Who Owns You?

As a child, I often heard the question, "Who do you belong to?" It was asked by my grandmother and always launched me into a warm feeling of love and permanence. She would hold me close to her warm body and gently hug me when asking the question. I would always hug her back and say, "I'm your little girl," then squeeze her as tight as my little arms would let me.

But I am no longer a child, and chances are, neither are you. Nonetheless, the question is as valid as ever. Posed to an adult, the implications of the question are much broader; it encompasses who or what you allow to control your spiritual identity, who influences your thinking as a citizen of the world, and whether you think of yourself as a world citizen at all.

If we don't examine the "who owns us question," how can we understand the good and the evil tendencies in ourselves; and if we cannot understand ourselves, how can we control ourselves? And without self-control, we have no discipline over our appetites, fears, hopes, thoughts, and behavior. An undisciplined person is easily manipulated.

Human beings are not made to be puppets, we are made to think and feel and love and create. But what you think and how you feel and whom you love and what you create depends on your answer to this question, "Who owns you?"

I hope you will give this question honest thought. You are invited to share your insights here.

Clear Thinking..

Nothing sharpens ones thinking like danger or the threat of it. Americans then, should be thinking quite clearly.  For, as in Alice's Wonderland,  it seems that danger hovers as near as the next breath.  The planet is warming, the economy has collapsed, and not even riches can save one from the deadly disease du jour..

But consider the emphasis we place on the problem compared to the whole picture:  Yes, climate is changing, and our late acceptance of the fact has focused American ingenuity on ways to harness cleaner sources of fuel and electricity.   Yes, the economy from which we are emerging violently shook the pillars of the capitalistic system we support and that shaking revealed the fissures in a system where the needs of humans and capital were grossly out of balance.; we can fix it.   And yes, changes in science, technology, media, and laws have fostered an explosion of new disease awareness, and simultaneously, Americans have increased their knowledge of the mental causes of disharmony and disease and the natural, medative and restorative tools for destroying them.

We are able to choose what to emphasize in our thinking.  That choice directly determines where we focus our time and attention.  Tomorrow will reflect the fruit of each choice we make today. If we choose to see the uncertainty and danger of the present moment as an opportunity for loving, courageous action, our clear thinking will lead us to create a healthier, saner and more genuinely prosperous America .