Yall are putting some mess out that is just flooding my Facebook feed. I might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but I am not a blunt instrument. I understand Foolishness, Shenanigans, Lunacy, Irony, and Sarcasm. I am conversant in all those dialects, and fluent in some, like Sarcasm.
But, the level of Dipshit has gotten out of hand. Let me give some examples:
I have been inundated (flooded) with this stream of memes and "funny" Second Amendment crap, for weeks, since the shooting in Orlando. Before that it was just a steady trickle. All somehow convinced that somehow, someway Obama in his few months left was going to succeed in the Emperor Palpatine move of confiscating every gun in the United States, and all the ammunition. If I saw one, I saw fifty clickbait titles for "news" articles as to how Obama was using the terrorists to destroy the Second Amendment. The weak willed have an infinite capacity for hyperbole.
In the midst of that, is the normal steady trickle about having to have "legal" ID to vote. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I am an advocate of showing ID to vote. I have to show ID to buy alcohol, and supposedly the fate of our country is a bit more important than whether or not I can scarf some Boone's Farm. However, if you are reposting junk about requiring ID to vote, and then even more junk about no infringement of the Second Amendment, the school system did you way wrong, or you were high as hell on the day the teacher talked about the Fifteenth Amendment.
See there are more than two Amendments to the Constitution. We are all the way up to twenty seven. Screw it, I am going to violate a "protocol" as I am tired of typing out numbers, I am going to mix and match. 27 is the grand total. The one numbered 15, declares that the right to vote shall not be infringed based on color, or past condition of servitude.
So, let me connect the dots. We cannot in any way, in any sense, cause any inconvenience in purchasing the latest arms you wish to buy. But, it is way cool to put restrictions on who can vote, based on whether or not they have ID, knowing, and having been proven, that it disproportionately affects people of color, IN EVERY CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT. We got no issues with this.
Again, I am a proponent of having an ID to present before voting. Mostly because if you are not competent enough to get your narrow butt (or wide if you are like me), to the DMV and prove you are a living adult, I don't want you getting toted to the polls and pulling a lever for anyone. I think that is only prudent, and I should not be subjected to the DMV, and others not, and enjoy the same prerogatives and rights I have. It aint fair, that ought to get the Millenials on board.
So, using that logic, and agreeing with most of the rabid Breitbart crowd on this restriction, I am utterly lost as to the issue with causing a restriction on buying military style weapons, or requiring registration or background checks for purchase of said weapon of war. (Oh, I have a silver star on my Good Conduct Medal which mean 6 awards, so I do know a thing or two about weapons, besides being born and growed up redneck as hell.)
The two don't go together, and it is a common side effect of listening to Rush Limbaugh and Glenn "Looney Tunes" Beck. It is like dropping too much acid, eventually you just have to accept that the pink zombies dancing with the trees aren't going to go away. So, you just are stuck being unable to apply logic or common sense or ignore your hatred to allow you to analyze an issue.
Speaking of Orlando, did you know that before that gay guy pretended to be a terrorist, to cover shooting people because he was so conflicted about being gay himself, that gay people were sometimes given the business in our country? Of course you did. Most of you that will read this, will kind of sorta remember the name Matthew Shepherd. He was a kid beaten and killed and strung up on a fence out in the God forsaken wastes of the Mid Mountain West. Some unbelievable crap hole like Wyoming or Idaho.
It is unknown, exactly, what particular pebble of hatred inbred into the perpetrators of the murder tipped the scales and caused them to take this kid from the middle of nowhere out into the heart of nowhere, and brutalize him the same way ISIS does people. If any building in that part of the country rose over 2 stories, they might have pushed him off the roof, like in the videos you wished they would show in entirety on Fox News. (I said Fox and News together, get it, Sarcasm, see I am fluent.)
But, the poor kid became something of a touchstone. I cannot say that it worked much, because the life of the "different" in America is not all that different. I guess you could say we have gay marriage, but we make it legal to prevent them from buying groceries or other services unless they completely renounce the GAY. I don't know how you record that renouncement so that you can again be a full member of society, I think they left that out of the bathroom bill. What, you mean 18 years after we tortured a kid in Wyoming, we still have enough ignorance as a whole to pass a law about what bathroom you can use?
It does not pass the Founder test people. George Washington and his homies did not put this in their Constitutions thingy. For some reason, they did not prohibit, nor did they comment on the question of the GAY. They were misogynist, racist assholes, but even they didn't go that far. And, according to the 2nd Amendment gospel, if it aint in there, it aint real. So everyone that if for full armament of infants and the potential arming of German Shepherds and Daschunds, you better start protesting and threatening to shoot everyone for the Bathroom Law. What they hell were they thinking, telling you what room you can use to piss in. Next thing you know, they will try to stop you from buying a M1 Abrams when you win the lottery. Sumbitches.
It is kind of crazy out there right now people. It get it. This is a time that pits the most corrupt and despicable candidate for President we have seen since the Grant Administration (also important to the 15th Amendment, pay attention people). And we managed to find the only other American rich enough and crazy enough to make enough people vote for a person they all admit has a streak of larceny that is infinitely wide compared to her streak of truth.
It is cray cray. I have no explanation for it. But, if you don't mind, think it out. Just because it is in your newsfeed on Facebook, does not make it true. I know, I know, that is a bold statement. I can only say that if you trust me on this, and you actually look into what you read before you post it, not only do you get to continue believing what you want, you can find some things called facts and truth, to back up that opinion. A fact or a truth is an old school Americanism for the foundation of what we believe in. They don't involve Twitter feeds or Instagram, so most of you are probably unfamiliar with them. But, they exist. No, not like Harry Potter is real, this is like Jason Bourne is real. Honest.
See, some of what I said here was actually Sarcasm. I leave it to you to decipher. If it becomes to difficult, just ask, and I will help you through it. But, only after you produce a legal ID that is stamped by the NRA. I don't want to waste my time with no illegal Mexican Muslims that just lay around and take up the Welfare from the rest of the people that are not minorities that need it to survive. If you are one of them, email the President. In between covert gun removal planning and praying 53 times a day to Mecca, he is happy to provide contact information for Sharpton's School of Scumbags.
Have a wicked day out there, if you can't figure out how to have a straight one!
Thursday, June 30, 2016
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Don't make sense
Just a couple of related thoughts, that are spurred by the current public debates. It is more about the system, than the individual events. I am certain that examples to the opposite could be found, and I would enjoy reading about them for a change.
First, it is has been suggested that perhaps the right answer to the attack in Orlando, was that other bar patrons be armed, and able to shoot back. Wait, I am pretty certain that there was an off duty cop there, working security, not drunk, who did return fire. How on earth could that guy have shot up all those people with another gun in the room?
Maybe because he had 3 times the available ammunition of the cop, fired from a high velocity weapon, balanced and created to be handled in combat and reduce muzzle rise and minimize shooter fatigue? The cop probably had a Glock, most likely a 9 mm. It is taking a pistol to a combat weapon fight, and the predictable occurred.
For, you see, it is not at all like the movies. All cops are not like the movie cops that whip out a pistol, fire 1 or 2 rounds, and immediately incapacitate a shooter. Most cops, just like 99.99% of the civilian population, do not ever fire their weapon in anger, and are not battle tested. They have nerves and have fear, and have a healthy respect as to what an AR15 is capable of. I wish it was different, but, my guess is that cop emptied his weapon's magazine, without hitting the suspect, who then retreated deeper into the building with more potential targets.
Having an AR15 fired at you is quite unsettling. Even those trained for crisis response find it unnerving. When you are stressed, when you are nervous, when you are afraid, one of the very first things to suffer is marksmanship. So, that is the actual event, crazy gay guy goes into gay bar with AR15, kills almost 2 full magazines worth of people, and responding police officer was unable to stop him with a service weapon. Not blaming or complaining about the cop, it is the predictable and general conclusion of weapons fired.
Now, the imaginary: gay person of either sex, with several drinks in them, too inebriated to legally drive, has a weapon strapped to their ankle. Upon receiving fire, in the dark, crowded and loud bar, they pull their weapon out and empty it in the direction of the shooting, they think. Can you predict the likely victims of those bullets? I can, and it is less likely to be the shooter than the patrons, because there is one shooter and hundreds of patrons. Why did the shooter kill so many, just one guy? Because anywhere he pointed the gun and fired, killed people in the crowds.
