I am still trying to figure out what I will teach on when I go before the congregation. I will say that I have had some positive response and a couple of people even discussed coming to hear me speak. The thing is that most of these people are new to Christianity and I don't want to drive them away because I did a bad job.
The second thing is that because these people are new to the faith, there isn't a lot of basic knowledge about the faith. I have been trying to figure out where to begin, to just ensure that they know the basics. I grew up knowing the bible so as I got older and questioned it, I already knew what it did say.
I think one of the things I will want to talk about is why life? To put it another way, why can't we just start in heaven, why do we have to live this life on earth apart from God? It is a good question and one that I would expect new Christians to ask. It is also the perfect thing to explain in advance of people reading the bible because it helps to understand what people went through and the choices they made.
What follows is a possible sermon:
What would we be like if we never had to make tough choices? What would life be like if everything was easy? Well, I think we would be lazy, urge driven and without a sense of ourselves. The devil offers us the pleasures of the world, power, wealth, sex, toys, fame, whatever you will sell your free will in exchange for. If we have not determined for ourselves who we are, what we stand for and how much we can take then we are not ourselves, we are whatever we need to be in order to avoid pain and get rewards. We choose to be like trained seals. Personally, I am nobodies trained anything.
Everyone in the bible tells God no at sometime. Jonah is probably the best example. Sometimes God wants us to say no. When God said to Abraham, "And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." That is pretty heavy, God told Abraham to sacrifice his only son and then burn him. We know that Abraham did as he was told and was preparing to kill his son when God stopped him.
There is only one way to understand the one part of the story. God did not want Abraham to kill his son. If he had wanted him to kill him then he would have let him; but, he stopped him. The generally held belief is that God was testing Abraham to have Abraham prove his faith; but, I don't believe that was the reason. Let's dig a little deeper.
Abraham takes his son to the mountain and tells his servants to stay behind. The quote is, "And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." He lied. He was not going to the mountain so that he and his son could worship, he was going to sacrifice his son. Issac and Abraham proceed up the mountain and they bring along everything needed for a sacrifice except the lamb. Now Issac knows this and says, "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
Abraham's response to his son was, "And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together." This is again another lie, Abraham believed he was to kill Isaac. Once they got to the intended place Abraham bound Isaac and put him on top of the wood. At this point any suspicions that Issac had were pretty well confirmed, he was the sacrifice. However, God stops him. God says, "And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me."
The last part where God blesses Abraham because he acted faithfully leads most to conclude that God was testing Abraham to see if he would be faithful in all things; but, it does not say that God was in fact that God wanted Abraham to do what he was told. Instead God tells Abraham to not ever do anything to the boy.
What if God had wanted Abraham to say no. I cannot believe that God wanted Abraham to lie to his son or his servants. Why did he lie? He lied because he thought they might try and stop him. Abraham knew that what he was doing was wrong; but, he was going to go through with it anyways. What if God had really wanted Abraham to say no, to say that he would not kill his child. What if God had really hoped that Abraham had exercised his free will while still being faithful.
God did not talk to Abraham often. God probably spoke more to Moses than anyone else in the bible; but, Moses is honored more than Abraham and Moses disobeyed God. Let me explain, when Jesus meets with two prophets, he did not meet with Abraham, he met with Moses and Elijah. Elijah is interesting in that he was taken away in a whirlwind; however, just before that happened, Elijah parted the waters. Moses and Elijah both parted waters.
Moses unlike Abraham was not quick to agree with God. When God first told Moses to tell the Pharaoh to release the Jews from Egypt, Moses had nothing but excuses. In fact a common mistake is that Moses spoke to the Pharaoh, because Moses didn't want to talk, Moses had Aaron speak to Pharaoh. Now, we must give Moses his due, he did the heavy lifting. Moses spent 40 years in the desert with a bunch of people who continually did wrong and begged God to not kill them all. He even begged God to heal someone who had made fun of him and his wife.
What did Moses get or ask for, nothing, nothing earthly. Moses was not made rich or given cookies, heck, Moses got to spend 40 years in the desert; but, he got to spend them with God. It says that we are not to store up our treasures on earth; but, to store them up in heaven and Moses did.
Here is the thing. Abraham pleads with God to save Sodom, the town in which his relative lives; but, he did not plead with God for his son's life. Abraham was not that great a guy. Abraham is the one who told the Pharaoh that his wife was his sister because he was afraid that Pharaoh wanted to sleep with her and he didn't want to be killed.
