Consider yourself, the male half of humankind, and meditate on the reason for your existence and the purpose for which you were brought into being. Contemplate your abilities, ponder your circumstances, discover your inescapable duties and face your earthly obligations. Assume your burdens cheerfully, for they are not imposed capriciously. The task ahead of you may seem hard, but it is not beyond your capacity. And remember that every affliction, however grievous and seemingly unnecessary, serves a purpose and end.

Man, do not stand before your god, with puffed chest and loud voice proclaiming your glory and your rights; you show how arrogantly ignorant you truly are. Through your actions, you show your blindness to the fact that you are the delight and the sorrow of the human race. Stop for a moment and think, for you have been endowed with a reason. You have been bestowed with the faculty of speech, so as to share that wisdom you have accumulated throughout your life. You have been given an exalted mind, so that it may be perceptive of beauty and grandeur. And you have the ability to combine the use of your mind with the wisdom you have acquired so as to adjust your nature to accord with your duties and destiny. But be aware of yourself, as your pride and the fruition of your desire will rob you of all the goodness within you, leaving you with a false illusion of a superior estate that manipulates your pride into self gain, belittling your dignity and placing you on a descending path of meanness and a nature of degrading all things around you.

Remember, that every man, whatsoever his nation or estate, is a man; therefore, never degrade anyone, for even the least among men is a candidate for godhood. Remember that man can be whatever he wills; subject to the Laws, there is no limitation on man’s potential achievements. Therefore, shoot for the moon and stars, and not for the treetops, for nothing is beyond your reach. Stop and think before you act because you have the ability of reason and the free will to make personal decisions. Remember that your actions are role models for your children and your children’s children, so be a wise father and delegate responsibility to your children. And remember that it is okay to make mistakes, for man can soar to the greatest heights, but also fall to the lowest depths. No man is wholly good, and no man is wholly evil. The scales are never completely weighed down, for your actions and decisions in your glories and in your failures create your future; and will be played out again and again as acceptable behavior by your children.

Oh man of earth, mark this well. Never forget the goal of your soul. Nor vault your godlikeness, for the beast dogs your footsteps, and an animal cloths your soul. You dwell beneath the dark shadows cast by the cloud of mortal ignorance. You live in a twilight dream state. You are deceived by your physical senses. You dream and say this is reality. You reason and are afraid. But know that all things real are known by your soul and that wisdom awaits your discovery. For man is not flesh and blood alone, but something much more, something far greater than you can ever conceive at present. You are a prisoner of your perceptions: like the eagle who soars in the air above not knowing that soon he will descend to Earth and rise no more, or the mighty lion who is unaware of the worms that will one day consume it, or the cow that knows not of the slaughter-house. Man, in your self-proclaimed infamous glory, placed dogmatic blinders upon your eyes whereby you are consciously unaware that something else exists within the space of your body; it is your soul. Do not cheat yourself by believing you have the rest of your life, for when the unannounced departure occurs, your soul will take with it life and consciousness, discarding the container of this physical existence. In death, your soul, which came from the abode of spirit has returned.

These are not just words of wisdom alone, they are a warning. Man is the highest of the beasts and the lowest of the gods, therefore, man is the battle ground of beast and god. Because of that, man has within two personas, a real man and a weakling. And it is one of our goals in life, as we travel through adulthood, to discover the difference between a Real Adult and a weakling.

Therefore, go forth, be gentle with women and hearty with men. Discipline yourself to be generous and hospitable, alert and audacious. And always remember, meanness, deceit, and hypocrisy are things suppose to be far beneath you, along with intemperance, for they are personal characteristics of weaklings.

About the Columnist

Dr. Brent Lee is a Consultant in Alternative Ways, and author of the nonfiction, Beyond Knowing and fiction, Epicenter. His Ph. D. is in Philosophy, M.A. in Counseling Psychology, and B.A. in Theology. And he is a retired U.S. Navy Counselor, Chief Petty Officer. As a Consultant, Dr. Lee specializes in Personal, Professional, and Spiritual Guidance through Regressive and Meditative Therapy. His philosophy is, “Man is made by his belief. As he believes, so he is.” Dr. Lee also has extensive experience dealing with the many issues of the Afterlife. Dr. Brent Lee also invites you to visit him through his web site at: www.brentlee.com