growNman
growNman
I am growNman 82
Listen to how my exposure to Islam deepened my appreciation for the universal quest for a better life and peace. I'll also share profound lessons from the Kabbalah, emphasizing balance, integrity, and the energy we put into the world. This episode is a reflection on the importance of daily self-improvement, personal growth, and the belief that true faith is accompanied by action. Discover how changing perspectives can enhance your understanding and lead to a more fulfilling life. Join me on this journey towards balance and spiritual growth, where each day offers a new opportunity for self-investment and inner peace.
what up, dope and welcome back to. I'm growing man. It's your man, john d, in the building. Um, I started to reflect on my age I'm getting closer to 50 and I started to think, like when does an opinion matter? And I wanted to give my opinion on just my evolution of thoughts on religion.
Speaker 1:You know, I remember growing up I didn't have the best childhood but praying to God, getting on my knees now laying me down to sleep, prayer, and I used to pray for things. I don't think I really got the things that I was praying for, but I prayed anyway because I was told that I was supposed to. I kind of grew up just automatic Christian. But my parents, they didn't say that we were, but they believed in God and would believe in Jesus, but they didn't push anything. And I remember going to a Baptist church next door, a white one, and I remember he was like hey, hey, kids, come over. You know we got food, you know we poor. So I was like bet, let's go. It's like like 15 to 20 of us. So it's on a wednesday, we're playing this field all the time. But somebody told him to come get us and we did. We started going and people just started dropping off the food wasn't enough to keep them. But I was like I gotta stay in church because that's the only way I'm gonna get where I'm supposed to get. So I was like I mean, I ain't getting nothing still. You know what I'm saying, but I'm still doing it. I'm trying to go on sundays, sunday school and wednesday At this time it's just two or three of us. I remember getting perfect attendance and still nothing changed. But it was just like I was just in this practice. So I'm doing it Just fast forward.
Speaker 1:I remember at the time a friend of mine said John, do you believe in Jesus? I'm like yeah. And he said why? And I was like because it's in the Bible. He said man wrote the Bible. I was like, yeah, but it was inspired by God. He was like, yeah, man wrote that too. And I started thinking I was like man, that's crazy, he right. So then I was just like yeah, I don't believe in Jesus. He said no, no, that ain't what I'm telling you. But at that point it was just like it was too late, I don't believe in Jesus. But not even like maybe 48 hours.
Speaker 1:I started to evaluate what I had cut off. I was like could Jesus be God's son, Possibly? I started breaking down the story. It's like did he die on the cross for our sins? He probably could have done that. Then I started to like like jesus was real. He may not have been god's son, but he was a real man trying to save all of us.
Speaker 1:But I don't even know if that was his intent. I think that was a story for somebody to believe, to want something better. But these are just my thoughts. This is not to offend anything. It's just. You know, if it offends you, you can definitely leave.
Speaker 1:But I was just saying, like as me being 50, almost 50, I'm 46, but evolving to 50, I want to like kind of give my idea of how I got here. So you know, I'm like I believe in Jesus. I was like, yeah, he was a good dude, yeah, so again, I was like I guess you could still say I'm a Christian. But then it was just like I was starting my second guess thing Like these stories they be wild and I'm like and he's supposed to equate today, and I'm like as a man, and they tell you to have faith and I'm like faith in what? Like at this point I'm gonna tell you nothing that I've prayed for. I've gotten that I can think of. You know what I'm saying now. These are just my thoughts.
Speaker 1:Now, at this point I do believe in God, believe in Jesus still, and now I'm kind of open minded to a few other things and I remember I just was like you know, I'd rather be spiritual because I feel like I can't offend anybody. You know, when you spiritual, people have an opinion about you. But you know, if you say you're spiritual, people can't look at you, but in one way, and that's the same way they look at everybody who's spiritual. But you know, like, if you say you Christian or you say Muslim, you say you anything, depending on how much information they are, they put you in this box. But being spiritual it's like one of those things where, like, they know that you believe in something. So it's like one of those things where they know that you believe in something. So it's like less judgment, Not saying that I care because I could tell you this, I don't care. My intention is to remove anything that could offend the person I'm talking to. I don't want to ever distract the person that I'm talking to because of something that I grew up on and they don't like it. So I'm trying to find the most neutral position to approach people where they can get this information so that they can I don't know like understand how important they are. But anyway, we're back, Just listen.
Speaker 1:So I remember going to the Middle East as an assistant principal and in my idea of what Islam was, I was so ignorant, you know, I just I just remember I never got really fully into the culture, but I got into the culture enough where I could appreciate meeting beautiful people that grew up nothing like me, and they were so nice, they were like beyond nice and it made me like evaluate the way people look at religions, the way that they do it. It's their way of life. They were so committed on the prayer. Prayer was when you believe in something. I can see that being a part of just who you are if you believe in it. You know what I'm saying. But I was like I remember they used to ask me if I wanted to be a Muslim, because they was like what are you? Are you Christian? I'm like no, it's like you believe in Jesus. I was like, yeah, it's like you're not Christian. I was like no, no, it's like I believe in everything. You know, whatever you like, I like I don't want to offend, it was like that. Know, I was blessed, you know, and I learned a lot.
