The Gates of Paradise

It’s been an age-old dream of mankind to find, or create, the perfect society. The word Utopia, used by Thomas Moore for his book of the same name, has become a part of our language for the ideal society. The myths of Shangri-la and Atlantis, wherein all the inhabitants live, or have lived, in harmony have filled us with the dream. Ironically, some of the most horrific events in the history of our race have been committed in the name of the search for Utopia. The search has always begun with a false premise. Perhaps, we reason, if we just find the right set of laws and the perfect economic system, or eradicate the genetic flaws in humanity, we’ll finally find peace and reach our true potential. In fact two of the greatest myths in modern thinking have been responsible for untold suffering and misery in the last century. One is that economics can change our nature, the other is that race can. Both ignore the fact that human nature is common to all who have ever lived. We all draw from the well that is humanity. Utopia is a nice dream…but it will never happen while human beings have human nature.

We human beings are a fundamentally flawed species. Wherever we go we take our built-in flaws. If you’ve ever felt jealousy, envy, lust, greed, hate, revenge or any other of the darker qualities common to mankind you would take those things with you no matter where you chose to go. Sooner or later those darker qualities would show themselves again and Utopia would cease to be Utopia. There will never be an ideal society run by man unless, or until, the fundamental nature of human beings is changed.

Some philosophies and religions teach that we’re OK just the way we are. Those that do so flatly ignore the facts of history and live in denial. Some teach that the nature of our race will change if enough individuals do. We will all be ‘uplifted’ when the number of people who have become enlightened reaches a ‘critical mass’. Those that claim this kind of enlightenment say that they perceive the world differently...otherwise they don’t appear any different from anyone else. The number of individuals becoming personally enlightened would have to outpace the birth rate if their claim were true. In what is one of the greatest ironies in the world of religion, the folks that seek ‘enlightenment’ for themselves often ignore the suffering of other human beings. One need look no farther than the countries where those beliefs thrive to see the effects of their ‘enlightenment’. These people practice their own self-centered, versions of ‘spirituality’. Any enlightenment they claim to achieve doesn’t seem to produce any real change. They certainly haven’t made the world a better place to live in.

The reality is that races don’t become enlightened, only individuals do. The only ‘real’ enlightenment is exercising the will that is guided by wisdom. (In short, true enlightenment is in actually doing what is right…) Every human being has the potential to do that. That’s just as much a part of us as our baser nature. Real enlightenment can’t be achieved by hiding on some mountaintop meditating. It can’t be done for us by someone else. Even with real enlightenment our nature doesn’t change…it’s only controlled. Cease to exercise the will guided by wisdom and anyone can slip back.

Think of the scenes you’ve seen of third world villages for example. Those that are the most memorable have had trash and raw sewage in the streets. The people in them are often sickly as a result of disease caused by living among garbage. You may think, “If only these people could be moved to a place where it’s clean, they would be disease free”. Did you ever wonder who put the trash and raw sewage in the middle of the street? If the people of the village were moved they’d soon be turning the new place into an open sewage pit too. Even if they are educated to understand the laws of sanitation and quarantine the people must still exercise their wills to observe those laws. If they don’t…they revert back into the condition from whence they came. That is the history of our race…

Knowledge and technology accumulate with every generation and are passed on to the next generation, but wisdom always begins at square one. The birth of every human being is a starting over at the beginning. That’s both a blessing and a curse. It’s a blessing because with every newborn child there’s a chance to start over and do it right. It’s a curse because every newborn child must start where every human being who has ever lived started.

We are not OK just the way we are. That’s obvious to anyone who takes an honest look at our race. We need divine guidance and divine help. We need divine intervention. We need to obey God and His laws. Where some other religions and philosophies would have us focus only on ourselves, Judeo Christian values make us focus on both growing ourselves and in aiding our fellow man to do so. We are to always struggle with what is right and wrong. We are never to forget that God is in control and that we are all His children.

The promise of Judaism and Christianity is that a Messiah will come and save us from ourselves. Eventually our very nature will be changed. Even the nature of predatory animals will change. “The lion will lie down with the lamb…” That is the promise of scripture…that is the hope of our faith. We will be rescued from ourselves.

In the meantime, we are to do all we can to obey the laws of God, to grow and aid our fellow man. A true religion doesn’t tell us that we’re OK. A true religion causes us to focus on our Creator and His will for us. It is God’s will that we ultimately inherit a Utopia beyond our dreams. We will only do so by our willingness to put God first in our lives…and by His grace.

Looking into the Abyss...

I found out a few days ago that the wife of a good friend committed suicide. It was like being kicked in the stomach for me. I can only imagine what it’s been like for my friend. His wife was the central point of his life. I don’t know any words that would comfort him…but my heart is with my friend.

Having been a counselor, I’ve known others who came see death as the only way out of their pain. They came to see life as a burden instead of a blessing. I can’t shake the feeling that I somehow failed those who came to me for help and went on to take their own lives. I live with their faces in my memory.

To someone without a sense of purpose in life, without a sense of meaning, life can seem unbearably empty. Clinical depression, an imbalance in brain chemistry, can cause us to perceive life that way, even if we do believe in a higher purpose. It can seem like an endless abyss.

My friend’s wife looked into the abyss and all she saw was darkness and despair. The pain and the emptiness became too much for her. It’s a scary thing to do…looking into the abyss. I once looked into it and saw only darkness and despair too. I know what it is to lose hope and fall into the emptiness. Without a firm footing it’s easy to lose one’s way. Depression affects so many of us and yet it remains undiagnosed so often. Many people feel like they should be able to simply shake it off. When it's true clinical depression that’s just not the case. The light at the end of the tunnel seems just too far away.

As a Christian, I know God as my rock and my foundation, He is where my footing is and I know it’s sure. Knowing God as my foundation has changed my perspective of the abyss. I now see it as full of hope and possibility. The thing that helped me the most was a simple ‘Thank You’. I just began to say 'Thank You' to God for this life, this gift that He’s given me. In that simple act my perception began to change. I began to see life as a blessing. I wish I knew a better way to share that with others.

Having been in the light it’s hard to see people wander aimlessly in the darkness. I just want to call out and tell them the light is all around them…if they’ll only open their hearts to see it. We can only do what we can do…we can’t live someone else’s life for them. We can’t make someone else’s decisions for them.

What we can do is be there for them. Sometimes just ones presense or the sound of a familiar voice nearby is a comfort. To learn to love one another is why we’re here. Love reaches out into the darkness and points the way towards the light. It’s too late for my friends wife. Maybe I can help point the way for my friend now.

May we all move onward and upward into the light.

Hoka Hey!

It is somewhat of a puzzle to me that so many people live their lives like they will live forever. It is the central fact of our existence that our lives are temporary…we will die someday. So many people push that fact out of their consciousness and go about their lives “eating and drinking and being merry” that they lose sight of any real meaning in life. It’s not, ‘He who dies with the most toys wins!’ It really isn’t whether you win or lose anything…it’s how you play the game that matters. How we 'play the game' is everything.

In every culture on earth throughout human history, every religion practiced by man has described an ultimate destiny for our race. We intuitively know that there is more going on here than meets the eye. Every religion has given voice to some form of the belief that man needs to live in harmony with the ‘rules of the universe.’ If we live in harmony with the rules, our destiny is greater. We sense that life is a kind of...proving ground. It’s not an end of itself. Whatever we may believe the purpose of life is, it clearly has something to do with growth. One has only to observe nature to see that all living things have a growth cycle. Acorns push up sidewalks to become oak trees!

We can choose to grow in life or choose to flitter it away in empty pursuits. There are myriad traps and blind alleys that can sap our energies in life. Alcohol and drugs, sexual promiscuity, amassing material possessions, and seeking power over others are only some of the empty pursuits that can lead us away from our real purpose. Every major religion on earth has produced men and women of wisdom, and they have universally come to the same conclusions.

While it can serve us well to always remember life is temporary, it doesn’t do to focus all the time on the fact that we’ll die. There can be something of a psychological trap in dwelling on that. We can lose hope and become depressed if our focus is a dark one. If, on the other hand, we embrace the fact of our mortality, it can help us to embrace life. We learn that we can’t hold on to it, so we learn to appreciate the moments of it all the more.

