And So It Continues

Entangled in lies and deceit we all look for the Truth which eludes us like a swift warm breeze on a cold winter's day. Seek and stare into the bottom of the dark frothy mug so that you might understand it moves from vessel to vessel putting us all under its influence.  As we find the answers it is natural that additional questions come to mind as those questions are answered then it is probable that more questions fill our minds.  This is the way of the one on a conscious exodus.  Answers breed more questions and more questions give rise to more answers.  Sometimes it is not enough to be satisfied with an answer because that is not what we are really searching for.  Continue the search my friends.  Fear None, Love All.  

Connecting on Our Exodus

Not that there isn't more to life than getting online checking Facebook, Tweeting, checking the bank account balance and paying a few bills, doing a little shopping on eBay and Amazon, updating the blogger, checking out a recommended YouTube video or watching a streaming news breif, connecting with distant cousins on Family Tree DNA and randomly zoning out while searching for a new recipe on Google or Yahoo! then searching everything else that may come to mind as you look for the ingredients or origins of the recipe, but can we just imagine there was time when none of this was possible in one short portion of our day?

I know a time like this once existed.  I grew up in a time when computers were used for business not pleasure.  Online didn't mean getting connected via the Internet.  Checking in with friends and family was expensive and many of us just couldn't afford to stay "connected" from the lives we lived many hundreds of miles away from each other.  Friends were the people we physically interacted  with and enjoyed being next to.  Paying a bill took days to do and shopping was a weekly or monthly thing, not a daily experience.   We only knew who we were because someone probably told us stories about who we were and some of us might have had a picture in a photo album to help us remember the family past.  What  we ate that night was probably the same things we ate the week before unless someone had time to search through a recipe book or magazine to find anew and exciting cassarole to prepare.  I viewed life much differently than I do now and it is because of the instant connections to information and new "friends" and old "friends" that I seldom ever physically interact with.  We all know that if we look back far enough in time and remember our world history, even greater challenges to connect with each existed.  Our search for "who we are" and who we want to become as part of the world order was very difficult for many.

Think. A time existed when there were no automobiles to quickly connect our towns and cities, and no planes to connect our country with another, and there was even a time when boats were not very capable of crossing the vast oceans.  We are so immediately connected today in ways that probably could never have been imagined 2000 years ago.  The time that has passed and the people that have been able to meet because of advancements in the way we "connect" with each other has definately changed the way I search for the answers and interact with those I come in contact with daily.  My Conscious Exodus is much different today than it would have been 2000 years ago.  Where is your Conscious Exodus taking you today?

Listen

The sounds of the world around us are calling out.  Many are loud and hard to ignore, but there are those sounds that really are subtle and hard to understand.  Some sounds are just noises that might have very little meaning to us as they distort the other more important sounds in the background.  Listen and filter out the nuisance.

Some of the sounds are screaming out from miles away and can barely be heard because of the distance they have traveled to reach us.  One such sound is being amplified by the use of technology.  This is not the only one that matters, but it is one that is being amplified.  I applaud the people who want to see the sounds of suffering quieted in this world.  The sound of suffering that is taking place all around us is often muffled by laughter and joy, excitement and personal happiness, or the cries and bellowing of more personal suffering.

The sounds of the cries I mention are both distant and local.  Recently I have been paying more attention to the cries of the "invisible children".  I was made aware of this many years ago, but ignored the sounds, the cries, the screams of those who were raped or mutilated because they were coming from such a great distance away in Uganda that I could not hear them.  I could not hear them again until recently.  I found a video that made these sounds loud again.  What I hear is coming from a distance, but is as clear as if I was there in Africa.  The sounds of suffering is a direct result of rebellion that started sometime in the 1980's by Joseph Kony and the group calling itself the Lord's Resistance Army.  I hear the sounds of suffering because the video that was posted on YouTube amplified the voices so I can hear them here in the US and others can hear them all over the world.  Other broadcasters and websites also helped to amplify and repeat these sounds as they help to repeat other sounds of suffering in the world and in the United States.

This is where my conscious exodus has taken me today.

I am concerned that local suffering, international suffering, and personal suffering are all interconnected and do not exist without each other.  We cannot ignore the sounds that are loudest to us because they are easily heard.  We cannot ignore the sounds of suffering that are muffled all because they are miles away from us.  We cannot ignore the sounds of suffering that are not able to be heard because they are on the other side of our planet and they matter.   I applaud and thank Jason Russell and his efforts to amplify the voices, but this opens up a whole new way of thinking about global politics (greed, murder, war, and the abuse of power) and the way we communicate the information, the sounds and the noises, that are out there.  There are some important things to think about and lessons to learn as indicated in an article from Wayne K. Spear.

