Michael Chrobak's Blog: The Modern Mystic

Stuff. Toys. Things. Clutter. Junk. It doesn’t matter what you call it, we live in a generation that is starting to realize we simply have too much.

​At the end of World War II, our nation experienced tremendous economic growth. Households no longer got by with just one car. Suddenly ‘having more’ became the trend. Why have only one car when two is so much better? Or only one television when two makes more sense. Larger houses, bigger cars. More, more, more.

This trend culminated about ten years ago with the Law of Attraction phenomenon and the fairly popular book The Secret. Thousands believed they could attract whatever they wanted, simply by focusing their desire. Fortunately, the pendulum is swinging back the other way. Welcome to the age of Minimalism.

The philosophy of minimalism is simple. Reuse, Reduce, Recycle. Packaging is getting smaller, products are being made from the waste of other products. And it doesn’t stop there. There are hundreds of stories of people giving up ‘the good life’ to live one of simplicity. Couples trading in their far-too-large homes for tiny houses. Entire families choosing to live ‘off-grid’.

On the surface of this trend there are tremendous advantages for the individual as well as our global environment. Less trash, less pollution, a greater concern for nature, and for our future generations as well. But that’s just on the surface. What lies beneath goes far beyond just clearing out closets or donating unused items to charity.

First, let’s admit that, for the most part, Americans are really good at adaptation. We can find ways to popularize concepts, repackage ideas or philosophies, and improve the marketability of just about anything. Take the yoga fitness craze for example. What started as a deeply spiritual activity in the Eastern Religions has become a way of losing weight or improving flexibility.

And though there is nothing wrong with either of those, to repackage this practice just to make it more popular removes the original intent, creating a watered down version that does very little compared to what it was created for. This same type of repackaging is what we see now with minimalism. All we hear about is what lies on the surface of this movement. No one talks about what lies underneath.

Clearing out and getting rid of stuff we no longer need, use, or want is a wonderful thing. Changing our habits to reduce our impact on the world is awesome as well. But there is a danger in stopping there. Far too often I hear people who have become students of minimalism talking about the need to say ‘no’ whenever someone offers you something, especially if you don’t see it as useful or necessary.

The danger in doing this is the exact same danger in believing we can have everything we desire. It pushes the pendulum too far. It actually cuts us off from the ebb and flow of life. Look at it this way. Life is like a gently flowing creek. As long as the water is moving, it remains clean and clear. But when it stops flowing, it stagnates.

The Law of Attraction philosophy was like building a dam, trying to hoard all the water for ourselves. The more we hoarded, the more we needed. Too much stuff required places to store it all, and things to store it in. When we ran out of places in our closets and garages, we started renting storage facilities outside the home. We bought, and stored, and bought some more, until one day we realized we were flooded with stuff. Just as would happen if we dammed up that creek.

But to swing back the other way too far would be to refuse the flow of life. It would be like damming the river before it reaches us. When we refuse what comes our way, we cut ourselves off from this flow. Eventually, our lives dry up, leaving us thirsting for what we used to have. And, even though we may be able to convince ourselves that we are better off now, will future generations see it the same?

The good news is, there is a middle ground. There is a path that allows us to both accept everything and anything that comes our way, and still provide us with the same opportunity to reduce our impact on our world. What’s even better is, we don’t just reduce our impact on the world, but we reduce the world’s impact on us. I’ll talk about that more in the next post.

The final step in creating change within your life, is that of acceptance. As long as there is any resistance at all, we will delay or even prevent the change. Even the slightest resistance can prolong our suffering.

William H. Murray once wrote: “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.”

Think of all of the wonderful dreams you have had in your life that were never realized. Think of all the times you started a new habit, only to stop before you saw the results you wanted. This is the primary reason why so many diets fail, why so many New Year’s resolutions don’t make it past the first few weeks.

We want to have better health, so we start a work-out routine. We tell ourselves it will be hard, we know it will. Then, we start, and we realize we were right. It is hard. It hurts the day after. We don’t like the stiffness and soreness, so we take a few days off. We rationalize it by saying we should ease into the routine. But, instead, we wind up easing out. Resistance.

The only way to ensure the change we desire will endure, is to commit. Beyond the struggles, beyond any pain, beyond the fear of failure. Commit. And then, as Murry wrote, “Providence moves too.” To put that another way, “God grants his grace.”

