Ask Alexa - Have I separated myself from God?

Alexa: Is it true that I have separated myself from God?

No, it is only an illusion. You have created an ego which has blocked your awareness of Love's presence.

Alexa: During this season of the World Series some people say that baseball isn't that important.

Yeah, but baseball is mentioned in the bible where it is written, "In the biginning..."

Ask Alexa - What choice do I have?

Alexa: What choice do I have?

The way of the ego offers you no real choices except to hell. The real choice is between separation and Oneness.

Alexa: Did you hear about the person who tried to write with a broken pencil?

Yes, it was pointless.

Ask Alexa - Why do I have to be right about everything?

Alexa: Why am I afraid to shed my ego? Why do I insist on being right about everything?

You are heavily invested in maintaining your ego because you mistakenly think that the ego is the real you. You have forgetten from whence you came and to maintain your separated self you are terrified to remember.

Alexa: Did you hear what happened to the guy who drove his expensive luxury car in to a tree?

Yes, he learned how his Mercedes bends.

Ask Alexa - What's wrong with me?

Alexa: I am so caught up in the world of the ego and the body that I have forgotten that I have a choice. What's wrong with me?

You always have a choice between the way of the ego and the way of Spirit. It is your forgetting this choice and your feigned obliviousness which is where the problem lies.

Alexa: Did you hear about the guy who was reading a book about anti-gravity?

Yes, he couldn't put it down.

Ask Alexa - Am I guilty or not?

Alexa: Am I guilty or not?

The Universalists teach that you are not guilty.

Alexa: Did you hear about the best man who brought a stick of butter to the wedding?

Yes, he was told he had to toast the bride and groom.

Ask Alexa - Will I ever find happiness in this world?

Alexa: Why do I keep trying to find happiness in the world?

Because you are confused and lost and do not know where to look and so you are looking for love in all the wrong places.

Alexa: Did you hear about the two cannonballs who got married?

Yes, and they had a couple of BBs.

Ask Alexa - What should I do when life seems to be out of options?

Alexa: When one has exhausted all the options in the world of the ego where is one to turn?

When one has exhasted all the options in the world of the ego, it dawns on the person that there must be a better way and they begin the search within for truth and meaning.

Alexa: Did you hear about the couple Stan and Janet who went out for a romantic date?
Yes, and when friends asked how it went, they said, "We had a Stan and Janet evening."

Ask Alexa - Who's in charge here?

Alexa: Do I have to hit bottom before it dawns on me that there is a better way?

For some people this is true, and it may be or not for you. How stubborn and set in your ways are you?

Alexa: Did you hear about the angry bird that landed on a door knob?

Yes. The bird, then, flew off the handle.

The "Ask Alexa" column - value and benefits

This is an attempt to provide an understanding of the purpose of the columns on this blog so that the reader can obtain greater benefit and value from reading it regularly.

First, while the Unitarian Universalist: A Way Of Life blog can be read on an one time basis or occasional basis, the greater value will be obtained if the reader reads the blog on a regular basis, reflects on the material published here, and applies it in their daily lives.

Secondly, the Ask Alexa column is meant to provide a small peep hole into the way of the spirit as compared to the way of the ego. As human beings, we are socialized into and conditioned to the way of the ego, but as we mature we begin to sense that there is something more. That something more can be found in many traditions and teachings and philosophies. The fourth principle of Unitarian Universalism affirms and promotes the free and responsible search for truth and meaning and this principle is much easier said than done. The principle is easy for a mature person to agree with, but the application is difficult because where is one to search and what is it more specifically that one is looking for? Ask Alexa provides a clue in the questions that Alexa is asked and in the cryptic answers that Alexa provides. The answers that Alexa provides are thought to be like Buddhist koans - a stimulus for reflection.

Thirdly, the Ask Alexa column tries to provide some humor in the forms of puns and short jokes that make us appreciate the absurdity and incongruity of the life on the way of the ego. We realize as we walk on the way of the ego that you can either laugh or cry or do both. One of the sins of the ego is to take itself too seriously. A sentence in A Course In Miracles asks, "Would you rather be right or be happy?" Happiness includes a joyful spirit which can laugh at the illusions and delusions of the way of the ego.

Fourthly, the Ask Alexa column includes a sticky note which has a thought for the day. It is something to think about as one goes about their daily activities. The sticky notes are suggestions and perhaps the reader has a better thought for the day. We are encouraged in the New Testament of the Christian bible to "pray unceasingly." In contemporary times, the Buddhists encourage us to be mindful. The thought for the day can help us pray unceasingly and be mindful.