How on earth does anyone think that a better outcome would have occurred with some patron of the bar firing back at the shooter, when a police officer did not have any success firing back at him? How on earth does that person, thinking that, have the fricking gall to run for President of the United States? Of all the jobs that can easily be occupied by an idiot, the Presidency is not one of them. Look, even if you consider Obama a complete moron, or a Muslim sympathizer, that does not make it okay to replace him with an idiot that is in favor of just about the most unthinkable response to a public shooting in a bar I can think of for the moment.
Just because you hate Obama, is no reason to support Trump, any more than if you supported Obama and justified supporting Hillary because of that. Both are nonsensical. We have to grow up as adults entrusted with the governance and choosing of our leaders, and do a damn sight better job of it, right now. But, electing Trump is rolling the dice in Vegas with the rent money you owe to the Mob and stole from the casino. It is a bad bet, with too much interest that can come due, which is recorded forever for the world to see. Honestly, in 6-7 months, hell 20 years, they are going to play clips of Trump claiming the Indiana citizens approved to the federal bench is really a Mexican, that Mexico is going to pay for a wall, that we ban all Muslims "until we figure out what the hell is going on."
We know, dumbass, Muslims are killing Americans about as often as a perfect baseball game is thrown. The rest of the time, it is some poor crazy bastard that thinks he is the damn Joker from a Batman movie, or the second coming of Christ. We have continual and catastrophic violence, that we put on a timeline and claim exploded because of Obama. We forget that the timeline actually better coincides with the expiration of the assault weapons ban and most of the restrictions passed in the 90's, that made violent crime decrease.
Now, we cannot even get 50 of the sheep we elect to Congress to vote to pass a damn law that says terrorists should not be allowed to buy guns. If you are on the no fly list, you are on the no buy list. This is a massive and unprecedented breach of due process and just cause, that is almost universally supported by the same crowd that wants to ban all Muslims from entry. That loss of due process and just cause is okey dokey, because it is not a position bought and paid for by the NRA.
And, look, I am not for taking away the right to bear arms. However, it seems reasonable to me, that if you are not allowed to board a damn flight you paid for, you should be refused possession of the firearm you are willing to pay for. If you think it is wrong, go see the damn FBI and get it straight and then not only can you buy a gun, you can fly to fricking DisneyWorld and have fun in the world's happiest alligator farm.
There does not seem to be a need to sell military style weapons. Weapons optimize for combat and designed for lethality are best not in the hands of the public. They turn crazies into killing machines at the rate of 30 per about 15 seconds. That is two dead people per second, and that is if the guy is really slow. In the same period of time with a Glock 9mm pistol, you could fire 9, at best 12 shots. The recoil causes much more barrel rise, a much greater problem holding the gun on target and is therefor harder to kill with. It is not optimized for combat, it is not a military style assault weapon.
There will be those that ignore me. There will be those that refuse to believe what I say here. I also agree that it would not have stopped this man from buying the guns and shooting those people. The Joker guy in Colorado was not on the watch list either. But, I want to know, or better yet, I want the FBI to know that someone they think is plotting harm to America, wants to buy a weapon. That would be the kind of clue that we could use effectively to prevent crimes. It makes sense. At most, it inconveniences someone long enough to get off the list. It does not harm us, and makes us safer.
Yet, it cannot be done. Too far, we have rights. That is a principled approach. How about people that are illegal immigrants? Why does anyone have to even show ID? Why can't we sell it to anyone that can manage to get into the store, click on the website, or pay their way into the gun show? Regardless of age, infirmity, criminal record. Hell, if we can sell 'em to terrorists, why can't we sell them to felons? What is the sense there?
I am for an assault weapons ban, but even if we don't pass that AGAIN, I am for trying to make sure that terrorists are not able to arm themselves, once in the country. If it just stops one, it is worth it. I don't get the resistance, I don't get the blindness. I just don't understand. But the guy that is leading them down the yellow brick road this election season, he is all about people shooting it out in a mass shooting event. Not even cops like that idea.
You don't get to come back to life, like on the Play Station. You stay dead. You have an absolute number of one lives. It is best we treat them all like they matter, and are worth protecting. Otherwise, get rid of all the regulations and let it be like the Old West, somewhere outside of the ghettos.
Can anyone explain this to me?
GLYASDI
First, it is has been suggested that perhaps the right answer to the attack in Orlando, was that other bar patrons be armed, and able to shoot back. Wait, I am pretty certain that there was an off duty cop there, working security, not drunk, who did return fire. How on earth could that guy have shot up all those people with another gun in the room?
Maybe because he had 3 times the available ammunition of the cop, fired from a high velocity weapon, balanced and created to be handled in combat and reduce muzzle rise and minimize shooter fatigue? The cop probably had a Glock, most likely a 9 mm. It is taking a pistol to a combat weapon fight, and the predictable occurred.
For, you see, it is not at all like the movies. All cops are not like the movie cops that whip out a pistol, fire 1 or 2 rounds, and immediately incapacitate a shooter. Most cops, just like 99.99% of the civilian population, do not ever fire their weapon in anger, and are not battle tested. They have nerves and have fear, and have a healthy respect as to what an AR15 is capable of. I wish it was different, but, my guess is that cop emptied his weapon's magazine, without hitting the suspect, who then retreated deeper into the building with more potential targets.
Having an AR15 fired at you is quite unsettling. Even those trained for crisis response find it unnerving. When you are stressed, when you are nervous, when you are afraid, one of the very first things to suffer is marksmanship. So, that is the actual event, crazy gay guy goes into gay bar with AR15, kills almost 2 full magazines worth of people, and responding police officer was unable to stop him with a service weapon. Not blaming or complaining about the cop, it is the predictable and general conclusion of weapons fired.
Now, the imaginary: gay person of either sex, with several drinks in them, too inebriated to legally drive, has a weapon strapped to their ankle. Upon receiving fire, in the dark, crowded and loud bar, they pull their weapon out and empty it in the direction of the shooting, they think. Can you predict the likely victims of those bullets? I can, and it is less likely to be the shooter than the patrons, because there is one shooter and hundreds of patrons. Why did the shooter kill so many, just one guy? Because anywhere he pointed the gun and fired, killed people in the crowds.
How on earth does anyone think that a better outcome would have occurred with some patron of the bar firing back at the shooter, when a police officer did not have any success firing back at him? How on earth does that person, thinking that, have the fricking gall to run for President of the United States? Of all the jobs that can easily be occupied by an idiot, the Presidency is not one of them. Look, even if you consider Obama a complete moron, or a Muslim sympathizer, that does not make it okay to replace him with an idiot that is in favor of just about the most unthinkable response to a public shooting in a bar I can think of for the moment.
Just because you hate Obama, is no reason to support Trump, any more than if you supported Obama and justified supporting Hillary because of that. Both are nonsensical. We have to grow up as adults entrusted with the governance and choosing of our leaders, and do a damn sight better job of it, right now. But, electing Trump is rolling the dice in Vegas with the rent money you owe to the Mob and stole from the casino. It is a bad bet, with too much interest that can come due, which is recorded forever for the world to see. Honestly, in 6-7 months, hell 20 years, they are going to play clips of Trump claiming the Indiana citizens approved to the federal bench is really a Mexican, that Mexico is going to pay for a wall, that we ban all Muslims "until we figure out what the hell is going on."
We know, dumbass, Muslims are killing Americans about as often as a perfect baseball game is thrown. The rest of the time, it is some poor crazy bastard that thinks he is the damn Joker from a Batman movie, or the second coming of Christ. We have continual and catastrophic violence, that we put on a timeline and claim exploded because of Obama. We forget that the timeline actually better coincides with the expiration of the assault weapons ban and most of the restrictions passed in the 90's, that made violent crime decrease.
Now, we cannot even get 50 of the sheep we elect to Congress to vote to pass a damn law that says terrorists should not be allowed to buy guns. If you are on the no fly list, you are on the no buy list. This is a massive and unprecedented breach of due process and just cause, that is almost universally supported by the same crowd that wants to ban all Muslims from entry. That loss of due process and just cause is okey dokey, because it is not a position bought and paid for by the NRA.