This is the essence of Jesus words, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock, and the door will be open to you.” These aren’t just words. They are the path to finding the person you were born to be. They aren’t meant to be used for gathering the riches of this world. Those are only fleeting, temporary, meaningless. Whereas finding our purpose and becoming who we were meant to be will not only change your life, but will create an endless ripple of events that will last for eternity.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “How do we know what we are committing to is what we are meant to do, and not just our own desire?” That’s why this step is the final catalyst for change, and not the first. It is of utmost importance that we allow ourselves to be open to the experiences of our lives, that we seek understanding, and that we apply the lessons that we are given first, and then commit. Otherwise, we run the risk of bouncing around like a pinball. And that’s not what we want.

This is where we must learn to surrender, to trust that God will only take us where we are meant to go. Which means, at times He will lead us to places we don’t want to be. Some of what we need to learn is going to hurt. But that’s okay. Sometimes difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations. This is what M. Scott Peck referred to when he wrote The Road Less Traveled.

We fear this road because it isn’t familiar. We fear this road because we don’t want to lose our way. Everyone else is taking the other road. Shouldn’t we just follow the crowd? Sure. Following the crowd can lead to a pretty good life. But we weren’t born for just a ‘good’ life. We were born to have a ‘great’ life. Following the crowd dampens our ability to learn. It numbs us to the changes we aren’t meant to have.

​The choice is yours. Take the easy road, the popular road, the one that passes through the wide gate. There are far fewer struggles that way. Or, take the narrow road, the lonely road, the one filled with challenges. But, if you do, commit yourself to it. Leave your resistance at home. Commit. Surrender. Become.

So, now you’ve had an experience that you would consider important, and you’ve taken the time to understand what it meant and how it affected your views of life. That’s it, right? If only it was that simple. Now comes the hard part – work.

You see, after you reach the understanding of the event or situation, you have to make a conscious decision to act upon that knowledge. This is where the line between God’s Will and Free Will is drawn. Let me explain it this way.

Let’s say your doctor tells you that you need to lose a few pounds. You’re border-line diabetic, and your health is declining. This is the experience. What comes next is the understanding. You might do research about healthier menu options. You might visit a couple of different work-out facilities in your area. You might even look into holistic, or natural methods for weight loss. Problem solved, right?

If you take action towards improving your health, yes. But knowledge doesn’t always equate to action. Changing our habits is hard. It’s tough to suddenly become an early morning person so you can get in a workout before your commute, especially if you’ve never done anything like that before. It’s hard to give up your favorite foods, or to reduce your portion size at meals. All of this takes time and effort. There has to be a willingness to change.

Think about the resolutions you made a few months back. Are you still doing them? All of them? At the same level that you had promised you would? If so, congratulations! You’ve done what thousands of people haven’t. And, if you are one of those thousands of people, then you get my point.

Application of change is by far the most difficult part of the process. And, it is the most important as well. If we don’t make the change, then we remain where we are. Stuck. We never become ready for what is meant to happen after, because we won’t recognize it. We are still seeing life the same way we always have. It is impossible to change our current situation if we stubbornly remain entrenched in the beliefs we have today.

All change requires action. It requires discipline. It requires desire. If we lack either of these three, we either extend the amount of time it takes to reach the change we are meant to, or we never do. Again, this is why some situations in life happen over and over again. We either failed to understand the message of the events, or we failed to take action. The good news is, neither of these are fatal.

The other good news? God understands. He was the one who gave us Free Will in the first place. He knows there will be times when we won’t feel like changing, or when we feel we aren’t ready, or when we believe we aren’t strong enough. That’s why He sends us help.

The help that He sends can come from a variety of different sources. It might be a supportive friend who is going through a similar situation. It might be a random encounter, like when someone recommends a book to us and it turns out to be exactly what we needed to read. There are an infinite range of possible ways God helps us. It’s only up to us to recognize His help when it comes.

Most of the time, we pray for an answer, and then we wait, and we wait, and we believe God didn’t hear us. But the reality is, He did hear us. And He did answer our prayer. We just didn’t realize it because it didn’t look like what we asked for. And so we walked right past it without even giving it a second glance.