Boy that is a lot to talk about and remember. The bible is filled with stories about human beings, the book is mostly about how humans interact poorly with God and each other. God could have made us without free will, he could have made us with our only intent to be to worship him; but, he didn't do that. We are born with free will and only a handful ever know him personally or interact with him directly.
I have to interrupt this post. I have told a few people that I am going to speak at this service and you know what, a bunch of them want to come. I am talking about people who know me personally, some of whom read this blog. I cannot tell you how honored I am to know that people who know me and already know my beliefs would want to come and listed to me talk about the bible, very humbling. It makes my heart happy. I am also very grateful that many have said that I don't have to worry and that I can talk to anyone. I am still nervous that I will mess it up.
Back to what I was discussing. God lets some people tell him no; but, they have to do it for the right reasons. The final test is when you say no, not when you say yes. Jonah told God no; but, Jonah had already made a promise to God and he did have to keep it. After keeping it Jonah was so mad that he wanted to die. He stomped off, sat on a hill and pouted. God sent a covering for Jonah so that the sun would not bother him too much and then talked to him about why it was right to save these people. It is a great story and most people only remember that Jonah was in the belly of a whale.
One would think that telling God no would get them a one-way ticket to hell or at least severely injured; but, he doesn't seem to do that if you tell him no from a true heart. The bible is a book about people who mess up, it is not about perfect people. Heck, Paul said he was the greatest sinner of all.
I will get to my point now, had to start with some background information. You cannot understand the points if you do not know the stories, the two are one. People's lives are demonstrations of God's lessons, he chooses people because their lives tell us something about ourselves and our choices. A preacher would now ask you, "What does your life tell about you". I am not going to do that because we don't know until the game is over what our lives really meant. Paul tormented Christians and then was converted, his story was his complete life and not just his early mistakes.
My question was why don't we just get born in heaven and get to avoid all of this life. Well, because we can grow here, we can learn to make better choices, we can be of service to one another. I will go back to the story of Jonah. I cannot prove this; but, I think it is a good question. Why did God tell the prophet Jonah to go to Nineveh and why did it upset Jonah?
Couple of simple things, Jonah had asked to be preach in such a way to save people and God sent him to save the people that he hated. I will tell you why I believe this, Jonah pouted because he knew he would save them. Jonah says, "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." He says that he will pay what he promised and he promised to tell people of the Lord's salvation. He got his chance so why did he complain, I think it is because Jonah had wanted to pray of the Lord's salvation to his own people, not to non-Jews. Oh, Jonah also says, "And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil."
Jonah had made a vow to God at the temple, he made a promise BEFORE he was swallowed by the whale. Jonah knew that these people would repent and he knew that his own people would not and I believe that is why Jonah was angry. Jonah was angry that the blessing was not for his own people. Guess where Nineveh is, it is in Iraq. It's ruins sit next to Mosul. Can you imagine that an Israeli today promises God to preach and save people and God telling him to go to Iraq and preach and that they will be saved? If you can the maybe you can understand how Jonah felt.
I need to get back to my question, so why life? Why can't we just be in heaven and never endure this life. Because we have to define ourselves and we will make mistakes; but, we learn that we can grow and make better choices. The more loving our hearts become, the closer we are to knowing God. Eventually, we get to know him in person.
I should point out something else, life does not get easier just because you become a believer, nope, it gets harder. The more loving you become, the more you give and the more people attempt to take advantage of your giving. I want to say something to people who decide to return to hear me speak again (I am writing alternate sermons, this is what I will say to the congregation). If you think that you wish to be a believer, if what I say rings true with you then we are going to set out a format that will help you to learn. It is important to have a firm foundation in faith and it doesn't just happen.
I am not a preacher, I am not a pastor, I am not going to baptize babies, I won't conduct weddings under the law, I will not be ordained in any sect. I don't have all the answers and I am not going to and if I did, I wouldn't give them all. I will never ask for a dime from anyone, I have a job. I was asked to speak to some people by a very well trained Pastor because we agree on a lot of things and he knows that I love the Lord.
