The first and second awareness

What is it that leads us to a place of repentance and what does it mean for us practically today, in every moment of life?

How do we recognize the “great kindness” that surrounds and covers us all?

Let’s start with the latter.

The first awareness that we as humans must have is this: each of us did absolutely nothing to be born.

How would you answer the question, “Where were you and what were you doing during the rennaisance?” You likely would be confused by such an odd question because during the renaissance you just… weren’t.

That is why we need to gain the awareness of our “nothingness,” of the fact that you and I have done nothing to earn the right to experience this life. You, through the same set of natural forces that brought the universe into existence, have been brought forth to experience reality and all the pain, suffering, anguish, love, joy, and hope it has to offer.

The second awareness is this: blessing and flourishing already exist in all things, all around you.

Because you did nothing to earn life, anything that allows you to maintain it becomes a blessing. Every bite of bread and every sip of wine you take is an absolute blessing from that which all things find life, the ground of being itself.

I define flourishing as having both the capacity to create meaningful change and to take meaningful risk. When using this lens to view our lives, flourishing becomes apparent all around us, in every decision we make and every chance we take.

In combination, I call these two awarenesses the Great Kindness of Existence.

However, a problem usually arises from this: “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” There is no favoritism shown when it comes to the Great Kindness. It does not act as we would have it, as we see justice.

There is an inherent grace to existence.

Yet, through meditation, struggle, and work one is led to a place of repentance.

To repent means to allow this awareness to wash away our contempt for others.

To repent is to recognize that each breath is a good gift, undeserved and unearned from that which gives life.

To repent is to recognize the bitterness and malcontent you have for life…

and

let

it

go.

Simply put. To repent is to change your mind.

“Or do you show contempt for that riches of His kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”

– Romans 2:4

Often in the history of humanity we have not recognized that this level of awareness does not come through coercion, force, or even logic necessarily. But rather, it is through kindness, tolerance, and patience that we recognize it and, therefore, it is through the same mechanism that others will acknowledge it as well. Undeserved kindness, unearned tolerance, and unlimited patience lead us back to the core truth of our being: we have done nothing to earn the right to experience this life. We were created ex nihilo, out of nothing we came and to nothing we shall return.

Therefore, there is nothing you can do to make yourself more worthy, more loved, more accepted.

You are already there.

You belong as much as any other person who has existed.

All we can do is be grateful for this Great Kindness; thankful for the amazing, incredible, good gift of life itself.

 

Grace and Mercy ⇒ Peace and Love