There was a song in the late 60s entitled "Just Dropped In". The tag line/lyric to follow was this: "to see what condition my condition was in." This song was the first top ten hit for country music legend Kenny Rogers, if you can believe that. Before he was the"Kenny" of country music superstardom, Rogers had long brown hair, a beard, and was the lead singer in a rock band. Back then, his band was called "The First Edition". Check them out on youtube if you are so inclined. The only way I was able to identify Kenny from that era was by his voice, no kidding.
Back to their song and the focus of today's blog post. As Kenny pondered in "Just Dropped In" 54 years ago, what condition is YOUR (spiritual) condition in---today? Although the song itself addresses the negative consequences of drug use (specifically LSD) on one's soul, it seems to me that present-day humanity is losing more and more interest in not only "seeing", but in even recognizing that they have a "condition" worth noticing in the first place!
I understand completely how easy it is to ignore our own spiritual condition over time. As kids, we do what we are told. Some kids are fortunate enough to have a home life that does appropriately reflect the spiritual teachings of their parent(s)' chosen spiritual world view. These kids, IMHO, are the lucky ones. What they learn in at their Kingdom Hall, their mosque, their church, their temple, and/or their synagogue IS practiced at home on a consistent and daily basis. Unfortunately, not all parents take on this awesome responsibility. Instead, they end up teaching their child(ren) how easy it is to say one thing and do another---how easy it is to be a hypocrite---and certainly how easy it is to "blame" anyone and anything (including God as He/She/They are perceived) when life is hard.
Why would anyone grow up to be interested or concerned about their own condition....and what condition their condition is in "now"....when most of what they learned from the people around them is to do whatever you want to do anyway, because life is truly meaningless---and there is NO real purpose for any of us being here in the first place?!
I don't have to remind you how senseless and desensitized America has become generally speaking with each passing generation. Even though all the "bad stuff" we read about today did actually happen not just in recent years...or a hundred years ago...but thousands of years ago also! Nothing illegal, immoral, or unethical among humanity is new under the sun. After all, if we refuse to understand the point of being good while we are here on earth, then doesn't it follow that we will come to believe that being good has no point? Our condition we "think" and want to "believe" we are in...is actually a condition we more than likely lost a long time ago due to influences around us AND our own self-serving choices!
One of my former clients told me about a man he had done business with decades ago. I had to laugh when my client told me at the time, "That guy was so crooked, they'll have to screw him into the ground when they bury him!" After hearing about all that this man had done to my client and others who tried purchasing several parcels from this "gentleman farmer's" vast property...I was SHOCKED to find out this particular crook was never convicted for his various and assorted transgressions! When I found his obituary online and read it to my client, my client rolled his eyes and said "Typical!" Yes, it IS typical when a person is painted in one kind of way for his family and friends...but in reality did everything another kind of way in business-related pursuits. As I know one (now deceased) business owner told me in my early 20's, "Listen Mary, everyone in business is a crook." When I said I wasn't a crook and yet I owned my own business, his response was this: "You'll learn." Yes, I agree...I did learn, but it was because I never lost sight of what condition my own condition was in---on any given day!
Seeing what condition your condition is in is not so complicated. You may not think of yourself as a "spiritual" being, but you are. We all are. We may recognize hints of our spirituality when we take a look around the creation that surrounds us. Watching a baby bird being fed by its mother....a butterfly emerging from its cocoon....the color of the sky and the clouds on a beautiful summer's day. The world we inhabit is too amazingly awesome and too structured to be the result of random acts of order created from the chaos that some believe came into existence after millions of years. One great book to read on this topic is "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" by Josh McDowell.
Our spiritual condition is something that has the power to help heal us...or harden us when we continue to age out. If you have never thought about this issue...or have been hardened by the experiences of your own life (while looking to blame "God" and/or "The Universe" for it!)...try picking up a copy of "The Spiritual Advantages of a Painful Childhood" by Wayne Mueller as a start. It is not a book designed to convert you to a particular religious dogma or "brand" of faith-based belief. It is a book to help set you free from the chains that have bound you up in your own chronic feelings of hurt, anger, shame, guilt, loneliness, and confusion.
After all, religion is for those who are afraid of going to Hell...while spirituality is for those who have already been there.
Until next post...