i suppose it is normal for every person to want to be in a place where he or she is happy, secure, and peaceful. isn't that what religion is supposed to be about? guiding you to that space, and it seems like our lives are on a never ending quest to find that space.
there are pros and cons to this. the pro is that when you find that space, it usually is peaceful, and the mundane, disturbing things in life are suddenly put into a perspective which makes them pretty innocuous and trivial. considering what everyday life seems to be, to be able to be in that place and not sweat the small stuff is good. but you can't live there all the time. that is the con. once you get there, it certainly is a separating factor from the rest of the lemmings. i suspect that i am actually i the flow about 10% of the time. i realize i can't maintain it and be in the real world. there are just too many challenges. it's like being in a plane all above the earth, but having to come down because you can't live in the sky. we have to be grounded, to refuel. and often once we are back on the ground, we are there for awhile. unless you are a permanent "pilot," you will primarily be on the ground caught up in the mundane, everyday things. you will daydream about being in the plane, but you have to work to really be there. and when you are there, you have to accept that it is a temporary visit.
how do we live between the two worlds? how do we establish a balance that doesn't keep us away from either one? the sky and the earth are just the soul and the body personified. above the fray, you see things in a wider, more global view. it isn't all about me...it is all about a lot of "me's" out there. i am just a stone in a big pond and you don't know where the ripples go. however, if i sit only from the perspective of the stone, i will always be dropping into the water, i will always be overwhelmed by the wake of the stone, and i will be sinking and always looking up for air or light. if i look down from high above, i will see many, many stones of all different sizes and shapes, each skipping and settling on and in the water, the wakes and ripples crossing and recrossing, dissipating and disappearing. from high above, no stone is more important that the other, and what i would really be watching is THE BIG POND. where are the shores? what happens to the ripples when they hit the shore? and better yet, who is throwing in the stones?
the overly religious zealot who only lives in the land of the sky is no more effective than the self-absorbed stone that is only concerned with itself. neither place is collectively good for mankind. a monk living on a mountain meditating and being one with god or spirit...no one can fault him for being above the fray, but what does his isolation do to contribute to the greater good? granted, there are few people who can live in this blissful state, certainly fewer than what is left, which is the ordinary person complaining and fighting about his/her daily life. so the reverse-monk, the whining, atheistic personality is equally ineffective in making a contribution, for he/she does not know or care about bigger things. he/she is only concerned with the here and now, which isn't always going to be your way.
in order to improve our society, i think we need to consider that both views are valid, but periodically being in a "sky above" point of view is of greater value to humans as a species and us as individuals. if we can see that the small ripples are temporary and not all that important, we will better be able to accept the curveballs that are thrown at us on a daily basis. it isn't winning the game that is important. it is what we learn from the curveballs, the spit balls, the bad calls by the umpires, the unfairness of it all, the what-doesn't-kill-you-makes-you-stronger factor. when the game becomes too frustrating, we need to leave the playing field and go sit at the top of the stands. looking down on the field, all of the players are the same. the diamond is finite with defined basepads and it is clear where a homerun can be hit.
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