The older I get, the more I realize how amazing this whole universe is, how incredible even the simplest things we witness are. The rising sun, a flower, rain, touch, just plant a seed and it grows, how incredible that we have consciousness to be able to see, feel, and smell these things happen. How is even the smallest atom is able to exist? My children being born, pure miracle.
I believe God is not a Father or a Man or even a noun. God is a verb, a system, a process. I believe God is the energy and substance behind the existence of every particle in our universe. What is behind the energy is far beyond our understanding. But if we look close we can see this energy as life, as creation, consciousness unfolding before our very eyes, surprisingly most of us live inside our own world of thoughts, fears, defenses, often negativity, generated by the ego.
The primordial ego needed to be strong in the beginning for our survival. We exist now in a time and area of unprecedented wealth and comforts. The ego's need is almost completely gone, yet it is the one thing that keeps us from experiencing the world the way it is intended. Without the ego, without the need to make ourselves right and others wrong, or label things as good or bad instead of just accepting what is, or complaining about things to give ourselves an excuse, or wishing bad things to happen to other people so that we can be right or better, life could be so much simpler and so much more joyful, yet we choose the hard, difficult, painful path......why?
We count on external circumstances to "make" us happy, we say "if only he/she would do this or behave this way, I would be happy. If only I would have "this thing" then I would be happy. True happiness, joy, peace, is not found in our surroundings, but it is found within. Yes you may find temporary happiness in material things or in your racing results, but true happiness, the joy that will last forever, the indestructible joy, is found inside. The universe has a way of delivering what you ask for (if it is not selfish), seek and you will find. If you want to know truth, ask and it will be shown.
This page is dedicated to Mike's personal understanding of what works for me. On the left are a few pages of motivational material.
Racing is one of the greatest sports/activities on the planet. We have developed communities that envelope relationships with one another that rival the best societies on earth. Within the racing community we gather together not only to race, but to engage with our friends and just enjoy the best times of Life. When someone has problems of any kind, it is amazing to see the community at work. I am proud to be a part of it, to use it to learn how to better live my life, how to be a better person, to use my God given talents and knowledge to help keep the community thriving.
I am a Christian, although that word is many times abused (in my opinion). My belief and understanding of how Christ wants us to live our lives and spread his word, and even what that word is, is different than main stream Christianity. For the most part I believe Rob Bell's teaching's (Mars Hill Church) and understanding of the bible to be most accurate. Rob teaches that Jesus wants us to talk about and interpret the Bible, to apply it to today’s culture. To wrestle with the interpretations of the stories in the Bible. I believe Jesus’ way is the best way to live our lives and the best way to bring heaven to earth. Many Christians turn people away from Christ by their steadfast rules and doctrine, many of which Jesus preached against.
As John writes in the beginning of his book, I believe Christ is the light inside every man since the beginning of time, not just the light for some people who have the right thoughts or believe in the right things. Whether we are aware of this light or not, or even what we might call this light, is our discretion.
I don't think we should put God in a box and limit The power. Truth can reach us in many many ways, to limit where we can find truth, or to make our belief right and others wrong, is to limit God.
"Velvet Elvis: Repainting the Christian Faith " by Rob Bell is a book that echoes exactly how I feel about the Bible. His independent church Mar's Hill grew from 0 members in 1999 to 10,000 members in two years as a result of Robs new Christian way of thinking. I am usually to busy to read, so I downloaded the book from iTunes, and listened to it on my MP3 player. It is a fascinating book and I highly recommend it.
One Purpose to my Life
After reading Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life” I realized why my life has been blessed with a successful business and racing career. God wants me to help others get pleasure from life by learning about and enjoying this great sport of micro sprint racing. By enjoying our lives we are giving pleasure to God, he wants us to enjoy our lives not just endure it. The only thing he asks is that we do it while Loving and forgiving each other, not blaming each other for accidents that happen on the track, by living our lives in a way that is best for all of society, not just what is best for ourselves. Enjoy the community and the awesome friends we have at the track, this is the greatest thing about racing. There is nothing wrong with being competitive and trying to win races, to have that fire and desire in your eye. But again, do it with kindness and Love. Sometimes these two ideas seem to fight each other, but remember that selfishness and being competitive are not the same things. Don’t advance yourself at someone else’s expense.
If you are just kind of traveling through life not really knowing what your purpose is, Rick Warren's book will help point you in the right direction.