Nothing we ever do will be what you have seen. This will always be like how the church began, a bunch of people talking about what they know and learning from one another. You can tell me anything; but, I am not confessor and I can be called into court to testify. If you tell me that you are going to kill someone, I am going to call the cops and have you arrested. If you tell me you stole candy last week, I am probably not going to call the cops; but, I will tell you to go back and pay for the candy.
I know a lot about the bible; but, church is for grown ups, it is not about me teaching, it is about you learning. It is about you reading the bible and asking questions. I am here to answer questions and give my insights, I will make mistakes; but, they will be honest ones. I do not know how I got here, I never wished to preach to anyone. My friend, the pastor, told me that there were people who wanted to know and asked me if I would talk to them, how could I say no, I could not. If I have a hope for what this leads to, it is that you would learn and be empowered to tell others of why you have a hope inside you that will take you through any challenge. By the way, we still get scared even if we know the Lord, we are still human.
We do not have to follow any "church rules", we can meet for an hour or for as long as people want, we can discuss anything. I want to understand what you need as you begin your journey. My advice is that each time we meet, you have already read two chapters of the bible, it will take about 15 minutes a night. If you have difficulty reading then I recommend that we read a chapter or two a week out loud. I will still talk about issues; but, you really have to have heard all the stories for us to get deep into it.
Whatever I choose to involve myself in is by choice. I choose to be hear because I heard that there were people who wanted to hear about God. For whatever reason they choose not to be in a organized church and there is nothing organized about me. I believe in personal revelation, I believe in learning overtime, I believe that God loves everyone of us and I believe that he loves you. I am just a guy and no different then anyone else. If there are never more people here than here tonight then it doesn't matter, heck, I would probably feel less insecure; but, I will talk to anyone who wants to know about the hope that is in me, about my Lord.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
How Would You Explain Jesus?
For those who don't enjoy my discussion on religion, I try and put something in the title so you know that you can just skip it. I have been asked to speak before a small group about Christianity by a Pastor, friend. Now, I have no problem with public speaking, in fact been doing it a very long time and rarely bother preparing in advance other than to think about what the message is. This is different so I thought I might kick some ideas around.
Why? Why believe and what does it matter? What does it matter if there is a God or not, we are here and now and that is all that matters, we will know soon enough if there is a God, lets just try and get through today. That is sort of how most people feel about God. So I want to try and take a crack at the answers.
Forgiveness. Forgiving ourselves and others for past wrongs and understanding that none of us is perfect. That one thing changes your whole life. Probably not the answer most Christians would tell you, they would say salvation, nah, not me, forgiveness. For most of us it is the hardest lesson in the bible, salvation we don't find hard to accept; but, then we often want to pick and choose who is saved and why.
If we accept Jesus because we want salvation, have we really accepted him or salvation, which is it we are really responding to? If we accept his salvation and we forgive ONLY so that we will be forgiven, have we really forgiven. If we accept Jesus only to be saved, can it truly be said that we have the heart of Jesus?
What are we to believe we are saved from? Most would say from going to hell; but, what is hell? Separation from God. We are separated from God because we do not forgive. It says, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".
I will get to this Jesus person, I know what the title of the post it, give me a second to put the context down. Jeez. So who is this Jesus person, who is the holy spirit and who is God. All we have to go on is what is in the bible. To tell you the truth the God fellow, he seems pretty scary. The Jesus fellow seems like a nice fellow and the holy spirit makes no sense. We are told that they are all the same being, how do we understand this?
Lets try and look at each one individually and keep forgiveness in mind. In the old testament God was dealing with barbarians that sacrificed their children to the gods, raped others, did not understand basic hygiene, were lawless and consumed by their passions. That was just the jews, the rest of the world was even worse. How bad were they, well they interbred with demons and created Nephilim.
After man crossbred with the fallen angels, God killed everyone, sounds harsh; but, they had given up their free will and humanity so that they could indulge in their urges. The nephilim means those who have fallen, also referred to as the sons of god. They are generally understood to be fallen angels. The Israelites knew that the nephilim were not nice people and to be feared, that is why when they first entered Israel, the scared scouts reported that the nephilim were there. Noah and his family were saved, they apparently had not crossbred.
So, Noah and his family is saved and humanity gives it another go. Between the time of Noah and Abraham, there is not a lot of God and human interaction. Actually, if you read the bible, God doesn't interact with humans all that much as a rule. People think about the few times he did and assume that it happened all the time. It just didn't happen that way. When God spoke to Abraham, it only mentioned a couple of times at best. Most of Abraham's life was spent without contact from God, if we accept what is written.
