What's Your Label?

"What's Your Label?" cartoon by nakedpastor David Hayward GET THIS PRINT Labels are useful for others to identify what your contents are. They are also convenient for us to use to describe what our contents are. But they are just words. They are a game. I don't know about you, but my contents are always changing, shifting, morphing. Any one label is just not reliable. If you are okay with the flowing impermanent river that is you then you will be fine without a label. If you choose to go without a label, you will definitely frustrate people. We have to start with ourselves and come to peace with the question, ā€šĆ„ĆŗBut what AM I?ā€šĆ„Ć¹ When we are finally fine with holding our ā€šĆ„ĆŗIā€šĆ„Ć¹ loosely, then we can drop the labels. This is difficult but it can be done. But the next step is handling the external pressure to label yourself. The pressure will be intense! But if you can come to peace with the question, ā€šĆ„ĆŗBut what ARE you?ā€šĆ„Ć¹, then you can let people keep on guessing while you remain in tranquility. There's nothing wrong with labels. They may be respected. But they're not perfect. I'm often asked, ā€šĆ„ĆŗAre you a Christian?ā€šĆ„Ć¹ ā€šĆ„ĆŗAre you a believer?ā€šĆ„Ć¹ ā€šĆ„ĆŗAre you an atheist?ā€šĆ„Ć¹ When I'm feeling funny, I say, ā€šĆ„ĆŗYes!ā€šĆ„Ć¹ But if pressed, I will say I have a healthy believer, agnostic, and atheist within, and I care for all of them the same. If pressed even further, I will say, ā€šĆ„ĆŗMy home's in Christianity, but I have cottages everywhere!ā€šĆ„Ć¹ Now I can say, "Read this!" It took me years to get to this wonderful place of peace where I'm no longer concerned with my label or the labels of others. That's all they areā€š a label stuck to the outside which is not a very reliable indicator. There's always something more wonderful within. Like a riverā€š deep, mysterious, and impermanent. And I love this. Would you like me to help you get there?
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