I got to see my second favorite of the gang this morning. Dumpster Diving Dan was busy doing what Dan does early every morning looking for choice morsels in someone else’s trash bin.
“George is home,” I said as I leaned up against the dumpster with Dan inside. “I picked him up yesterday.”
“How is that crazy old codger doing?” Dan asked gleefully; genuinely glad to hear such good news.
“Oh, he has lost some weight, but looks pretty fit. The first thing he did when I got him out was to drink beer and smoke cigars,” I replied as I chuckled.
“That drinking is going to be the death of him yet,” Dan said with a worried look on his face.
“I know,” I replied sadly.
“You still going to A.A.?” Dan then asked.
“No, not lately. The whole religious aspects of it turned me off,” I replied.
“You have to find a god of your understanding and not someone else’s god,” Dan told me.
“I know,” I replied. “The problem is that I just don’t believe in any gods whatsoever.”
“Enough of this serious talk about serious stuff. Let’s go feed the seagulls. I know my feathered friends must be mighty hungry this morning,” Dan said.
I got in Dan’s truck and we drove across the Chattahoochee next to Big John’s liquor store. We talked of my big hike this summer and Dan urged me to follow my dreams. He said if he was twenty years younger then he would hike it with me to give me some support.
I and Dan fed his feathered friends as he likes to call them. This great teeming mass of seagulls formed around us squawking nosily.
“I didn’t mean to start preaching to you earlier,” Dan told me.
“Ah, don’t worry about it,” I replied as I put my hand on Dan’s bony shoulder and squeezed it. “I knew you only meant well. I would rather you speak what is on your mind than to tip toe around me like my family does.”
Dan then drove me on home and I watched as he drove down the road back to do what Dan does all day. I realized how much I look up to that man. Dan has a wealth of wisdom that only experience in the ways of the world and the many years living upon it can bring.
5 comments:
There was a time when I, too, thought I did not believe in any gods. The teachings of the religions seemed to only create strife. Why would any god want to be associated with that?
I felt like I was a good person, and that was enough. I tried to be kind to others, and not judge. I felt alive, full, and at peace in nature. Those connected to nature have been condemned by some religions as being heathen, which they said as if it were a bad word.
My studies in the last two years have opened my eyes.
The reason religions are so filled with strife and intolerance is that they were founded by men who were following the teachings of a holy man.
Yes, there are emissaries from the One whose spirits come to earth in the form of ordinary humans to help us to grow and to behave in loving ways towards each other.
The men who follow these holy ones make cults (religions) based on the teachings of the holy one.
A person does not need a religion to be spiritual or in touch with God (whatever his name may be). The Great Spirit is all around us. Every feeling of joy and goodness is a prayer of thanks to the One.
Just say, "Thank you" with words every time you feel this happiness and peace to show your appreciation.
Give permission for this Spirit to be a part of your life. Ask for guidance. Listen to your conscience.
The voice of your conscience is the voice of the One. We are all connected.
I love Dumpster Diving Dan!!! I hope he is getting a little weight put on with all of the Chef Boyardee you have been giving him.
NICE BLOG !!!
calabazablog.blogspot.com
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I've been luring around here for a while and just wanted to drop you a comment about how much I enjoy reading your blog. Your opinions and outspokeness are refreshing.
Keep it up...
With his connection to the seagulls, Dan is as religious as it gets.
What you said abt believing or not believing, a lot of it is "depends". I think as humans with limited faculties we know too little about life and outcomes.
Ok, ok, I'm rambling...
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