The New Year is here and I have never understood the big deal. Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, those all have a spiritual significance, even if is simply a way of keeping traditions alive. The same can even be said of the Fourth of July and Memorial Day.
I have to say the meaning of Labor Day escapes me. I know, it is a celebration of America's workers, but no one remembers that now. I suppose it does give everyone a last summer blowout.
But New Year is nothing but the changing of the calendar. The few traditions associated with it mostly concern alcohol, parades and football. I always figured you can drink any day, watch football from September through January until it is coming out your ears, and I am not a huge fan of parades.
I believe that everyday can be a celebration and any get together, whether it be lunch with a friend, dinner with your family, or breakfast with the usual crowd at the Waffle House. Any get together can be a party, if you have the right attitude
Spiritual renewal must be tied into the physical renewal. To separate them is like trying to eat cereal without milk. Such renewals need to occur at least on a daily basis, often several times a day.
Okay, now that I have finished being grumpy, let me wish everyone a very Happy New Year.
Thursday, December 29, 2016
Monday, December 26, 2016
The After Christmas Blues
I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas. The only problem is, it's over. A lot of times, there is a problem with holidays. When they are over, there is a letdown. The party is over and you are not quite ready for that. The work world is calling and you are not ready to answer.
Don't let it get you down and don't beat yourself up. You are just being human/
The best thing you can do is be easy on yourself and everyone else for a few days. Smile a lot, laugh a lot, and if you have to force it, do so. Remember the fun, and regard every minute spent with friends and family as a blessing. Remind yourself how you felt in those pleasant times and carry it forward.
It is a truism that we should carry that Christmas spirit throughout the year. We should and if you can pull that off, congratulations; you are doubly blessed. Most of us fall short of that and that's okay. No one is perfect. But you should at least try to maintain those feelings of warmth, joy and goodwill to men.
The funny thing is, such feelings become a habit. The more you do it, the more it comes naturally. So, throughout the next few days, put on a happy face, and you will soon find that you actually are happy. We humans are very good at fooling ourselves.
The post Christmas blues are no joke. Some people get seriously depressed during this Season. With most of us, though, it is just a touch of sadness. Actually, poignant may be a better word, kind of a sweet letdown. Ride it out. You'll be fine. But, if it gets to heavy, please, find someone to talk to about it. A friendly ear is of great help.
Don't let it get you down and don't beat yourself up. You are just being human/
The best thing you can do is be easy on yourself and everyone else for a few days. Smile a lot, laugh a lot, and if you have to force it, do so. Remember the fun, and regard every minute spent with friends and family as a blessing. Remind yourself how you felt in those pleasant times and carry it forward.
It is a truism that we should carry that Christmas spirit throughout the year. We should and if you can pull that off, congratulations; you are doubly blessed. Most of us fall short of that and that's okay. No one is perfect. But you should at least try to maintain those feelings of warmth, joy and goodwill to men.
The funny thing is, such feelings become a habit. The more you do it, the more it comes naturally. So, throughout the next few days, put on a happy face, and you will soon find that you actually are happy. We humans are very good at fooling ourselves.
The post Christmas blues are no joke. Some people get seriously depressed during this Season. With most of us, though, it is just a touch of sadness. Actually, poignant may be a better word, kind of a sweet letdown. Ride it out. You'll be fine. But, if it gets to heavy, please, find someone to talk to about it. A friendly ear is of great help.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Christmas
This Sunday is the day when countless Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. Was He born on December 25? Almost definitely not. Remember that whole shepherds tending their flocks in the fields at night thing? Well, it's cold in Israel in December and the sheep are not in the fields at night. Most likely, He was born in late spring or summer.
Does it matter? Not in the slightest. Dec. 25 is as good a day to celebrate as any. The point is how the man lived and what he taught. The details provided in the Gospels are highly mythologized. The early Church, quite practically, knew that the people of the Roman Empire, including the converted, had a tradition of gift giving and revelry in the Dec. celebration of Saturnalia, so they co-opted it. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
In this Country, America, and many others, Christmas is as much a cultural tradition as a religious one. Again, that's just fine. Traditions, as long as you don't get too mired in them, are important.
Ant way you look at it, no matter what you think. have a Wonderful Merry Christmas.
