Does anyone here try to live "right life?"

[leftyladyfrommo]

I posted this on the unique path board but am curious if other Christians are trying this.

I am a Christian mystic so this is probably easier for me than for other people. I have a very small house. Almost no furniture. And am trying to feed myself on as little as possible.

And then find "right work". That is kind of the hard part. Most "right work" doesn't pay much over minimum wage. So I am starting up my own business and then will give all extra income to help the elderly and disabled with their pets.

I had talked to a priest about this and he suggested living a very simple life - making as little money as you can get away with. And then doing right work. I'm not a nursey person so I am trying to take this idea and work with people and animals - which is what I am good at.

[RevCheesehead]

1. From a United Methodist perspective:

Some quotes from John Wesley (our founder):

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

"When I have money, I get rid of it quickly, lest it find a way into my heart."

"Earn all that you can, save all that you can, and give away all that you can."


I need to scale back.

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. I was raised Methodist..

I think there is one message to people here - we all need to strive to live "right life" and do "right work."

It was Christ's message. It is also the message of Buddha.

And, even if you don't believe in anything, its just a good way to live.

[RevCheesehead]

3. I think Robert Fulgham said it best:

All I ever needed to know, I learned in kindergarten.

Share Everything

Play Fair

Don't hit people

Put things back where you found them

Clean up your own mess

Don't take things that aren't yours

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody

Wash your hands before you eat

Flush

Warm cookies and milk are good for you

Live a balanced life

Take a nap every afternoon

When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic,

hold hands and stick together

Be aware of wonder

All things die....So do we

Remember the first word you learned-LOOK!

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. I loved his books.

The only thing I would add to that is that we do not need a bunch of "stuff."

Simple makes a better life.

[RevCheesehead]

6. Ah, that would be Madame Blueberry of VeggieTales fame.

She goes to the Stuffy StuffMart and buys things like air compressors.

A definate must-see. :)

[leftyladyfrommo]

8. I'm afraid that Veggie Tales passed me by.

[Cuauhtla]

5. Re: Does anyone here try to live "right life?"

This is one of the things which most appeals to me about Christianity, though of course it isn't unique to Christianity- that religion isn't solely about one's relationship to the sacred, but is something that one lives in the most mundane details of one's life. My sense is that liberalism shares this.

I try to behave toward others rightly, and I seek to do what I can to make society better, volunteering, pitching in at Arlington West, etc.

Your mention of "right work" catches me in one of my dilemmas. I'm retired from the Navy, so in a country in which so many have a role in the military-industrial complex, I'm left to deeply question my own.

Would you be interested in describing Christian mysticism as you see it?

[leftyladyfrommo]

7. I can only describe my kind of Christian Mysticism

I would never attempt to describe "God."

I suspose my concept would be closer to a moving spirit and is all encompassing. I read the Gospels a lot because I am interested in reading what Christ actually said. I don't pay much attention to the others who wrote later - in the canon - because that is their interpretation and it is colored by who they were and what they believed. I try to stay as close to the source as I can.

I use the prayer of St. Francis for meditation. Because I firmly believe that if you say something over and over it will eventually become part of you. And that prayer is perfect for that.

And I believe in karma. I believe in an afterlife.

I read all of the time - anything I can find on mysticism from Sufi to Buddhist to Hindu. I don't care. Mysticism is the same pretty much in all religions. I don't bother to judge other religions. Things that are right for me just seem to stick with me when I read them - no matter the source.

We meditate a lot. Listen for God in the silence. Listen for God in "nothingness."

Compassion is a big thing. Also "right life" and "right work." And living as simply as possible, with as few things as possible.

It is a very rewarding way to live.

Don't worry about being from the military complex. You simply start from where you are at. Take your experience and use it.

[Cuauhtla]

9. Re: I can only describe my kind of Christian Mysticism

Thanks very much for sharing your thoughts.

You mention compassion. I noted when I introduced myself that the problems of suffering and injustice had led me to reassess Christianity, to see its value, and it seems to me that in compassion lies at least part of the answer.

Because you mentioned it, I'll post the prayer of St. Francis. Very wise, and I can see why you'd seek to make it a part of yourself.

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

[leftyladyfrommo]

10. Christ was really a very radical thinker

and if you actually take what he said to heart it makes for a very interesting life. I'm not sure how modern Christianity got so far off the track.

That is why I like to read the Gospel of Thomas - it is simply a list of things that Christ said - no story line. And since Thomas was a mystic some of the things have a little different twist to them.

But I also absolutely love Pema Chodron - who is a Tibetan Buddhist teacher in Nova Scotia. She just has wonderful insight into compassion and right life and how to get there.

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. Life is just a lot easier when you don't make yourself the center

of everything.