This is why it’s so important to learn to accept whatever comes our way. We never know when a random gift will turn out to be the answer to our prayer. So accept everything. Even the things we don’t like at first. They are there for a reason, and that reason is to help us grow.

Yesterday I talked about Experience, the first phase in the process of change. Today, I wanted to share about Understanding, which is the second phase. This is the phase when we first notice something different, a situation or encounter catches our attention.

In some situations, the understanding comes quickly. But until you’ve learned to trust in the process, that is rare. Normally, we sense that there is something important about what just happened, though we have no clue what. We may say something like, “Well, that was weird.” Or perhaps, “What do you think that was all about.” Then we simply go back to doing whatever it was that we were doing.

Yet, our mind continues to chew on the event. Something is there…we know it. If only we could find it. We shrug our shoulders and continue on. Until something else happens that makes us remember, or we decide to tell someone else about what happened, perhaps see what they think about it. Still, we don’t give it the attention it deserves.

Here’s what I’m trying to say. When you find yourself going through a period like this, remember it! Maybe you can’t put your full attention on it because the time or the environment isn’t right. You might be in the middle of a sales presentation, or sitting in a Parent-Teacher conference. That’s fine. Just do everything you can to remember what just happened.

Remember what you were doing right before your mind became attentive to the situation. Remember how you felt, just before you noticed it, and right after you noticed it. Remember who else was there, where you were, exactly what was done or said. Replay it in your memory a few times.

Now, here’s the important part. You know that little voice in your head? The one that never shuts up and is always warning you of impending doom? Or telling you not to eat that chocolate doughnut because you said four years ago that you wanted to lose weight? That little voice, it keeps talking because it has nothing to do. It’s bored. So, give it something to do.

Say the following to yourself – silently, so you don’t look like a crazy person. “Okay, mind…you want something to do? You want to protect me and keep me safe? Figure out what this situation means, what I’m supposed to learn from it. Ready? Go.” Then go back to whatever you’re doing.

While you’re busy changing diapers, or cleaning up the mess the dog just made, or making dinner for your significant other, don’t be surprised if the answer drops from the sky, right into your lap. Sometimes it arrives through an epiphany, a revelation of your own thoughts. One moment you don’t know what it means, and the next, it couldn’t be more clear.

And sometimes it arrives through external sources. You receive an email that causes you to recall the event. Or someone says something to you, completely unaware of what happened, and you understand. This happens all the time. The problem is, we don’t understand or look for these occurrences, or we put it off to ‘dumb luck’ or ‘random coincidence’. But it’s not.

You see, if God was the one who created the situation, as His way of guiding you towards the point of fulfilling your purpose, then don’t you think He would also supply the instruction manual on what to do with what He gave you?

Of course He will! The only issue is, God is a lot like Ikea. He’ll give you all the parts, and He’ll give you all the tools. But the instruction manual is a bit, shall we say foreign? He leaves it up to you to figure out how everything goes together. And, from what I’ve experienced over the years, just like Ikea, there’s always one little part that seems to be missing. But, when you find it, everything fits.

That’s why I want you to understand how important EVERY event in your life is. Each moment fits somewhere. Each piece has its place. To quote Dan Millman in his book Way of the Peaceful Warrior, “There are no ordinary moments.”

A couple days back, I wrote an entry titled, Cycles of Life. In that entry, I discussed the four stages of change, and the experiences I had in September of last year when I spent three days in the ICU due to respiratory failure.

Today, I decided to cover each of these four stages in more detail, discussing one each day for the next four days. I will start with the first stage, which is the stage of Experience. What is an ‘experience’, and how does it differ from the usual flow of daily life? Well, it doesn’t differ. Everything is an experience. Some of them are small and have little importance, while others capture our attention and remain in our memories for years.

Every experience we have, from the two minute encounter with a rude cashier at the grocery store, to the day we get married, have a child, start a business, or any other memorable moment, are all there for one reason. They guide us. They either give us an example of something we want to move towards, or something we want to move away from.

That two minute encounter with the rude cashier? Ask yourself, how did you respond to the next person you encountered? Did you go out of your way a little to make sure that encounter was a better one? Or maybe you did something internal, like decide to shop somewhere different next time. And, though you might not have realized it at the time, something about you changed because of that encounter.