Does it matter? Not in the slightest. Dec. 25 is as good a day to celebrate as any. The point is how the man lived and what he taught. The details provided in the Gospels are highly mythologized. The early Church, quite practically, knew that the people of the Roman Empire, including the converted, had a tradition of gift giving and revelry in the Dec. celebration of Saturnalia, so they co-opted it. Absolutely nothing wrong with that.
In this Country, America, and many others, Christmas is as much a cultural tradition as a religious one. Again, that's just fine. Traditions, as long as you don't get too mired in them, are important.
Ant way you look at it, no matter what you think. have a Wonderful Merry Christmas.
Friday, December 16, 2016
Formal Religion
I hope that any reading these musings do not get the idea that I am against formal religions. Personally, I think more in terms of spirituality, but I am in no way against structured beliefs, those common to standard religions.
Some people benefit greatly from the structure of the accepted belief systems and that is fine. I enjoy some of the trappings of the various Churches. The ceremony and ritual is lovely and, when done right, is very moving.
My argument with the formal religions is the dogma, the unbending form. The words and ceremonies of Churches are but signposts, pointing toward the Essence, the Reality. They are not what they are pointing toward. They sometimes lose track of that.
At the same time, any time you are traveling a highway, it is a huge help to have those signposts. They can save you years of wondering around in the wilderness.
Just do not mistake the sign for the destination.
Some people benefit greatly from the structure of the accepted belief systems and that is fine. I enjoy some of the trappings of the various Churches. The ceremony and ritual is lovely and, when done right, is very moving.
My argument with the formal religions is the dogma, the unbending form. The words and ceremonies of Churches are but signposts, pointing toward the Essence, the Reality. They are not what they are pointing toward. They sometimes lose track of that.
At the same time, any time you are traveling a highway, it is a huge help to have those signposts. They can save you years of wondering around in the wilderness.
Just do not mistake the sign for the destination.
Monday, December 12, 2016
Good, sort of
Having written last time about evil, I am going to tackle good. Just as tjere is very little pure evil in the World, there is very little pure good.
What is good for me, is likely not so good for another. Here is an example.
I am retired. Suppose I decide I am bored and apply for a job. Further, suppose I am wealthy and boredom is the only reason I want to work. Now, suppose that there is one other applicant, and he is desperate for the job; maybe he has 9 kids, a mortgage and a car payment.
Let us further suppose that we are equally qualified for the job. Now, let's say that for whatever reason, maybe I happen to come when the hirer is in a good mood and he's grumpy when the other guy shows up, I get hired. Hooray!
Most of my friends will also say hurray and will think my hiring a good thing.
On the other hand, my fellow applicant may not think it good, He was desperate for the job; I was not.
Let your mind roam a bit and I am sure you can think up any number of scenarios demonstrating moral ambivalence.
Just as you want to be slow to judge evil, be slow to declare something good.
What is good for me, is likely not so good for another. Here is an example.
I am retired. Suppose I decide I am bored and apply for a job. Further, suppose I am wealthy and boredom is the only reason I want to work. Now, suppose that there is one other applicant, and he is desperate for the job; maybe he has 9 kids, a mortgage and a car payment.
Let us further suppose that we are equally qualified for the job. Now, let's say that for whatever reason, maybe I happen to come when the hirer is in a good mood and he's grumpy when the other guy shows up, I get hired. Hooray!
Most of my friends will also say hurray and will think my hiring a good thing.
On the other hand, my fellow applicant may not think it good, He was desperate for the job; I was not.
Let your mind roam a bit and I am sure you can think up any number of scenarios demonstrating moral ambivalence.
Just as you want to be slow to judge evil, be slow to declare something good.
Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Something Wicked
One of my favorite lines from Shakespeare is when, as Macbeth approaches, one of the 3 witches chants, "by the twitching of my thumb, something wicked this way comes."
Well, my thumb is just twitching away. I do not trust the military junta that is taking over Washington, but this blog is not about politics.
No, today, I want to write about evil. Well, I really don't want to, but I feel I should. The existence of evil is a topic that has plagued religious thinkers for as long as we have been on this planet. Theodicy, the moral nature of God, is one of the thorniest subjects you can tackle, and I have no intention of doing so,
All I can say, is that evil exists, always has, and very likely, always will. Why? I can only say a couple of things. First, the Cosmos seems to work on a polar basis, with opposites interacting constantly. Good/evil, hot/cold, positive /negative, etc. and the interaction of these opposites is required to keep things running.