By the time the Jews get to Israel, God doesn't talk to them much. What happened to the pillar of smoke during the day and the pillar of fire at night once they had entered Israel? For 40 years God is amongst the Jews in the desert and then they get the ark of the covenant; but, not his pillar. Every wonder why?
After arriving in Israel, God limits who he talks to. He talks to a few prophets and a few leaders. That is about it, yet, he is blamed for everything that they did. Not what the prophets did, what the leaders did and they did not always obey the Lord. In fact, they flat out disobeyed him and led the people to do wrong. The spiritual leaders were the worst.
When Israel would be bad, God would send a prophet to them to tell them to stop being bad and to be good to all. Did any prophet ever tell the people to kill anyone? Nope, only the leaders did that and said they were told to do so by God; but, they were not prophets, that means they could be wrong.
Lets get back to the point. When God spoke to prophets, he told them to be better people. Other than prophets and leaders, I have only read of him talking to Adam, Eve, Enoch, and Job. He does not seem to be a very chatty person; but, then most choose not to talk to him. Remember this point, most people chose not to talk to God directly when given the chance, they chose to be afraid of him even after he took them out of captivity.
Now, finally, we get to this Jesus fellow. Being a devout Christian, I accept that he was God, I have no problem with the trinity. God comes to us, not as a pillar of fire; but, as a man. Many more could relate to God in human form than in his more powerful form. They still killed him; but, more listened. His message was simple, we are imperfect and need to love one another, forgiveness was his message. He said it was the way to salvation.
Now we get to the holy spirit, I don't think we have much on this guy. He comes inside you and relates with you. Because of that, many learn to love and give. We are told that the holy spirit convicts us. What does he convict us of, perhaps it is not being truly forgiving. I don't think it is that he convicts us of lusting, we already know we do that.
So basically, we have three expression or one being telling us to be nice to one another. We have numerous people ignoring their statements or trying to use their words in order to take advantage of others and a few that actually bother trying to do what they are told.
The bible says that in the end times the old men will dream dreams, that means that they will feel the holy spirit. The holy spirit falls upon your heart answering questions that you didn't even know to ask. Inspiration, not decision. You will know the truth and it will set you free, it says that in the bible somewhere, I don't quote chapter and verse unless asked to. I prefer to talk about the spirit of the book.
So how would I explain Jesus, he is the guy (a self aware being) that created everything, trying to find a way that is easiest for us to interact with him. We can only reach so high and then he must reach down if we are to communicate. Not a different being from God, just one that we feel more comfortable communicating with. Your best friend, someone who was there with you and understands your trials because he faced him too.
There are those who will say that what I have said is not Barry Biblical, I don't know that man, I know love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. I know that one, it is how Jesus summed up the ten commandments. That is very biblical. If I do not forgive then how have I loved my neighbor with as myself?
The reader may think that I am trying to trick them into being forgiving, nope, I stated my beliefs, no trick, just truth. The first thing to teach new believers is about forgiveness because that it the greatest commandment, Jesus said so.
So why should you ask why it matters if there is a God. The answer is simple, because if there is then you can understand our need to be forgiven, we already know that we are imperfect. Heck, just look around you at the world, show me perfection, show me how evolution has perfected us. Yeah, I will wait for that answer.
I have talked for as much as eight hours straight for three days in a row, with no outline or script. I can talk for a long time, heck, I can write all day. I do not know what I will talk about when I speak before a congregation; but, what I have written will probably be involved. Be well.
Why? Why believe and what does it matter? What does it matter if there is a God or not, we are here and now and that is all that matters, we will know soon enough if there is a God, lets just try and get through today. That is sort of how most people feel about God. So I want to try and take a crack at the answers.
Forgiveness. Forgiving ourselves and others for past wrongs and understanding that none of us is perfect. That one thing changes your whole life. Probably not the answer most Christians would tell you, they would say salvation, nah, not me, forgiveness. For most of us it is the hardest lesson in the bible, salvation we don't find hard to accept; but, then we often want to pick and choose who is saved and why.
If we accept Jesus because we want salvation, have we really accepted him or salvation, which is it we are really responding to? If we accept his salvation and we forgive ONLY so that we will be forgiven, have we really forgiven. If we accept Jesus only to be saved, can it truly be said that we have the heart of Jesus?
