Jubilee...

...is a somewhat odd word. Usually, it pertains to some kind of musical event or celebration, but it simply is not used much these days. In fact, not only is it an odd word, but it also represents a rather odd concept.

Ancient Jewish custom honored the "Year of Jubilee", which happened every 49 years. Here is the strange part--during this year, all property had to be restored to its original condition and to its original owner. In other words, it didn't matter how many times property had changed hands during those almost five decades. It didn't matter if one found himself in a desperate situation and sold his property for some quick cash. It didn't matter if the original owner was homeless and penniless and twenty pounds overweight. The land returned to the original owner during that year.

The idea, in that day, was that nothing is really ours. We don't really own anything. All our efforts to accumulate property and money and fame and popularity are really very much in vain. We entered this world with nothing, and we will leave it with nothing.

Some would say this is socialism. Perhaps it is. Some would say this is ludicrous. And, to be honest, it sounds like it is. Some would say this is Utopian and impossible. It's hard to argue with that.

Or, maybe, there's some wisdom here. Maybe everything we strive after truly is "here today, gone tomorrow". Maybe everything we claim to "own" really belongs to nobody in particular, or to somebody far above us. Maybe we need to reintroduce this word "jubilee" into our language. And maybe we need to allow this concept to influence our worldviews as well.

Equality...

...is a simple mathematical concept. Beyond the math, it becomes foggy, misunderstood, and darn-near unattainable. "All men (people) are created equal." We believe in that. Or, maybe, we merely believe some folks pronounced that a long, long time ago. Belief, however, is always proven by behavior. We act based on what we believe.

We're scared of being labeled as an opponent of equality. Such a label means we might possibly be racist, sexist, intolerant, or downright mean. Therefore, we have no beef with the "equality" of all people. Instead, we just say that certain folks are "different" than us. They are "not like" us. And on a certain level, that's true. Every person looks different than every other person, for the most part. Hair, eyes, skin, facial features, height, and weight vary for each person. Values differ for many of us. Language differs for many of us. Personality differs for many of us. Yep, folks aren't like each other.

The problem surfaces when "not like us" becomes "not one of us". We don't easily accept what's "different", therefore we tacitly reject it. Oh, we may not verbalize such rejection. But one can see it in our uneasiness around certain people. One can observe it in the change in our expression. One can hear it in the condescending tone of our voice. Before you know it, not only are those people "not like us", but we treat them--however unknowingly--as though they were beneath us. Where's the equality in that?

All people are created equal? I very much believe that. But I certainly don't believe it because it came from the mouth of any human.

Justice...

...escapes me, to be honest. I just don't think I fully understand the concept, but I like to think I'm getting there. If you demonstrate "justice", you do what is "just", meaning "fair" or "right". The problem is we tend to look at justice with a comic book mentality. You know, something like: "You've been chosen as part of the Justice Squadron, meeting at the Fortress of Solitude!" It's all about bringing criminals to justice. Vengeance shall be ours. People do wrong, and, by bringing justice to the situation, we make things right.

But doesn't it go deeper than that? Don't we believe that we are all created equal? Shouldn't every human have the same rights as every other human? To be sure, humans make detrimental decisions, and those decisions have consequences. But does that mean we should assume that the homeless man, the divorced woman, and the angry teenager find themselves in those circumstances simply because they screwed up? After all, aren't we all, in some way, screw-ups?

People need to be free, and a lot of folks everywhere are not. People need to be free to choose their path in life--not a path of wanton selfishness but a path that betters humanity and themselves. This freedom is not something we necessarily deserve. In fact, one could easily argue that humanity deserves bondage and punishment. Rather, this freedom simply seems right. It seems to be the intended order of things. If justice is truly defined as that which makes things right, then this "qualified freedom" must be available to all. And, moreover, all the selfishness, hatred, and violence must be eliminated from our world, because those are the things that inhibit such a freedom.

So it's election day. You tell me which of these two fellows is going to pull that off...

Community...

...is a completely foreign concept, at least here in America. We've taken the patriotic concept of "independence" and twisted it to mean "privacy", or "no trespassing", or "stay the heck away from me!". Self-reliance is highly valued. One shouldn't have to depend on others. Rather, we should all be able to make it on our own. Of course, "self-reliance" is probably a fancy word for "foolish pride".