Now, I admit, a two minute encounter with someone will very rarely be a life changing experience. But, it doesn’t have to be. Remember, it is simply there as a guide. Just ask yourself how many two minute (or even shorter) encounters you have with people in each day.

The guy who cuts you off on the freeway –“I don’t want to be like him!” The lady next to you on her phone at the store – “I can’t believe she said that out loud!” The woman at the dog park – “I wish I could get my dog to behave that well.” And these are people you didn’t even speak to!

Each one of those encounters left a tiny impression on you. You might not remember them a week from now, or even an hour from now, but that’s okay. They weren’t meant to be long-lasting, life-changing events. You see, God works through each of us in a very similar way to a sculptor works with marble. They chip away, piece by piece, until the sculpture is revealed.

Now, you might be wondering about where Free Will is in all of this. Aren’t we given the opportunity to create our own life? To choose the direction we want to go in? Of course we are. Just not in the realm of Experience. We don’t get to choose what happens around us, just how we respond.

This is where most people get stuck in life. Something happens to them, and they never choose a response. They don’t believe that everything happens for a reason. When something sad or painful happens, they just take it as part of life. Maybe they believe they are cursed, or that they have bad luck, or that nothing good ever happens to them, and so they don’t look for the deeper meaning.

When this happens, especially if the event was one God had intended to help them change, they usually wind up having the same or very similar experience again, and again. It took me three failed businesses before I realized that I was never meant to run a business. I walked away from dozens of jobs, never spending more than a couple years doing anything, before I finally realized that I’m not supposed to work for someone else.

And, I kept finding myself in situations where I was drawn to be an author, and yet never followed that dream. Until now. Finally, my life makes sense. It fits. Simply because I started listening and learning from the experiences I was having. The small, and the large. I began to understand. But that is a topic for tomorrow

What is ‘writer’s block’? Someone once defined it as “When your imaginary characters won’t talk to you.” I like that definition. For me, though my characters never ‘talk’ to me, my book often does.

And now that I’ve used up my allotment of quotations for the day, let me explain further. The other night my wife and I watched a documentary about Magnus Carlsen, the current World Champion of Chess. It’s currently on NetFlix if you’re interested, and I highly recommend it. What Magnus is able to do, in brief, is to tap into a higher power, which he refers to as intuition. (I almost used another set of quotations there…)

He stated that, by simply looking at the board, he would simply see the most logical and next best move to make. He once proved this by playing ten games at once – while blindfolded. Meaning, he not only had to keep track of his pieces on the ten game boards, but the pieces of the other ten players as well. All in his head. Amazing.

On days when he didn’t play as well as he could, he said it was like his intuition was turned off. He just couldn’t connect, couldn’t see the best move to make. You could see in his face the difference between his good days and bad days. You could tell before a game even started it was going to be a good day. There was light in his eyes, his posture was relaxed, and the speed with which he moved his pieces showed confidence. On bad days, that was all gone.

For me, this describes what I feel when I experience writer’s block. It just isn’t there. My book, which most days literally writes itself, just doesn’t happen. I don’t feel any different, my fingers just don’t move. And though sometimes I still write on those days, what I do create requires far more edits. At times, when I read it back, I simply delete it. No sense wasting time trying to make a pig look pretty.

Luckily, I can tell fairly early on that I’m not having a good writing day. The words just don’t seem to flow, and I don’t feel the same level of wonder and awe as I write. It just feels flat. On the good days, I’m like a child on Christmas morning, falling in love with each new paragraph like so many presents under the tree. On those days, the editing process is far less strenuous.

As I talked about yesterday, life is cyclical. There are days when things go great, and days when things don’t. What I’ve found over the years, is the less time I spend fretting about the no-so-good days, and the more time I simply accept them as part of the process, the far fewer of those days I have. When they do happen, I’ll just grab a book and head out back to sit in the sun, or take a nap, or cook something. Whatever I feels right in the moment.

You see, fighting against these days just makes things worse. I’ve had far more than my share of simple moments that turned into multiple days of frustration, simply because I focused on what was going wrong. One bad situation turned into a day of spilled coffee, angry conversations, not getting my way. You know, like two-year-olds have. Except for the coffee – at least I hope.