What are we to believe we are saved from? Most would say from going to hell; but, what is hell? Separation from God. We are separated from God because we do not forgive. It says, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us".
I will get to this Jesus person, I know what the title of the post it, give me a second to put the context down. Jeez. So who is this Jesus person, who is the holy spirit and who is God. All we have to go on is what is in the bible. To tell you the truth the God fellow, he seems pretty scary. The Jesus fellow seems like a nice fellow and the holy spirit makes no sense. We are told that they are all the same being, how do we understand this?
Lets try and look at each one individually and keep forgiveness in mind. In the old testament God was dealing with barbarians that sacrificed their children to the gods, raped others, did not understand basic hygiene, were lawless and consumed by their passions. That was just the jews, the rest of the world was even worse. How bad were they, well they interbred with demons and created Nephilim.
After man crossbred with the fallen angels, God killed everyone, sounds harsh; but, they had given up their free will and humanity so that they could indulge in their urges. The nephilim means those who have fallen, also referred to as the sons of god. They are generally understood to be fallen angels. The Israelites knew that the nephilim were not nice people and to be feared, that is why when they first entered Israel, the scared scouts reported that the nephilim were there. Noah and his family were saved, they apparently had not crossbred.
So, Noah and his family is saved and humanity gives it another go. Between the time of Noah and Abraham, there is not a lot of God and human interaction. Actually, if you read the bible, God doesn't interact with humans all that much as a rule. People think about the few times he did and assume that it happened all the time. It just didn't happen that way. When God spoke to Abraham, it only mentioned a couple of times at best. Most of Abraham's life was spent without contact from God, if we accept what is written.
By the time the Jews get to Israel, God doesn't talk to them much. What happened to the pillar of smoke during the day and the pillar of fire at night once they had entered Israel? For 40 years God is amongst the Jews in the desert and then they get the ark of the covenant; but, not his pillar. Every wonder why?
After arriving in Israel, God limits who he talks to. He talks to a few prophets and a few leaders. That is about it, yet, he is blamed for everything that they did. Not what the prophets did, what the leaders did and they did not always obey the Lord. In fact, they flat out disobeyed him and led the people to do wrong. The spiritual leaders were the worst.
When Israel would be bad, God would send a prophet to them to tell them to stop being bad and to be good to all. Did any prophet ever tell the people to kill anyone? Nope, only the leaders did that and said they were told to do so by God; but, they were not prophets, that means they could be wrong.
Lets get back to the point. When God spoke to prophets, he told them to be better people. Other than prophets and leaders, I have only read of him talking to Adam, Eve, Enoch, and Job. He does not seem to be a very chatty person; but, then most choose not to talk to him. Remember this point, most people chose not to talk to God directly when given the chance, they chose to be afraid of him even after he took them out of captivity.
Now, finally, we get to this Jesus fellow. Being a devout Christian, I accept that he was God, I have no problem with the trinity. God comes to us, not as a pillar of fire; but, as a man. Many more could relate to God in human form than in his more powerful form. They still killed him; but, more listened. His message was simple, we are imperfect and need to love one another, forgiveness was his message. He said it was the way to salvation.
Now we get to the holy spirit, I don't think we have much on this guy. He comes inside you and relates with you. Because of that, many learn to love and give. We are told that the holy spirit convicts us. What does he convict us of, perhaps it is not being truly forgiving. I don't think it is that he convicts us of lusting, we already know we do that.
So basically, we have three expression or one being telling us to be nice to one another. We have numerous people ignoring their statements or trying to use their words in order to take advantage of others and a few that actually bother trying to do what they are told.
The bible says that in the end times the old men will dream dreams, that means that they will feel the holy spirit. The holy spirit falls upon your heart answering questions that you didn't even know to ask. Inspiration, not decision. You will know the truth and it will set you free, it says that in the bible somewhere, I don't quote chapter and verse unless asked to. I prefer to talk about the spirit of the book.
So how would I explain Jesus, he is the guy (a self aware being) that created everything, trying to find a way that is easiest for us to interact with him. We can only reach so high and then he must reach down if we are to communicate. Not a different being from God, just one that we feel more comfortable communicating with. Your best friend, someone who was there with you and understands your trials because he faced him too.