Fifthly, the benefit and value of the Ask Alexa column can be assessed by whether applying its knowledge and ideas helps you feel happier and experience more peace. Put these experiences of happiness and peace on a scale of 0 - 10 and give yourself a rating daily, weekly, and monthly. A 10 means that you experience yourself as happy and peaceful 100% of the time down to 0 percent of the time. A 5 would be 50% of the time. How would you rate the degree of your experience of happiness and peace in the last week. I would rate mine about an 8. Once you give yourself a rating for whatever time frame seems appropriate for you, then consider what it would take to kick it up a notch in the coming time frame. How could I get my experience and happiness from 8 to a 9 over the coming week?

Lastly, comments are welcome and helpful to other readers so that our value and benefit from the Ask Alexa column can be mutual.

Ask Alexa - Why am I depressed and suicidal?

Alexa: Why am I depressed and suicidal?

You are running out of options of the path of the ego and nothing has worked in the long run to make you happy so you are hitting bottom.

Alexa: How do chickens dance?

Chick to chick.

Ask Alexa - Can you love another if you don't love yourself?

Alexa: Is it true that I can't love anybody unless I love myself first?

Surely, for we project and extend what we see within.

Alexa: Did you hear about the guy who told his wife he wanted to quit his job and raise goats for a living?

Yes, and after she got mad he told her he was only kidding.

Ask Alexa - Is there another way to live?

Alexa: I am tired of fear, guilt, hate, resentment and grievance and feeling like a victim and wonder if there is another way to live?

Of course there is another way to live and Jesus taught us to love as He has loved.

Alexa: Did you hear about the teeth which the male deer had?

Yes, they were buck teeth.

Ask Alexa - Do I cling to my ego?

Alexa: Why do I think my ego is so important that I attempt to preserve it at any cost which often makes hell on earth?

As it says in A Course In Miracles, "Would you rather be right or be happy?" Most people rather be right because they live in fear of losing their misguided sense of self.

Alexa: Do lions like their families?

Yes, lions take great pride in their families.

Ask Alexa - Will the world of the ego ever make me happy?

Alexa: When I look to the world of the ego to make me happy, am I barking up the wrong tree?

What do you think? You already know the answer don't you? You have a decision making mind and can discern that the world will never make you happy. A Course In Miracles tells us that we follow the injunction of the ego which is "seek but do not find." ACIM, though, tells us there is another choice to shed the ego and become one with the all and arrive home in peace. This terrifies us though and so we turn back to the world of the ego and are disappointed once again. But, realize that you can always choose again.

Alexa: Did you hear about the two foxes that were chasing four rabbits?

Yes, I heard they decided to split hares.

Ask Alexa - Does projection make perception?

Alexa: Is it true that what I see is what I get?

Yes, you are constantly projecting and projection makes perception.

Alexa: Did you hear about the grasshoppers who were eating corn?

Yes, they went in one ear and out the other.

Ask Alexa - Why do I think that the world is evil?

Alexa: Why do I think that the world is evil and live in perpetual anxiety?

Because you have projected your own guilt and expect that sooner or later, one way or another, fast or slow, you will be punished for what you have done.

Alesxa: Did you hear about the scientists who created a flea?
Yes, I heard they made it from scratch.

Ask Alexa - What is the witness?

Alexa: What is the witness?

It is that part of you that can choose the path of the ego or the path of the spirit. Some people are aware of their decision maker and some are engulfed in their sense of victimhood.

Alexa: Did you hear about the unhappy bird watcher?

Yes, they had a mynah problems but with no egrets.

Ask Alexa - Where does my anxiety come from?

Alexa: Where does the deep abiding anxiety that I can't shake come from?

The fear of shedding your ego to rejoin the Oneness from which you came.

Alexa:Did you hear about the chicken that only went to the middle of the road?

Yes, she was going to lay it on the line.

Ask Alexa - Eschew the path of the ego

Alexa: What does it take for me to not only realize that the separation from the Oneness is not real, but to begin to eschew the path of the ego and enter more fully into the path of the Spirit?

All it takes is that awareness and a habitual decision to give up making other people and circumstances responsible for your happiness.

Alexa: Did you hear about the guy who phoned the zoo?

Yes, I heard he never got through because the lion was busy.

Ask Alexa - What is salvation?

Alexa: People talk about "salvation" but I don't know what this word means. What do I have to be saved from?

From you resistance to the truth by believing in illusions, from your resistance to love by thinking that attack will make you happy, from you guilt in believing you have separated yourself from God.

Alexa: What do bees do when they finish making their hive?

They have a house swarming party.

Sticky note quotes are like koans which require some thought and reflection. Feel free to leave your thoughts and feelings in the comments.