Do what works and see if your life is not better. Stick with reality. If materialism alone would bring people happiness, then this country would be filled with ecstatic people. It isn’t. Something else is in the mix. The correlation between things and well being is apparently illusory.

Find ultimately satisfying ways of being and stick with them. Here are a few things that I have found to be ultimately satisfying: being aware of God; treating myself with dignity and respect; doing right by other people; being optimistic; living in trust; turning most of my control needs loose.

Consequently, I have found that there is little I need to own and no one I need to impress. It is amazing what acceptance can do to destroy wasteful illusions.

I wonder how many similar illusions I have experienced (or am going through now). The trick to any illusion is that you really do not know you are in it — except by frustration and pain. If an insect can learn patience, glass is the way to go. Some bugs will try for days before they finally find the “hidden” opening that you and I clearly see. It is sort of like having an angelic view of humans. How patient they must be to watch us keep trying things that do not work — especially historically popular illusions. Here are a few: a war to end all wars, making more people poor in the name of helping the poor, thinking that being in any form of media makes one an expert on anything, that someone else is going to solve our problems, or that we are here on this planet alone as merely some sort of evolved species.

The bug sociologist in me wonders if more male or female bugs get caught in the window pane illusion. My bet is that more males get caught and for the longest periods of time. Arguing from my experiences as a higher life form, I am convinced it is males. They just will not read a map or try alternatives until totally exhausted. Female bugs are probably more apt to shop around for a better way through the glass and consider it an adventure.

Illusions are exhausting, painful, and without positive reward. Each trip up the glass becomes a trance that invites another try. Oriental religions warn of life’s illusions. There are many. Some are within and some without. Both are pretty miserable. Salvation is in seeking alternatives. One more trip up the glass will not make a bit of difference. You have nothing to lose. Try the keyhole.

Melissa and Valessa were once members of a very small youth group in a church I once served. Sometimes they would go on day trips with our senior citizens (with permission from their teachers). It was an odd sort of arrangement — senior citizens plus two girls skipping school for the day. The redeeming factor for them and the teachers that let them go was the fact that our trips were very educational (places like the world’s largest sun telescope at Sunspot, New Mexico).

People express their appreciation in some funny ways. On one return trip, Melissa called me a “Dork” — as I drove the van full of older people back to El Paso. A couple of the older church members were offended that she did that. I just laughed. I knew what she meant. I sensed the intent behind her voice. She is allowed to call me a Dork because of the tone in which she said it. It was by no means an insult. She was smiling with this little insight. The truth is: I am sort of a Dork.

A Dork is an odd person that is a little bit nerd, not always socially cool, but someone you might like to have around anyway. A Dork is a cartoon Ziggy or Charlie Brown. We have large heads but do not always use the brains that are in them. Heaven only knows what our redeeming qualities might be.

Melissa and Valessa and I have kept up with each other through the years. They call me “dad” as another term of endearment and irony (no, I am not their biologic parent). We are friends but more than friends; we consider ourselves family. Though we seldom see each other, we maintain an odd closeness far away. They have children of their own now. I once flew back to do the wedding for Melissa. “Family” is anyone you love…and eventually even those you don’t — as you mature in the faith.

Anytime I take myself too seriously, I hear Melissa’s voice in the back of my head: “Dork” — a conjured term normally an insult but used as endearment. The next time I have to sign a document for the church requiring a title, I think I will sign it as I sign this little blurb:

His Dorkness, Dale Andrews

If Jesus lived and ministered today in our society, he would have used the word “Dude” on a fairly regular basis. Jesus confronted people using a wide range of words and actions. The dynamic equivalent of some of those would be “Dude!” — especially in reference to some of his closest followers. I can hear him now after Simon Peter told him he was not going to die in Jerusalem: “Dude! The Son of Man has to die…” Instead of saying, “Get behind me Satan…” he might have said something like, “Dude you are totally off track and have joined the dark side!”