Second, God, by whatever Name you use, has given His/Her Creation freedom, within the scope of the physical laws. As such, evil must be allowed. Since it must be allowed, it also serves a purpose. It tests us. It gives us resistance, friction, and keeps us from becoming nothing more than lumps of spiritual goo.
Somewhere in the Old Testament (I am terrible about remembering Chapter and Verse), God says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He/She also says that He/ She will use evil to do good. So, I guess the best thing we can do is avoid doing evil as much as we can and trust the somewhere down the line, everything will work out, at least for a little while.
It is also useful to remember that the extreme ends of the poles, good/evil, are just that, extreme. Almost everything exists somewhere between the two extremes. So, don't ever be in a hurry to judge.
Still, every now and then, my thumbs start twitching.
Well, my thumb is just twitching away. I do not trust the military junta that is taking over Washington, but this blog is not about politics.
No, today, I want to write about evil. Well, I really don't want to, but I feel I should. The existence of evil is a topic that has plagued religious thinkers for as long as we have been on this planet. Theodicy, the moral nature of God, is one of the thorniest subjects you can tackle, and I have no intention of doing so,
All I can say, is that evil exists, always has, and very likely, always will. Why? I can only say a couple of things. First, the Cosmos seems to work on a polar basis, with opposites interacting constantly. Good/evil, hot/cold, positive /negative, etc. and the interaction of these opposites is required to keep things running.
Second, God, by whatever Name you use, has given His/Her Creation freedom, within the scope of the physical laws. As such, evil must be allowed. Since it must be allowed, it also serves a purpose. It tests us. It gives us resistance, friction, and keeps us from becoming nothing more than lumps of spiritual goo.
Somewhere in the Old Testament (I am terrible about remembering Chapter and Verse), God says that His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts. He/She also says that He/ She will use evil to do good. So, I guess the best thing we can do is avoid doing evil as much as we can and trust the somewhere down the line, everything will work out, at least for a little while.
It is also useful to remember that the extreme ends of the poles, good/evil, are just that, extreme. Almost everything exists somewhere between the two extremes. So, don't ever be in a hurry to judge.
Still, every now and then, my thumbs start twitching.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Look Closely
I want you to try an experiment. Go outside and look at a leaf. It doesn't matter what kind. It can be from a tree, shrub, or grass. Just look at it closely.
Look at the structure, at the intricate design of the veins. Then, get a magnifying glass and look closer and see how even more intricate that design is than it appears to the naked eye. Then look at it through a microscope. (I know, few folks keep one around, but there are countless such pictures in books and on the internet) At every level, the leaf becomes more and more amazing, and, at the cell level, you become aware, that in those tiny specks, there is a whole world of activity.
Then, back away and think. We have a pretty good idea of what goes on in a cell, but only pretty good. We understand the chemistry that is occurring, and a lot of the physics at the mechanical level, but there is much we don't know about the electrical and quantum physics happening in those cells.
Then, be aware, we have no idea absolutely no idea of the whys of the cells life. Why does this happen? It is obvious to any but the most idiotically hard headed materialists, that this delicate mechanism, is not the result of any sort of accident. Lightening did not strike a chemical rich gob of mud in the distant past and produce this. Science, while useful and important, cannot explain why and cannot understand, in full, what is going on. What's the answer?
God, you say? Okay, I agree, but stop a moment. If we cannot understand this relatively simple bit of Nature, what can we say about God. Hard headed religious believers, of which there are many, are just as foolish as hard headed scientific materialists.
God's Universe is a mystery; God is a greater mystery and all of that is wonderful, but, blessedly, it eliminates any possibilities of hard dogma. Allow God to be that grand mystery and the Universe becomes enchanted.
Look at the structure, at the intricate design of the veins. Then, get a magnifying glass and look closer and see how even more intricate that design is than it appears to the naked eye. Then look at it through a microscope. (I know, few folks keep one around, but there are countless such pictures in books and on the internet) At every level, the leaf becomes more and more amazing, and, at the cell level, you become aware, that in those tiny specks, there is a whole world of activity.