And, look, I am not for taking away the right to bear arms. However, it seems reasonable to me, that if you are not allowed to board a damn flight you paid for, you should be refused possession of the firearm you are willing to pay for. If you think it is wrong, go see the damn FBI and get it straight and then not only can you buy a gun, you can fly to fricking DisneyWorld and have fun in the world's happiest alligator farm.
There does not seem to be a need to sell military style weapons. Weapons optimize for combat and designed for lethality are best not in the hands of the public. They turn crazies into killing machines at the rate of 30 per about 15 seconds. That is two dead people per second, and that is if the guy is really slow. In the same period of time with a Glock 9mm pistol, you could fire 9, at best 12 shots. The recoil causes much more barrel rise, a much greater problem holding the gun on target and is therefor harder to kill with. It is not optimized for combat, it is not a military style assault weapon.
There will be those that ignore me. There will be those that refuse to believe what I say here. I also agree that it would not have stopped this man from buying the guns and shooting those people. The Joker guy in Colorado was not on the watch list either. But, I want to know, or better yet, I want the FBI to know that someone they think is plotting harm to America, wants to buy a weapon. That would be the kind of clue that we could use effectively to prevent crimes. It makes sense. At most, it inconveniences someone long enough to get off the list. It does not harm us, and makes us safer.
Yet, it cannot be done. Too far, we have rights. That is a principled approach. How about people that are illegal immigrants? Why does anyone have to even show ID? Why can't we sell it to anyone that can manage to get into the store, click on the website, or pay their way into the gun show? Regardless of age, infirmity, criminal record. Hell, if we can sell 'em to terrorists, why can't we sell them to felons? What is the sense there?
I am for an assault weapons ban, but even if we don't pass that AGAIN, I am for trying to make sure that terrorists are not able to arm themselves, once in the country. If it just stops one, it is worth it. I don't get the resistance, I don't get the blindness. I just don't understand. But the guy that is leading them down the yellow brick road this election season, he is all about people shooting it out in a mass shooting event. Not even cops like that idea.
You don't get to come back to life, like on the Play Station. You stay dead. You have an absolute number of one lives. It is best we treat them all like they matter, and are worth protecting. Otherwise, get rid of all the regulations and let it be like the Old West, somewhere outside of the ghettos.
Can anyone explain this to me?
GLYASDI
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Father's Day
It has been a rough year so far. Katrina and I both lost our fathers, in a very short span of time. This is the first Father's Day since either of them passed. I have to admit, the world is not as safe feeling nor as bright as it was.
I miss them both. Father's Day is about your father, it is funny how that stacks up in generations. It gets a little depressing when you realize you are suddenly the oldest father left. Or, better said, it could get depressing. I don't get depressed.
I have four beautiful children, two that God gave me at birth, and two that God put in my life much later. They each have a partner in their lives that I am privileged to know, and love. I am a man that knows what it means to be loved as a father, and that was my gift from God, that I am always thankful for. They give me that gift every day.
I don't understand why any of those eight people do some of the things they do, but because I am Dad, I don't have to understand. I am going to be there whether it turns out right or wrong. I am going to be there when they are unsure whether it is going to turn out at all. I am going to be there, when the road is roughest, and when it is smoothest. I am going to be there.
I honestly think that is the best present you can get on Father's Day, that you get to be a father. I am so honored that God gave me these eight unique and wonderful people. I am so lucky that I get to be there in their lives, because they are such unique and wonderful people. They bring so much to me, so much that enriches my life, that gives purpose to my concern and my worry, that brings happiness in their presence, that allows me to teach and to learn.
On this Father's Day, I don't know if I will see them all. But, I know that I will think about them all. I will love them all. And they will love me back. That makes for a really, really good day. See, I get that every day. Father's Day is about honoring your father, all the fathers in your life.
I hope I do that every day. I hope I honor them all, by the kind of father they led me to be. I hope I carry them with me in how I deal with the things father's deal with. I hope I am passing it on to another generation, as it was passed on to me.
This is the first Father's Day that I won't hear my Daddy say "I love you son." That is a source of grief. But, I temper that with the knowledge that he is able to clearly hear God say "I love you son." And that knowledge, makes me a little envious, and okay that he is gone. Because, like always, he is there ahead of me, doing it first, showing me the way.
I honor him most, by how I do as a father myself. I have no illusions that I will do it his way, or as well as he did. But, Joe Beans raised his sons to be father's first. You work to care for your children first. You save to care for your children first. You love to care for your children first. You live for your children first. And, in the course of doing that, you honor the Father and the Son.
So, Happy Father's Day Daddy. Happy Father's Day Sonny. Though we don't get to call and say it, or go see you and say it, I am positive you hear it. And positive you know we love you still.
Happy Father's Day Lorne. Thank you for teaching me all I have learned from you. I'll call when you get back from vacation. I love you.
Happy Father's Day Eric. Thank you for being there when I was deployed, and trusting me to be there for Josh when you were. We taught each other, and I am still learning from you. I love you.
Happy Father's Day Keith, Jason, Zack, Brian, Joshua. You are all amazing young men, doing a wonderful job with your children. I am very proud of you all, and I love you all.
Happy Father's Day, Lord. I hope you continue to help me live as if each day is Father's Day in my relationship with you.
To all the father's out there, thank you for what you do, for the love you show, for the path you take. You are more important to the world than you imagine, and a much bigger part of your children's world than you know.
For those of you that are baby daddy's, I pray you stop that nonsense. Take the plunge, make the commitment, be a father. Being a father has nothing to do with biology. Biology only counts in terms of legality in finances. Being a father is a decision to love unconditionally, and without reserve. It is the single most important thing you can ever strive to be, and it will pay you back in wealth beyond anything you have imagined. If you think that wealth is money, you will learn what true wealth is. Stop being unimportant and unnecessary in your children's lives, and become irreplaceable and vital. All it takes is the decision to love, and to never stop loving.
Today, I get to reflect on the riches I have already received, and be more than satisfied it is a good life I have. Eventually, I pray I will have grandchildren and watch these four young men be fathers themselves. I will be even more wealthy when I see them respond as I have, and even more inspired when I see them respond better than I have. That is the circle of life, that matters and sustains. And, I am so blessed, so loved and so rich it brings tears to my eyes.
So, Happy Father's Day to all that wear that title proudly and without reserve. You make the world safe, wonderful and exciting, because you provide the comfort of knowing that there will always be a safe harbor in any storm, with you. And, thank you to all the children out there, that give the gift back, with your love. That is all any father really needs or wants.
GLYASDI
I miss them both. Father's Day is about your father, it is funny how that stacks up in generations. It gets a little depressing when you realize you are suddenly the oldest father left. Or, better said, it could get depressing. I don't get depressed.
I have four beautiful children, two that God gave me at birth, and two that God put in my life much later. They each have a partner in their lives that I am privileged to know, and love. I am a man that knows what it means to be loved as a father, and that was my gift from God, that I am always thankful for. They give me that gift every day.
I don't understand why any of those eight people do some of the things they do, but because I am Dad, I don't have to understand. I am going to be there whether it turns out right or wrong. I am going to be there when they are unsure whether it is going to turn out at all. I am going to be there, when the road is roughest, and when it is smoothest. I am going to be there.
I honestly think that is the best present you can get on Father's Day, that you get to be a father. I am so honored that God gave me these eight unique and wonderful people. I am so lucky that I get to be there in their lives, because they are such unique and wonderful people. They bring so much to me, so much that enriches my life, that gives purpose to my concern and my worry, that brings happiness in their presence, that allows me to teach and to learn.
On this Father's Day, I don't know if I will see them all. But, I know that I will think about them all. I will love them all. And they will love me back. That makes for a really, really good day. See, I get that every day. Father's Day is about honoring your father, all the fathers in your life.
I hope I do that every day. I hope I honor them all, by the kind of father they led me to be. I hope I carry them with me in how I deal with the things father's deal with. I hope I am passing it on to another generation, as it was passed on to me.
This is the first Father's Day that I won't hear my Daddy say "I love you son." That is a source of grief. But, I temper that with the knowledge that he is able to clearly hear God say "I love you son." And that knowledge, makes me a little envious, and okay that he is gone. Because, like always, he is there ahead of me, doing it first, showing me the way.
