Saturday, May 23, 2015

Agravation

  So here I am, wasting my time on this holiday weekend, reacting to the news I try so hard to ignore. God knows, as a retired man, I haven't the time to get caught up in such drudgery. But try as I might, some of the bad tidings we except as news, gets through anyway. Such is this latest source of aggravation, the debate over the Patriot Act. In short, for those of you who don't know what it is, it allows the federal government to spy on Americans, by collecting information from our phone records. Not only to collect who you call, who calls you, but they reserve the right to listen in if they so choose.
  The objections to this practice stem from the realization, that this power can be abused quite easily. Now of course, we are told that our fears of Big Brother, (uncle Sam), actually listening in are rediculous, as no meddling bureaucrat would ever dream of doing such a thing. Unless of course, you are an American citizen who believes that the government is far too large, and dared join like minded people in Tea Party type groups. Then, because the current administration deems you as being not in line with their ideology, then, it is OK. That, or in the case of Fox news reporter, James Rosen, and apparently his mom and dad, were getting too close for comfort of exposing all the lies about Benghazi, then too, it is alright.
  The simple truth is, the Patriot act is needed, because of the Islamist terrorists who hate this country, and will do anything to destroy it. But here again, the Patriot act is not the problem? The problem is the bane of free speech, Political Correctness. The only reason, and there is no real logic to it, that we must collect data on all of our citizens, rather then only of those who have mid eastern ties or associations with known terrorists, is because of PC speak. The proponents of this lunacy believe that a focused search is wrong, and therefore, grandma, who represents three generations in this country, must also submit to being felt up at the airport. This collection of mega-data is a monumental waste of time and resources, when all that is needed is a more concise search. And Muslims who have assimilated as have we, and are proud Americans, should have no reservations, because as we all say, Hey, I have nothing to hide.
  Lets assume, that a Brooklyn man is suspected of a murder committed in Brooklyn, where all of his friends and family are, and he is wanted by the police for questioning. What should the police do immediately? Set up a focused search in Brooklyn and the tri-state area, or thin their forces, and the resources they have, for a national drag net. Does that make sense to you? Political correctness never does.

Thursday, May 21, 2015

Loosing a Train

  When all that you thought was right with the world, turns out to be wrong, where you gonna run to then? But this may be hard to find, as we have reversed things in this country. What used to be undeniably right, is what we are now being sold is wrong. In our current society, what is wrong is celebrated as true, and the reverse, what was right, we are now told is wrong. Truly it is a mixed up troubled up, shook up world.
  Now you might well ask, how can such a thing happen, surely the people can't be that stupid? It can only happen when the point at hand is lost. The point is best lost by distraction. Distractions are the most obvious presented as a deflection. And nothing says distraction quite as loudly as does the Presidents latest one, that being climate change. Again, he is caught being so out of step with the people, that he must have no idea what is discussed as dangerous around the kitchen table. Islamist terrorism is by far the most discussed, and the only one with which we all agree.
  But bring up which distraction he's currently pushing, Global Warming, or one of his lessor concerns, like gay rights, or the fake accusation of racism, and now you got yourself an argument!
Divisiveness through deflection is the ticket, but divide and conquer is the goal.

Monday, May 18, 2015

Blood of Your Blood

  When old skeletons find their way out of the closet, and dance for the family, the family is not entertained. Old and ugly scars get exposed, and the scabs that covered newer and still festering wounds are torn off.
  When it comes to getting your feelings hurt, there is nothing quite as effective as family, as one capable of doing the hurting. Outsiders can and will say hurtful things about us, but the deepest hurts come when delivered by the ones we love. But there is a flip side to all of this sadness, and it lies in the fact, that we might consider ourselves lucky, to have had a family at all. In order to be hurt, you must have someone who you love, and whether you feel it now or not, must have at one time loved you too.
  But here is the thing that you must hold onto at all costs, There is nothing like family, because blood truly is thicker then water. Hold onto family at all costs, and you hold onto the truest love you'll find outside of God's love. There are many types of families, ones built not on blood, but on a shared love, like music or art. But if you are lucky enough to have a family that is blood of your blood, hang onto them for dear life! Because in the end, the blood of family is really all you have. The family of God is one like this, because they too share one blood, the blood of Jesus.

