Blog 313 – 06.08.2016

In the movie by the same title as today’s blog Jack Nicholson, who plays a character with some serious OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) issues makes the statement to a room full of people waiting to see their psychologist, “What if this is as good as it gets?”

John Lennon upset a lot of Christian folks before his death, first by saying that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ and secondly by his song “Imagine” the lyric of which begins:

“Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky.

Imagine all the people
Living life in peace.
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will live as One.”

John Lennon was what people today might call a political activist. He was very much a part of the peace movement of the sixties that helped bring about the end to the war in Vietnam. Many people then and now believe our country was dragged into deeper involvement in that war by the supposed Gulf of Tonkin Incident that many believe did not actually happen. Much like The Weapons of Mass Destruction which were cited as justification for a preemptive war in Iraq and were never found.

Is this as good as it gets? Probably not for there is much that we could make better. But putting everything off to a future time or place will not make this place the heaven on earth it could be and already is for some. I think maybe that was really what John Lennon was trying to point out that a strong belief in a better world to come might cause some to think there is no need to make this one the best it can be for everyone. “No, not just for some but for everyone.”

Imagine all the people living in peace and with plenty. It could happen in one generation if enough of us wanted it to be so. The kingdom of heaven is within each one of us and the power to make it so. Imagine.

Your friend and fellow traveler,
David White