The old Lakota battle cry: “Hoka Hey” (It’s a good day to die!) offers one such example. Though it has often been misunderstood, it's message is actually a positive one. It can teach us to embrace life by not to trying to hold on to what is fleeting. Life is not a thing to hold on to, it’s a process that we experience. It's like a song in which we have the opportunity to embrace each note...but only while they are being played. One can enjoy a good song, a book, or a movie but they’ll end. They, like life, are processes that we experience. We can let the experiences slip by with only the barest awareness or we can embrace them and fully participate in each moment.

What life does offer us is a choice. We have it in our power to choose how we meet life at every moment. We can be there fully for the experience or to let it slip by while we’re in a fog. We can choose to grow or we can choose to do nothing and remain the same. Death comes to all either way…

The only things that really matter are the ones we can take with us when the lids of our coffins are closed. The only thing that we can take with us then is the character we’ve developed.

Life reveals the story of who we really are. Death closes the book. What is written on each page is entirely up to us...

For Nixzmary Brown

Yet again an adult given to pure evil has murdered another child.

This time in Brooklyn, New York 7-year-old Nixzmary Brown was beaten to death by her step-father Cesar Rodriguez. He then tossed her on the floor of what the family called their "dirty room," a rodent-infested room where little Nixzmary had been tied up and left with only a litter box as a toilet. This little second grader had been beaten, starved and sexually molested in the weeks before her 'care giver' brutally murdered her by a blow to her head. She weighed only 36 pounds... In her short time on earth the adults entrusted by God to love and nurture this child treated her worse than most people would treat a vicious animal.

Others will, no doubt, debate the role of the child protective services that let little Nixzmary fall through the cracks in the system. Some may use the case to advocate the death penalty or some other political agenda. I don’t know what the answers are in dealing with most of the world’s problems. I find I am often at a loss to know what the right course of action is in many of the problems that plague our race. I can’t comprehend the scope of the problem of child abuse. I do understand love and I understand the pain of one child. My heart goes out to this one little girl who never got a chance.

I know that every child is made in the image of the Living God and is worthy of love. I know that God is watching us. I know He entrusts us with children for us to love them and teach them to be decent human beings. I know that every child that dies will breathe again. I know that every child will know the love of God…one day.

This story will only be a footnote in the news outlets that report it at all. Such things happen too often, every day and in every country on earth. We've become used to them. Instead of stopping to take notice, most people will go on with their lives like the murder of this one child has no effect on their world. This was a crime against humanity. That affects all of us.

May people of good will take notice. The bell tolls for thee...

The Strongest Among Us

The New Testament speaks of spiritual gifts that God bestows on people as He uses them to do His will. One such gift is the gift of healing. It’s not considered one of the more important gifts but it made a lasting impression on the suffering at the time of the early church. I only know that if I could have any gift from God to serve my fellow man, it would be the gift of healing. Compassion moves me to want to ease the suffering of people, especially children. I can only imagine the unspeakable joy of being able to empty out the cancer ward in a children’s hospital by healing all of them.

Unlike some people, I have never questioned God in allowing the innocent to suffer. Innocent people suffer. It's a part of life on earth I think we, human beings, bring on ourselves for the most part. If we would simply obey the laws of God a great deal of suffering would be alleviated. Like all children whose parents love them, we were given the instructions to keep us safe. Out of our rebellious attitudes we’ve ignored them. God wants us to be healthy and happy in this life and He has left us an instruction manual for just that purpose. We still seem to have a good deal of growing up to do before we’ve learned the lesson…our Creator knows what is best for His creation.

That children suffer from illness, disease, natural disasters, violence and war while the adults in their lives must stand by helplessly can tear my heart out. I know I’m not alone in that. It occurs to me in watching it that Gods purpose is being served even in that suffering. The lessons of compassion and love that I’ve seen and heard pour over me like a warm rain.

It seems to me that some children have a strength of spirit not found among adults. The strongest among us have become our teachers in their suffering. Watching it can break our hearts…and like the saying goes, a broken heart is an open heart.

I don’t pretend to be able to see the big picture…but I have the faith that God does. While, most often, the suffering that children endure seems random, the lives they touch reach out far and wide. The hearts they open reveal who we really are. In that, their pain can serve Gods purpose. No life goes unnoticed in Gods eyes. No innocents suffer without His special notice. I have no doubt that they will be rewarded for their suffering and for their gifts to us.

The only issue left seems to be what we do with the lessons we’ve learned from watching innocents suffer. Do we ignore it and go on with our lives? Do we seek some kind of revenge? Do we curse God? Or, do we choose to honor the young lives cut short and open our hearts to love each other more?

With One Voice

It was in martial arts that I learned the concept of ‘Kime’, the Japanese word for focus. I know from experience that it’s possible to put my hand through ten inches of concrete with kime. Physics dictates that it should be impossible…but I’ve done it. The psychology behind it is fascinating. When you think, for example, “I’m thinking”, you’ve created a duality in yourself. A part of you is watching you. Kime teaches you to unify all your energies into one point. There is no more “I am walking”…it becomes simply “walking”.

That’s a state of mind that’s sought after in Eastern schools of meditation. In Japan it is called Zammai, in India it's known as Samahdi. Samahdi is a natural state of mind that everyone has experienced. It's when one is so wholly engaged in some activity that one forgets oneself. In Eastern schools of thought it’s systematically sought after and practiced. It is the removal of the ego, the sense of ‘I’, from the picture.

In Kime it’s sought after to focus all of ones energies into the task at hand. The mind, the body and the spirit all work together to accomplish ones goal.

I used to teach rape-defense classes for various police departments. The very first things I would address with a room full of new women were the psychological aspects of self-defense. If a woman was raised to be a ‘good girl’ and believe that good girls don’t hit people, she would have to recondition herself to understand that sometimes it’s OK. Perhaps someone was raised in a religious home and taught that good ‘Jewish girls, Christians, Buddhists, whatever…’ don’t hurt people. That too, is a kind of conditioning that must be addressed before any physical technique will work. If one believes that it’s wrong for them to hurt someone else their biggest battle, when confronted with an attacker, will be with themselves. If you use, say 50% of your energy to fight your own conditioning, that only leaves you with 50% of your energy to fight off an attacker. If all of you believes it’s OK to defend yourself before you’re attacked you have 100% of your energy available to you. For the average American woman who weighs say, 125 pounds, to fight off the average American man who weighs maybe 165, she will need all of her energy for the fight. If all her energy isn’t available she’s more than likely to lose.

The principle of Kime, or focus, can be applied to many things. There are, of course, other voices in us that aren't unified most of the time. If you do something you believe is wrong, you are working agaist yourself. If all of you isn’t behind something it isn’t a ‘pure’ act. A pure act is one in which there is no inner conflict to address.

In the age of computers another analogy can be applied. If you give your computer one command, then give it a competing command, it can seize up. The human brain works in a similar way. Doubt, fear, anxiety, worry etc. all work to send competing commands to someone engaged in an action wherein they need all their energies. Most of those feelings involve thoughts about the future. They can be avoided if one lives in the present.

Living in the present or ‘in the moment’, means to focus all your awareness and energy on what you’re doing…even if it’s only sitting. It’s easier said than done but with practice it can be readily achieved. It frees up ones energies so that they’re available at the moment they’re needed. Unfortunately most people don’t know about the simple skills necessary to achieve Kime. Most people don’t know what a ‘pure act’ is, except for the random times they naturally occur.

Most of humanities battles are the battles within individuals. Because it’s easier to face an opponent outside of us…most of our inner battles are played out in conflicts with other human beings. If human beings are ever to come to a place wherein they are free of inner conflicts, they’ll need to learn to speak with one voice.

It is the man who has conquered himself that has won the greatest victory. Inner peace is the greatest strength…

Just Around the Bend...

If I had to come up with a rule to live by, or just a piece of advice for a young person, it would surely be: “Never Ignore Anything God Puts in Your Path”. This is a rule that I’ve discovered over the years because of how my life has been blessed when I follow it and, how I have to keep dealing with the same things when I don’t.

I’m not one of those people who believe that everything happens for a reason. I’m convinced most things are simply random events. But I do believe God puts some things in our paths. He is either trying to teach us something or He’s revealing a part of us. I don’t think circumstances in life create our characters so much as they reveal them. Often they reveal us…to us.