Now, there is a clear and definite difference between accepting these moments and liking them. Accepting doesn’t mean you have to like them. Think about your boss for a moment, or maybe your neighbor. See what I mean? Accepting simply means understanding that you can’t change what’s going on, at least, not right now. Accepting means letting things be as they are, and knowing that, eventually, they will change.

Now, when I get writer’s block, instead of trying to push through it, I simply imagine the block is real, and that it’s made of ice. Then I just wait for it to melt. It will. Soon enough. It always does.

Recently I had a reader ask me how real were the situations I wrote about in Where Angels Dwell, my newest novel. The first two chapters, up until the time the main character is released from the hospital, are about ninety percent real. I changed a few things, like the names of characters, and what I said to ‘Father Kevin’ during my confession, but other than that, the events, and most of the conversations, actually happened.

Don’t worry, other than revealing the fictitious name of the priest in the book, I won’t be revealing any secrets. You can read on without worry.

I’m a firm believer in the philosophy that everything happens for a reason. Yes – everything. Some of the reasons are small, while others are life changing. But everything, every new encounter, every relationship that ends, every experience we have, is all there for a purpose. What is the purpose of these events? Simply, to help us find ours.

We are all born for a reason. We have to be. If we weren’t, then there would be no reason for life to exist at all. To believe that we are here now due to nothing more than a series of random events, to me, doesn’t make sense. For one, when you look at it from the perspective of randomness, the odds against humanity existing far exceed the chance that we did.

There are hundreds of factors that had to all be exactly as they are now, not only for life to have begun in the first place, but for intelligent life to have evolved. Change even just one of those factors by a fraction of a percentage, and, well, *poof*, no more humans. Not intelligent ones anyway.

Now, if everything happened for a reason, then there has to be a defining cause that created the reason for all that is. You can’t have a universe where everything happens for a reason, and yet not believe that there is a higher purpose to direct all the little purposes.

What does all this mean? That there was a purpose for me to have had the experience of near death in September of last year. What the purpose was, exactly, I’m still discovering. Part of it was the creation of the Where Angels book series. Part of it was to provide me the opportunity to engage in thoughts about the end of life. And part of it was to bring about a transformation in my daily mindset. All of which are leading me to even greater and more powerful changes down the road.

We know life is cyclical. The seasons come and go, new lives are born while others die. The same holds true for us. There are times when we are learning and growing, and times when we are at rest – at least spiritually. Our life cycles are all centered on one thing – helping us find our purpose. The phases are; Experiencing, Understanding, Applying, and Change.

For example, the time I spent in the hospital was in the Experiencing phase. I wasn’t meant to learn or understand at the time, but simply to experience what was happening. Later on I began to understand and discover the purpose behind what I experienced. Now, I’m in the phase where I am beginning to apply what I’ve learned to my life. When I have applied everything that I learned, I will reach a new way of being, a new way of perceiving. I will have changed.

When we break this cycle, we never obtain the change that God wants us to have. This is the reason why some people go through the same or very similar situations over and over again. They never reach the point of understanding what they were meant to learn, or they learn, but they fail to apply the lesson to their life. Or they try to hold on to the way things used to be, the way they already know, what is comfortable.

Life isn’t meant for comfort though. Life is meant to be lived in the cycles. Happiness one moment, sorrow the next, anger, joy, frustration…they are all part of the process of being alive. To deny ourselves any of these, is to deny ourselves life.

I know, I know. This writing exercise was supposed to be a daily activity. I was supposed to do it for 13 weeks straight, and yet I only made it for 10 days or something. So, what happened? Well, to put it simply – edits.

Before I expand on that, let me explain the process of book writing, for those ‘non-author’ types who have chosen to follow this blog. If you’re not interested in learning, or if you already know, skip down to the part where I say, “Anyway, that’s it.”

The first step I will call ‘Creation’. This involves conceptualizing the idea. Now, for some authors that includes a meticulous process of defining the storyline and characters. For others, like me, it includes making a pot of coffee and sitting in a chair. Seriously. I never know what I’m going to write until I start writing. I know, weird, right?

Anyway, on to step number two, also called ‘The First Draft’. Now, this process can take a couple hours (for an illustrated children’s book for example – not the pictures, just the story) to a few years.

