Month: February 2020

Over the last several years, I’ve questioned my spirituality, and, with guidance, I’ve come to accept that even a Humanist like me can be a spiritual being.

Recently, I was at the Kimbell Museum in Ft. Worth to see a Renoir exhibit, another very nicely curated exhibit which I enjoyed very much.

The exhibit was not large, so it only took about an hour to see the entire thing and there was time to go back and look at those that I was particularly drawn to, which I did.

 Afterwards, as Susan wandered through the gift shop, I took the opportunity to visit the Kimbell’s own exhibits which are very good and often overlooked when you come to see the major travelling exhibits.

One piece, a sculpture from China, Seated Arhat, was quite interesting and I stood, viewing it from all angles for quite some time.  I read the background as well as some information on the religious/cultural/spiritual significance of the piece and what, an Arhat is.

In Buddhist theology, an Arhat is one who’s achieved perfection but has delayed entering Nirvana so that they may aid others.  This simple piece seemed to draw me into my own thoughts as I contemplated my own journey.  Not as a perfect being but as a normal human being who’s searching for enlightenment, the meaning of his life and where he’s headed.

I’m thankful for friends who have contributed to my search without judgement and without prejudice. Some I guess are just meant to be guides, do they know that?  I hope they do, they make the way so much easier for those of us searching. And, it’s a special gift.

I wonder where my journey will take me.  One spiritual step in front of the last.  Yet another quest.

So that they may aid others…

I often think of music lyrics when certain events happen, sort of like the soundtrack to my life.  Recently, The Beatles song, The Long and Winding Road has been playing in my head.

Interestingly, this song was not inspired by a lost love but instead, Paul McCartney wrote it as the Beatles, as a group, were coming apart and it was his longing for better and happier times when things were simpler.  Certainly, the lyrics were written to sound like it was about losing a friend or lover but, the impetus was the band breakup, change.

Life is like that; people come and go in our lives, life is complicated.  I was married and divorced prior to meeting my wife.  We’ve all had friends who have transitioned through our lives, some stuck while others are only a distant memory.  Our parents, grand-parents, friends and others only live so long, as do we.  Not too long ago, I lost a friend of many years.  Unfortunately, I’m losing yet another to Alzheimer’s.

Sadly, I know that’s just how life works.  People come and go physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Interestingly, the spiritual loss, something that until recently was unknown to me, may be the most difficult.  Like a ship without a rudder pitching precariously in a sea of uncertainty. 

It’s said that the only constant in life is change, isn’t that the truth.  We forge on as the world and its players change before our eyes.  We adapt and make sure we savior each moment because in the blink of an eye, things are reset and, we begin again, ready or not.