So, this 'quandary', being both a Human and Spiritual 'issue' of Consciousness and the Realms of Incorporeality and Spirit, is a 'matter' not to be taken lightly, but it does, sometimes, leave me 'spent' and in-need-of 're-invigorisation' of one's Soul! But, unfortunately, that is a 'burden' that, in my circumstances, I find that I must 'Bear' alone and to the Fullest of my Soul, until such Time as such May No Longer Be! Until 'that Day', I Thank Him/Her, and Rejoice as well, in the manner of my 'Comrades', of the homeless, downtrodden and disenfranchised-of-this-World... (See Father Jerome's Ode to Sherman.)

Aum, Peace, Amen
Jerome

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