The first draft can be sloppy, filled with nonsensical words and storylines that don’t line up. There can be grammar and spelling errors, missed punctuation, etc. It’s a very rough draft. As such, it should NEVER be read by anyone but a trusted friend or another author who’s been there – done that.

Step three is where the story begins to come together. It’s the first time the author starts to revise what they wrote. For me, this includes going back and checking that the timelines all match up, that I’ve properly developed my characters, etc. I read each chapter, one at a time, at least three times before I start revising. Then I work, paragraph by paragraph, until I have that chapter ‘done’.

Once I’m happy with the outcome, I do it again. And again, and again. There is always something I catch, some random inconsistency with the dates or characters. When I’ve reached a point of being ‘okay’ with it, it goes to step four.

What is step four? More edits. But not by me. I honestly believe every author should have at least one, and if possible, two different people edit the book. For me, the first one to read it is always my wife. She teaches 2nd grade, so she’s used to figuring out what her students really meant to say in the stories they write. And she catches most of the grammar, spelling and punctuation stuff.

Step five? Even more edits. This time by someone who will give me both additional little things to correct, like anything my wife missed, and also gives me feedback on the storyline. This editor will leave little comments like, “Was the character smiling here?” or “Share more about the location the characters are in right now.” They help the story come alive.

This is where I found myself just over two weeks ago when I suddenly stopped writing my daily blogs. I find this step to be the most difficult. For me, it takes greater concentration to re-write, to fluff up, or to diminish (in cases where I was far too verbose) what I’ve written. It can mean scrapping entire paragraphs, adding brand new sections, or even re-writing an entire chapter or more.

I don’t know if it’s the same for other authors or not, but for me, I am simply unable to write anything else during this phase. And, it takes at least a few days to transition back to writing again once it’s over.

On to phase (what number was I on?) – formatting edits. “What? We’re not done editing yet?” Nope. Still more. But these edits are different than all the others. For these edits, I transfer the manuscript into a version so it looks just like it will print. I choose the font style, the headers and page numbers, size and style of the chapter titles, etc.

I also kill orphans and widows. I’ll just leave that there and let you decide if you want to Google search to find out what that means or not. Or leave me a comment, and I’ll respond with more.

Anyway, that’s it. The entire editing process, from the moment I hand the book to my wife for her first read-through, to the time I submit the completed project to the print shop normally takes a month, sometimes two. It really depends on the schedule and availability of my editors.

That’s where I’ve been. But, at least for now, I’m back writing again. My project this time? Finishing Brother Thomas and the Guardians of Zion: Book Two – The Paladin of Panama. It should be complete by early April, and released by end of May, early June. I’ll update my progress here as I go.

As Tigger used to say, TTFN!

What does it mean to have all your needs met? To trust in the words, "Ask, and you will receive. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be open unto you"​? Does this mean that God will give us anything and everything we ask for? Just because we want it? Like He is some cosmic vending machine waiting for us to deposit our prayers like coins in the slot?

I think the answer to this is 'yes', and 'no'. I believe God wants us to be happy. Endlessly, joyously, happy. And He is willing to grant us anything we ask for that provides us with this enduring state of grace. Which is why some of our prayers don't get answered in the way we think they should. When we pray for something that will only provide us with temporary happiness, God answers, but not like we want. He knows that temporary happiness just leads to future despair and sadness. Why would He give us that? If he desires our joy, why would he give us anything that will lead us to sorrow?

​This is why He isn't the one who provides us with the material things that we pray for. Sure, we might pray for a new house, or a new car, and, we might get what we pray for. But it didn't come from God. It just looks that way. Again, as I talked about in yesterday's blog, it's just a perspective that we chose to believe. Trust me, God does not grant wishes.

​So, what does he grant? Let's look at it this way. Say you pray for a new car. You know exactly which one you want, what features, etc. Let's say it's a new Mercedes, or an SUV, or whatever would make you happy. God hears your prayer, and he wants you to be happy. But, God doesn't care about the difference between a Mercedes, an SUV, or a beat up junker. All He knows is we desire to find happiness, and He wants to grant it.

