Five bucks with the dotted picture

Metaphorically speaking, each and every one of us has five bucks. If there were a device to measure it, we could gauge our intelligence, strength, and ability to live for ourselves and help others around us.

Imagine you’re standing on a riverbank and need to get to the other side. First, you must think, plan, and then act on your plan. You could gather some branches, build a raft, and row yourself across.

If wisdom, power, energy, and the ability to do everything were measured, metaphorically, each individual would be worth five bucks. If the whole community contributed their five bucks to build a bridge, everyone in the community could cross the river whenever they wanted.

Logically, a single individual is weaker than a large family, depending on whether they get along and work as a unit. One person might be very smart and have many resources to hire lots of help to function at a higher level. However, that intelligence still comes from their five bucks.

Fighting infectious diseases like Ebola outbreaks, addressing issues with global warming, the spread of the internet, or even building a space station is most effective and meaningful when humanity comes together with five bucks at a time.

Take, for example, a human cell. On its own, it seems meaningless, but under the right circumstances, it can create a whole, functioning human body with limitless potential. We each have trillions of cells in our bodies. Individually, a cell may seem insignificant, but when they work together, the potential is limitless. There’s a new world record for deadlifting—someone just posted it on Facebook—and it’s one thousand one hundred and fifty-five pounds. I see the potential for more because I know someone will break it in the future.

A child tries to mimic their parents and feels limited by the comparison between themselves and the grown-up.

I use this comparison between God and the individual. Like the child, we place everything impossible for us on God’s shoulders. We expect God to take care of everything that concerns us.

When we can’t handle a task, we pray to God for help. Believing you’ll receive help is great, but only after you’ve used up your five bucks—like the person who built a raft to cross the river. The idea of building a bridge and the community coming together is God speaking through human individuals. This means all advances made by mankind are related to God as well. These advances happen because God and mankind evolve with each other’s help.

If you separate yourself from God, which most religions believe we are, even the most innocent among us are considered born sinners and insignificant according to belief systems. I believe each of us is a crucial part of life’s grand scheme. If you believe you’re born in sin, your five bucks won’t go far.

For thousands of years, individuals have been put down. If you really buy into that, you risk feeling worthless and becoming a victim of an inferiority complex, which benefits the religion runners. Just look at the majestic buildings of religions; yet, despite all the head pounding or bowing down, you can’t find God there.

The real God is found in practical help to humanity. A survey in New York asked what made people feel really happy, and the overwhelming answer was helping another human in need. This spiritual happiness is what everyone seeks in places of worship. Ask yourself if you’re spiritually fulfilled by attending these places. If not, go out, find a charity, and pray practically, which relates to the God who lives through humanity.

When you bite off more than you can chew, it’s usually related to your five bucks. Ask yourself if you expect the community to provide you with bridges or if you can build a raft and row yourself across the river. Instead of sitting on the bank, take charge and live life on your terms. If you wait for the community’s help, you don’t respect your five bucks and don’t understand its value.

If you think it’s not enough to function at your desired level, you fail before even trying. Society has brainwashed you into not using your five bucks to live your life. This attitude of inferiority and lack of self-worth holds you back.

Trailblazers usually appreciate and value their five bucks. They take charge and dive into life’s adventures fearlessly.

Happiness is related to understanding your ability to be flexible, accepting your limitations, and recognizing your potential. When you become the CEO of your life, you won’t be swept away by the politics of God, the Devil, or the politician running the religion.

There’s always a hidden picture, and it’s you who must clear the influential fog of your time and era. After all, you are mortal with the responsibilities of your individual happiness and contentment.

If you believe you have more than five bucks because you became a doctor, a successful businessperson, or a superstar by your efforts alone, you’re oversimplifying life. You’ve always had help—from being a helpless baby to growing up. The sky isn’t falling, oxygen is still there, yet you have no control over it. The body’s complexity is so vast that we still don’t know everything about it. Sometimes, even the best doctors can’t save a dying person when their time is up. Running the show isn’t a task for a single individual.

The body’s functioning is a miracle. If you believe you’re doing everything yourself, you’re oversimplifying life. Just ask a sick person about their vulnerabilities, especially a successful person with a brain disease.

I’m not humanizing God; I’m clearing the clutter to make my case. We need to take individual responsibility and stop killing each other over incomplete knowledge of God.

Your five bucks are a direct connection between you and God. There is no middleman; everyone is blessed with free will. This is not about religious beliefs but personal spirituality.

The politics of belonging and false securities have reached a point where we must cross the lines of group politics and enter a zone where humanity is an evolving organism—one entity. God and mankind live through it.

As the human individual evolves and gains strength, God strengthens as well.

Today, instead of sacrificing innocents to please God, we save lives by predicting storms and tsunamis. We know more about earthquakes but still lack control because we’re a work in progress.

It may be against popular beliefs, but I don’t believe God punishes, destroys, or wants sacrifice. These are human emotions tied to incomplete knowledge. If God were responsible for everything, our five bucks, free will, and justice systems worldwide would be meaningless.

Think about whether you use your free will every day. Why use the politics of God and the Devil? If you’re honest, you’ll find your sense of belonging gets the best of you. As a CEO, if you can filter out politics of all kinds, you’ll find spirituality.

Regardless of our differences, humanity comes together during natural disasters. These are glimpses of God through human beings, if one wants to see it.

We want God to protect us because we’ve been taught to put God in that position, believing He can do everything. With this notion, we remove our five bucks from the equation, sometimes facing disappointment.

Parents protect their child to the best of their ability, but sometimes it’s not enough. A teenager can be reckless despite available help, unable to appreciate it due to hormones. No parents can control everything all the time. When grown-ups act like teenagers, it’s due to incomplete knowledge and lack of understanding of hormones. Our chemicals dictate our feelings, leading to egotistical emotions about God.

We need to understand our emotions better. The entity running the computer and using the information must have the upper hand.

There’s a new theme of religion: human individual rights. Even the Pope has changed his tune because the world is changing. Look at the Irish referendum; human rights are the primary reason a Catholic country allows gay marriage.

Religion should be a spiritual system, free of politics. Religious rules as law belong to the political arm of religions, which has no place in spirituality. Religions have connected God with their laws, making them unchangeable. All laws need reason and foundation, but God exists in a realm where nothing is known for certain. This is why I oppose capital punishment—our knowledge is never complete. Killing someone without complete knowledge is unacceptable. The proof is in our everyday progress. From technology to science to human relationships, we’re evolving into a new era despite resistance from conservative and religious people.