Camelot, An Idea, and Your Highest Meaning
“Consider your origin; you were not formed to live like brutes, but to follow virtue and knowledge.” --Dante’s Divine Comedy
Animals and Men:
Animals exist. They do not reason. They do not plan. They offer pleasure and affection as pets, nutrition as staples for diets, and balance nature in the wild. In short, they serve the destiny nature and God intended.
Men and women were made in “the image of God…” to those who are believers, and at least highly evolved, rational, reasoning, and intelligent species to those who have not acquired a belief system which includes the concept of a divine ancestral nature.
King Arthur, Camelot, and an Idea:
I’ve placed a film clip in this column below. It is 6 minutes worth watching which wraps the story of a King who once was a boy, with the story of another boy who has the heart to become a king. It is about dreamers, and making a change in life through your heart and head before the actual event is finished.
But before you watch it you should know it is the ending scene. It is a brief moment of hope where King Arthur tells an aged Knight something of great importance. "Pele" the forgetful King of a place he can't remember, brings Arthur's sword but asks, "Who is that?" referring to a boy he sees running from the scene. "One what we all are Pele. Less than a drop in the great blue motion of the sun lit sea!"
It Begins With Knowing Who We Are
The 1967 Academy Award winning film offers deep introspection in the opening monologue as Richard Harris, playing King Arthur prays to his wizard Merlin. Arthur is preparing to send his forces against the walls of Lancelot’s Castle. He loved Lancelot like a son, he having been the right hand to Arthur at his famous “Round Table” where “right made might” and not “might made right.”
Though both Lancelot and Queen Guinevere are now repentant, and seek forgiveness, Arthur is forced by his other Knights of the Round Table to fight for honor’s sake. His men seek revenge for the betrayal Lancelot showed in his affair with Guinevere. He asks several things of Merlin. One thing that has always touched my heart is this line in the first few moments of the film:
“Oh Merlin, I have seen many men die in battle not asking, ‘Why must I die?’ but rather, ‘Why have I ever lived?’” Then he goes on, “Merlin, if I am to die in battle this day, let me not die bewildered.”
Honor, Character, Betrayal: The 2 hour plus movie then takes place and we learn of the deep love of Arthur for his queen; her's for him. We enjoy honor displayed. We see how a vision by one man can transform an entire nation. We learn of “right for right,” and real justice, and honor because honor and character are worth having, and that the Round Table suggested all men may be truly equal. We finally witness the crumbling of an empire; the frail nature of good men and women who cause a kingdom to fall because of passion and betrayal of the highest meaning in them.
As all good stories go, we learn that redemption is possible when a stow-a-way boy named Tom of Warick announces his dream to be a Knight and his intention to fight in the battle. That 6 minute ending from the movie is located below. I want you to think about how it applies to all of us, but first...
Just Existing and Cory Joyner
Cory is a homeless man from South Carolina. Living on the good will of others, I fed him for three days in a row last week. But each time I really grilled him. See, I have seen his story a thousand times, including up close with loved ones choosing to live just a step above living on the streets.
In the lecture this 30 year-old got direct counsel, warnings, and the truth: “Cory, you deserve better than you are giving yourself. You were not created to live like this, but you are a son of God. You have value. You are living like some discarded junk on the street. You need to choose discipline, decide to change, believe in your potential. God knows you and does not want you throwing your life away.”
He quickly put his hand on his heart and tapped it, and with a gasp said, “I felt that. I know that right here,” he said, wide-eyed. Cory felt pure potential and love for just a moment. I fed him, and hoped that he would take the hands that were reaching down, look up, and see more than he was seeing on the street.
I asked where he was from. “South Carolina,” he said. “Do you have a Dad?” He answered, “No.”
"I'm your Dad today and going to ask some questions then give advice," I said. “Family?” He answered, “A brother who is a computer programmer and a sister in college.” "Job skills?" I persued. "Trained chef," he answered.
“Cory,” I began. “You deserve more than you are giving yourself. Will they take you in to get cleaned up and a fresh start?”
“My brother wants me to come home but I love this girl, see. She is in jail for drug dealing, and I have to wait for her to get out.”