There are those who will say that what I have said is not Barry Biblical, I don't know that man, I know love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. I know that one, it is how Jesus summed up the ten commandments. That is very biblical. If I do not forgive then how have I loved my neighbor with as myself?
The reader may think that I am trying to trick them into being forgiving, nope, I stated my beliefs, no trick, just truth. The first thing to teach new believers is about forgiveness because that it the greatest commandment, Jesus said so.
So why should you ask why it matters if there is a God. The answer is simple, because if there is then you can understand our need to be forgiven, we already know that we are imperfect. Heck, just look around you at the world, show me perfection, show me how evolution has perfected us. Yeah, I will wait for that answer.
I have talked for as much as eight hours straight for three days in a row, with no outline or script. I can talk for a long time, heck, I can write all day. I do not know what I will talk about when I speak before a congregation; but, what I have written will probably be involved. Be well.
Monday, August 22, 2011
What was the question?
Was really exhausted today. I did see this news article. Infrastructure: A Jobs Program for the Next Decade. Sounds kind of like what I have been talking about for the past three years. On a side note, you know how I have warned people to watch what they say in their blogs and on the internet. Spitzer sued for libel over his Slate column, the article is from Reuters.
The Spitzer article is important because that law suit is pretty big. Too many people call other people liars or aliens or whatever and don't think about the fact that they may be slandering someone. We need to be clear on something too, if you make any money from your site or blog then you are treated differently under the law. I, of course, don't make a single penny from mine, never have and never will. I try to talk about things and look at things in a different way and I want people to be able to read things without a financial incentive behind it for the writer.
After saying all that, not much on my mind. Where is my mind at? I guess I am just wondering what is next. My divorce is as final as it can be, my attorney is paid off, I am whacking my debt down and am free of home ownership. The kids are grown and there isn't really anything holding me here except the need to pay alimony for the next three years. If it wasn't for the alimony I would probably just quit my job and leave for awhile.
I forgot, what is the question I am supposed to be addressing? What am I supposed to be working towards and why? What is the dream I am supposed to be chasing? What happens when you don't care about cookies at all? Is it okay to just fade away? I think I might like that.
I don't really want to repeat what I have already done in my life. Don't intend to get another degree, don't intend to raise a new family, don't intend to buy a house. I don't intend to start a new career. I have a lot of don't but don't seem to have a do, I have no bucket list.
John Lennon - YouTube - Watching the Wheels
So I sit here writing to people for no reason. Read the news, listen to music and write. I can barely remember my old life, it seems like an eternity ago. Sometimes it seems as if it never happened, none of it. Maybe it is Monday and I am just bored. I can pretty much guess what tomorrow will be like and it sounds fairly boring. More of the same.
It is funny how many people think they know what I should be doing, it is amazing that people have an opinion on the matter when I do not. The only valid purpose in life is to be of service to others, to contribute. That is how the United States became so great. People went to work because they believed this country could be the greatest that ever was and it was for a moment. People don't go to work to make this country great anymore, they go to get as much money as they can.
Over the last 20 years I have seen many people wearing shirts of flying banners that say USA #1; but, how many of them went to work saying that they would give as much as they could to make this country number one? We could turn this country around, we still have assets that others do not; but, we want to live off of what was done in the past rather than put in the work ourselves. We want shortcuts.
Wall Street doesn't care about having good corporations that are profitable, it only cares about how much it can make on trading stock, not owning responsible companies. Workers don't care about their organizations, only about what they are paid. I will make it simple, a test if you will, if you knew the country would be number one again but it meant increasing taxes ten percent, would you accept that, I would. I would like to think that our children will not be left with our debt.
If you don't like taxes, how bout this, would you willing to work an extra three years if it meant that your country would be number one again and that your children would not have to work until they are 72, would you do it? I would. What are you willing to do to make this the greatest nation again?
The Spitzer article is important because that law suit is pretty big. Too many people call other people liars or aliens or whatever and don't think about the fact that they may be slandering someone. We need to be clear on something too, if you make any money from your site or blog then you are treated differently under the law. I, of course, don't make a single penny from mine, never have and never will. I try to talk about things and look at things in a different way and I want people to be able to read things without a financial incentive behind it for the writer.
After saying all that, not much on my mind. Where is my mind at? I guess I am just wondering what is next. My divorce is as final as it can be, my attorney is paid off, I am whacking my debt down and am free of home ownership. The kids are grown and there isn't really anything holding me here except the need to pay alimony for the next three years. If it wasn't for the alimony I would probably just quit my job and leave for awhile.