Speaker 1:So what I realized in the last six or seven years maybe six that religion has separated us. You know we want the best things for each other, but if tell you I'm something independent on how much you believe in, how much in what you practice, you're judging me and you're giving me this baggage I don't even deserve. And by people being being stand up you know for people what they believe in. Like I'm a christian, I'm on, you know, I believe in this, I love you, you know what I'm saying, but some of your people are going to look at me weird if I tell you that I'm this. But I come in peace and I feel like that's how I've gotten here. I've gotten here through understanding that everybody just wants they just want the best possibility of just enjoy life just a little more, and sometimes we have distractions that could be something that we practice in our routine that prevents us from opening up.
Speaker 1:I believe this, this, this part on earth, is for us to like, really work together so that we could turn into something else. We use distractions to prevent us from being better than what we are. I used to pray all the time and this is what I determined. If I was God, what would you look at on earth if you were human? You would want to look at something that is trying to create something off of their effort and if you look at it, you can see the distractions that's preventing man from being great, because people are really good at distracting people. And when you can determine there's a distraction that's preventing you from being a great, you might as well say you a bot, and that's no, no disrespect. But if you know that this is preventing you from getting there and you're doing it anyway, that's what bots do. You know what I'm saying? Like you can't tell me, you consciously making decisions. That's preventing you from creating something you haven't even seen and, overall, from creating something you haven't even seen.
Speaker 1:And overall, my perspective on who I am as a person is to come in peace and to give you a little bit of everything I have to offer. I've lived in two countries. I've been all over the world with my family. I work on communication every single day so that I can show people that there's got to be a better way to enjoy life. I see pain everywhere. I see people complain about anything and as a person, I've learned that you're rewarded on your effort. Like the more you work on something, the more opportunities happen. Like if you're not working on anything, why is anything supposed to improve?
Speaker 1:So the spiritual being that I give thanks to, the one that I see certain messages that say you know, faith without work is dead. You know, I believe in myself. I have to put in the work and I see fruits developing and I give thanks for those messages I'm giving, because no matter how much I pray, no matter how much I practice, if I'm not actually investing in myself, I can't put the effort in. So what am I believing in? You have to believe in yourself. So the guy that I follow is the one that just wants to improve on a daily basis. There's so many things you can work on every single day. Just imagine if you committed doing that, what type of person you would be after so many years. You'd probably be remarkable, but you'd have to. You would want to believe in yourself to do something like that and I'm telling you, life gets so much better. Like some of you guys are right there. You just got to push and then, once it become your daily practice, like you see, you see fruits in places you didn't even know you were capable of seeing. So you have to believe in yourself. That's my overall thoughts on religion at this point, getting closer to 50.
Speaker 1:Oh, I want to give a shout out to the Kabbalah. I've learned a lot. I don't want to say anything that could deter anybody from seeking more information, but whatever you put out is what you're going to receive. You may be really smooth at it. Listen to this If you know it can be done better and it's taking advantage of something you're going to hurt at some point that what goes around comes around Karma, whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 1:Life is about balance, right, and a lot of y'all up right now, and it's not going to mean anything when it catches up. So everybody, do what you like. Your object is to put as much in as possible. After a while you become this machine that creates nothing but music when you just walk anywhere, Because you enjoy life that much more and people don't recognize it Like. I don't even want to give.
Speaker 1:So if anybody can find anything negative out of what I'm saying, please pardon my language. I'm just working on communication to express my thoughts in a way where people like I didn't look at it like that, Not where I know what I'm talking about. It's like dang. That's a different way to look at it, because I have been looking at it this way and I feel like sometimes people be just you know one word that could distract them from a message I was trying to give. Like just be open minded, Like the more open minded you are, the more you can appreciate where you are and where you're trying to go.
Speaker 1:You know like this isn't to test anybody's faith at all. If you believe in what you believe in, this is nothing but noise. But if you're open-minded to being like hey, I never looked at it like that this can only make you believe in something stronger. And the closer you get to God, the more he'll appreciate or she'll appreciate or what they'll appreciate your effort in trying to find peace within yourself. That's what life is about. It's a game, it's about trying to find balance and we're so distracted on things that we don't need. You know the way you become really good at something. People get compensated for things like that. Work on you and I promise you'll find your value. Y'all make today better than yesterday. Don't worry about anything you can't control. G-a-t-a Get after that action or that action will get after you. Be here in no purpose.