“Hum… In love. Addicted.” I could tell he was barely listening now. Finally I gave him lunch money and said good-bye with, “Love is hard.” He nodded and in low voice whispered, “It sure is.”
Day two and three he looked me up again. I’m easy; he knew it and I did too. So I grilled him some more. I reminded him of his divine potential and then said, “So when she gets out of jail, she gets you as a bonus?” I asked. “Look at you! You deserve more self-respect than you are offering yourself and her." Then I gave easy and direct advice on starting over and all the advantages he had going, if he'd just expect more from himself. I finished with, "Are you and her, with your combined habits and criminal records, going to step up and make something of yourself?”
“I don’t know man. No,” he added. “I guess not.”
“So you have no plans, make no decisions, just slum and hit people up everyday? Hang out, do 'dime bags' get in trouble and hope for the best... Your life is a result of choices, Cory. You have potential from God, because you are made of the same stuff!”
He was looking down, probably trying to figure out how to get away from me, yet compelled enough to stay for lunch. “You don’t feel the pain enough to change,” I added. (I wasn’t going easy on this guy on day three. That would be of no service to him.)
“Man I want to change. But I don’t know how to start.” I tapped my skull, then my heart and said, “You’ve got to want to. I reached out to you. Your brother and sister are reaching out to you. You just haven’t decided to reach back. Step 1 is, ‘you got to want to!’ It all begins here and here,” I ended, tapping again on my head and heart. "Run from this life, Cory. Run! People will give you a break if you do."
Well – there was more to the story but I will save it for later. See Camelot is an idea. It is a transformation in thinking. It was, to King Arthur, the idea that the best that existed in a man could come out of him if he would decide that it could. It was that a man was not formed to live like an animal but to be as a Knight dealing good, and justly to all. It was about dreaming, and how a boy became a King!
Now I think you will enjoy watching this ending to one of Hollywood's greatest movies…
See... It isn't just that, we are "...less than a drop in the great blue motion of the sunlit sea!" as Arthur said to Pele. It is what he finished with to Tom of Warick:
"But it seems that some of the drops sparkle Pele! Some of them do sparkle! Run Boy! Run Boy! Run!!! Oh run, my boy...."
James Pratt
www.jmpratt.com
www.powerthink.com
Showing posts with label human improvement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label human improvement. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
AN END IS A BEGINNING UPSIDE DOWN
Beginnings and endings are very close…
This column is written with true concern for those feeling the stress, fear, and anxiety from recent losses. If it applies, I hope you may take courage. If it is useful for those you know facing losses, and believe it will be helpful to someone near you, I hope you will share it.
What matters is the perspective we have on what really matters most; the highest meaning in our lives. An economy is lost. A way of living ends. BUT... perhaps also the beginning to a new way of living, loving, enjoying life is also at the door... That depends on how we respond to life's curve balls...
Today a man in Los Angeles took his life, his wife's and his three children because they lost their jobs, and as he said, "Life just wasn't worth living anymore." Over the course of many weeks, multi-millionaires have been committing suicide out of shame, fear, and realization that what gave them their "meaning" (personal fortunes) was seemingly lost. Self-esteem is a fragile thing when tied to "stuff" and appearances.
What really matters most? To many basic survival, to others their image, to many the stuff they don't want to live without...
During the past several months I have had several friends ask me to pray with them, and I am delighted to do so. This is a positive thing for it indicates faith in a higher power, and an ego not so highly wrapped up in material matters that they cannot see that in the end, we control nothing, but God controls all. I was particularity delighted that my daughter, who indicates little use for God, would ask for Dad and Mom's prayers. (More on this later, but "faith power" is an absolute necessity in tumultuous times.)
So... these beloved friends recognize that control over their lives has slipped. Jobs have been lost. A way of life is jeopardized because of new economic uncertainties. Health issues abound, stress over debt unpaid mounts... I am very uniquely qualified to offer solace having been severely hammered economically (and unexpectedly) four times in four decades. I understand starting over, losing everything, including beginning again from a hospital bed. (Story found in next week's column) I have tender feelings for the fear being experienced. There is hope, even in the darkest night. I know from surviving beyond anything I ever anticipated... BUT rather than share a dozen hard luck stories with you, and how everything finally works out, I prefer to ask you to do this one thing right now; Believe in power beyond yours to make things right...