I honor him most, by how I do as a father myself. I have no illusions that I will do it his way, or as well as he did. But, Joe Beans raised his sons to be father's first. You work to care for your children first. You save to care for your children first. You love to care for your children first. You live for your children first. And, in the course of doing that, you honor the Father and the Son.
So, Happy Father's Day Daddy. Happy Father's Day Sonny. Though we don't get to call and say it, or go see you and say it, I am positive you hear it. And positive you know we love you still.
Happy Father's Day Lorne. Thank you for teaching me all I have learned from you. I'll call when you get back from vacation. I love you.
Happy Father's Day Eric. Thank you for being there when I was deployed, and trusting me to be there for Josh when you were. We taught each other, and I am still learning from you. I love you.
Happy Father's Day Keith, Jason, Zack, Brian, Joshua. You are all amazing young men, doing a wonderful job with your children. I am very proud of you all, and I love you all.
Happy Father's Day, Lord. I hope you continue to help me live as if each day is Father's Day in my relationship with you.
To all the father's out there, thank you for what you do, for the love you show, for the path you take. You are more important to the world than you imagine, and a much bigger part of your children's world than you know.
For those of you that are baby daddy's, I pray you stop that nonsense. Take the plunge, make the commitment, be a father. Being a father has nothing to do with biology. Biology only counts in terms of legality in finances. Being a father is a decision to love unconditionally, and without reserve. It is the single most important thing you can ever strive to be, and it will pay you back in wealth beyond anything you have imagined. If you think that wealth is money, you will learn what true wealth is. Stop being unimportant and unnecessary in your children's lives, and become irreplaceable and vital. All it takes is the decision to love, and to never stop loving.
Today, I get to reflect on the riches I have already received, and be more than satisfied it is a good life I have. Eventually, I pray I will have grandchildren and watch these four young men be fathers themselves. I will be even more wealthy when I see them respond as I have, and even more inspired when I see them respond better than I have. That is the circle of life, that matters and sustains. And, I am so blessed, so loved and so rich it brings tears to my eyes.
So, Happy Father's Day to all that wear that title proudly and without reserve. You make the world safe, wonderful and exciting, because you provide the comfort of knowing that there will always be a safe harbor in any storm, with you. And, thank you to all the children out there, that give the gift back, with your love. That is all any father really needs or wants.
GLYASDI
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Things I want to tell people
You don't have to be intentionally stupid. You don't have to ignore reality, and ignore facts, just so you can refuse to change your mind. You don't have to parrot patently false information, because you heard it from someone that hates the same people you do.
You don't have to hate someone you disagree with. You don't even have to dislike someone you disagree with. You don't have to be an ass in every encounter you have with anyone. In fact, you can actually like most, the people you disagree with most, because they challenge you and they make you grow.
You don't have to shout anyone down. If you whisper the truth, it remains the truth. If you scream the lies, they remain lies. Volume does not mean veracity. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Yet, you alone get to decide how you treat others, you alone get to decide how you respond.
I don't know of an un-blunt way to say this, but you don't have to be bigoted. You just don't. You don't have to assume Hispanics are illegals. You don't have to assume that young black men are thugs. You don't have to be afraid that whatever indefinable quality you claim to be 'Merican, will not be true still, because the racial balance in the nation changes from what it was 20 years ago, or 20 minutes ago. Because it has changed continually through 240 years, and will continue as long as the Lord sees fit to allow the USofA to exist.
You, also, do not have to embody every stereotype, just to keep it real. You can pull your damn pants up to your waist and wear a belt. You can speak English that is understandable to other English speakers. You can look for a partner in child rearing that can be a father or mother, not a baby daddy or baby mommy. You could be horrified to be referred to as one of those. You could interact with the world in a "normal" manner, it does not make you less you. It just makes you more employable, more understandable and more likely to make your way unaided in this world.
You don't have to decide issues immediately. You could take time to get information and consider your decision. Simply because it has the backing of the NRA, or the Southern Law Center, or the ACLU or the John Birch Society, does not mean that you have to agree with it. You can form your own opinion, based on your own determination. It is your mind, no one else should control it for you.
You don't have to condemn someone because their beliefs are different than yours. I do not believe in all the same things as many of my closest friends from church. We are all still Christian. But we do not all take the same view of every position. We owe that same assumption to those of the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist faith. We also do not have the requirement to actively work to prevent others from practicing their faith. People are Satanists. It terrifies me, for their souls and hope. But, it does not weaken my faith, attack my faith or change my faith. Only I can do that, and I should not make it so that others are punished for practicing the same right I enjoy, just because it does not match my faith.
You don't have to be offended at anything. You also do not automatically agree with something if you do not condemn it in the harshest terms possible, as publicly as possible, as quickly as possible. You are the only one that controls being offended. If you decide you are not offended, it is okay. If you decide you are offended, make it for something done to someone else. Offense is one of those things that is always more legitimate, if you feel it for others and not yourself.
You don't have to be angry, to be engaged. In fact, everyone around you is probably going to be much more willing to be engaged with you, if you control the anger. This is a hard one for me, and I struggle with it daily. But, just because it is difficult for me personally, doesn't make it any less true.
You don't have to be right. Sometimes, you are going to be wrong. Sometimes, you are going to be extremely wrong. Own it. It makes it so much more effective when you are convincingly right, if you have demonstrated the willingness to acknowledge errors. It is called authenticity, and it can only be displayed and earned, it really can't ever be repaired.
You don't have to be anything by choice. But the reality is that you have to be something. If you don't choose what that something is, and work for it and live to it, you can't really achieve anything lasting. The truth is that no one else will ever see the real you, they will always see you through their prism, their preconceived notions. So, if you do not choose a legitimate you to be, the only person that can know the real you, never meets the person they were destined to see. Because when you look in the mirror, if you see a reflections of everyone else in your life, you have not made a choice for yourself. If you look in the mirror, and recognize the person, and the flaws, you chose and you chose well.
GLYASDI
You don't have to hate someone you disagree with. You don't even have to dislike someone you disagree with. You don't have to be an ass in every encounter you have with anyone. In fact, you can actually like most, the people you disagree with most, because they challenge you and they make you grow.
You don't have to shout anyone down. If you whisper the truth, it remains the truth. If you scream the lies, they remain lies. Volume does not mean veracity. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Yet, you alone get to decide how you treat others, you alone get to decide how you respond.
I don't know of an un-blunt way to say this, but you don't have to be bigoted. You just don't. You don't have to assume Hispanics are illegals. You don't have to assume that young black men are thugs. You don't have to be afraid that whatever indefinable quality you claim to be 'Merican, will not be true still, because the racial balance in the nation changes from what it was 20 years ago, or 20 minutes ago. Because it has changed continually through 240 years, and will continue as long as the Lord sees fit to allow the USofA to exist.
You, also, do not have to embody every stereotype, just to keep it real. You can pull your damn pants up to your waist and wear a belt. You can speak English that is understandable to other English speakers. You can look for a partner in child rearing that can be a father or mother, not a baby daddy or baby mommy. You could be horrified to be referred to as one of those. You could interact with the world in a "normal" manner, it does not make you less you. It just makes you more employable, more understandable and more likely to make your way unaided in this world.
You don't have to decide issues immediately. You could take time to get information and consider your decision. Simply because it has the backing of the NRA, or the Southern Law Center, or the ACLU or the John Birch Society, does not mean that you have to agree with it. You can form your own opinion, based on your own determination. It is your mind, no one else should control it for you.
You don't have to condemn someone because their beliefs are different than yours. I do not believe in all the same things as many of my closest friends from church. We are all still Christian. But we do not all take the same view of every position. We owe that same assumption to those of the Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist faith. We also do not have the requirement to actively work to prevent others from practicing their faith. People are Satanists. It terrifies me, for their souls and hope. But, it does not weaken my faith, attack my faith or change my faith. Only I can do that, and I should not make it so that others are punished for practicing the same right I enjoy, just because it does not match my faith.
You don't have to be offended at anything. You also do not automatically agree with something if you do not condemn it in the harshest terms possible, as publicly as possible, as quickly as possible. You are the only one that controls being offended. If you decide you are not offended, it is okay. If you decide you are offended, make it for something done to someone else. Offense is one of those things that is always more legitimate, if you feel it for others and not yourself.
You don't have to be angry, to be engaged. In fact, everyone around you is probably going to be much more willing to be engaged with you, if you control the anger. This is a hard one for me, and I struggle with it daily. But, just because it is difficult for me personally, doesn't make it any less true.
