I Can See Clearly Now the Rain Has Gone

“I can see clearly now the rain has gone. I can see all obstacles in my way. Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind. It’s gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day.”

I named this blog after that song because it’s a song my mother used to sing and hum around the house during her later years. Well, she also used to sing Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” but this one comes more readily to mind as I always wondered what she could now see clearly. There was always that implication behind the way she sang it.

Mama’s gone now. She passed away Feb. 18 and still much on my mind. So, in a way, I call this blog after the song to keep Mama just there in my consciousness.

But I also use the words of the song to suggest that I am coming out of the Matrix. I am learning (and have learned) some interesting things as I have traversed the spiritual path. How I’m finally coming to see that we’ve been sold a bill of goods that ain’t worth pluck. Whether told to follow the road down traditional religion (and I’ve been down a few of those), or down the “yellow-brick road” to the New Age shore, we’ve been inculcated with the belief that our salvation lies in some others’ hands. Truth is, we are responsible for our own salvation, and in every way.

While I have long known that traditional religion hopes we don’t figure out that salvation is a one-on-one proposition, I never thought about the New Age movement. Recently I have read some of the writings of Bronte Baxter, who writes a lot about Hindu religions and they have brought to mind new ideas about some New Age teachings. What I hadn’t thought about before is that not unlike Christians who await Jesus’ second coming, New Agers expect some beings from elsewhere to intervene in Earth’s and humanity’s destiny. Sirians, Pleiadians, or you-name-them, will save us from ourselves in some major time of change. The current marker is 2012. Perhaps I’ll write about that elsewhere.

Thing is, whether or not Jesus or E.T.s are coming, we still have to be about the business of fixing what we’ve broken. It is up to us to take care of the planet, ourselves and look out for our brother/neighbor. I really think no one else is going to do it. Whether or not we get some heavenly or other assistance, the bulk of the job is ours. God helps those who help themselves, right?