The Holy Spirit uses our own words, and is not limited to Elizabethan English or King James expressions. There is also a closeness to us that is familiar yet transcendent. I can hear the God-given little voices of reason, sanity, and spirit inside my soul saying things like: “Dude you missed the point.” When I really mess up I can hear: “DUDE!!!! — What were you thinking?”

A modern day Saul of Tarsus on the road to Los Angeles from Frisco would hear: “Dude! Why are you kicking my shins?” What is most threatening to humans is the closeness and familiarity of God. In response we create all sorts of special terms to try to keep God at distance. Spirituality is relegated to a sort of “mystical terms” approach that can be monopolized by religious institutions and professional classes (clergy and theologians).

Dude! Don’t try to keep God at arm’s length with fancy words! He wants to be close to you. Dude! Don’t waste your time trying to make God politically correct or in your own image. Dude! Be yourself! The first words you hear after death may well be: “Dude! Welcome home!

Dude!

I want to have an easy life; God wants me to have some character. The two do not always mix. So far, I have had lots of ease mixed with various sorts of relatively mild suffering. I am glad that God has stuck to his guns on this one. The easy times have really not been all that rewarding anyway. Invariably, my miseries have chiseled away some of my hard-headed tendencies. God made the almost endless varieties of pain for a reason: to teach us what does and does not ultimately work and what we really need instead of what we might think we need

Every so often I throw away my expectations list and replace it with an acceptance of God’s priorities list. “Father Knows Best” is more than some cheesy nineteen-fifties television serial. God made out the agenda. I can either go along with it or I can die whining. What I want, what I think I need, and what is ultimately best for me get sorted in life’s circumstances and then separated by spiritual tests. Two out of three eventually get blown away. My better self knows to go with the Great instead of the merely good.

For the most part, history is the record of humanity’s inability to figure this one out. I do not have the time for the majority to come to resolution on this one — so I guess I had better go with the One that will out-wait every shallow worldly trend and hold out for eternal character perfection.

Seeing is not neutral; it involves the heart — all of our experiences and expectations. We bring to this art a soul that is a work of art of its own (hopefully anyway). “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

I have a confession to make: I have made a habit of tossing verbal ink blots out to people to see what makes them tick (and have done so most of my life). I play dumb. I want to see what I can expect from people. It is a combination of needing some predictability in life and a professional hazard of being a counselor/minister. I do not toss the verbal depictions around lightly or in a tempting way, but I definitely listen to the responses very closely.

Hearts are revealed (mine included) in such subtle ways. Again, from Jesus: “By your words you shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned.” There is no such thing as a neutral word. I do not speak to “bait” people. Usually, I can learn what I need to know about others without having to toss out an ink blot of sounds. I also know that others have the right to read me as well in anything I say or do.

Ink blots are mirrors. They help us see what resides inside our souls. Words, events, and actions are all fair game. It is important not to be judgmental (as we judge others we too shall be judged). It is also important to realize how dim our mirrors may be.

This article is a written ink blot.

Second, you must have the courage to talk about the numerous “elephants in the living room” without justifying, defending, or blaming. They really are all there. Thank God it is a very large living room. In world governments, the blind lead the blind; in religion the bland lead the bland. Institutions thrive on those that will not rock the boat, nor paddle it, nor untie it from the dock. The spokesperson at the helm lectures about the view of the mighty ocean, while the passengers are content to sit in the still boat and imagine being on some sort of voyage.

Ignorance is bliss. I define ignorance not as a lack of education but of the ability to ignore the obvious. In family counseling it is part of the game called “let’s pretend” — the game in which no one admits what is really going on with themselves or each other. It is a conspiracy of silence that hopes to buy one more day of sweet oblivion at the cost of personal sanity.