You don't have to be right. Sometimes, you are going to be wrong. Sometimes, you are going to be extremely wrong. Own it. It makes it so much more effective when you are convincingly right, if you have demonstrated the willingness to acknowledge errors. It is called authenticity, and it can only be displayed and earned, it really can't ever be repaired.
You don't have to be anything by choice. But the reality is that you have to be something. If you don't choose what that something is, and work for it and live to it, you can't really achieve anything lasting. The truth is that no one else will ever see the real you, they will always see you through their prism, their preconceived notions. So, if you do not choose a legitimate you to be, the only person that can know the real you, never meets the person they were destined to see. Because when you look in the mirror, if you see a reflections of everyone else in your life, you have not made a choice for yourself. If you look in the mirror, and recognize the person, and the flaws, you chose and you chose well.
GLYASDI
Saturday, June 11, 2016
God speaks to us
I will admit it. When I see people on TV, especially the painful experience that is watching TV preachers, and they say God talked to them, it triggers my Yeah Sure Syndrome. YSS is a terrible disease, because it makes me skeptical and biased about people, that may be legitimately relaying the message God gave them.
My biggest example is Joel Osteen. And, look, I don't know the man personally. He is a likable enough personality on TV, kind of used-car salesmanly to me, but likable enough. He preaches a doctrine that I think is borderline heresy. I find much wrong with his lessons theologically. However, he is no more or less flawed and sinful than I am. He may be legitimately relaying messages from God to people that God needs to reach. And Brother Osteen may be the vehicle.
So, while I will not ever come to accept the preaching, I have to be careful not to miss the message. I cringe when I hear people say "God told me." I was raised Catholic, and that means miracles are serious business that involve the Pope sending the Men In Black to investigate and memory wipe if necessary. And, it was a miracle for someone to receive a visitation or message directly from the Lord.
This post is not about all the ways I have found disagreement with Catholic doctrine. Again, I have to be careful not to miss the message. Doctrine is one of the filters that gets in the way of us hearing God. Dogma and doctrine were non-existent with Christ. He said simple things that are profoundly powerful, and require no administration or interpretation.
Love others as you would be loved.
Go! Make disciples. Baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Faith, no matter how small, is infinitely powerful.
God loves us, as we are, because we are His.
The devil is real, and brilliant. Be wary.
These things are not complex. No system of parsing and interpreting is required to express them consistently. We have created worlds of pain and suffering over ridiculousness, like whether it counts if you are sprinkled or immersed for baptism, or adult or infant.
What Christ said was Go! That was first, because it was the priority, to go get in people's lives. Then he said make disciples. Share the Gospel, catch them on fire with the Holy Spirit and don't be a fire extinguisher. Then he said baptize in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
No mention of water was made, other than the accepted usage of the term baptize meaning to wash. I am positive in my heart of hearts that Jesus was absolutely most concerned with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit piece, not some nonsense about water.
All that being said, I think that Christ spoke simply about commandments, because it was very simple in premise. Love, and focus on the Lord at the center of your being. Don't worry about the rest, these things belong to God, not us.
Christ was capable of complexity and deep introspection and analogy. His parables are beautiful in craft and symbolism. They are also enough to trip up folks like me, if we dig too deeply around in them. I don't think that was Christ's intention. I think they are beautiful in craft and symbolism to intrigue us, to make us desire to study and understand. But, there is no place in the Bible, in my reading, where Christ was ever wishy washy about what we should do, or what He desired.
So, it is my pitfall, my personal trap, to discount others in the profession of their faith. How on earth do I have the ability to tell who God has and has not spoken to? I don't and I should assume that my judgement is fallible, which is why vengeance is left to the Lord. I struggle with that one, because vengeance is kind of one of my wheelhouse attributes. I can visit a reckoning on you in a skinny minute.
Usually, when I do, I am wrong, or at least partially wrong. Usually, when I do, I regret it almost immediately. Usually, when I do, I create an issue for someone else in their faith journey. Always, when I do, I fail Christ's first command. It is so simple, yet so hard to keep faithfully.
God does speak to everyone. With me, there is no burning bush, or visitation of Gabriel. There is no illuminating light that shines forth. There is only this rock solid certainty in my heart that what I just received came directly from the Lord. In my almost 49 years of life, that message has never included any instruction for someone else. It has always been about doing something within me, that was a real action.
Forgive them. Love them. Comfort them. Call them. Tell them. Hug them. Be with them. Pray for them. Pray with them. LISTEN to them. Acknowledge them. Grow for them.
God does not tell me to do stuff to me. God tells me to do things to others that are within me to do. God does the stuff to me. That is already happening. And, this whole Christian thing only works properly if we accept that God talks to us, and the God's commands are to do with others.
If we do unto others, at the will of God, the circle is completed. Because God has commanded others to do unto you. Even when it feels like you do all the doing, and the ones God commanded to do unto you either refused, or misheard Him completely, He has us in hand. There is no quid pro quo. When we need it, God has others there for us. When others need it, God sends us there for them.
God does speak to everyone. I suppose that Moses needed to see a bush burn that was not consumed, to understand where the message was coming from. I suppose that as a whole, the Israelites needed to see pillars of cloud and fire to understand where the direction was coming from. I suppose that Jacob had to wrestle physically with something, to understand God's real presence with him. I suppose Paul had to be blinded, to see.
It will be an imperfect process, but I will do all that I can to accept plainly what others tell me God has revealed to them. My experience, my study of the Word, my heart and God's indwelling will be more than enough to sift the message for truth and for content. If we spent less time trying to figure out why God does not interact with the world in the way He does, and more time obeying God, this would be a better life.
If you want to be rich, you have the wrong focus. If you want to be famous, you have the wrong focus. If you want to be important, you have the wrong focus. If you want to be a true representation of Christ, you have the correct focus. In that pursuit, you are rich in the way that enriches, you are famous to those you need to impact, and you are ultimately important, redeemed and accepted by the Creator of the Universe.
God gave me a message to share this morning, and before I put it out on my pitifully small circle of social media influence, I worried about starting it with those words. People might think I am crazy. People might ignore me, or not interact with me because of my faith. I would be different than most people, and that is scary.
I did it anyway, because I could only be true to myself. What message did God give you today? It does not need to be made public, it does not need to be internationally profound. But, it does need to be shared, acted on. Step out in faith, trust in your Lord, listen to the Holy Spirit. It brings peace to your heart.
And, thank God when others bless you. They are gifts from God, that He sent expressly for that reason, even if they have no idea He did so. Thanking them sincerely also feels really good, and goes a long way to encouraging them, letting them see the message God gave them.
The message I got today was that this was a hard world full of cruelty. We have family, friends, a Savior that love us. Focus on the love.
That is what God laid on me so powerfully that I could not get peace in my mind or heart, without sharing it. I have that knowledge already, so it was for someone. Whoever that is, however they get it, I hope that it fulfills the Lord's desire. I have a lot going on in my life, it is easy to get absorbed.
I think God wanted me to remember that the most lasting things I will ever be part of, all involve giving. We get really focused on getting, for legitimate reasons, rent, food, utilities. But, there is a powerful lesson in Jesus' teaching about not worrying about tomorrow, and being focused on what we should do today.
I had a message from God. I will have more. I hope you are hearing His message to you. I pray we all follow them.
GLYASDI
Thursday, June 2, 2016
Where there is life, there is hope
Katrina and I have been sharing the crud the last few days. Neither of us is desperately ill, it is more an annoyance and hindrance than anything. Typical summer bug, snot, headache, runny everything, no appetite. General crud.
It comes at a very inopportune time for the two of us. We are actually opening our own business next week, and this is the week we have to get the studio ready for customers. We don't really have time to be sick, or lacking in energy or drive. This is the exciting time for us, the getting ready part. We are both very excited to be doing something of our own, something that is for us, and for others.
These are my worries. I mean, in all the legion of things that could be weighing on me, this is where my mind is. God is pretty great isn't He?
Where there is life, there is hope. I have no idea why that message was in my mind when I woke up this morning. I have a life full of hope. I have the surety of knowledge that God loves me, I am His, and I am forever. I am very comfortable, financially, compared to 98% of the world. I never forget that, there is nothing material that I need, that I lack. I have wants, but so does everyone. All my needs are met.
