Doing What I Think I Should & Doing the Best That I Can

As a much younger man and an aspiring folk singer, I used to play Green Back Dollar by Hoyt Axton on my Gibson steel-string guitar:

Some people say I'm a no count

Others say I'm no good

But I'm just a natural born traveling man

Doing what I think I should

Oh Lord, doing what I think I should

Well, I don't give a damn about a green back dollar

Spend it fast as I can

For a wailing song and a good guitar

Are the only things that I understand

Oh Lord, the only things that I understand

After nearly a lifetime of studying and observing the human species, and of investigating every possible moral philosophy, religion and form of spirituality, I have come back full circle to simplicity as the best approach to life. “Doing what I think I should” and “Doing the best that I can” may seem like a poor excuse for pursuing my highest ambitions, but the alternative looks worse.

A large number of people have given up trying to live a good life altogether, since it just seems too hard. Others are still striving valiantly to achieve perfection as best they can understand it, but are getting battered by the unceasing storms that blow them off their desired path.

Perhaps it doesn’t need to be this hard. As most of us move into an increasingly complex and complicated (“complexicated”) world in our large metropolitan areas, we have become rich in money and possessions, but poor in free time, leisure and simplicity. Just driving or commuting to work is arduous. Managing a successful career is increasingly challenging. Maintaining relationships, a solid family, and caring for the wider community seems more like an impossible dream than a present reality. Add to this the complications of exploding technology, communications, entertainment, and new systems for doing anything better (which usually disappear overnight), and we moderns are working full-out just to meet our minimum obligations.

The irony is that while we have ever more knowledge and educational degrees, we have less understanding of how to live life well. By contrast, although my parents and grandparents faced life-long economic hardships and health challenges, they didn’t spend their days in unfathomable complexity. They could come home after a hard day’s labour to sing, garden, cook, chat with neighbours, and to keep their simple faith.

Our generation seems in danger of losing what matters most in life. We may own cars that perform beyond the wildest dreams of our grandparents; and we accumulate home furnishings, travel to distant places, and live like royalty in some respects; yet, we suffer the severe modern anxiety where the speed of change has left us utterly baffled.

So I come back to simplicity and to manageable goals. At age 60, I have no illusion that just around the corner I will encounter a new success formula to bring great wealth, better health, effective government, or perfect spirituality. Rather, I see much unhappiness in those still striving for impossible levels of perfection in every dimension.

I remember fondly the days of my youth when I had few “green-backed dollars”, but lots of fun and leisure. I enjoyed never-ending days at the beach or in the mountains with friends and family. We sang around the fire. We cooked simple food. We made plenty of mistakes. But life was good.

I hope for the generations that follow that our material ambitions, our pursuit of education and knowledge, and our desire to achieve human perfection in every aspect don’t ruin what could be a good life.

My advice: just do what you think you should and the best that you can. It doesn’t get much better than that.

From Oppression to Freedom

One of the oldest recurring stories throughout the world is that of liberation from oppression. Countless foreign occupying armies have been driven out and oppressive rulers overthrown around the world in almost every century. In recent history, Simon Bolivar, El Libertador, freed Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, and Bolivia from Spanish colonial rule during the 19^th Century. Slaves in the United States were freed a bit later by Abraham Lincoln; and in the next century racial discrimination was finally outlawed under the leadership of Martin Luther King. Colonial rule was pushed out in India, Africa, and China during the 20th Century. European nations were also freed from Hitler; and later Eastern Europe was freed from Soviet rule.

These liberations brought ecstatic celebration by immense crowds in the streets, in cafes and private homes; normal life now seemed possible again for all the oppressed people. Liberation stories are endlessly wonderful. They are the stuff of legend, song and film.

But there are in fact different kinds of oppression. One type is the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. This would include foreign domination, economic exploitation, misrule in companies and in other institutions, unhealthy media influence over our minds, and even extortion by criminal gangs, to mention just a few. This kind of oppression is usually caused externally.

The other kind of oppression is usually on a smaller, more personal scale. It the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, anxiety, etc. It may involve mental and emotional oppression, often self imposed, such as addiction to drugs and alcohol. It may occur in families and in other important relationships. Whether oppression is due to large external circumstances, or to more subjective internal causes, it can be equally debilitating.

One of the recurring themes in liberation stories is powerful outside help. Nearly every story points to a Moses, a Gandhi, a Mother Teresa, or some other person or group who rescues people lost in helpless despair. Frequently these stories have religious themes. For instance, when Jesus began his mission of spiritual liberation, he quoted from the Prophet Isaiah:

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Spirituality is almost always linked to this quest for freedom from oppression, involving liberation both for ourselves and also for our friends and families. This quest for freedom may be expressed in political and economic terms, or in psychological, emotional and spiritual language, or often by a combination of these.

There is a powerful desire in the human heart to break free from whatever enslaves us, from whatever is holding us back, in order to soar to the heights like an unfettered eagle. Often, we can recall our spirits soaring at a younger age, perhaps in childhood. But now they seem so heavy and constrained by overpowering circumstances that liberation seems only a distant dream.

Spiritual wisdom has always taught that freedom is reachable, particularly freedom of the heart, soul and mind. Not every struggle for political or economic liberation will succeed during the lifetime of those who struggle. Nor can we all find perfect health and the physical freedom that allows us to run effortlessly. But there is a kind of inner freedom that is reachable despite oppressive outer circumstances.

This is the kind of freedom that Helen Keller discovered despite her blindness and her inability to hear any normal sounds; she reached out of her darkness and found a source of joy and normal functioning notwithstanding these drastic physical limitations. Of course, she had powerful help through a teacher (liberator) who showed her how to train her mind and spirit to thrive despite her seemingly helpless condition.

That is our situation today. No matter how rich or poor we may be, we all face struggles to survive, particularly in our inner world. We face sickness, loneliness, despair, anxiety, loss of direction, old age, and fear of death. So we should all seek spiritual healing and liberation.

Our spiritual quest will involve finding wisdom and powerful help along the way, since it is too difficult to achieve within our own limited resources. But the first step is an aspiration to find freedom of the soul.

As long as the dream of freedom is alive, we have good reason for hope. One day we too may sail to new heights like the eagles that I often see flying outside of my windows. Never give up this quest to go from oppression to freedom!