A neighbor is no longer someone with whom you have a connection. Instead, it's a term based solely on geographic proximity. A "family meal" is rare enough these days, so you can imagine how often we get together as a close-knit community to dine. Sharing is not too popular. Borrowing (with interest) appears to be the favored path. Our children seem to learn the word "mine" without ever hearing anybody verbalize it.

There just might be a problem with this whole way of life. It inhibits love. When we isolate ourselves and merely focus on how circumstances affect us (or our families), then we tend to become enamored with the self. And love, it would seem, was not meant to be an inward thing. It's meant to be shared. So, thanks to a skewed view of "independence", we become a loveless society. We either experience the widespread absence of love, also called indifference, or we suffer under the burden of love's counter, also known as hatred.

Get what you can get for you and yours. It's the American way. But what's it costing us?

Politics...

...suck. Forgive such a crass observation, but one would be hard-pressed to argue with it. For the most part, politicians are in it for themselves--at least that's how it seems. Blanket statements are made about "caring for the public", "providing equal opportunity", and "returning the nation to the people". And, if elected, these politicians will legislate all this while sitting in a million-dollar mansion, wearing a three-thousand-dollar suit (or pants suit, if you will), and donning a four-hundred-dollar haircut. To be sure, some of them really do mean well. But the political machine sucks them in and consumes them. Their noble pursuits are drowned out in a sea of bureaucratic red tape and meaningless policies and procedures.

And what of this business of "returning the nation to the people"? Frankly, I don't know that we'd do such a good job of running this place. Even if, by some miracle, we put a person in office who actually delivered on a promise to take care of us, do we think he or she could really do it? Will everyone's needs--or better, desires--be met? If Person A wants "this", and Person B demands "that", how in the world can "the people" run the nation? There is too much dissension, too much selfishness, too much unintelligent drivel out there. Before you know it, "the people" have paralyzed the nation.

Maybe we'd be better off if the real authority didn't lie in the hands of any person whatsoever. Hey, there's a novel concept...

Awareness...

...is quite possibly the key to everything. Those who are best at what they do--be they doctors, athletes, teachers, or what have you--are often those who are most aware of the present needs and constant variations of their surroundings. The Enlightenment period pushed the concept of awareness to new heights. We entered the Age of Reason. Our common sense and ability to logically process data created a profound sense of self-awareness in our society.

And self-awareness is a very good thing--for the most part. We need to constantly evaluate ourselves, being aware of those tendencies that pull us off-course. A problem arises, however, when self-awareness becomes self-obsession. Sadly, this is often the case. We become consumed with what we think. We cannot see beyond how certain situations affect us. Through reason, sound thinking, and trained ability, we can push through any difficulty and accomplish anything.

Of course, obsession borders on worship. You worship that which you spend the most time focusing on. So, in many ways, humanity worships itself. We are the be-all and the end-all. Thus, our object of worship becomes the Nobel Prize-winning scientist, the Olympic athlete, the suave politician, or the heroic rescuer.

But if the obsession really is with humanity in general, then the object of worship is also the child abuser, the rapist, the serial killer, the man who lies for a living, the woman who cheats on her husband, and the hit-and-run driver. That, my friends, is one schizophrenic object of worship.

Ah, humanity. We are so aware of ourselves, our own needs, and our own surroundings. Yet many of us are aware of little else. We run and scurry, fuss and hurry over a measly little life that lasts just over seventy years. And the eternal things? No need to be aware of those, because we couldn't have invented them...

Ignorance...

...is bliss? That's how the saying goes. And there's definitely some truth to that statement. Sometimes we are better off not knowing. We shield our kids from certain "ways of the world" that are evil or destructive. It's pretty tough to argue with doing something like that.

Of course, ignorance can also be an excuse. We prefer to stay in the dark about certain truths. That way, when we fail to live up to those truths, we can play the "I didn't know" card. But this begs the question: Do we really not know?