The truth will set you free, but it is going to hurt at first. It will cut through denial like a hot knife through butter. Truth faced will shake you awake. Reality is not budged by rhetoric. Talking never changes the facts. Truth requires courage and an honest look in the mirror. Ever wonder what it is that your friends are afraid to say to you? The loneliest person on earth is the one that has bullied the voices of insight within and without into silence.

Clueless: a temporary state of pretension sometimes extended throughout a lifetime, solved only from within by a heart willing to admit what is.

So, what is it you do not want to tell yourself about yourself that you already know?

Dogs can smell fear. They can also detect a single human cell. A dog’s nose is smarter than a lot of human genius-types. I’ll put my money on a Bassett Hound’s nose against any Einstein when looking for a lost person. The nose is the fastest way to a memory. No wonder God put it in front of the eyes. He even gave us an “internal nose” to sniff out phonies and fools. “I smell a rat” has nothing to do with unwanted rodents. It has more to do with sales pitches and politics.

Paul called Christians the “aroma of Christ” — then implied that we smell great to God but horrible to the world. No doubt, we are a stench to the world at large. We stink of tradition, mystery, metaphysics, and faith in the seemingly impossible. Beauty is in the nose of the beholder. I wonder how THEY smell to God. Poop and fertilizer have the same aroma. I guess it all depends on the context.

It is good to have a “nose for news” but better to have one for ultimate truth. Some of the most popular philosophies of our time stink to high heaven. I am often tempted to hold my nose in certain sections of libraries and bookstores. Nothing smells worse than dead religion either.

Give me the aroma of garden flowers at the empty tomb and of embalming spices never used. Those smell pretty good to me. They certainly beat the alternative.

Taking my cue from Jesus, I sometimes ponder life from an opposite perspective. What if we are here to find strength through our weaknesses? What if we were given a planet with a clear atmosphere so we could behold the immensity of space? What if this is all really the story of a loving God instead of the blind evolution of mere matter?

I have fun with the way the phrase opens up new possibilities. What if we could create an economy that uses a minimum of fossil fuels? What if we finally solved the riddles of cold fusion (and thus had endless cheap electricity without pollution)? What if the next generation discovers that we are a bunch of idiots?

“What if…” is a double-edged sword. It can open up possibilities and judgments at the same time. It is dangerous to start any sentence with it. We are also foolish if we do not. Surely we can improve on our standing in life!

I do not waste my time in wishful thinking, but I do call into question all the ways that things currently run. Call me a dreamer, but also give me credit for having the courage to question the status quo. What if we had several vibrant political parties instead of the two boring dominant ones we have now? Ever notice how offensive a “What if…” can be?

Despite the popular touted views of life, I ask myself: “What if we live forever?” “What if this is just a practice run for something greater?” “What if the decisions I make today make an eternal difference?”

Never settle for the bland “what is” without asking the grand: “What if…?” Challenge all that has become established. Question the questions. What if in doing so you rise above the status quo?

Jesus warned of the coming destruction of Jerusalem as an inevitable worst case scenario. He also gave instructions to his followers on how to deal with it: flee the city. Those that took his advice lived. He made that a parallel to the end of the world. The only difference is that in the last worst case scenario, there is no place to run. That solution has to do with preparing now for the ultimate escape — from physical life itself.

If you drive a car or have a beating heart, you can face a worst case scenario at any given moment. It is just part of life. Depending on its form, you will find ways to transcend whatever it is. Spirituality is the key. Losing everything you own? You are about to discover a better life outside of material well being — one that was discovered intentionally by monks and desert hermits for centuries. About to be murdered? Do what Jesus did: forgive all and cast your soul into the hands of the loving God.

There is not a worst case scenario that you cannot face. It is not a bad idea to think about some of those ahead of time, but do not waste your time anticipating them. No matter how carefully you live, one of those can sneak up on you in a form you could never imagine. The good news is that your spirit and the Spirit of God live to kick into the gap. It might be a good idea to become familiar with them ahead of time. God seems to appreciate a familiar voice in prayer.