Sometimes people come into our lives that we take little or no notice of. I’ve awakened to the fact that when I do take notice of them, and get to know them a little, my life is usually blessed for it. We still need to maintain some boundaries with people. A drowning swimmer will pull you down with them if you let them. Keeping our own boundaries clear still leaves room for getting to know some interesting people. And we never know whom we touch by simply taking notice of them.

I’ve found the people and things I’m drawn to usually have some lesson to teach me. I've often marveled that the lessons can be so profound. The burden is with me to actually see what’s in front of me.

Its funny that some people feel it necessary to go halfway around the world seeking something when the answers they seek are usually right in their own little corner of it. Maybe it takes that to open them up. I know it’s taken me years to begin to see some things right in front of me! To live life in such a way as to be oblivious to the things in our path is a shame. They can show us so much of our world and ourselves.

Remember the words of William Shakespeare: “If it be now, ‘tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all.”

When you’re ready for the lesson…it will come--the readiness is all!

Lords of the Air

All of my life I’ve been captivated by birds of prey. When I was sixteen I was on a camping trip next to a creek a few miles from our home. While exploring a cliff face above the creek one night, I spotted several sets of eyes in a cleft with my flashlight. The next morning I fashioned an Indian style snare and attempted to catch, one of, whatever was in the cleft of the cliff face. I pulled out a baby Great Horned Owl. (He was not the least bit happy about his new predicament. And it was sheer luck on my part that his mother wasn't around or she might have taken my scalp!) I put him in a brown paper bag and secured it to the back of my motorcycle seat and took him home. I named him Amon-Ra after an Egyptian god. I didn’t know the first thing about raising a bird of prey but I was determined to learn. That began a love of hawks, owls, falcons and falconry that burns in me still.

I refused to cage my new friend. I opted instead to let him fly wherever he liked around the house. I would call him to eat and he would dutifully fly down from where he was perched to land at my feet. I didn’t realize then that I was doing him harm by feeding him raw steak. Raptors need bones, fur and feathers as roughage in their diet to stay healthy. (We can harm the things we love, while thinking we're doing them good, too easily...)

What I instinctively knew then, I more fully understand now. The thing I love about birds of prey the most is their spirit. To break that would be to destroy the very thing that draws me to them. Not to break it, is to risk losing them…but that’s a part of loving them.

It was given to mankind to dominate the earth…but that doesn’t mean everything in it should be dominated. To destroy the very things we are drawn to is to destroy a part of ourselves. We are all connected. God works through us to affirm that when we let Him. I pity those who haven’t found their sense of connection. And I especially pity those who’ve lost their sense of awe.

What a wonder and a miracle is a bird of prey in the air. It doesn’t matter how long the leash is from the jesses to the glove, sometimes the leash has to come off and then they’ll do what God intended them to do...the things that we love them for!

The falconer that treats his bird like a pet will destroy it. They're not pets. The person who just wants an unusual animal to keep and tell his friends about should avoid birds of prey. They're our partners. They have to be worked with every day. It is our honor that they allow us to participate with them in the Way. We owe them our respect. The falconer that doesn’t treat his partner with respect soon loses her.

The wise one learns the lesson…

The Breath of The Dragon

I’ve been studying and teaching martial arts for over thirty years. I was fascinated by the ‘secret’ techniques that were alluded to when I began. What I came to realize is that they aren’t the kind of secrets that can simply be told to another person. They are secrets that can only be revealed to individuals through practice. They may be more correctly seen as Ways of understanding. One such Way is The Breath of The Dragon. The Way of the Breath isn’t spoken about very often. Martial artists that practice The Way don’t speak about it openly because of the danger it can be to someone trying to advance too quickly.

Some Christians tend to see any allusion to a dragon as connected to Satan. That’s an overly simplistic and very misleading understanding. The more correct understanding of the symbolism is akin to the Celtic view. The Dragon represents all of creation and it’s breath the life-force, the pulse, of creation.

In Eastern schools of philosophy the direct experience of reality is considered the ultimate experience. The symbolism of a veil between us and reality is commonly used. The function, the goal, of Eastern religious-philosophical schools is to lift the veil and allow us a direct understanding; a direct connection with “IT”. The Breath of the Dragon is one such Way.

I don’t consciously think about martial arts very much these days. They are so much a part of me that they're almost too natural to question. I sometimes have to stop and realize that most people have little to no understanding of that approach to life.

The Breath makes you face life and death directly. Without betraying any of its techniques or secrets I can say that it brings you to new levels of understanding. It brings you to a place where paradoxes and inner conflicts are reconciled, a place where connections are seen where none were visible before. You learn to see beyond life and death. The Breath shows you that inner peace is the greatest strength, but it’s not a place you can live in all the time. With practice your visits there can become longer and longer.

The Breath is a part of me…or, I should say, I'm a part of it. The way that it influences me sometimes surprises even me. I find, as I get older, that I don’t care for ambiguity or subtlety nearly as much as directness. I tend to go straight to the heart of a matter when it’s important to me. That puts some people off and even scares some people. The Breath is a way without rituals or games…it drives us to seek only truth and connection. I’ve found in life that not many people are comfortable directly facing truth. It can be very scary…because it forces you to change and grow.

What the masters say is true, the taller the tree...the stronger the wind. I only know that if acorns didn’t change…there would never be oak trees. I can’t imagine a world without oak trees.

Garbage in...Garbage out

So much power and so little wisdom of how to use it… That’s what I think of Hollywood and its contribution to American culture. Hollywood is the land of illusion. Everything coming out of it should be suspect. Their ‘raison d’etre’ is to make money and they’ll even fake sincerity to do so…

While I often question the psychological health of someone who would pretend to be someone else, solely for the approval of strangers, (my definition of an actor), I do like movies. I find many to be vulgar and without any redeeming values but there are some responsible producers and directors who are not only artists but responsible members of the human race with honest stories to tell.

Some stories can give us a glimpse into our fellow human beings and a greater understanding of what we hold in common. I remember watching ‘The Joy Luck Club’ for the first time. At first I thought it would be nice to see some attractive Asian women on screen. Somewhere, while watching it, I forgot they were attractive Asian women and just saw them as fellow human beings struggling to live and grow like every one else.

I recently watched ‘Antoine Fisher’, the story of a young black man growing up in America. That he was a black man became completely irrelevant to the story. He was another fellow human being trying to put the broken pieces of his life together and grow beyond the cruelty he’d known. There was no graphic sex or violence in the story, no cheap thrills, just honest human emotion. It’s a touching story of human redemption and how we need each other. Such stories should be told.

Unfortunately Hollywood, while condemning things like handgun violence, too often exploit the very things they ‘pretend’ to abhor solely for their profits. They argue that they only reflect what is really going on in society and that what happens on screen doesn’t affect the behavior of the average person. Of course that argument is reversed when they are selling commercial airtime at say, the Super Bowl. Then the power of what happens on screen to affect the publics behavior can be worth millions for a thirty second spot.

Many of us are more concerned with what goes into our mouths than what goes into our minds. It would do us well to remember a very old adage…”Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil”. If we keep the garbage from coming into us…we’ll keep it from coming out of us. It can pay to turn the channel or even turn off the TV to keep the garbage out.

Hollywood would eventually get that message.

The Way of a Man with a Maid...

In Proverbs 30:18-19 King Solomon declares: “There are three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, four which I know not: The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent on a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.”

I share King Solomon’s awe in these things. I’ve worked with birds of prey for some years but I still get a rush when I see them in the air! While standing in a yard recently I saw a prairie falcon silently swoop from her perch just yards away to cross my line of sight. I stopped and my heart gave thanks at the miracle of it! It was…too wonderful for me!

I’ve never had the aversion to snakes that many people have. I’ve always found them fascinating too. I’ve caught and played with, then released, hundreds of snakes in my life. In my youth I killed many that were poisonous, or many that I thought were anyway. I don’t do that much anymore, unless they pose a threat. When I see them now, I think the world is a much more interesting place with them in it, so I pay my respects and move on. It would be a shame to kill one of Gods miracles…

I think I have a little different take on ships at sea than the one King Solomon may have had. I’m in awe of the men that sailed the old wooden ships out into the vast blue, not knowing what they would face. My awe is of their courage and ingenuity. The adventure of it sends my heart there…to feel the wind and the salt spray on my face, to wonder what the next horizon will bring!