Opportunity knocks more often when starting over than in the flow of constant comfort and predictable results day after day. Why? A few thoughts…but first watch this, or simply listen to the music and continue reading:
Humans Beings Create and Possess Potential for “Re-Creating”—
We are best when challenged. We are human "beings," (the present tense) and as such, creators. We take raw material and fashion homes, clothing, harness energy, make metal ships fly and float, communicate in milliseconds to any part of the planet, create drugs that heal, fortify foods, make entertainment that allows a symphony orchestra travel with us if we choose, access encyclopedias of information in seconds, and the list goes on.
Children of God, are part Supermen and Superwomen—
Believe it. This is not some hyperbole. You and I really have chemistry and stuff made of the stars, and the Universe, and everything… So look up... What do you want to "be?"
"Being" something new is a choice in the present moment, so choose! And then, address the greatest "Being" of all; God, regarding your choice. Here's how:
Give thanks for what you've had (have) and just talk. Share the pain you are going through, and ask for ideas to help guide you. Listen (or better yet feel) for the peace. Peace is the answer that you are on the right path. Trust is the next step. If you do not feel peaceful, maybe it is also answer... Perhaps not how you see best, but how he sees best for you is happening. Let him be the extra set of eyes you need in this quest of new beginnings and a path you may not recognize today. He will begin to partner with you if you choose to let Him. Can you trust Him?
Personal Meaning is Purpose Filled Living—
Each person, at some time of their life, will face deeply searching questions about “who” they are, “why” they are here, “what life is really all about.” The sooner that happens, the sooner a deep and rewarding personal “meaning” is developed; a meaning and purpose which can drive you through any obstacle, over any mountain, and out of deepest despair. (This kind of "meaning" has spiritual power in it. When you lose a job you won't kill yourself over it, you'll just say "Next?")
When you live with "meaning" you live "on purpose."
Having purpose means you are partnering with someone in the Universe greater than you, and yet focused on making decisions (from your freedom of choice and free will) designed to be in harmony with this wonderful feeling of real worth, meaning, and value.
The biggest blessings in life may not be the calm and peaceful seas we travel upon, but the storms which force us to ask those questions about our meaning and purpose and then develop the answers.
Please… Understand—
That Super Being most believing in you is the one most willing to love, forgive, and partner with you!
When stripped of his cloths, a carpenter who used hammers and nails to build things, had them used upon him and then was hung on a cross, (ironically built by another carpenter that day) and mocked, ridiculed, and at the end… was laid in a borrowed tomb— (Not much real estate to show for a perfectly lived life, huh? Think He understands?)
He then arose to new life, and offers that same new life to you! God made no junk, a bumper sticker once read. That is because you are literally made of Divine DNA… Perfect stuff, just on a ride on an imperfect planet spinning through time and elements of space, with all the potential of divine matter residing within.
What you will do with it matters…
Endings are Just New Beginnings—James
NEXT WEEK: ABOUT LIFE 101 - How to Begin a New One
This column is written with true concern for those feeling the stress, fear, and anxiety from recent losses. If it applies, I hope you may take courage. If it is useful for those you know facing losses, and believe it will be helpful to someone near you, I hope you will share it.
What matters is the perspective we have on what really matters most; the highest meaning in our lives. An economy is lost. A way of living ends. BUT... perhaps also the beginning to a new way of living, loving, enjoying life is also at the door... That depends on how we respond to life's curve balls...
Today a man in Los Angeles took his life, his wife's and his three children because they lost their jobs, and as he said, "Life just wasn't worth living anymore." Over the course of many weeks, multi-millionaires have been committing suicide out of shame, fear, and realization that what gave them their "meaning" (personal fortunes) was seemingly lost. Self-esteem is a fragile thing when tied to "stuff" and appearances.