I forgot, what is the question I am supposed to be addressing? What am I supposed to be working towards and why? What is the dream I am supposed to be chasing? What happens when you don't care about cookies at all? Is it okay to just fade away? I think I might like that.
I don't really want to repeat what I have already done in my life. Don't intend to get another degree, don't intend to raise a new family, don't intend to buy a house. I don't intend to start a new career. I have a lot of don't but don't seem to have a do, I have no bucket list.
John Lennon - YouTube - Watching the Wheels
So I sit here writing to people for no reason. Read the news, listen to music and write. I can barely remember my old life, it seems like an eternity ago. Sometimes it seems as if it never happened, none of it. Maybe it is Monday and I am just bored. I can pretty much guess what tomorrow will be like and it sounds fairly boring. More of the same.
It is funny how many people think they know what I should be doing, it is amazing that people have an opinion on the matter when I do not. The only valid purpose in life is to be of service to others, to contribute. That is how the United States became so great. People went to work because they believed this country could be the greatest that ever was and it was for a moment. People don't go to work to make this country great anymore, they go to get as much money as they can.
Over the last 20 years I have seen many people wearing shirts of flying banners that say USA #1; but, how many of them went to work saying that they would give as much as they could to make this country number one? We could turn this country around, we still have assets that others do not; but, we want to live off of what was done in the past rather than put in the work ourselves. We want shortcuts.
Wall Street doesn't care about having good corporations that are profitable, it only cares about how much it can make on trading stock, not owning responsible companies. Workers don't care about their organizations, only about what they are paid. I will make it simple, a test if you will, if you knew the country would be number one again but it meant increasing taxes ten percent, would you accept that, I would. I would like to think that our children will not be left with our debt.
If you don't like taxes, how bout this, would you willing to work an extra three years if it meant that your country would be number one again and that your children would not have to work until they are 72, would you do it? I would. What are you willing to do to make this the greatest nation again?
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Bad Blogger
Sorry, enjoyed the weekend with a younger cousin and haven't really kept on the news. I did notice that Libya is about done. Now, how will it end for Gadhafi? Will they catch him and execute him or will he leave?
What will Libya become, will it become a democracy or perhaps a religious state? Nobody knows. Libya has the tenth largest supply of oil in the world so it does matter. Gadhafi has been it's dictator for 42 years, that means that most of the people in Libya have never known any other leader (it has a very young population).
The funny thing is, Gadhafi could have remained in power if he had loosened up. He couldn't let go of any, that is arrogance. So does Syria get toppled next? There appears to be civil unrest in just about every country, those who are in power seem completely confused by it. The sheep are acting up, it is far from over.
Those in charge offer nothing except for people to have less. There is not less in the world. We are told that there is; but, nothing has changed. Why must people do with less? We make stuff, that is what we do, are we less capable of making stuff, it doesn't appear so, we are able to make more stuff now than in anytime in our history. Is there a reason that we cannot make a house for everyone or feed everyone, we have enough materials.
So why don't we help each other, why don't we produce for each other that which is at our hands? Do you understand my confusion. Let me make it simple, is there a reason that we cannot build houses and apartments, is there not enough wood and nails? Is there a reason that we cannot feed everyone, there is enough food. So why don't we take care of each other, it is simple, we want to have the advantage.
What is the answer, what is the question, it is bedtime, be well.
What will Libya become, will it become a democracy or perhaps a religious state? Nobody knows. Libya has the tenth largest supply of oil in the world so it does matter. Gadhafi has been it's dictator for 42 years, that means that most of the people in Libya have never known any other leader (it has a very young population).
The funny thing is, Gadhafi could have remained in power if he had loosened up. He couldn't let go of any, that is arrogance. So does Syria get toppled next? There appears to be civil unrest in just about every country, those who are in power seem completely confused by it. The sheep are acting up, it is far from over.
Those in charge offer nothing except for people to have less. There is not less in the world. We are told that there is; but, nothing has changed. Why must people do with less? We make stuff, that is what we do, are we less capable of making stuff, it doesn't appear so, we are able to make more stuff now than in anytime in our history. Is there a reason that we cannot make a house for everyone or feed everyone, we have enough materials.