Then, back away and think. We have a pretty good idea of what goes on in a cell, but only pretty good. We understand the chemistry that is occurring, and a lot of the physics at the mechanical level, but there is much we don't know about the electrical and quantum physics happening in those cells.
Then, be aware, we have no idea absolutely no idea of the whys of the cells life. Why does this happen? It is obvious to any but the most idiotically hard headed materialists, that this delicate mechanism, is not the result of any sort of accident. Lightening did not strike a chemical rich gob of mud in the distant past and produce this. Science, while useful and important, cannot explain why and cannot understand, in full, what is going on. What's the answer?
God, you say? Okay, I agree, but stop a moment. If we cannot understand this relatively simple bit of Nature, what can we say about God. Hard headed religious believers, of which there are many, are just as foolish as hard headed scientific materialists.
God's Universe is a mystery; God is a greater mystery and all of that is wonderful, but, blessedly, it eliminates any possibilities of hard dogma. Allow God to be that grand mystery and the Universe becomes enchanted.
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Recent events in our political situation have forced me to pay heed to Jesus' advice: 'Beware of those in sheep's clothing who are ravening wolves'. I make it a point to leave politics out of this blog, but I need to make an exception.
Our current President-elect made a huge show of compassion for the working class of America. He expertly pushed all of the right emotional buttons and, all in all, it was a heck of a good act. Unfortunately, it appears to have been just that, an act.
How can I say that? Simple. First, he is dead set on lowering taxes on rich folks a lot, dropping them to about half the level they were under Reagan. This, he says will lead to a trickle down effect and the poor and middle class will prosper. Reagan said the same thing. It did not work then and it will not work now, As the saying goes, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.
Second, there will be no real assistance for those who need it because, what tax money that will be collected will be sent to the military. He keeps saying that we will rebuild the forces to WW2 levels. This will benefit the powerful who run the defense industry, who will likely stop paying corporate taxes and pay less income taxes. It will not help those who need it and we do not need to be that heavily armed (remember, we have enough nukes to blow the Earth into tiny bits; no one will ever dare directly attack us except terrorists and all the military on Earth will not stop them. An aircraft carrier will not stop a lunatic with a car an a knife).
In addition, a military cannot continue to justify its existence without a few wars. Do we really want to continue this cycle of endless war (again, remember, since WW2 we have fought in Korea, Vietnam, Haiti, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Bosnia, Grenada, Syria, Afghanistan, the Dominican Republic, Laos, Cambodia. Do we really want to keep this up in light of the clear facts that the only thing these wars have brought us are whole bunch of dead American kids).
Jesus also said, 'by their fruits shall you know them.' The fruits of our new leadership are likely to be very sour.
Our current President-elect made a huge show of compassion for the working class of America. He expertly pushed all of the right emotional buttons and, all in all, it was a heck of a good act. Unfortunately, it appears to have been just that, an act.
How can I say that? Simple. First, he is dead set on lowering taxes on rich folks a lot, dropping them to about half the level they were under Reagan. This, he says will lead to a trickle down effect and the poor and middle class will prosper. Reagan said the same thing. It did not work then and it will not work now, As the saying goes, the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.
Second, there will be no real assistance for those who need it because, what tax money that will be collected will be sent to the military. He keeps saying that we will rebuild the forces to WW2 levels. This will benefit the powerful who run the defense industry, who will likely stop paying corporate taxes and pay less income taxes. It will not help those who need it and we do not need to be that heavily armed (remember, we have enough nukes to blow the Earth into tiny bits; no one will ever dare directly attack us except terrorists and all the military on Earth will not stop them. An aircraft carrier will not stop a lunatic with a car an a knife).
In addition, a military cannot continue to justify its existence without a few wars. Do we really want to continue this cycle of endless war (again, remember, since WW2 we have fought in Korea, Vietnam, Haiti, Somalia, Iraq, Iran, Bosnia, Grenada, Syria, Afghanistan, the Dominican Republic, Laos, Cambodia. Do we really want to keep this up in light of the clear facts that the only thing these wars have brought us are whole bunch of dead American kids).
Jesus also said, 'by their fruits shall you know them.' The fruits of our new leadership are likely to be very sour.
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