It is the forth which I know not…the way of a man with a maid. It amazes me that one day a man can be thinking of how to join one piece of steel to another or about where to stop on his next trip through the land of enchantment and then a woman can unexpectedly enter, then consume, his thoughts. All it takes may be a simple hug or a moment when the sunlight brings out the gold flecks in her eyes. The sight of it captures your imagination. Maybe it’s the moment when you touch her skin and it feels softer than the finest silk... It can be completely distracting!

Where your only thoughts of color may have been to see the way steel changes from black to bright yellow in a forge before…now you drift away with thoughts of how the gold and green in her eyes changes with the light. You dream of smelling her hair and feeling her breath on your skin.

Thoughts of candlelight dinners and hours spent with your arms around her in front of a fireplace crowd out the poems waiting to be written in steel. All of the sudden you no longer feel whole when she’s not there. The sunsets that were so beautiful not so long ago now seem empty without her to share them with. It can feel great to be alive and miserable all at the same time?? No wonder it’s inspired so many poems and songs !!!

The way of a man with a maid. Surely it’s one of Gods greatest miracles...one I hope I never understand!

War

There was a time when I wore a military uniform. I learned to use modern weapons and trained in modern tactics for warfare. I looked forward to putting my training to the test just like a football player looks forward to playing another team after training with a new coach, new equipment and a new rulebook. I actually thought going to war would be a good thing! That’s a view common among many young men, especially those exposed to military culture. The military is a kind of right of passage for many young men. There is something inherent in us that drives us to prove ourselves, to prove that we have become men.

It’s a natural thing for a young man to feel that way. It’s good that there are such young men to fill the ranks of our military. Without a strong military we wouldn’t enjoy the lifestyle that most of us take for granted. It’s an old saying but a true one…Freedom isn’t free.

There are always those who will try and impose their will on others, and they’ll do it with whatever weapons and means are at their disposal. It is a fact of human life that some people don’t respond to diplomacy…the only thing they respond to is greater strength. That makes war necessary sometimes.

Make no mistake…war is the most obscene evil that human beings can engage in. Old soldiers know that even if the young ones don’t…yet. The wholesale murder and maiming of other human beings is what we’re talking about. Those that die in war are far from the only casualties that it causes. It destroys hearts, minds and families in addition to destroying land and property. It has destroyed entire civilizations and generations. No one who’s been in a war has any romantic notions about it. Still sometimes wars must be fought. There is always a bully on the playground that only understands one thing…

The question arises then, what is a justifiable reason for going to war? Contrary to what some believe, a government has no right to dictate to it’s citizenry whom to hate… Governments and dictators have engaged in immoral activities ever since there have been governments. To conquer someone else’s territory is immoral. To go to war to protect the financial interests of some group is also immoral. These are motives based on greed, one of the basest of human drives. What are moral, justifiable reasons then?

To defend ones home and land is not only ones right but ones moral responsibility. To set the oppressed free is also a moral responsibility. In as far I’m concerned, those are the only justifiable reasons to engage in war. Every effort to avoid armed conflict should be exhausted beforehand. The cost should be carefully considered before sending men and women into harms way. Once the decision is made to go to war everything that can be done to insure victory should be done. No expense should be spared in arming and training those who will put their lives on the line.

There is one more thing…the values that our warriors are fighting for should be reflected in their actions and in those of their leaders. To defend human rights by breaking every decent principle of humanity is the kind of hypocrisy that only plants the seeds for future conflicts. Such things are not worthy of a free people and a noble nation.

I am not a pacifist or a warmonger…I’m a realist. I only pray that our leaders are guided by this principle. We should always strive for the noblest of intentions. Every human being is made in the image of the Living God, the ones we send to do the killing, and the ones we intend to kill. We can never take that lightly.

My Grandmother...

Saturday December 11, 1999 was the day my grandmother died. She was the only grandmother, and one of the finest people, I ever knew. Vera Francis Taylor Schipper was a woman of little formal education. She could read and write enough to get by. She married my grandfather in 1930 and bore him five children, a son and four daughters. My mother was in the middle. My grandfather abandoned my grandmother and his five children when they were all young. While he went off to chase other women and drink, she made sure that her children all had food, clothing and shelter by doing whatever it took to get by. They lived on a small farm at the time. My grandmothers heart was always in farming.

By the time I was a young child in Alaska she had remarried and settled on the outskirts of Austin in a small house that was little more than a shack. She, and the only grandfather I ever knew, worked as custodians at a small elementary school across the street. I lived with her for a time when I was a child, along with one of my cousins. Anytime anyone in the family was broke or needed a place to stay she did whatever she could to help. There were times when their small house was home to more people than it had room for but my grandmother would never turn anyone away.

She never liked it when anyone called her 'grandmother'...She said it made her feel old. She preferred to be called by her childhood nickname: 'Beader'. I still don't know the true story behind that one! She taught me to love the old ways of doing things. We would sit on the front porch snapping green beans or shelling peas. I learned to churn butter and ice cream by hand. I learned to milk a cow and figure out where sneaky chickens would hide their eggs. I learned to make peach preserves and dill pickles and all kinds of things. My cousin and I washed the dinner dishes by hand for a dime a week. I learned the importance of the Farmers Almanac and to watch the phases of the moon when I planted my garden. And I learned about unconditional love...

I remember once a homeless person, we called them hobos then, wandered up. He asked if there was any work he could do to earn some food. My grandmother wouldn't hear of making him work for food. She made him a plate of Southern cooking about six inches high and when he was finished she gave him seconds. He tried to pay her with the only thing he had, a ball point pen, but she wouldn't hear of that either. My grandmother never turned anyone away hungry...not once in the forty years I was blessed to know her. If someone was cold she would see to it they had a coat or blanket. If someone was sick or lonely she would visit them. That was the foundation of her faith in God. She didn't understand all the philosophical arguments about religion. She understood what it was to be hungry, cold and lonely. She knew that we are all connected and that God works through us and that was enough for her.

I've studied most of the religions on earth at some time in my life. There have been times when I was certain about some of the things of God...only to be convinced of something totally different later. I no longer claim to know anything about God save what my grandmother taught me by her example.

She sleeps now, awaiting God's call. I know that one day she will be a jewel in His crown. I hope that I can be something of the man she saw in me so that I can be there to see that...

I miss you Beat...

Attraction and Love

As a student of the human condition I’ve found that the easiest way to study humanity is to turn my awareness on myself. I think that’s somewhat akin to what actors do. By studying ourselves we come to understand others. It’s a kind of empathy I suppose. The only flaw in it that I can see is that not everyone thinks or reacts the way I do. Some people are a genuine puzzle to me.

One area where most of us have some interest is the realm of attraction. Lately I’ve found myself thinking quite a bit about attraction and love. (Of course a woman blacksmith inspired it!) The nature of this particular subject seems to be what divides so many men and women because we think about it so differently. I know from experience that most men are attracted to women in one of three basic ways. First, there is basic sexual attraction. When a man sees a woman he wants to be sexual with his main focus is on her body. That’s what he’ll compliment… Some guys will say anything to get what they want here. When it’s understood by both parties it’s one thing…but when it causes a man to lie to get what he wants it crosses the line into using another human being. What a man says when the attraction is purely physical will usually give him away. Often after he gets what he wants he’ll move on to the next woman. This is the area where women feel used…because they are used. This is the basest kind of attraction. It is a need all of us have but there are ways to fulfill it that don’t involve hurting another person. Immature people…especially men…tend to focus only on their own desires. This is something women don’t seem to get primarily because they ‘want’ to believe otherwise. While physical attraction can evolve into romance, it’s rare that it does. A relationship that's built on sexual attraction won't last because sexual attraction waxes and wanes over time. That's natural. To build a lasting bond it needs to be on a different foundation.