Thursday, May 14, 2015

The Grouping

  I love when people say to me, that they are not religious, because can I tell you something brother, neither am I. Oh, in the actual sense, yes, I'm a Christian. But what that means to me, differs somewhat to how others worship. Because to me, Christianity is not a religion, but a relationship. All any religion is really, is a set of doctrines, set up like rules and regulations, of what to do and how to do it, as a guideline to get you to know a holy God. The relationship aspect, comes first in acceptance. Actually reading the bible is a good start. But however much you might tell someone, when discussing the reality of God, that you know its true, because you have a relationship with him, the conversation will most always go to religion, their differences, and the problems in the world that have come from those differences. But the reality of the existence of God, too often, gets limited to the limitations of religion.
  Jesus Christ, was and still is, the God-man, wholly God, and wholly a man. He had friends then, we call them disciples, but there were many other encounters, as this God-man named Jesus Christ actually walked among us. Even the haters won't deny that historical fact. And like any other natural man, he had people who he considered friends, and those who he did not.
  Why do I tell you this? Because if you look at it from his physical, actual man side of things, he was looking for like minded people to be his friends. Jesus still wants to be your friend. God wants a relationship with you! You see, for Jesus, because he is also God, in that God-man self, when you desire to have him as a friend, it is no different, if you took his hand in friendship then, because God transcends time, and so, when you become his friend, it is as real for him as it would be for us, if we were to meet and shake hands. Phew! didn't think I'd find an end to that one?
  But rather then limit our discussions about God to any religion, what if, in stead of labeling people by their religion, if we were to group them another way? Perhaps then the subject of God wouldn't be so divisive? What I propose, is that we put people into only three groups. Believers, Agnostics, ( those who are on the fence about most things), and atheists.
  If we were to do this, the most obvious thing will be, that the agnostic group is by far and away the largest. This is because we are looking at real numbers here.  Most people who claim one faith or another, when pressed, will tell you that they have serious doubts. Mostly, these doubts come from the fact, that most people have the mistaken idea that God and science are exclusive of each other. They are not!

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Winds of Change

  The winds of change blow near gale force across the land. Picking up malcontents and nay sayers along the way, only to be cast out of the storm, as these are vile creatures. They do not see the hope, they see no end in sight. But the winds, The winds of change blows flush with the warriers of the new beginnings. They will sweep clean all that stands in their way. They will use justice and honor as their goal, and they will hold up to ridicule those who hate the truth. A time will come, and a time has come, for the ugliness of lies to be revealed.
  There is no hiding place for them, because in the end, even their own countrymen won't want them. They are to be set adrift, left with no harbor, because they have rejected Mighty God! How dare these fools challenge the precepts of their Creator, how is it that they can not see? A fluke of nature, a misbegotten gene? What turns a soul to reject him? Is it not the arrogance which is berthed from pride? Who challenges mighty God, who can stand and make a case against him?
  The countries of the earth rattle their sabres, and he, He sits on high and laughs. He is amused at our feeble attempts, and yet, he cries over these same fools. Eternal life, all knowledge, wisdom beyond measure, no more death, no more taxes, only a life of total freedom, forever, with him, the Creator of all!

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Coincidence

  As far as coincidence is concerned, it comes and it goes, but I get it. You see, that is the way of it when you become a Christian. You begin seeing a pattern, where way too many coincidences occur in your life then not. So, as it becomes that more things happen that seem related then not, the less you count it as just a coincidence, it is a natural reaction.
  What it is that you are beginning to see, is what you will come to know, and that being, that it isn't really just a coincidence, but rather, a confirmation. Once this state of mind becomes your state of mind, then your next consideration, is whether you play any role in it at all, or if it is only fate? If fate, then do you play any role at all, or have you become only a spectator of your life?
  For me, the answer is, of course you must play a role, because hasn't the Lord said, that we are to become in agreement with him? The strange thing about accepting the fact that you are right more then you are wrong, is understanding, that in that regard, all praise is due him. The danger, if there is one, is that you believe that you are right about everything? But if that is your opinion, isn't it right that if you know the Lord, that it is really him who is right, and all you did is agree.

Saturday, May 2, 2015

What we should be doing, but won't?

  It is a beautiful day here in the Northeast. The kind of day whose sky is cloudless, and a perfect clear light blue! A sky which for those of us who are old enough, reminds us of the first 9/11 attack. This one having been larger, in that, unlike the one of Benghazi fame which murdered only four Americans, caused the deaths of 3,000 souls, not only Americans, but of citizens of the world.
  Interestingly, this country to a large extent, has become fixated on other things, which are of far lesser concern. What we are fixated on now, is the charges of racism, and the divisiveness that it causes. One side accusing, while the other side denies.
The simple truth regarding the death of Mr. Gray, is that it has nothing to do with race, but rather of poverty. More specifically still, is the misbegotten war on drugs. The reason that inner city blacks and other poor people find themselves at odds with the police, is because, the sale of drugs, although an illegal enterprise, is an enterprise non the less.
  The government cannot legislate morals, a lesson that you would have thought we should have learned with the prohibition of alcohol. Denying the public something they so clearly want, only serves to create a market for it. You would think that we would have learned this lesson, but apparently, we have not. The choice is clear. If we want to have any chance of controlling such a dangerous thing as drugs, we cannot do it by treating it as an affront to the law, but only by legalizing it, albeit with strict controls in place, such as minimum age laws, and assigned registration for those who would choose to use the narcotics that bring on addiction, can we ever hope to defeat it.