I get up early, and the only thing on, besides infomercials, is news. Well, it is mostly opinion on Fox, MSNBC, etc. The local news is generally just about the weather, the wrecks and the shootings in Fayetteville and Durham. I ignore it to the maximum possible, while still finding out what the latest wild guess as to weather conditions currently is.
It is easy to get to the place that much of the nation is getting. That things are bad. That things are out of whack. We have wants that are begging for attention. That is our focus. We have NEEDS that we ignore completely. I am reminded that where there is life, there is hope.
I think about the latest street in Durham that has seen a murder. Or Fayetteville, the atmosphere is identical. It is easy for me; sitting in a beautiful home, comfortable that my next 20 meals are covered, that if the lights don't come on the bulb is blown, when it is 90 and humid outside, it is a comfortable 72 in front of this 24" monitor of my iMac; to disassociate the life that exists there. It is unreal to me today. I do not live, wondering where the rent money will come from. I do not live wondering what I would do if I were to be hurt or get seriously ill. I do not live wondering how I will get to the REAL grocery store, that is 5 miles away, instead of paying the corner convenience store prices. I do not wonder how to keep my children warm in the cold, or cool in the heat.
I do not live that existence, and it is easy for me to project my life balance, all focused on wants and conveniences, on an existence that is desperate from one need to the next. I admit to some sympathy to the internet cries of freeloaders and loafers taking all my tax money. I pay A.LOT. of taxes. I have no dependents, no deductions other than mortgage. The Fed likes my empty nest A.LOT. It does bother me that there is fraud associated with that money. I confess that I have seen the "lady" with the EBT card getting $25 worth of groceries, and $100 of luxuries that get loaded in the blacked out Yukon with $3000 worth of rims, and I have seethed. It is wrong.
So, I can project my privileged outrage on the entire program. Of course, my hackles go up instantly when it happens to me. When I get lumped in with the rest of the white, geezer, vets, and labelled a bigot, racist, Facist, neoCon. Because I served, I am only allowed to listen to Rush Limbaugh and vote Republican, whoever they serve up. I hate black people, I would abuse a gay person if I were to actually have one pointed out to me because I clearly don't know any, and I want to deport 150 million "Messicans" if that many are in the country. When I get pigeon holed like that, I despise it, and I don't deserve it. When I do it to others, I pay way less attention to the appropriateness of the emotion.
Let's assume that unlike the vast sea of my contemporaries, I am not now, nor have I ever been a fan of Limbaugh, the gaseous windbag that he is. I voted for Reagan, and a President named Bush, but he did not win reelection. I actually have two son-in-laws that are black (I don't know what you call people that are your son-in-law, but the wedding hasn't happened yet, so I am just going to use the familiar term.) I have several close friends that are way out of the closet, and I could care less, it is not a factor in my life or my relationship with Christ which is enough for me to keep up with. And, instead of spending like $75 billion dollars rounding up folks picking green beans and corn, if we were to bring them out of the shadows, require them to pay taxes, get them on insurance like the rest of us have to be, and act like we have some sense instead of xenophobia, it would be a good start.
I have opinions that differ from a lot of my contemporaries. I have life experiences that are different from most of my contemporaries. One thing I have never lacked is love. I have had a wonderful, supportive family for all of my life. I can never remember a day of my life, as a minor, that I could not point out 5 grown men instantly that loved me, knew me and watched over and mentored me. I can never remember a day of my life, as a minor, that I had no idea where a parental figure was, if I was hurt, scared, sick or worried. I never lived in fear of the next month's rent, or meal, though I came to find out my parents did, and worked like titans to keep it from me.
My life was, is and will be golden. I don't deserve what I have, but I have worked for it, made good decisions for it, and planned and achieved for it. I don't deserve much of anything in this world. But, what I have, I have earned. I wish I could say that for everyone. For where there is life, there should be hope.
But, if you are born in the 'hood, ghetto, projects, whatever it is named, hope is extremely limited. Before you condemn the next lady paying with her EBT card, who won't meet your glare, ask yourself if you would trade places with her? Do you really think she is living it up, shopping at the Food Lion for the generic brands, counting constantly in her head how much is left? Do you imagine that there is a path to riches or luxury associated with Food Stamps? I get the moral outrage, and I understand how wrong fraud is. But, be honest with me, do you think for one second you would trade places with the woman with the cart full of crap that was paid for with cash, that climbed into that Yukon?
Would you live where she lives? Would you accept the risk to your life, she accepts just because of where her home is? Would you like to have more of your male relatives dead, or in jail, by 21, than are not? Would you want your world to be the stark choice between the 1 or 2 that actually make their way in each generation, or the life happening in the streets outside your leaky window?
Before you start with the, "I got the same education that she did," crap, that I myself have spewed, you didn't. You did not learn the hard way that school was against you. Regardless of whether we like it or not, the system is not conducive to students that have chaos and poverty in their lives. They are not exposed to the same information by osmosis as "regular" children. No one in their homes is talking about politics, history, facts, figures, esoteric ideas like morality. That is a generalization, but can we settle on the likelihood that such conversations happen is very small in a project apartment? The system is set up to favor those with access to information, with access to safe time to review said information, with convenience that comes from not worrying or working to get something to eat before the school lunch the next day. It does not reward those whose life is a full time job, outside of school.
That is just the way that it is. If you can't see that, or don't understand that, I can't help you. I don't believe that it is deserved, or that it is necessary, or that it is right. You and I both know, regardless of the White Lives Matter crap you see spewed all over the internet, about racism against whites, no one writing that idiocy would be willing, for one second, to be non-white. Most of them do not think that because you are not white, that you deserve an unbalanced system or to be looked down upon.
Most think that if you work hard, you can make something of yourself. Because, when they didn't have to work hard on staying fed and alive, they worked hard on school, and made something of themselves. They stayed out of trouble, not because they didn't do anything wrong (me), but because they were white, they didn't get pulled over automatically when they were all piled up in a car. Because they didn't get that extra look, they didn't get caught. Had I had the same number of interactions with police, even in my little poor ass town in Maryland, that my friends that were black did, I doubt I would have had a clean enough record to enter the Navy at 17. I surely was not living the pure kind of life that would have supported a bunch of interactions with the police.
Because there is life, there should be hope. But, when living is the sole focus of your attention, it is hard to leave room for hope. When there is little room for hope, for thinking outside of your own immediate future and envelope, there is only the searching for immediate gratification. Might as well do it, because who knows if I will be here tomorrow. Of course, that applies to all of us, but it has been a long time since some child got shot in Flowers Plantation from a blacked out Yukon driving by in the middle of the night, unloading a Mac 10 on a house they think the homie is stayin' at. There is a difference between the statistically immaterial chance of serious cardiac issue for the vast majority of white children, and the real threat that large segments of our black, brown and "yellow" communities live within. You watch the news, you see it. That stuff doesn't happen on your doorstep, but it does on theirs.
Go to a "black" cemetery. I challenge you, count the number of headstones with male names. I will bet you, less than half are over 40, and in the ground. It is sad, it is horrific, but it is true. That is what life consists of for large portions of our populace. If it is only 5% of our population, which is about a third of the real number, that is almost 20,000,000 people. If we use the latest government guess, it is closer to 55,000,000 people. That is like the population of all of German, or all of France, or more than Belgium, or all of Italy or all of the UK. We, the human race, are breeding an alarming number of international terrorists from the ghettos of countries with better poverty rates than ours and with less than 20% of our population.
Want to blame issues on our black and Hispanic communities? That means there are more impoverished black people in America, than there are black/African/Middle Eastern people in all of Belgium and France and Germany combined. They are breeding Al Qaeda's and ISIS' next generation in Europe. What are we breeding? The faces and names that you see on the 6 o'clock news KIA in Afghanistan or Iraq this week, or shot to death by their neighbor in a drug deal gone wrong.
The path to greatness in our communities of poverty is through sports, for a very slim margin of them, or the military, for almost as slim a margin. There are not continuing narratives of success that relate to their lives. My kids looked at their teachers, knew they went to college, and knew they could do the same. Those kids in the 'hood, they know the teacher isn't allowed to hit them, and sometimes, most times, cares about them. They do not associate that teacher's life path with their own. We all find inspiration in the tale of the kid from the 'hood that made good. Because they are the exception that proves the rule.