The second kind of attraction that men often feel for women is a kind of mental attraction. They’re not usually physically attracted to these women, at least at first. The attraction begins around a common interest or sometimes just good conversation. This can be the ‘I just want to be friends’ area but a man can become physically attracted to a woman he feels mental attraction for too. Just like he can come to find a physically desirable woman less attractive because of her personality. Some women become more beautiful as you get to know them. When these evolve into relationships they're often very good because the foundation is one of friendship. Many women seem to sense that this is the way to go…get involved with your friend and you won’t get used. These relationships can grow into romance. There’s a danger here too though. Becoming physical can ruin the friendship. Sometimes romance can ruin it too. Romance is such a powerful feeling it can raise the expectations unrealistically high. Lose this one and you can lose it all.

The third kind of attraction is the one from the heart. This is when a man is drawn to a woman because of what she does to his heart. This can be love at first sight or it may happen over time. This is the birthplace of romance... It has an element of physical attraction, to be sure, but that’s not the main focus. The things we focus on and compliment are her eyes and her smile more so than her figure. This kind of attraction also has a mental element. We want to know what’s in her heart and on her mind. It is significant that the heart is between the brains and the loins. The heart is where they meet. This is the kind of attraction most of the songs, poems and love stories are about. All of them will make him think of her... This form of attraction lifts us to our highest level. This is the one that can make your heart ache when you're not with her. When a man starts to feel this way about a woman he can’t think of other women. ‘She’ becomes every woman for him. If, in the process of giving in to the attraction you feel, you can become friends, that friendship is the best foundation for real love. When this one is real, (and real means mutual), it can change your heart…and your life.

Just some observations…from the Blacksmith’s Corner….

Children

I’m the kind of guy that loves children, all children. I think they should be celebrated for all the good they bring us! I feel joy in their presence and in their laughter. I think that a smile or a hug from a child is a gift. Unfortunately, the way the world is these days, I have to hold back my natural impulses. Because of a very small number of sick, predatory adults children can’t just be themselves anymore. The adults that love them can’t either.

Most of us have learned to trust so little that we surround ourselves not only with barriers and defense mechanisms but we even have elaborate rituals that we construct and play with each other to ‘test’ each other. The problem with that is when the other person doesn’t know the game or the rules, the games too, can have the opposite effect and actually drive others away. Funny thing, this human condition…

One area where most of us are programmed to drop all our barriers is with little children. We have no defenses with them because we know we don’t need any. One look, one smile, one hug from a child can pass through even the toughest barriers we construct and go straight to our hearts. God made it that way. Perhaps it’s a mechanism to prompt us to protect and care for them. Or perhaps He wanted to remind us of the innocence and the openness we’ve lost as adults.

Little children haven’t become jaded by the world yet. Their hearts are completely open to it. They look to the adults in their lives for everything. They are completely dependent on adults for food and shelter, for the education they need to survive and thrive in the world…and for love and encouragement. They openly trust without hesitation. They still see the world as a place full of wonder. They still experience awe…something many adults have forgotten.

The sad fact of life on earth is that many adults prey on children. In many countries, and in many homes, children are treated like property. There are still places where they are sold into slavery. There are adults that use them and then throw them away like garbage. There are countries where orphaned children wander the streets hungry and alone… Too often children encounter the worst that adults have to offer. They not only learn from the poor examples of the adults in their lives, but they often encounter the most evil predators among us. To harm a child is to harm the best in us. To take advantage of their innocence and trust is a betrayal of everything that is good and decent. To harm a child is to destroy the future. That’s a violation of universal law!

I, for one, feel no mercy for someone who would use or harm a child. I believe children should be taken away from homes where they are abused and placed in homes where they will be loved. The law should deal the most severely with anyone who would harm those the least capable of defending themselves. Anyone known to be a predator should not be allowed to walk freely among us. I believe child molesters should be put to death…period!

The way we treat children is a reflection of what’s really in our hearts. A society that values children loves them and nurtures them. A society that values them spends liberally on educating them. A society that values its children protects them with the law of the land and punishes those who would do them harm. A society that values children makes sure that none are hungry or homeless. That there are hungry and homeless children among us speaks to our shame!! The way we treat children, perhaps more than any other aspect of human culture, will stand as a witness against us before the Most High God.

If we cherish and nurture our children and allow them their innocence as long as possible, there remains hope for the world…hope in the next generation. The possibility remains that their potentials will be fully realized even though most of us know ours haven’t been. We need them as much as they need us because a part of us needs to believe living up to our potential as human beings is possible.

Children are not a commodity to be used and traded…they are a Gift from God for us to love and cherish. They can teach us to open our hearts. They can restore something that life has broken in us and open us to love again. Children reveal our hearts. They're a reflection of our hearts. They're our future and our hope. If even one falls through the cracks…that’s too many.

Let's bring back thinking!

I caught part of Oprah recently. One of her guests was ‘Puff Daddy Master X Doggie’ or something like that… Mr. Doggie has recently become aware of the power and importance of voting! He sees himself as a role model for youth, minorities and women…if I interpreted his Ebonics correctly. He likened listening to American political debate to listening to a Spanish TV network when one’s only language is English. Now he actually claimed to be speaking English!

His complaint was that youth didn’t pay much attention to politics because politicians don’t speak their language. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that a lot of ‘BS’ passes for intelligent political debate…but they do speak English. The problem, or so it seems to me, is not in the speaking but in the hearing!

I don’t intend for this to sound racist at all… I agree completely with Dr. Martin Luther King…people should be judged not on the color of their skin…but on the content of their hearts. (I would only add ‘by the use of their brains’ as well! ) It just seems to me that human beings have spent thousands of years painstakingly increasing the sphere of knowledge for the betterment of the race. Just think of all of the great philosophers, explorers, scientists, inventors and educators who have worked to contribute to the great fund of human knowledge. And in THIS generation wherein we have unprecedented access to that fund...many can’t even speak the language of the land!

I don’t care what state public schools are in…there is no excuse in this day and time to not be able to read, write and speak English! In addition I believe that people, especially voters, should be aware of the issues of the day! Is that too much to ask?

Unfortunately Mr. Doggie probably is a ‘role model’ for modern youth… So much for Homer, Aristotle, Marcus Aurelius, Augustine, Shakespeare, Bacon, Thomas Jefferson and all those who spent their lives to uplift our race out of the darkness of ignorance….

Tests of Character

I remember a few years ago in California the hot button issue of the day was whether or not illegal aliens should have access to the states services.

Those against allowing them services made a very good point...one that appealed to my conservative nature...The state can't afford to just do everything for everyone... the state's services should be for the legal residents of the state. After all, there is only so much money to go around. And 'illegal' means 'illegal' after all!

The other side of me said: “I'm a Christian and I should be guided by the principles found in scripture”. And the scriptures are plain about aliens among us... They should be treated like we would like to be treated. We are not to oppress strangers among us.

The conundrum to me was that both positions are right...

I think there are many things in life that come down to similar choices. I don't know how I would have voted if I had lived in California during that debate. I honestly don't know.

I suspect that sometimes there isn't ONE right answer. I suspect that our answer is a test of our character.

It is funny to me that so many television shows are about real people being filmed in real life these days. Studies have been done about how they act and react differently knowing that a camera is watching. Eventually they tend to forget that cameras are watching.

I sometimes forget that God is always watching me...and I wonder how I fare in the everyday tests of my character...when I'm driving, when I'm dealing with people on the phone, when I deal with the garbage man, the service station attendant, the waitress bringing my food, the counter person at the store...

Am I a light to the world in the little things? God is watching...

Women!

Women… Talk to a man going through a breakup or a divorce and the very word can sound evil. Chances are, the man who reflects that attitude has himself to blame and it’s just easier for him to pass the buck. I think women are the greatest things God ever created! I love their warmth with each other; their natural nurturing and their inner strength. They can put men to shame! Women will hug each other without any self-consciousness at all. They’ll go straight to the heart when they talk about their problems with each other. Men just can’t do that with each other very easily. And I can just imagine telling one of my hunting buddies that his shirt really brings out the color of his eyes or that his jeans make him look more slender!

We men need to be strong. It’s in our genes. (The kind that really make us look slender...or not!) We strengthen each other by setting the bar higher for each other. That’s a good thing! The wisest men among us will open their hearts to the women in their lives though. Women are the keepers of hearth and home but they're also blacksmiths and police officers and Marines... Women are why we fight wars and build skyscrapers. Their very presence around us makes us behave differently. They can make us want to be better than we are. They can trigger a testosterone rush that makes us plain stupid sometimes! They can be the voice of reason when a T-rush gets out of hand too. They see things men don’t because they look at the world with different eyes than men do. The wisest men among us listen to the women in their lives. The fools among us dismiss them.

