by David Truman
• Too many troubles and not enough truffles
• "I'm a spiritual experience survivor"?
• If it's white, leave it white
• What about the truffles I've seen?
An old spiritual song goes, "Nobody knows the troubles I've seen, nobody knows but Jesus." Well folks, that's changed. These days, with communication being what it is, almost EVERYBODY knows the troubles that many people have seen, all over the world. And at home, people are expressing negativity and pain and sorrow to each other in abundance.
This article addresses the problem of hyper-abundant bad news. In the public media, and in the individual mind within oneself; in the global context, and in the context of relationship, people have shared the troubles they've seen. Troubles and negative thoughts have been shared even to the point of sinking the entire world in massive torment, pain, fear, upset, and depression.
Too many troubles and not enough truffles
The whole world has done itself terrible harm just by sharing negative thought in mass quantities. It is sinking under the weight of so much bad news, and so many dismal views. We've reached the point where seeing the news is actually hazardous to our health. It causes stress, distrust, gloomy expectations, negative faith.
And we can't blame it all on the news media. A couple -- even an isolated couple in a remote location, with no connection to the outside world -- can, and often does, bury itself in bad news too, just sharing negative thought in large quantities.
It's no longer true that "nobody knows the troubles I've seen." These days, closer to the truth is, "nobody knows the truffles I've seen!" In other words, nobody knows the beautiful things that happened -- because we haven't told them. We have all seen beauty, but not many of us have shared much of the beauty we've seen. So the new song could say, "Nobody knows the truffles I've seen, nobody knows but Jesus."
"I'm a spiritual experience survivor"?
We're so overboard on the negative side, we don't just hide the good things that happen to us. We actually redefine them as bad, oftentimes. Even the best things can be turned into bad news by negative minds. I've actually seen support groups for people who have had spiritual experiences: Spiritual Experience Survivors Anonymous! Goes to show, people can make a drag out of anything -- anything can become bad news if it is badly enough interpreted or misinterpreted.
This happens all the time with love. People say stuff like, "I was in seventh heaven when I met my mate, but then things went sour. I don't know what I was thinking at first. Now I know it was all a lie."
I know you think you were "such a fool," and you were "so blind." But maybe the things that you experienced, that you thought were good, were in fact good. Surely, if you loved and were loved, it was not all a lie. Maybe you don't actually need to turn that all around, in this kind of hindsight that you think is 20/20, whereas it's really just painting everything black -- even what was white at the time it occurred.
If it's white, leave it white
How about having it be okay with us that a good thing is a good thing? Rather than revising history entirely, and painting everything black, why not admit: "We had a beautiful relationship for a long time." Admit that was real. Tell the good news about the relationship.
And then, perhaps, we could begin to see that that this bad thing that happened, which is that the relationship screwed up -- that was fully unreal. That was untrue. That was unnecessary. That was unworthy of what was, what coulda been, what shoulda been. Then we could know that the real was real and the unreal was unreal. It's good to keep it that way. Otherwise, all we have is revisionist history, in which the beautiful things that we've painted black, color our whole world black, psychologically, spiritually, emotionally.
What about the truffles I've seen?
It is true to say that nobody knows much of the incredibly magical, wonderful, beautiful, uplifting, healing, Godly things we've seen. Whether with man as Divine, or with God as Divine, so many wondrous things have happened in the Temple of Love, in the bubble of love, in the magic and mystery of Divine communion. And of many such beauties, it could truly be said, "nobody knows but Jesus" (or God, or one's partner in love). Generally, we are more inclined to share the ugliness that we've seen. We complain, we share negative views, and we call that honesty.
But wouldn't this be a nicer world if many people did know the truffles we've seen? It would do them good to hear of it. That would help balance out the epidemic of bad news and negative views. It would buoy up the individual, the marriage, the community, the world, out of this massive negativity, so thoroughly over-balanced by the ego's preference for it.
Obviously, what we need is not tacky power cheer -- sentiments of a false positive, compensatory nature. We just need sincere declarations of truly good news, beautiful experiences, etc. We need to bear genuine witness to wonderful things and beautiful things. We need sincerely to broadcast the beauty that we know is true.
Friends, if we would admit the beauty and share the beauty that we've seen, it would actually keep a lot of personal horror stories from ever even happening. Because a lot of the failure of relationships is caused, for example, by not being willing to give credit where credit's due, by not being willing to put positive energy into someone or acknowledge things that are good, or by being too willing to say things like "you always" and "you never." In other words, the "half-empty" mentality, the over-emphasis on the part of the cup that's half empty, is what torpedoes a lot of relationships.
Shout it from the rooftops
If nobody knows the truffles you've seen, tell them. Tell them of the truffles, the sweetness, the beauty you've seen. Broadcast your good news and views around the land. That, then, will become the gift that keeps on giving. Your good news will go on giving and living through one person after another. As it is shared by a succession of minds, it keeps on replicating itself, and it heals the world. Good news heals and uplifts the spirit just as much as bad news sickens and depresses it.
This kind of sharing is essential for the health of the human race, and possibly even for its survival. It is essential for psychological, spiritual, emotional health, at minimum.
"Commit random acts of kindness," they say. "Commit senseless acts of beauty." But for this, a genuine appreciation of what is genuinely good is needed. A genuine love for what is genuinely loveable. These things are essential.
Share the beautiful spiritual experiences you have had. Shout it from the rooftops. Be the bringer of good news, good tidings. Bear happy witness to the beauties, the wonders, you've seen. This will make the world a happier place, for sure.
by David Truman
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