We probably know more than we let on. There is something within us that tells us right from wrong. Deep down, we know a whole lot more. We just don't want to embrace it. We don't want to confront the fact that there are certain inescapable, universal truths out there. We avoid the confrontation because such a confrontation would require life evaluation, soul-searching, and even (gulp!) change on our part.

Maybe we should say ignorance is temporary bliss. If you haven't noticed, the Truth tends to come out. And once the Truth is out there and obvious to everyone, we can no longer claim ignorance. And if we haven't embraced that Truth, yet we now know about it, that means we have rejected it. Who knows what the consequences for such rejection might be?

Competition...

...fuels the fire. Of course, fire can be highly beneficial or highly destructive. Whether we want to admit it or not, we live in quite the Pharisaical society. Social ranking and status mean a great deal. The athletic industry dominates our culture, in many ways. At some point, individuals stop being viewed as people. Rather, they are seen as obstacles to be overcome.

Competition provides a warped sense of logic. Our moral failings are deemed acceptable, as long as there is someone else who is failing much more significantly than we are. The "at least I'm not like so-and-so" mentality is deeply rooted in our psyche. We even become competitive in our selflessness. Acts of service and "good deeds" move beyond an intent to help, care for, and love others. Instead, we stockpile such gestures, making ourselves appear more favorable in the eyes of the public than those who do less. How ironic that we would attempt to focus on others with the aim that the world would focus more on us!

Perhaps the root problem of competition is an overwhelming compulsion to be well-liked. We need to achieve such victories because we are obsessed with what others think of us. And that is quite the fickle obsession. We are always going to be a "nobody" in somebody's view. Sadly, some of us believe ourselves to be "nobodies" in everybody's view. So who out there has a point of view that actually matters? We need a person who can be the Great Equalizer, eliminating the necessity of competition. And, if such a person exists, does he or she think you're a "somebody"?

Desire...

...makes and breaks our world. We praise those who succeed in this life, attributing such "success" to their desire, or willpower, or drive. Life without desire seems pretty monotonous. Isn't it our nature to want things? Does that not therefore push us to new heights? And when desire and achievement finally embrace each other, is there any greater experience? Yes, desire is a wonderful thing. Of course...

...desire is often self-centered. That's right--our desires tend to revolve around us. It's what we want to make our lives something better, something extraordinary. Moreover, our desires often focus on matters that are side dishes, not the main course, of life--sexual fulfillment, victory in competition, acquisition of "stuff", etc. Naturally, we then accumulate more and more desires, which means more and more of them go unfulfilled. Unfulfilled desire leads to anger, frustration, and stress. Once we realize the world isn't catering to our whims, we just tend to get really pissed off. Suddenly, desire isn't so wonderful. Ironically, it's actually the root of so much that is undesirable about life.

So what do we do about that? Can we seriously expect to achieve a life without desire? Hardly. I wouldn't even wager that we were intended to live that way. Maybe we could simplify. Perhaps we could live our lives with only one desire. And, if possible, that desire would never go unfulfilled. We would find that our one desire is always in reach. And then, imagine if that one desire caused all the other "trivial" desires to fade to the point that they really don't impact us anymore. Now that sounds like the good life.

Of course, where would we ever find something like that?

Life...

...is bizarre. It's being on a mountaintop. It's a train wreck. It's fraught with hidden meaning. It's lacking purpose. Life is about so many things to so many people. The things that ruin one person's day have no bearing on the day of another person. We are so easily swayed. We are elated and deflated by endeavors that, one week later, matter not one bit to us. Sometimes life seems like one great big hormonal imbalance. In fact, that pretty much describes us humans, doesn't it? We rejoice one day because we "feel good" or things went our way. The next day we scowl because some unknown stimulus has angered us or nothing went our way. My goodness, such fluctuations at times seem to dominate our lives!

Please tell me there's more to our lives than us! What a difficult, high-stress way to go through this strange journey called life. It appears there actually is some sort of peace that's out there. I've met folks throughout my days that possess it. They can't be thrown off-course. Their peace is an anchor--not one that weighs them down, but one that stabilizes their lives. Oh sure, they deal with crap. Trials and ordeals come their way to varying degrees. But their lives seem focused...purposeful. Few seem to find that, however. Perhaps that's the narrow gate...