I had the wife of a minister ask me once if all men wanted a shrinking wallflower for a wife. It seems she had a distorted view of all men from the choice she'd made. I told her she was asking the wrong man…I like strong women! Far from feeling threatened by them somehow, I admire them most of all. Any man that feels threatened by a strong woman doesn’t know what being a Real man is all about. More is the pity… Men and women aren't in competition!

I met a woman blacksmith recently that surprised me when she talked about the art the way I think about it. She wore no makeup and still matched any model I’ve ever seen. This is the kind of woman that radiates femininity. She didn’t try to fit some magazines image of what it means to be a woman…she’s her own woman. It just so happens that she has the figure of a model and the face of an angel to boot! This is the kind of woman that can stop a train with just her smile... and still use a hammer on an anvil! Now 'that' is sexy! She made me glad to be a man and glad there are women like that out there. I wish more men and women would be true to themselves instead of trying to be what someone else tells them they ‘should’ be.

Some men spend their time on trying to understand everything about women…not me. I don’t need to understand how the earth revolves around the sun to appreciate a beautiful sunset and I don’t need to understand everything about women to appreciate them. Some men spend their time trying to be like women…that’s even worse! We were meant to be different!!! We were also meant to get along with each other and to learn from each other. I may not be a wise man yet…but I’m learning…largely from listening to women.

It seems to me that God gave us two eyes to be able to differentiate depth. He gave us two ears to differentiate sounds. He even gave us two brains to process information differently. Well, if we are as smart as we like to think we are, we’d realize that He also gave us two sexes that see the world differently to give us a clearer picture of it. We can be equal without having to be the same! It seems a shame to me that we end up fighting with each other so much of the time when we could be complementing each other. One thing I think the French got right was their view of men and women…”Vive la Difference!”

Simple Respect

I had a Sociology professor in college once that said something I’ve always remembered. He told us that if we were considering marrying anyone that we should watch the way they treated the least important people in their lives. He said that was the way they would eventually treat us. That’s always made me aware of the way I treat the least important people in my life. I was blessed with a mother who can strike up a conversation with anyone. She taught me by her example to treat everyone with respect. I’ve tried to follow her example and I’ve tried to be kind to waitresses and counter people, mailmen and gas station attendants, homeless people I pass on the street and the nameless, faceless people I deal with on the phone. All of them are worth the same respect I think I’m worth.

I had a girlfriend years ago that hated the fact that I would strike up a conversation with anyone…especially waitresses. She ignored them and she called me a fool for being nice to them. Now I’m forever grateful that I didn’t marry that woman. I can see the truth of what my old professor had said. It is odd to me, as a single person, that we can marry someone and, in effect, say they are the most special person in the world to us only to later treat them like we would the least important people in our life. That’s another story though.

The point I want to make here is that people, all people, deserve our respect as fellow human beings. The Golden Rule in the Bible says to treat others how we would like to be treated. Similar sayings and proverbs are in most religions. Wise people of all cultures and in all ages have realized the truth of that principle. We’re all in this life together. We can make things easier for each other or we can add to the burdens of each other. How we choose to live, how we choose to treat others says more about us than about them.

The basic principle is that there are two ways of life… the way of get and the way of give. We can spend our lives amassing stuff and stepping on other people or we can realize that we are all connected and reach out to our neighbors. People that live the latter are the salt of the earth…they preserve it. That’s what everyone who calls themselves a Christian is called to do. It doesn’t mean selling everything and moving to India to serve the poor necessarily. It means to help those in your little corner of the world, those God puts in your path.

We all need a hand from time to time. That’s helpful to remember when someone comes to us needing a hand. We all need a little acknowledgement and praise from time to time too. It can often be a very simple thing, like a smile, that makes someone’s day go by a little easier. You can strike up a conversation with someone just to be friendly and to let them know you see them; that you hear them. It takes very little effort to treat people with respect and dignity and it adds something positive to the world. It can have a ripple effect through the people we meet and the people they come into contact with.

The bottom line is that we create the kind of world we have to live in. What kind of world do you want to live in? What kind do you want to pass on to your children? We all deserve to be treated with respect. Let that start with how you treat the least important people in your life. Life is hard enough already. When you see people…let them know you really see them. That simple thing will begin to change your world.

On Being Real Men

I had someone ask me once why I liked John Wayne so much... I told them that when he walked into a room you knew what he stood for. Love it or hate it...you could count on it. He didn't waiver or waffle, he didn't change what he believed depending on who he was talking to. He was a Real man. It may sound corny but he is still one of my heroes. I trust someone when I know where they stand and I know they are going to be there. I don't have to agree with them about everything but I have to know I can count on them. That kind of Honor is in short supply these days.

When someone tells you the truth about the present or the past it’s called honesty. When someone tells you the truth about their behavior in the future that’s called Honor. Honorable people have a code of conduct that they live by. You know you can count on an honorable person to keep their word. In that way even ones enemies can be honorable. There was a time when that was a common value. Too many ‘men’ place no value on that quality these days. Call me old fashioned, but I believe Honor is one of the defining qualities of a Real man. It is akin to Integrity. Integrity is holding on to your code of conduct no matter what comes. When the hull of a ship is ruptured or broken it is said to have lost its integrity. When you can’t count on someone to do what they say they are going to…they’ve lost their integrity.

I don’t know why men in previous generations held some values. I don’t know why many couldn’t cry or tell their loved ones “I love you”. Those things don’t make a man ‘weaker’. They establish him as someone secure in his own manhood. It’s is a source of strength to be able to do those things. I’ve often thought the so-called ‘Iron John’ movement was a joke. Those folks claim that men have lost their way since women are more independent these days. That’s’ a load of crap!! Being a real man was never about dominating women! The Iron John types teach men to be sensitive and cry. Men don’t have to cry to be men…they just shouldn’t be afraid to when it’s appropriate. That doesn’t mean it’s OK to be a sissy! A man should be willing to stand up for what’s right just because it’s right.

Men these days have dropped the ball miserably in being Real Men. We don’t expect the same things from ourselves and from each other that we once did. We’ve lost something in the process. When some of us look to the past to reclaim what it means to be a man, we often only see the mistakes that our forefathers made. Being a man was never about dominating or controlling the women in their lives, for example. That’s something fools do. Real men love Real Women and aren’t afraid to let them be themselves. Real men control themselves.

What Real men do is take responsibility for their actions, protect the ones they love, provide for those in their charge and set the example of being upright and honest in dealing with other people. Real men teach their sons how to treat women with love and respect. They teach their daughters how they should expect men to treat them. They give the loved ones in their lives a soft place to land when they fall. Real men aren’t afraid to love because they know that’s where real strength comes from.

OK…so I’m a dinosaur! I prefer the company of Real men to the limp-wristed, cry babies that run from their responsibilities these days. I also prefer Real women, those who don’t think feminine is a dirty word or a sign of weakness. This trend towards a unisex society is hurting all of us! It attempts to emasculate men and it forces women to step up and do what the men in their lives won’t.

Real mean NEVER hit the women and children they love. There is no excuse for that kind of unfocused anger. Real men support their children…whether they are married to their mothers or not. Real men teach their sons to be men by their example. Real men don’t try to be women either. It’s good to be a man! The occasional testosterone rush reminds of that. Women don’t have to understand that part of us. And we don’ t have to understand everything about them!! We should just learn to love and appreciate them…

Here endeth the lesson!

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is one of the most powerful concepts in the realm of human psychology. It is a cornerstone, if not ‘The’ cornerstone, of Christianity. To forgive is to release someone from their debt of offense. Without Gods forgiveness there may not even be a human race and there would be no Christianity. Without our ability to forgive each other most of our relationships would become impossible. Without our forgiveness for ourselves we would be unable to grow emotionally and spiritually.

The fact is that it is hard to know our own minds sometimes. We may not understand our own motivations for doing something. All of us make mistakes and we all sin. A part of our maturing process is to learn to forgive each other, and ourselves, for our mistakes and transgressions. To do so can help us in drawing closer to each other. Every one of us can recall times when we’ve wronged someone, maybe without even knowing why. Afterwards, when they forgave us, we felt closer to them than ever. Forgiveness can help to form life-changing bonds between people because it comes from love.

