What is it about me… or you?

Today is one of reflection and anticipation. I have certainly been challenged over the past several years while trying, with varying success to earn a living. To be sure, I have lived a good life and earned good income from my technical skill. I have always been trustworthy and perhaps a bit too trusting, thinking at times, surely someone wouldn’t be that underhanded. Sure enough, they manage to demonstrate their isn’t a ditch dug low enough in which humanity isn’t willing to occupy.

Many times I’ve been overwhelmed at the generosity of others and how they can still see my good points when my bad ones glare so profoundly. The latter part of that statement permits me most often to be willing to forgive others.

I thought today as I took a personal assessment, I’ve been willing to take quite a few knocks on the chin, some of them by those seemingly closest to me. I think many of us have found ourselves in a similar situation. It’s disturbing and troubling when a spouse we have been devoted to or our children find ways in which they can hurt us. I find it’s probably because all of us to one degree or another are self-centered and unable to empathize with someone having a difficult time or different experience in similar conditions. Such are the vagaries of life.

Through the ‘fog of peace’ I’m amazed at how willingly people surrender liberties for the promise of security. I can’t help but wonder what this country will be like if I’m around for another 20 years? I spent years in the military at a time when our country was involved in a war on an almost defenseless country. Only their determination saved them in the long run and our ignorance continues as we believe we have the right to impose our will on the rest of the world.

Our collective moral compass is vastly off course as we continue the practice of destroying defenseless life itself before it has the opportunity for greatness or failure. Our lack of commitment to properly raise the next generation as we flit about our intimate relationships like bees to flowers is disturbing. Procreation as recreation continues to reap the whirlwind as our society spins out of control.

As I reflected on personal condition with thankfulness of the things with which I can count in the positive column of life, I’m reminded of the Max Ehrmann poem Desiderata.

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann c.1920

Not to be lost among the contemporary wisdom is this video narration of an essay written in 1997 by Mary Schmich, a columnist with the Chicago Tribune. Baz Luhrmann – Everybody’s Free To Wear Sunscreen

We Can Do Better!

In light of the recent events in the north and eastern portion of the US, I would like to make this simple supposition; we are all part of the human family. No one, absolutely no one, in spite of ethnicity, culture or history is excluded from this family. To be sure, we have some bad characters among us acting on impulse, emotion, anger, fear and depravity. They must be separated from those willing to abide by law for our protection and in some instances their rehabilitation.

Whether you believe in a religion, a cause or simply the product of successive evolution, we are all of the same unique family. If you prefer we can call it something as simple as the same species. Our unique life characteristics can only be found here on one planet as far as our telescopes and millions of miles of space probes can observe. Perhaps our motto or creed should address this one simple idea; save the human.

Look around you, do you see someone hurting, requires assistance, friendless, penniless, loveless? Well guess what? You can be that person of hope or blessing. To standby and wait around for an organization or government, military, elected official or for that matter, heavenly manifestation to help, is a lost opportunity. It’s an opportunity to forget your own pain and frustration, heal yourself and others you may come in contact. In many instances, you are the only one that can make a difference. Do what you can.

The core to any successful friendship, government, family or society is to be willing to compromise and understand their will be differences and examine the needs of the other group or individual. Failure to cooperate, understand and compromise where necessary demonstrates a lack of ideas. We may find ourselves at odds sometimes over philosophy, politics or personal possession. In the end, that should not matter.

If you are capable of friendship, love and concern and not a self gratifying, live as a self accumulating, egotistic individual, you are on the path to what it is to be human. Remember that next time when you see, talk or hear someone. They have needs, wisdom and worth as well.

Perhaps this comes across as altruistic hyperbole but I challenge you and I to think about these simple ideas and act as a responsible & committed member of the human family.

 

Con Ed power plant in NY – explosion during hurricane Sandy.

Related articles

• Dr. Thomas D. Phelan: Power Restoration: Why It Seems to Take so Long (huffingtonpost.com)

Breathing a Little Liberty

I’m going to do a little flag waving today. After all, since I devoted 6 years of my life to the military, I think I’ve earned the right to be proud of my country and many of the people who live in it. I’m a lover of liberty and the right to make mistakes. I’m also a believer in allowing people the room to correct their mistakes, I’m grateful for my family and what it means to love one another. This is a day for old songs such as Yankee Doodle Dandy or America the Beautiful.

I didn’t start out this way, sure I was born in the USA as Bruce Springsteen sings about, but I had my misgivings. I grew up during a time of social unrest. Vast segments of our population were denied fundamental rights enshrined by our Constitution. We were fighting a war on foreign soil which didn’t seem in keeping with our founding principles.

I studied and memorized the Preamble and the Bill of Rights. I could recite order of succession in case of the President’s or even the Vice President’s death but I didn’t understand or fully appreciate the words so many tirelessly worked and struggled mightily to document and gave sacrifice. In 1787 these words formed the basis of our Constitution.