We must listen to those sounds we can hear and help others hear those sounds they cannot hear.  Continue on your conscious exodus and "Fear None, Love All."

Happy New Year, Happy New You!

Stay focused, stay positive, and pray when you feel like you are alone and want to give up.  You are not alone on your exodus.  You have friends out there.  You have family out there.  You might not know them yet, but they are out there.  Start your new year knowing this,  we are never alone.  God blessed us with each other and even though we have been displaced from each other over the centuries, we are connected.  One day our paths will meet again and we will become re-acquainted.

My Journey Continues

Another month into the year and Thanksgiving is almost here. American Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it centers around food and family. As commercialized as it is (and actually nationalized to promote economic resurrection,) I enjoy it because it still remains fairly free of cards, gifts, and decorations. I find it a day that reminds me that I am thankful daily. This might sound unusual, but it really makes sense to me as I journey onward in my Conscious Exodus.

It is almost bizarre to think that some people really only give thanks for what they have on this single day of the year. I cannot imagine a day that I have not, or cannot, say "thank you" to someone or pray a prayer of "thanksgiving" for something that helped me in my journey. I know there are those devastating events that happen to us from day to day, and I am not unaware of those terrible things that are happening to people all over the world as I type this. I do know that all of that is happening and that as it unfolds, those who are both unwillful and willful participants in it all have moments of every emotion imaginable. I myself have experienced some very dreadful things in my life and as they get put into perspective with everything going on in the world, I still see fit that I need to be thankful.

I hope all of you reading this find the time to journey into conscience and reflect on the moment to become aware of those things that make you want to say "thank you". I thank all of you for helping me in my Conscious Exodus. Knowing that everything doesn't always fit in the exact way you may want, but understanding it does fit in the grander scale and if you are in it for the right reasons, and can accept that sometimes it may arouse emotion, then your journey has begun. Be thankful it happened. Understand you are not always in control of what happens, but you do control a portion of it. Have no hidden agenda and work to develop those around you rather than destroy them. If your intentions are just and without selfish intent be thankful.

Chapter 9 - Your Conscious Exodus

A little from the last chapter in the book,

Weltanschauung: Habits, Principles, and Personal Choices Of
Moral Leadership For Leaders of Conscience in the 21st Century

Copyright 2010-11 By William J. Nelson, M.Ed.

"As a Leader of Conscience, I am certain that the forces of Darkness are sent upon us to prevent us from letting the Light into our world and reaching out to those that we lead.  These dark influences are often disguised as things we love.  Simple distractions that are often over-looked are abundant in the way these forces work upon us.  They are most likely hidden in the voices of the ones we love and the material enjoyments we are attracted to.  These distractions frequently divert us from right choices.  Remember earlier in this book that the right choice for a person is sometimes not the rite way of doing things. I struggle with the idea that traditional methods are the only way to get things done. Especially if the traditional methods rely less on conscience and more on power plays that often are destructive rather than constructive. Right is not always rite and rite is not always right.


What is an exodus?  Egypt and Moses.  Jesus in the desert.  Siddhartha Gautama fleeing from his princely life behind the castle walls and his journey into the woods.  Battle Star Galactica’s rag-tag fugitive fleet of ships.  Han Solo teaming up with a Wooki and the son of the Dark Lord himself.  African-Americans gaining freedom from slavery and earning their full civil rights.  Nelson Mandela being imprisoned and becoming president.  The fall of the Berlin Wall.  The Chinese Miracle.


Let’s first look at something from an Indian narrative.  The story of the Buddha Gautama under the Bodhi Tree is a fantastic example of overcoming distraction and accomplishing a greater awareness.  One must read the entire Buddhacarita of Ashvagosa to understand the life of the Buddha Gautama.  In the text, Siddhartha Gautama sits under the fig tree and fights temptation, distraction, and evil.  His battle against Mara, the “Evil One” proves to be a common theme in many such stories of leaders who have to overcome similar evil, temptation and distraction.  First, a group of beautiful and sensual young women try to seduce him away from meditation.  When they do not succeed, storms of lightning, wind and rain are conjured up.  When the storms don’t send him packing, Mara sends in his demonic armies with weapons of flaming rocks, but Siddattha fights them and defeats all the armies with his virtue."

Thinking and Doing

A quick note to get inspired. Thinking is a great thing to do and sometimes thinking is much better than doing. Doing is an essential component of change and effect. Think before you do, or do before you think. Either way just think! Be careful because thoughts are more powerful than you might realize. Think about it.