While it is a cornerstone concept in the Christian faith, it is often easier said than done.
We all have personal stories about someone who has wronged us and never apologized or asked for our forgiveness. Sometimes the hardest thing to feel towards someone who has wronged us is forgiveness. We have it in our power to choose to carry the offense as a burden or to forgive them anyway. Sometimes we do it just for ourselves…just so we don’t have to continue to carry the emotional baggage. To carry the feeling that we’ve been wronged only drags us down and hurts us. Forgiveness can release us from that burden. It can uplift both the forgiver and the forgiven.

Forgiveness is something God expects of all of us. In the Lords Prayer we ask that He “forgive us our trespasses AS WE FORGIVE THOSE WHO TRESPASS AGAINST US”. In other words, He’ll deal with us the way we deal with others. Forgiveness flows from mercy. Mercy flows from Love. Love flows from God. That is what Christianity is after all…a vehicle for conveying Gods Love to man. If you’re not forgiving your debtors…you’re missing the mark.

When Christ was asked how many times we should forgive someone for offenses to us His answer was…seventy times seven times. Just think about what God has forgiven you of and it seems a much smaller number afterward.

Perhaps the greatest thing about forgiveness is that it’s available to everyone. God offers it to us freely through the sacrifice of His son Jesus the Christ. And we all have it in our power to forgive each other and ourselves. It may not happen all at once. More often than not it’s a process, one that charts our spiritual growth. Where we fall short we can always go to God in prayer and ask for His help. When you have no love to give, you can always turn to The Source of Love. He will forgive us our debts and He will forgive others through us if we only ask…

Evolution AND Creation

Some aspects of the various theories of evolution seem logically sound and quite plausible to me. The basic concept of evolution has been around since the Greeks…that amazing culture that gave us so much when they began to think freely. What Charles Darwin did was observe and record the mechanism by which the theory might operate. Darwin, a keen observer with a very sharp mind, theorized that the mechanism by which human evolution might have taken place is ‘survival of the fittest.’ He observed that environmental pressures tend to weed out certain characteristics in the gene pool while favoring other characteristics. An animal more suited to cold weather is more likely to survive a planetary shift in temperature, like an ice age, than one not so well suited for example. I can buy that. There is still the sticky problem of one species of animal giving birth to a different species. Evolutionary theorists tell us that such changes happen gradually, over millions of years but they have yet to produce any fossil evidence of a real missing link. It could happen I suppose, but without any hard evidence it’s still just a theory.

What the survival of the fittest mechanism doesn’t come anywhere near explaining is Sentience. Sentience, self-awareness, consciousness, or whatever label ones gives the quality that sets human beings apart from animals makes us unique among living things on earth. Some scientists speculate that sentience might be an ‘evolutionary emergent’ quality. That is to say that when life begins to evolve into ever more complex forms, self-awareness naturally occurs. That is pure speculation with NO evidence to back it up. In fact the evidence seems to me to point the other direction. Human beings, if you buy the most commonly accepted theory of evolution, have been around maybe three million years. The dinosaurs were around some two hundred million years and there is no evidence that any of them became sentient in the process.

What happened to man is unique. Some will, no doubt, point out that we share 98 percent of our genetic make up with the great apes and they are just behind us in evolutionary development. They have been around as long as we have. If sentience is evolutionary emergent…why don’t they write books and build cities too? They are not just different in degree from human beings…they are different in kind. Any non-biased observer can tell you that. (Provided they don’t have a PhD to muddle their thinking!) Intelligence may well be evolutionary emergent but intelligence is not the same as sentience.

If evolutionary theory is true then something happened to mankind that made us different. We are self-aware. We are capable of understanding the universe around us. We can build cultures and create languages and we can pass on what we’ve learned through them. No other life form yet identified can do those things.

There was some moment in our development when we became self aware as a species. We might call it an, ‘Adam and Eve moment’. The emergence of the Human Spirit set us apart. At that point a new species was born. From here it might be possible to harmonize the Biblical account of creation with modern scientific thought. If the first hominid to become self-aware began to reproduce it is logical to assume that his offspring would have the advantage over other hominids in intelligence and eventually come to dominate. That would mean that all modern human beings had the same ancestor even if other hominids existed simultaneously for a time.

This is all just speculation on my part. I don’t believe there is enough information in the few pages of the Bible where the subject is addressed to speak dogmatically. I also don’t believe that evolutionary scientists have proven their case. There are too many holes in the best of their theories. Sometimes both sides seem alittle too entrenced to hear the other to me.

I think that children should be taught everything. Let them hear both arguments. Maybe it would be inappropriate for both arguments to be taught in a science class. That’s OK by me…send them to a worlds religions class too. Teach them everything!! The world they were born into is not black and white. It’s more complex than that. They’ll need good brains to navigate their way through it. They’ll need to be exposed to all the ideas to make up their own minds. I don’t think any of us should be afraid of education.

I DO believe education should include being taught the difference between right and wrong and they won’t get that in a classroom. They won’t be taught personal or social responsibility there either. It’s up to parents and churches to teach them the really important things. Instead of taking a hard-line stand on evolution versus creation, I think our time would be better spent on teaching our children to be decent people. We can best do that by our example…whatever our beginnings were.

Open for Business!

2005 has been an important year for my heart. The death of someone special to me caused it to slowly shut down long ago. It was as if I had put a sign outside of it: “Closed Until Further Notice”. In the last year I have lost more friends and relatives to death than ever before in my life. I know that’s to be expected as we get older, but it doesn’t make it any easier. One friend’s death, in particular, made an impression on me. A man in his nineties named Bill Copenhaver whom I had known for many years quietly faded off in his sleep. He was a blessing in my life. I don’t think I ever met a more decent, gentle, unassuming man. He was married to the love of his life, Mabel, for over sixty years. She died a few years ago leaving him alone and ready to join her. They were such an amazing example of life-long love… I stopped by the nursing home where he spent his last month the day before he slipped beyond the veil. I touched his forehead as he slept and, unintentionally, awakened him. We exchanged a few words. I told him that I loved him and he told me the same. He was one of those people that just made life easier to bear for me. His death reminded me of the saying: “Don’t cry because it’s over, Smile because it happened!” I did both at the same time… I’ve found that even in moments of darkness and despair there are moments of grace. Mr. Copenhaver helped me to realize that. This year has served as a kind of wake-up call for me to 'Carpe Diem'! I've set about to make some changes in my life. One of them is to open my heart more. I've been blessed to have had some great examples in life. Most of them have now slipped beyond the veil. I have folded the lessons they taught me into my life so a part of them lives on through me. I hope I can do them honor…

Smiting the Black Metal

Blacksmithing is one of the crafts that made modern life possible. It may even be ‘the’ craft that made modern civilization possible. It is as old as civilization. It’s been a part of most cultures for thousands of years.

Without an understanding and use of iron and steel, modern life would be impossible. After World War II traditional blacksmithing almost died out. It has been replaced by modern welding, machining and manufacturing processes. We can now make things faster, stronger and more uniformly than the local blacksmith ever could. Today mass production has insured that most everyone has the same ‘stuff’.

In making the transition, I think we’ve lost something too. In the United States we have the unspoken axiom that ‘newer is better’. When a new way to do something is developed the old ways are often largely forgotten. In an age when everything is going hi-tech, I think it’s important to remember where we came from and how we got here. It not only gives us a fuller understanding of why things are done the way they are, but it gives us an appreciation of the past and how our ancestors lived.

There are other cultures that hold different values. In Japan for example, when you take a job in say, a textile mill, you are required to learn the origins of the craft. In the case of textiles they are taught how fibers are obtained and woven, how plant dyes are rendered and utilized and how successive technologies gradually modernized the craft. They consider it important to understand how we got to where we are.

Some people in our society today can operate the most advanced computers but have no idea how to grow their own food or build their own homes. Our culture has seen many traditional crafts simply die out in favor of new ways. In sensing that we’ve lost something, making the transition to our modern mass-produced culture, many are turning their eyes back to the traditional ways. A whole new generation is rediscovering what it means to exercise their will in steel. Blacksmithing is being reborn. The anvil has been infused with new life by artists and craftsmen seeking to learn the old ways.

