Clarity and Clouds

Watching a documentary style program on travel to Jamaica, I was struck by one of the segments of the program dealing with one the island's most popular exports. The interviewer was questioning a prominent living, former world renowned music legend (non-Marley) about his current lifestyle, past successes and beliefs. The former legend responded that he had found a new career in helping his people in Jamaica to understand their history and to embrace the endemic belief system that had now become his focus and passion. I followed his career for awhile in the early 1980's, as he was a dynamic voice in the growing world music and hip-hop communities, he just was never a top artist in my book. I was with him until he explained that this particular brand of worship was 'set aside' for a very specific group of people.

I was stumped at how any belief system that would help one to see truth and a life and power beyond this world would be 'set aside' for only a specific set of circumstances. Perhaps I had not encountered this aspect beforehand about a religion that supposedly embraces all, but I was amazed at how it struck me. It certainly caused me to reflect on the fact that when we set up a belief system, we fill it with all our good as well as bad. I contend that being connected to infinite love and peace is for all of us and not a set of methodologies that fool us into believing we are eternal. Battling cancer, I have found that it is so very important to discover where you are with life. Equally important, it is good to find out sooner or later what and where your path is. It is also is a relief to know that a lot of ambiguities and conflicting dialogue are a part of daily life. We all are trying to get to a state of love and learning. Some of this process is getting it right and getting it wrong with life happening in between. Partitioning love is not possible. You either have love in you or you don't.