What brought this on? I was reading a rant, from someone I do not know, on some thread of trivial crap that is made up, imaginary "news". We don't owe anybody anything. There are veterans on the street that we are not helping, but we want to bring in refugees. We give them food and scholarships. How about a white, heterosexual, working appreciation week? Kind of made me sick inside. I have said all those things before.
We owe everyone everything we can do for them. If you believe in Christ, and claim to be a Christian, that is just all you can say. It does not mean you are expected to give all you own, but there is no wiggle room, we owe them love. Complaining or judging them for using food stamps is not giving them the love we owe them. Silence about the poor state of parenting and child raising that exists in poverty, is not giving them the love we owe them. Parsing who deserves what, is not giving them the love we owe them. Condemning them for their sexuality is not giving them the love we owe them. Yes, I know it is true, because we are to love the sinner, and hate the sin. IT IS NOT OKAY TO HATE THE SINNER ALONG WITH THE SIN, AND CLAIM YOU LOVE THE.
That is hypocrisy, which is what Jesus condemned the most about the Pharisees. We are hypocritical, when we look at those struggling for the minimum margins in life, and act as if they should be happy with all the help they have available to them, wish we could get some of that. Really? You want some of the 'hood? You want to live on that street that you drive on at twice the speed limit with the windows rolled up and doors locked? You think that your life experience there would be really different? And it would today, because you were not born there, that was not your formation. Do you not understand that you were raised so differently and exceptionally from that, that you cannot relate to how hard it is? But, where there is life, there is hope.
Aren't we to be the hope? I mean, at the very core, aren't we supposed to be the hope for others? Isn't that how we are supposed to demonstrate Christ to the world? We are not supposed to be concerned about where our next meal comes from, because the Lord feeds even the sparrows, why are we so concerned about where "their" food comes from? We are not supposed to refuse to associate commonly with those that do not believe as us, up to and including eating food sacrificed to their idols, unless it will make them less likely to believe, so why are we so particular about how we associate with, or let LGTB people interact with society and our secular systems and laws? We are supposed to render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, including the part that goes to care for the poor and sick, so why are we so pissed that tax money helps feed kids at risk? We are supposed to pray for our leaders, for they are put in a position of authority from God, IT SAYS SO IN THE BIBLE, so why do we think Obama got elected somehow out of the control of God, and deserves to be villifiled? We are told to pray constantly, rejoice without ceasing, and give THANKS, so why do we spend so much of our time giving hate?
Where there is life, there is hope. That is the basis of God's call to our greatest commandment, go and baptize all peoples in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The exact same way you were baptized. Because, where there is life, there is hope for a salvation. Showing love does not mean what we are doing as a nation. The commandment Jesus gave, love others as you would be loved, and love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. Yeah, I don't know how you do that in the context of the current political debate.
So, I am going to peace out of the political discussions and season. I am going to take my own medicine, and watch my own language and state the things I ought, by the love of Jesus I was taught in love. I hope you do too. Whatever happens, God is in control, and He told us, where there is life, there is hope, for there is life forever in Christ. Right?
And, now, it is up to me to figure out how I go act. Not just say it, not just show it, but act. Because, this has to stop. We beat polio, small pox, measles, mumps, chicken pox, and a host of other issues. We ought to be able to beat endemic poverty that cycles generation after generation. We ought to be better at this after 240 years. We ought to mean more, do more, love more. It just is getting out of hand, all the stuff we are saying, thinking and doing to each other. It isn't about right or left, Dem or Republican, liberal or conservative. It is about right or wrong. And it is just plain wrong.
(And for those that read my blogs, that did grow up in the 'hood, the few of you I know had that experience, please forgive me for not speaking of you, or to you directly. This was just what was on my heart. I do not dismiss your struggles and triumphs.)
GLYASDI
It comes at a very inopportune time for the two of us. We are actually opening our own business next week, and this is the week we have to get the studio ready for customers. We don't really have time to be sick, or lacking in energy or drive. This is the exciting time for us, the getting ready part. We are both very excited to be doing something of our own, something that is for us, and for others.
These are my worries. I mean, in all the legion of things that could be weighing on me, this is where my mind is. God is pretty great isn't He?
Where there is life, there is hope. I have no idea why that message was in my mind when I woke up this morning. I have a life full of hope. I have the surety of knowledge that God loves me, I am His, and I am forever. I am very comfortable, financially, compared to 98% of the world. I never forget that, there is nothing material that I need, that I lack. I have wants, but so does everyone. All my needs are met.
I get up early, and the only thing on, besides infomercials, is news. Well, it is mostly opinion on Fox, MSNBC, etc. The local news is generally just about the weather, the wrecks and the shootings in Fayetteville and Durham. I ignore it to the maximum possible, while still finding out what the latest wild guess as to weather conditions currently is.
It is easy to get to the place that much of the nation is getting. That things are bad. That things are out of whack. We have wants that are begging for attention. That is our focus. We have NEEDS that we ignore completely. I am reminded that where there is life, there is hope.
I think about the latest street in Durham that has seen a murder. Or Fayetteville, the atmosphere is identical. It is easy for me; sitting in a beautiful home, comfortable that my next 20 meals are covered, that if the lights don't come on the bulb is blown, when it is 90 and humid outside, it is a comfortable 72 in front of this 24" monitor of my iMac; to disassociate the life that exists there. It is unreal to me today. I do not live, wondering where the rent money will come from. I do not live wondering what I would do if I were to be hurt or get seriously ill. I do not live wondering how I will get to the REAL grocery store, that is 5 miles away, instead of paying the corner convenience store prices. I do not wonder how to keep my children warm in the cold, or cool in the heat.
I do not live that existence, and it is easy for me to project my life balance, all focused on wants and conveniences, on an existence that is desperate from one need to the next. I admit to some sympathy to the internet cries of freeloaders and loafers taking all my tax money. I pay A.LOT. of taxes. I have no dependents, no deductions other than mortgage. The Fed likes my empty nest A.LOT. It does bother me that there is fraud associated with that money. I confess that I have seen the "lady" with the EBT card getting $25 worth of groceries, and $100 of luxuries that get loaded in the blacked out Yukon with $3000 worth of rims, and I have seethed. It is wrong.
So, I can project my privileged outrage on the entire program. Of course, my hackles go up instantly when it happens to me. When I get lumped in with the rest of the white, geezer, vets, and labelled a bigot, racist, Facist, neoCon. Because I served, I am only allowed to listen to Rush Limbaugh and vote Republican, whoever they serve up. I hate black people, I would abuse a gay person if I were to actually have one pointed out to me because I clearly don't know any, and I want to deport 150 million "Messicans" if that many are in the country. When I get pigeon holed like that, I despise it, and I don't deserve it. When I do it to others, I pay way less attention to the appropriateness of the emotion.
Let's assume that unlike the vast sea of my contemporaries, I am not now, nor have I ever been a fan of Limbaugh, the gaseous windbag that he is. I voted for Reagan, and a President named Bush, but he did not win reelection. I actually have two son-in-laws that are black (I don't know what you call people that are your son-in-law, but the wedding hasn't happened yet, so I am just going to use the familiar term.) I have several close friends that are way out of the closet, and I could care less, it is not a factor in my life or my relationship with Christ which is enough for me to keep up with. And, instead of spending like $75 billion dollars rounding up folks picking green beans and corn, if we were to bring them out of the shadows, require them to pay taxes, get them on insurance like the rest of us have to be, and act like we have some sense instead of xenophobia, it would be a good start.
I have opinions that differ from a lot of my contemporaries. I have life experiences that are different from most of my contemporaries. One thing I have never lacked is love. I have had a wonderful, supportive family for all of my life. I can never remember a day of my life, as a minor, that I could not point out 5 grown men instantly that loved me, knew me and watched over and mentored me. I can never remember a day of my life, as a minor, that I had no idea where a parental figure was, if I was hurt, scared, sick or worried. I never lived in fear of the next month's rent, or meal, though I came to find out my parents did, and worked like titans to keep it from me.
My life was, is and will be golden. I don't deserve what I have, but I have worked for it, made good decisions for it, and planned and achieved for it. I don't deserve much of anything in this world. But, what I have, I have earned. I wish I could say that for everyone. For where there is life, there should be hope.