So why don't we help each other, why don't we produce for each other that which is at our hands? Do you understand my confusion. Let me make it simple, is there a reason that we cannot build houses and apartments, is there not enough wood and nails? Is there a reason that we cannot feed everyone, there is enough food. So why don't we take care of each other, it is simple, we want to have the advantage.
What is the answer, what is the question, it is bedtime, be well.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Is it really Saturday
Cooked my mustard crusted rack of lamb and feta stuffed tomatoes. Yep, nothing to say, just enjoying the flavor of the moment and thinking of her.
A Guest Writer
What follows is from a relative who will be guest blogging for the night. Jeez I hope he does well. Here you go.
GUEST BLOGGER
Starting with the basic meaning of the word, philosophy means love of wisdom. To be a philosopher you must be a lover of wisdom. This is a very broad way to look at philosophy. Once a philosophy professor said that a subject leaves the realm of philosophy when it starts to produce consistent answers. Meaning that once consistent empirical evidence has been established it stops being philosophy. People become less focused on broad ideas and start to specialize.
Aristotle writes on a large range of subjects ranging from the nature of friendship, how to organize societies, to the laws and relationships of matter which we call now physics. Eventually people started to find patterns that they later established as laws and this is when philosophy, according to the professor, wipes her hands clean of the subject. not completely obviously because all wisdom and knowledge ties into themselves. For example,
OKAY, KEEPING UP A BLOG IS NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.
GUEST BLOGGER
Starting with the basic meaning of the word, philosophy means love of wisdom. To be a philosopher you must be a lover of wisdom. This is a very broad way to look at philosophy. Once a philosophy professor said that a subject leaves the realm of philosophy when it starts to produce consistent answers. Meaning that once consistent empirical evidence has been established it stops being philosophy. People become less focused on broad ideas and start to specialize.
Aristotle writes on a large range of subjects ranging from the nature of friendship, how to organize societies, to the laws and relationships of matter which we call now physics. Eventually people started to find patterns that they later established as laws and this is when philosophy, according to the professor, wipes her hands clean of the subject. not completely obviously because all wisdom and knowledge ties into themselves. For example,
OKAY, KEEPING UP A BLOG IS NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS. HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Vernon and it's surprises
Remember awhile back I wrote about the City of Vernon. It is a industrial city with about 100 residents most of whom work for the City and live in City provided housing. It's corruption is legendary. Well, the Speaker of the Assembly of California, John Perez, has been attempting to de-certify it as a city. It is claimed that the intent was to make it part of unincorporated Los Angeles county. Apparently that cannot be done because of the utility company that the City of Vernon owns. Hmmmm.
Now the L.A. Weekly raises the question of whether or not the City of Los Angeles might take it over. This is an amazing idea, wait a second, didn't I mention that about two years ago? I think I did. Left out of the L.A. Weekly article was any discussion of the fact that Vernon has other ties to the City of Los Angeles. The City of LA wanted to buy some land in Kern for a wind or solar farm, a friend of the Mayor's worked with CIM Group to buy the land and then sell it to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, CIM was being partly funded by the City's retirement fund and I believe CalPers also. Anyways, that deal made the papers so the property was hastily sold to, you guessed it, the City of Vernon (except for the water rights).
Let us also not forget that Mr. Perez is the cousin of the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. CIM Group, pensions, Redevelopment Agencies, politicians and unions are always a bad mix. CIM Group made it into the news again, you may want to read about it if you like Venice. That is it for the night. Be well.
Now the L.A. Weekly raises the question of whether or not the City of Los Angeles might take it over. This is an amazing idea, wait a second, didn't I mention that about two years ago? I think I did. Left out of the L.A. Weekly article was any discussion of the fact that Vernon has other ties to the City of Los Angeles. The City of LA wanted to buy some land in Kern for a wind or solar farm, a friend of the Mayor's worked with CIM Group to buy the land and then sell it to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, CIM was being partly funded by the City's retirement fund and I believe CalPers also. Anyways, that deal made the papers so the property was hastily sold to, you guessed it, the City of Vernon (except for the water rights).
Let us also not forget that Mr. Perez is the cousin of the mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa. CIM Group, pensions, Redevelopment Agencies, politicians and unions are always a bad mix. CIM Group made it into the news again, you may want to read about it if you like Venice. That is it for the night. Be well.
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