What really matters most? To many basic survival, to others their image, to many the stuff they don't want to live without...
During the past several months I have had several friends ask me to pray with them, and I am delighted to do so. This is a positive thing for it indicates faith in a higher power, and an ego not so highly wrapped up in material matters that they cannot see that in the end, we control nothing, but God controls all. I was particularity delighted that my daughter, who indicates little use for God, would ask for Dad and Mom's prayers. (More on this later, but "faith power" is an absolute necessity in tumultuous times.)
So... these beloved friends recognize that control over their lives has slipped. Jobs have been lost. A way of life is jeopardized because of new economic uncertainties. Health issues abound, stress over debt unpaid mounts... I am very uniquely qualified to offer solace having been severely hammered economically (and unexpectedly) four times in four decades. I understand starting over, losing everything, including beginning again from a hospital bed. (Story found in next week's column) I have tender feelings for the fear being experienced. There is hope, even in the darkest night. I know from surviving beyond anything I ever anticipated... BUT rather than share a dozen hard luck stories with you, and how everything finally works out, I prefer to ask you to do this one thing right now; Believe in power beyond yours to make things right...
Opportunity knocks more often when starting over than in the flow of constant comfort and predictable results day after day. Why? A few thoughts…but first watch this, or simply listen to the music and continue reading:
Humans Beings Create and Possess Potential for “Re-Creating”—
We are best when challenged. We are human "beings," (the present tense) and as such, creators. We take raw material and fashion homes, clothing, harness energy, make metal ships fly and float, communicate in milliseconds to any part of the planet, create drugs that heal, fortify foods, make entertainment that allows a symphony orchestra travel with us if we choose, access encyclopedias of information in seconds, and the list goes on.
Children of God, are part Supermen and Superwomen—
Believe it. This is not some hyperbole. You and I really have chemistry and stuff made of the stars, and the Universe, and everything… So look up... What do you want to "be?"
"Being" something new is a choice in the present moment, so choose! And then, address the greatest "Being" of all; God, regarding your choice. Here's how:
Give thanks for what you've had (have) and just talk. Share the pain you are going through, and ask for ideas to help guide you. Listen (or better yet feel) for the peace. Peace is the answer that you are on the right path. Trust is the next step. If you do not feel peaceful, maybe it is also answer... Perhaps not how you see best, but how he sees best for you is happening. Let him be the extra set of eyes you need in this quest of new beginnings and a path you may not recognize today. He will begin to partner with you if you choose to let Him. Can you trust Him?
Personal Meaning is Purpose Filled Living—
Each person, at some time of their life, will face deeply searching questions about “who” they are, “why” they are here, “what life is really all about.” The sooner that happens, the sooner a deep and rewarding personal “meaning” is developed; a meaning and purpose which can drive you through any obstacle, over any mountain, and out of deepest despair. (This kind of "meaning" has spiritual power in it. When you lose a job you won't kill yourself over it, you'll just say "Next?")
When you live with "meaning" you live "on purpose."
Having purpose means you are partnering with someone in the Universe greater than you, and yet focused on making decisions (from your freedom of choice and free will) designed to be in harmony with this wonderful feeling of real worth, meaning, and value.
The biggest blessings in life may not be the calm and peaceful seas we travel upon, but the storms which force us to ask those questions about our meaning and purpose and then develop the answers.
Please… Understand—
That Super Being most believing in you is the one most willing to love, forgive, and partner with you!
When stripped of his cloths, a carpenter who used hammers and nails to build things, had them used upon him and then was hung on a cross, (ironically built by another carpenter that day) and mocked, ridiculed, and at the end… was laid in a borrowed tomb— (Not much real estate to show for a perfectly lived life, huh? Think He understands?)
He then arose to new life, and offers that same new life to you! God made no junk, a bumper sticker once read. That is because you are literally made of Divine DNA… Perfect stuff, just on a ride on an imperfect planet spinning through time and elements of space, with all the potential of divine matter residing within.
What you will do with it matters…
Endings are Just New Beginnings—James
NEXT WEEK: ABOUT LIFE 101 - How to Begin a New One
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