​And, so, He provides for us, not material things, and not the things of this world, but only that which brings us to the ​'peace that passes all understanding'. ​God knows that our ultimate happiness lies not in the accumulation of things, or wealth, or status, or power. All of those are temporary, impermanent. They can be taken from us at any time. Rather, our ultimate source of happiness lies in our total surrender to what is, and in non-attachment. It comes from having a central core of acceptance in all things.

​Yes, we may have possessions, wealth, status, or power, but we are not attached to them. They don't define us. They exist for however long they do, and when they are gone, we move on. We are no better for having them. We are no worse for not.

​Remember the story of the Rich Young Man in the bible? He asked Jesus what he had to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to follow the commandments, which the man said he already was doing. Jesus then told him to sell everything he had and give it to the poor, and the man walked away in sorrow.

​Jesus knew the young man was attached​ to his possessions and status. He knew the man could not give them up because the man had made the mistake of thinking these things defined who he is. This false understanding left him a prisoner of his own creation. He defined the walls that prevented him from being truly free. We all do.

​So, when we pray to God for a new Mercedes, what God hears is, "Teach me how to have eternal life". He knows the only road that leads there is through the narrow gate, the passageway that is only wide enough for us to squeeze through. We can bring nothing with us.

​So, yes, pray to God for what you want in life. Just don't be surprised when what He gives you is nothing like you wanted. But - it will be exactly what you need.

​Be well my friends
Michael Chrobak

I love coffee. I really do. I know I'm not supposed to drink it, at least not too much, that is. Supposedly it aggravates a certain health issue I deal with. But I just can't deny myself having some. Especially on those cold mornings. It can be in the low 60's when we first get up. We try to not use our furnace as much as possible. Not because we are stingy or don't want to pay the bill. But because we care about our environment, and we practice healthy giving. Yeah, one family cutting their energy usage by ten to twenty percent each year doesn't do that much, I admit. But imagine if everyone did the same.
​And it's not just our energy usage that we try to control. We do the same thing in a lot of other areas as well. Like not using any chemicals in our yard and garden. We find organic ways of controlling bugs.  And, weeds? Well, those get pulled by hand - and composted to reduce the amount of fertilizer we need. It's all part of our healthy giving, which can be a lot of fun, too. Plus, my wife and I get to spend a lot more time together. We can fill an entire weekend outside in our yard tending to our plants and having real, honest conversations.
​I guess you could consider us ​minimalists​ to some degree. No, we don't live in a tiny house, although I wouldn't mind that. And, yes, we do own more than one car. But we are constantly finding more ways to cut back on consumption. And we are always taking bags of extra stuff we no longer need or use to Goodwill. It's just part of who we are. To be honest, I find it a much more relaxing and enjoyable way to live. Gone are the days we used to stress over all the bills we had to pay. We have no consumer debt anymore. We don't have credit cards at all. Besides, I'm pretty sure when I get to the Pearly Gates that Saint Peter isn't going to care about my credit score.
In my most recent book, Where Angels Dwell​, which is due to be released soon, I talk a little about charity. Well, one of my characters does. To me, charity goes far beyond giving food to the poor, or giving away old clothes to the homeless. Charity requires sacrifice. It's not supposed to be an act that we do to make us feel better about ourselves. Charity should be selfless. I like to say that the truest form of charity requires a giver who is unaware of what they gave, and a receiver who doesn't realize they were given a gift.
​How can this happen? Well, imagine you are having difficulty in a relationship. You're struggling to find ways to communicate effectively, or something like that. And then, one day you're sitting in a café, and the couple sitting in the booth next to you draw your attention, just for a moment. They do or say something that makes you see how easily they are able to do what you are struggling with. Not thinking much about it, you pay your bill and go home. But, later that week, you find yourself doing or saying something that reminds you of what you witnessed that day in the café. And there you have it. The couple at the café were the giver who doesn't realize what they gave, and you were the receiver who didn't realize you were given a gift. That's what charity is to me. That's what healthy giving is. It's being a constant example of goodness and light in a world so consumed with fear of the darkness. Not because you get something from this way of living, but because it's simply who you are. It's part of your core to be a light for the world.
​This is the essence of Christianity. It's not all about being recognized for your powerful testimony. It's about leading others to be better people just because of who you are. Imagine if everyone acted this way. I think I know what we would call it. Heaven on earth.
​Be well my friends!
Michael Chrobak