But, if you are born in the 'hood, ghetto, projects, whatever it is named, hope is extremely limited. Before you condemn the next lady paying with her EBT card, who won't meet your glare, ask yourself if you would trade places with her? Do you really think she is living it up, shopping at the Food Lion for the generic brands, counting constantly in her head how much is left? Do you imagine that there is a path to riches or luxury associated with Food Stamps? I get the moral outrage, and I understand how wrong fraud is. But, be honest with me, do you think for one second you would trade places with the woman with the cart full of crap that was paid for with cash, that climbed into that Yukon?
Would you live where she lives? Would you accept the risk to your life, she accepts just because of where her home is? Would you like to have more of your male relatives dead, or in jail, by 21, than are not? Would you want your world to be the stark choice between the 1 or 2 that actually make their way in each generation, or the life happening in the streets outside your leaky window?
Before you start with the, "I got the same education that she did," crap, that I myself have spewed, you didn't. You did not learn the hard way that school was against you. Regardless of whether we like it or not, the system is not conducive to students that have chaos and poverty in their lives. They are not exposed to the same information by osmosis as "regular" children. No one in their homes is talking about politics, history, facts, figures, esoteric ideas like morality. That is a generalization, but can we settle on the likelihood that such conversations happen is very small in a project apartment? The system is set up to favor those with access to information, with access to safe time to review said information, with convenience that comes from not worrying or working to get something to eat before the school lunch the next day. It does not reward those whose life is a full time job, outside of school.
That is just the way that it is. If you can't see that, or don't understand that, I can't help you. I don't believe that it is deserved, or that it is necessary, or that it is right. You and I both know, regardless of the White Lives Matter crap you see spewed all over the internet, about racism against whites, no one writing that idiocy would be willing, for one second, to be non-white. Most of them do not think that because you are not white, that you deserve an unbalanced system or to be looked down upon.
Most think that if you work hard, you can make something of yourself. Because, when they didn't have to work hard on staying fed and alive, they worked hard on school, and made something of themselves. They stayed out of trouble, not because they didn't do anything wrong (me), but because they were white, they didn't get pulled over automatically when they were all piled up in a car. Because they didn't get that extra look, they didn't get caught. Had I had the same number of interactions with police, even in my little poor ass town in Maryland, that my friends that were black did, I doubt I would have had a clean enough record to enter the Navy at 17. I surely was not living the pure kind of life that would have supported a bunch of interactions with the police.
Because there is life, there should be hope. But, when living is the sole focus of your attention, it is hard to leave room for hope. When there is little room for hope, for thinking outside of your own immediate future and envelope, there is only the searching for immediate gratification. Might as well do it, because who knows if I will be here tomorrow. Of course, that applies to all of us, but it has been a long time since some child got shot in Flowers Plantation from a blacked out Yukon driving by in the middle of the night, unloading a Mac 10 on a house they think the homie is stayin' at. There is a difference between the statistically immaterial chance of serious cardiac issue for the vast majority of white children, and the real threat that large segments of our black, brown and "yellow" communities live within. You watch the news, you see it. That stuff doesn't happen on your doorstep, but it does on theirs.
Go to a "black" cemetery. I challenge you, count the number of headstones with male names. I will bet you, less than half are over 40, and in the ground. It is sad, it is horrific, but it is true. That is what life consists of for large portions of our populace. If it is only 5% of our population, which is about a third of the real number, that is almost 20,000,000 people. If we use the latest government guess, it is closer to 55,000,000 people. That is like the population of all of German, or all of France, or more than Belgium, or all of Italy or all of the UK. We, the human race, are breeding an alarming number of international terrorists from the ghettos of countries with better poverty rates than ours and with less than 20% of our population.
Want to blame issues on our black and Hispanic communities? That means there are more impoverished black people in America, than there are black/African/Middle Eastern people in all of Belgium and France and Germany combined. They are breeding Al Qaeda's and ISIS' next generation in Europe. What are we breeding? The faces and names that you see on the 6 o'clock news KIA in Afghanistan or Iraq this week, or shot to death by their neighbor in a drug deal gone wrong.
The path to greatness in our communities of poverty is through sports, for a very slim margin of them, or the military, for almost as slim a margin. There are not continuing narratives of success that relate to their lives. My kids looked at their teachers, knew they went to college, and knew they could do the same. Those kids in the 'hood, they know the teacher isn't allowed to hit them, and sometimes, most times, cares about them. They do not associate that teacher's life path with their own. We all find inspiration in the tale of the kid from the 'hood that made good. Because they are the exception that proves the rule.
What brought this on? I was reading a rant, from someone I do not know, on some thread of trivial crap that is made up, imaginary "news". We don't owe anybody anything. There are veterans on the street that we are not helping, but we want to bring in refugees. We give them food and scholarships. How about a white, heterosexual, working appreciation week? Kind of made me sick inside. I have said all those things before.
We owe everyone everything we can do for them. If you believe in Christ, and claim to be a Christian, that is just all you can say. It does not mean you are expected to give all you own, but there is no wiggle room, we owe them love. Complaining or judging them for using food stamps is not giving them the love we owe them. Silence about the poor state of parenting and child raising that exists in poverty, is not giving them the love we owe them. Parsing who deserves what, is not giving them the love we owe them. Condemning them for their sexuality is not giving them the love we owe them. Yes, I know it is true, because we are to love the sinner, and hate the sin. IT IS NOT OKAY TO HATE THE SINNER ALONG WITH THE SIN, AND CLAIM YOU LOVE THE.
That is hypocrisy, which is what Jesus condemned the most about the Pharisees. We are hypocritical, when we look at those struggling for the minimum margins in life, and act as if they should be happy with all the help they have available to them, wish we could get some of that. Really? You want some of the 'hood? You want to live on that street that you drive on at twice the speed limit with the windows rolled up and doors locked? You think that your life experience there would be really different? And it would today, because you were not born there, that was not your formation. Do you not understand that you were raised so differently and exceptionally from that, that you cannot relate to how hard it is? But, where there is life, there is hope.
Aren't we to be the hope? I mean, at the very core, aren't we supposed to be the hope for others? Isn't that how we are supposed to demonstrate Christ to the world? We are not supposed to be concerned about where our next meal comes from, because the Lord feeds even the sparrows, why are we so concerned about where "their" food comes from? We are not supposed to refuse to associate commonly with those that do not believe as us, up to and including eating food sacrificed to their idols, unless it will make them less likely to believe, so why are we so particular about how we associate with, or let LGTB people interact with society and our secular systems and laws? We are supposed to render to Caesar that which is Caesar's, including the part that goes to care for the poor and sick, so why are we so pissed that tax money helps feed kids at risk? We are supposed to pray for our leaders, for they are put in a position of authority from God, IT SAYS SO IN THE BIBLE, so why do we think Obama got elected somehow out of the control of God, and deserves to be villifiled? We are told to pray constantly, rejoice without ceasing, and give THANKS, so why do we spend so much of our time giving hate?
Where there is life, there is hope. That is the basis of God's call to our greatest commandment, go and baptize all peoples in the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The exact same way you were baptized. Because, where there is life, there is hope for a salvation. Showing love does not mean what we are doing as a nation. The commandment Jesus gave, love others as you would be loved, and love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. Yeah, I don't know how you do that in the context of the current political debate.
So, I am going to peace out of the political discussions and season. I am going to take my own medicine, and watch my own language and state the things I ought, by the love of Jesus I was taught in love. I hope you do too. Whatever happens, God is in control, and He told us, where there is life, there is hope, for there is life forever in Christ. Right?
And, now, it is up to me to figure out how I go act. Not just say it, not just show it, but act. Because, this has to stop. We beat polio, small pox, measles, mumps, chicken pox, and a host of other issues. We ought to be able to beat endemic poverty that cycles generation after generation. We ought to be better at this after 240 years. We ought to mean more, do more, love more. It just is getting out of hand, all the stuff we are saying, thinking and doing to each other. It isn't about right or left, Dem or Republican, liberal or conservative. It is about right or wrong. And it is just plain wrong.
(And for those that read my blogs, that did grow up in the 'hood, the few of you I know had that experience, please forgive me for not speaking of you, or to you directly. This was just what was on my heart. I do not dismiss your struggles and triumphs.)
GLYASDI
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