When I was down in the Dominican Republic several years ago I got up early every morning and walked the beautiful sand beach as the sun rose. I’m an early riser, so it was always a pleasure. One morning I took my journal. When I finished my walk I wrote down exactly, verbatim, what you read here. I do not claim to be a theologian. But these thoughts tease me like certainties that, once grasped with violence, escape me. They are subtle, shy and full of wonder:

• The love of all things. All beings. All life. My heart swells at the thought. My eyes get wet. The love. The benediction. Permeates all.
• There is no god with substance, form, location, or existence like mine. Yet all is full of benediction, blessing. But even this confines. All-theism. A-theism.
• Serve. Liberate all! Faithful in little, faithful in much. There are none in, none out. All are. Rules divide. Love people to freedom.
• Impermanence and transitoriness of all things. All things pass. Nothing is permanent. Change. Urgency. Now!
• Jesus is the event and incarnation of all the above. He IS, in whom all are and none aren’t. To speak of him is not to speak of him. To not speak of him is to speak of him.
• The mind’s perception is the deception. The utter ego-centricity, self-serving, self-serving, self-protecting, self-seeking, narcissistic obsession of the brain. See this and be healed of blindness.

This for me, although it was several years ago, was where I was at at the moment. It was a helpful way for me to feel okay about myself. Like an explorer, I plotted my location on a map and said, “Here I am! Not that I’m going to stay here. But here I am. For now. And if anybody asks, this is how I will describe myself.”

Try it. Write something down. What are you thinking? How do you feel? What would you say about yourself. Don’t be ashamed. Just be honest. It is who you are, after all.