Tools that were once unidentified relics in dusty old barns, and skills that were once forgotten, are being rediscovered. Modern artist blacksmiths are preserving the knowledge for future generations. They are finding that they are limited only by their imaginations. And what some of their imaginations have produced would amaze you! Traditional philosophies once held that there were five basic elements in the universe…earth, air, fire, water, and wood. The blacksmith works with all of them and he also adds a sixth…his will. He creates something new and unique in the universe every time he forges. Everything he or she forges is, by definition, one of a kind.

I can tell you from experience that in the forge it’s easy to feel a deep connection to the elements. You become one with them. The joy one feels in using air, water, fire, wood and earth in creating something new is almost indescribable. It’s like putting your fingers on the pulse of creation. You learn its rules and its boundaries. You learn to move with it. You learn to stretch your own imagination and your own will. There is something primal in it that speaks directly to your soul. With every hammer blow you can also feel a connection with thousands of years of history and with the struggles our ancestors faced in getting us here. Some of us embrace the past and the old ways. Some of us still love the ‘low tech’ ways. We won't let them be forgotten. A new day is dawning on the hammer, the anvil and the forge!

The Sacred and the Profane

Knowing what a culture or society holds sacred goes a long way towards understanding the heart of that culture. This is something anthropologists and archeologists understand but it is something that most of the rest of us give little thought to. In the United States of America the motto we print on our currency is: In God We Trust. That sentiment has been foundational in the development of our nation. It doesn’t mean that every individual believes in the same god, or believes in God at all. It means that, as a nation, as a people we hold it important to recognize God as having the central position in the affairs of men and in the unfolding our history. Just read the personal writings of any of the founding fathers. They called on God to direct them in forming a new nation, to bless and protect it every step of the way, and they gave Him credit for its successes.

The affirmation that God exists is written into the Declaration of Independence, one of our ‘sacred’ documents. It says: We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these rights Governments are instituted among Men…

It was considered a ‘self-evident’ truth that there is a Creator and that He is responsible for endowing men with the birthrights of Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Holding that as a sacred truth has guided us into building the greatest nation in the history of the world.

Those that don’t want even the notion of God in their lives are making a concerted effort to erase all mention of Him from public places these days. They have twisted the intention of the Constitution to separate all levels of government from any form of religious values. That was not the intention of the founding fathers at all. Their intention was to prevent the formation of a state religion. To legally impose any specific religious beliefs on the citizenry is a violation of the First Amendment. To deny anyone from even mentioning their own religious beliefs in a public setting is also to violate the intent of the First Amendment. The founding fathers believed that all Americans, that all human beings, should be allowed to explore their religious beliefs for themselves. They also held that belief in God was a necessary common value for a strong and stable society. That much is evident in their writings.

It seems the only values we are supposed to share these days are the politically correct ones. When some Hollywood celebrity wants the spotlight they’ll make a show of telling us exactly what cause of the day is. Some endangered moth may need saving somewhere and the only source of help could be an actor whose only real talent is in pretending to be other people for the entertainment of strangers…and making obscene amounts of money for it. If they were born with the genes that make them attractive that could replace even the need for talent of course. They may be completely morally depraved but they can convince themselves that they are decent people if they can sponsor a telethon or a thirty second commercial urging us to spend our money on ‘the cause’. (No need to spend their own money when they bring their fame to the table.)

The one value that many of them, and others that crave the spotlight, don’t want to be reminded of is the belief in God. You see believing in God can make people uncomfortable. It can demand that they actually be a decent person instead of just appearing to be for the camera. That is the very reason it is so important that we maintain a common belief in God as a sacred value.

America has been guided by the principle that all people are entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness for over two centuries. Our Creator is central to that principle. Americans have spilled their own blood in every part of the earth to bring those rights to our fellow man. At the heart of our culture has always been the truth that there is a God. From that flows the truth that we have a purpose and a destiny. To believe that we are accountable to a higher source, that we will be called on to answer for, not just what we do in life, but also what is in our hearts, can go further than any camera in modifying our behavior. Whether each individual believes it or not isn’t important. It sets the bar higher for all of us. It can make the world a better place. Our generation is paying a high price to learn that. If we are to survive as a republic we’d better learn it because where nothing is sacred, nothing is stable. Our founding fathers knew that. They considered it a sacred duty to put God in the very heart of our culture. Whether He remains there or not is up to us.

Spiritual but not Religious

“I’m spiritual but not religious.” That’s a common thing to hear these days. More than a few people who will tell you they are ‘spiritual’ are hard pressed to tell you exactly what it means though. These are folks who have tried to find their own path in life and with it, their own set of beliefs. ‘New Age’ spirituality has grown up since the sixties. It’s now almost main-stream in its appeal. I believe the main reason for that is the failure of traditional churches to deliver the true teachings of the scriptures. The most important part of true teachings is the example of righteous men and women of faith. It is what we do that speaks louder than anything we say…

Catholic and Protestant ‘Men of the cloth’ have almost turned hypocrisy into a sport. It’s commonplace these days to hear of their sexual, emotional and even physical abuse of their followers. Financial abuses are even more commonplace. Even those who aren’t guilty of such abuses often appear to be nothing more than superstitious, narrow-minded bigots. Instead of living the life and ‘walking the walk’ of what they claim to believe, many seem to spend most of their efforts in arguing subjects they have little or no expertise in. There are men of the cloth that preach racism, hatred and intolerance as a part of 'the' faith. Family members, friends and neighbors have turned on each other out of sheer hatred...over matters of faith. Parents have abused their children and Husbands have abused their wives all in the name of God.. So many sins have been committed in the name of God it is a wonder any non-believers listen to Bible thumpers at all! The watered-down and distorted teachings that most churches preach and the hypocrisy filled examples of 'Christian' faith do little to draw anyone to true conversion.

What society is left with is a spiritual void that many non Judeo-Christian traditions have rushed in to fill. It is a misnomer that ‘New Age’ beliefs are new. Most are comprised of a hodge-podge of very old native traditions. The worship of nature, or aspects of nature, are a common theme. The desire to be made privy to some body of secret knowledge is another common theme. Central to many of them is the belief that through ones own efforts one can evolve or ascend to a higher state of being. What they all have in common, from a Biblical perspective, is that they are all false teachings. They have a kind of spirituality but it is a counterfeit spirituality. The problem with a counterfeit is that when you have one you stop looking for the real thing. Just imagine that someone owes you money and pays you in counterfeit bills. You think you’ve been paid…until you take it to the bank.

A religion is typically an organized body of believers with a specific body of beliefs that defines relationships. It defines our relationship with God. It defines our relationship with other human beings. It gives us a direction for ourselves in our own life. And it gives us a world-view into which everything else finds a context. To be ‘spiritual’ is to be aware of, to interact with, and to be guided by the non-physical aspects of reality...i.e. the spirit realm. (These are, admittedly, imperfect, working, definitions but they serve to make one think about the terms.)

A counterfeit religion leads us away from the truth by giving us a false, or inaccurate, world-view. It is, by definition, a lie. A counterfeit religion causes us to expend our energies in a wasteful or useless way. Any kind of religion or spirituality that tells us we are OK just the way we are is false. Just look around at the way we are! Any religion or spirituality that causes us to focus solely on ourselves is a counterfeit. The 'enlightened' old man on the mountaintop doesn't make the world a better place.

A true religion points us to the true God and His will for us. A true religion makes us look at ourselves. A true religion urges us to become better people. A true religion urges us to look beyond ourselves and help our fellow man. We are all in this together... A true religion makes us, and our world, better. A counterfeit causes us to focus only on ourselves.

It has been my experience that people who claim to be "spiritual but not religious" are usually focused only on themselves. That focus doesn’t make them better people and it doesn't make the world a better place. It squanders their energies instead of directing them into real spiritual growth. A counterfeit religion doesn’t direct people to God, it directs them away from God. A counterfeit spirituality may very well be in touch with the spiritual realm of existence...but not with the right spirits. If you look anywhere but to God for guidance, for spiritual help, for comfort, or for truth…you are practicing a false religion. You are practicing a lie...spiritual or not.