We the people, (all of us)

In order to form a more perfect union, (come together united in purpose and a desire for protection)

Establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, (create laws, establish fair courts, organize ourselves to establish peace)

Provide for the common defense, (let no man tear asunder — don’t tread on me — these were the expressed ideals of a nation wanting to stay free of tyranny)

Promote the general welfare and (allow free trade — open our markets to others — support the rights of individual property ownership and create laws to protect those rights including but not limited to tangible and intellectual property)

Secure the blessings of liberty (freedom has a price — it isn’t always paid in goods — it requires the service of all — it may require the loss of limb or life — it requires dedication to a cause and opposition to all those willing to take it away)

To ourselves and our posterity (this is a commitment not only from us but also our children and our children’s children)

Do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. (the purpose and the blueprint of our collective declaration of how our government should be managed and how it serves its people is spelled out in this document)

It is fortunate the founding leadership of our country were able to rise above their own petty prejudice and power posturing to realize this country needed a firm and honest foundation. A foundational document that described from the beginning that all men (and women) are created equal even though many of them were unable to live their lives in complete conformance to this new Constitution. They sought inspiration from the best authors including the chief author of all. This nation is different from all other nations even though there are many in leadership position today that wish to merge our nations laws with those of the international community who don’t share these principles in theory or in practice.

It is a living breathing testament to the integrity of these early leaders who were far more interested in limiting their own power and length of elected service. They wrote thousands of pages describing and explaining the words used in the Constitution and the purpose of National Sovereignty, none of which are studied in our schools today. For that matter, most of our legal scholars are unfamiliar with these early writings because they still wander far from the original intention spelled out by the great thinkers of their time. Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe are mysteries to these people just as it is for our general population.

Permit me to quote another selfless leader who faced as great of a challenge as any person has faced; “I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.” – Abraham Lincoln

Let us not forget how fortunate we are. “He shall have dominion from sea to sea and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” – Psalm 72:8

My Choice of Songs for this Day.

God of Our Fathers
http://youtu.be/P7M55F6xoiE

God Bless America
http://youtu.be/TnQDW-NMaRs

To those who have shared the burden of securing the blessings of liberty
Forever – http://youtu.be/xS9PGQjvxRs

Heaven Was Needing A Hero – http://youtu.be/WxJf9ZezTZE

“While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. “
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.

Rules Regulations Rituals Routines

My observations and opinions are strictly my own. You are neither compelled to agree or disagree. What follows is a longer explanation to what I often see when people observe religious belief.

RULES REGULATIONS RITUALS ROUTINES are tools used by many religions to get in good with God. Many religious people concern themselves with group think. They sometimes use their own special methods to insure you follow their group rules. These tools may be as simple as isolating you from others in a social setting. Some groups carry that further by forcing recitation of their ideas or imprisoning you until you espouse what they want to hear. Stricter religions go so far as torture, hobbling, removal of body parts or even death.

God doesn’t require adherence to a brand of religion as many would want you to believe. God wants you to understand there are consequences for the things you do which are often referred to as ‘right’ and the things you do often categorized as ‘wrong’. There are many explanations as to what is right or wrong. Since some activity doesn’t produce immediate consequences, the short-term thinker may ignore them thinking the ideas were wrong or they “don’t apply to me”. In the physical realm in which we navigate we understand some of these as principles of physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, etc. Prior civilizations broke them down into simpler things such as fire, water or air. The fact that they neither understood those principles or weren’t able to test them, didn’t mean the principle didn’t exit.

God not being a respecter of persons nor limited by the 5 senses we possess operates with simultaneous events in capacities we are not able to fully grasp. We want to place our own descriptions, character or feelings based on our particular understanding, This way, we think we know God and can explain God to those who don’t see the divine as we do.

The mystery of God is how its possible to understand multiple languages, catastrophic events and accomplishments for each of his children simultaneously.

Many want a god they understand, sitting on a throne and acting as the supreme ruler and diviner/winnower of all.

A scientist may look at that statement and say that just isn’t so because I’m unable to recreate these observations in my lab. If I can’t test or observe these additional facilities or capabilities they must not or can not exist. A rational thinker may look at those characteristics and say I don’t want anything to do with a supreme dictator no matter how benevolent. This puts us back into the realm of the ‘bicycle god’.

A god that can only answer our prayer or thoughts when it is convenient and if we get the bicycle, we must be praying to the right god or doing it the right way. If the bicycle god fails to answer our concerns or demonstrate unexplainable power on demand, then he or she can not exist or we have just been doing it wrong.

This brings us back to the RULES REGULATIONS RITUALS ROUTINES, some observers find so comforting. These adherents achieve peace of mind because they believe they are following the rules of their ‘bicycle god’.

“I don’t even care if someone wants to say you don’t understand that … doesn’t even bother me. What would bother me is if you were so content in that answer that you no longer had curiosity to learn how it happened. The day you stopped looking because you’re content in the answer, ‘God did it’, I don’t need you in the lab. You’re useless on the frontier of understanding the nature of the world.”

    – Neil DeGrasse Tyson