Of late, I have been reading Excuses Begone! by Dr. Wayne Dyer. The central premise, if I may paraphrase, is that the individual is made in the image of God, and if he/she aligns him/herself with this destiny – putting aside the typical excuse-making of human nature/ego – then God’s nature can be realized in us and we can find happiness, fulfillment and satisfaction in life as our Creator intended for us. That is, we can become individuals who are hands-down above the mundane norm of our society – practically without limits in our purpose, plans, and achievements. Fundamental Christians rail against the sort of things that Dr. Dyer writes, decrying his premises; railing that the things he says are “new age” because he dares to reference sources other than the Bible. I find, however, that most of what he writes can be easily validated through scripture, if one is willing to look. The scripture says in Romans 1:20 that God make himself known. It is not far-fetched to think that aware individuals, such as Dr. Dyer, should actually get in step with the voice of God. It is not my place to judge the ultimate spiritual state of Dr. Dyer. But suffice it to say that I find a great deal of practical truth in Dr. Dyer’s books. I actually find a lot of benefit in looking at things from a non-traditional viewpoint. Perhaps I might worry more about the references to eastern religions, etc, except that I have been seeking the truth for long enough now, that I don’t expect to get too far off in the weeds from examining another point of view.
Today, I spotted a few people on the corner of first avenue and Collins road in Cedar Rapids, holding signs and showing their support to the “Occupy Wall Street” protests. What I find most striking about these protesters is the basic premise of their rhetoric — espoused by their signs — is that someone else is to blame for their unhappiness. This is the very antithesis of the message that Dr. Dyer conveys in his writings. And for that matter, that the Bible conveys, to those who will look honestly at it’s message. ie: 1.The problem is due to some greedy “rich” person, rather than my own failure to take responsibility for my own destiny. 2.The solution is to get the government to give some of the “rich” person’s assets to me. There is, apparently, no recognition of the possibility of finding the value of the fulfillment in living the full life the Creator of the Universe set within our hearts. My opinion is this: The “occupy” people are wasting their time, following their egotistical assertions their problems are the “fault” of the rich. If only they would begin to seek their own place in the universe, the “rich” would become irrelevant. Who, knows? Being rich might be their own destiny, if only they could open their eyes to what they should be doing, beyond blaming and complaining. So, instead of holding signs to indicate the “rich” are evil, they could have been spending this beautiful afternoon pursuing their own intended purposes. Which do you think would have been more effective?
