So, what is meant by, sacred truth, you ask? I’m not referring to “truth” as purely “religious” or only as a Divine revelation bestowed upon the faithful, but truth as tantamount to the ideals of respect, trust, and fidelity. It’s a truth that fills you with faith and assurance enough to dare being vulnerable outside yourself, while instilling a sense of mystery and wonder as to where that vulnerability may lead. It’s a truth that speaks boldly to power while maintaining awareness and understanding of the broken humanity behind that power.

In the years leading up to the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, another pandemic was already in the throes of infecting our collective psyche. Those with power, influence, or other self-serving motivations have been creatively finding “alternative” ways of managing reality. Many of these managed realities (conspiracy theories, etc.), once established, have created a near airtight bubble intended to funnel propaganda and to influence the adherents they attract with cult-like potency. Whether it’s politics, science, medicine or religion, the powerful and influential have mastered the art of not just influence, but near mind-control over their perceived minions. They continue to apathetically fracture the soul of our nation for political, sometimes ideological, and often monetary gain. The Covid pandemic simply opened up windows of opportunity to a degree most of us have never seen before.

To navigate these muddied waters and discern actual truth from ‘alternative’ truth, we must wander aimfully. Many factors, including social media, have made navigating what’s “actual/factual“ from what’s nefariously “conceived/perceived,” an inevitably exhausting task. Sure, you could use your gut instincts and just jump straight into this thick mist of misinformation and fracas of pseudo facts. Of course, that may lead you from one cesspool of lies and half-truths to another. You could also decide to simply take aim to scrutinize, fact-check, and research every suspect postulation you come across using the scientific method or other sound investigative methodology. Though, that time-consuming approach would most likely lead to any number of resultant conditions including mental exhaustion; divorce; loss of friends; questioning your very reason for existing; and losing any remaining sense of wonder in life.

To wander aimfully and wonder always is to combine the reason and intellect of a steely-eyed skeptic, with the soul of a wide-eyed student of truth and life. It’s being “wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove” in rooting out, at the source, all and everyone that seeks to create a false altar of “truth.”

The starting point is being honest with yourself, understanding your own wandering biases, and aiming to engage in critical thinking in order to challenge what you may want to be true with a mirror of actual facts and evidence. It continues with maintaining a sense of wonder, always keeping your faith, instincts, and intuition close at hand, lending soulfulness to the truth you may uncover while instilling compassionate understanding as you pass it on.

Let’s make truth…sacred truth…a noble pursuit again; beginning with ourselves.

Michael

It’s a new year! New beginnings can sometimes bring along with them a bit of the ”same old, same old” in tow as baggage. It’s our choice whether to winnow away some of that baggage or just try to keep it at bay and hope it doesn’t crowd our path. Of course, new year resolutions are often one of those mechanisms we use to deal with old baggage. The truth is, they can sputter and fizzle out as the days and weeks go by while we scheme to simply do something different or new…to make a change.

We’re still in our first official month of winter that began way back with the Winter Solstice on Dec. 21. The word solstice is derived from the Latin sol (“sun”) and sistere (“to stand still”). That’s because at the solstices, the sun’s declination appears to stand still. That is, the seasonal movement of the sun’s daily path (as seen from earth) stops at a northern or southern limit before reversing direction.

Sometimes, as we’re looking to make improvements or change directions in our lives, we first need to step back at the proper moments and simply stand still. Being still, observing and taking inventory is often more important than the diving in and taking action to accomplish what we think needs to be done. That’s because what needs to be done may not be as obvious as we believe and can even ironically get lost in our whirlwind of activity trying to address it.

This past month has also been the season of Christmas which, in contrast to its historical roots with the singing of “Silent Night” and the like, is perhaps the least still and silent season of the year! Though, if you follow the Western Christian calendar, you’ll notice that the 12^th day of Christmas actually concluded on Jan. 5, and the day of Epiphany (meaning to “reveal,” “show,” or “bring to light”) has now emerged. We can even notice the days slowly becoming brighter and longer…at least if we stand still long enough to look intently at the workings of this world around us.

Well, the solstice has long past and the sun has been on the move, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be. So, as we enter a new decade (depending on how you count it), take some time to stand still and let the light in. It just might give you the opportunity to see with clearer vision and insight as you navigate this year of 2020 and well beyond.

Peace,

Michael