Our civilisation is already set up to demand that we all provide for each other.
For each other.
Every other.
Not just the so-called poor and needy.
But now, we provide for one another only via contracts and threats.
Bring the day, Lord, when we will work what we work for love and for Thee.
Give us willing hearts, Father, and a determination to labour for that which has lasting worth.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Monday, August 15, 2016
Why I love Him
Jesus died and rose again to save, not to condemn. In a way I do not understand, but deeply believe to be true, His suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross really has put him in a position to lift us up to stand before the Father both to judge and be judged and to move into eternity. With the exception of a very, very small group of individuals, all who have ever lived will move on to some degree of glory, power, and happiness. I do not say that everyone will be or receive the same, but I do claim that everyone is going to much better off — more powerful, more peaceful, more happy — than they are now.
If this is obvious to you, please allow me to explain why I dwell on it. This is a point of such deep import because it indicates just how universal and infinite the redemption of Christ is. When I say "all but a very, very few" will be saved, I don't mean that a very, very few will NOT be saved, but that after EVERYONE has been saved — after EVERYONE has been called from death and from the hell of separation from God, only a very, very few will decide to willingly go back to hell. Christ will not leave anyone there. His offering does not just redeem the repentant sinner — it covers EVERYONE.
Not everyone who is saved can be trusted. Not everyone who is saved will know God in the same way. Not everyone who is saved will know what to do with the freedom Christ offers them. Not all will ever become life as Jesus is. But we ALL will be brought back from death. We ALL will be brought back into the presence of God the Father. And all but a very, VERY few will choose to stay there.
Christ's victory has done that.
And don't be surprised if Hitler or Qaddafi, or Richard III, or Stalin, or Mao ze Tung, or even I am there, among the saved who are offered and who choose to stay WITH God. "All manner of blasphemy against the Son of Man will be forgiven," He said. That covers a lot.
So, we will all be there — very literally by the grace of God, — standing clean before the Father. Most of us will be full of gratitude and anxious to enter in to a newness of life, stunned that the burden of our sin could actually have been removed from us.
Again, I don't say that everyone will either BE, CHOOSE, or BE GIVEN the same thing after thist moment, but up to that moment what is given by Jesus will be the same: He will stand before the Father and say, "I have taken the sins of all these upon Me. I received the punishment meant for them all. They are all free."
After that will begin the distinction: "What have you become with this freedom? What have you learned to desire? Do you have it in you to know Me? Will you choose the weight of My glory?"
Perhaps God will deal first with those very few whose hearts are, impossibly, still past feeling, pointing them the way to an endless hell prepared for the devil and his angels. Perhaps He will weep over them one last time as they depart, knowing what could have been for them.
Then to us: "Well? What can you do now?"
And we will go, one to the stars, another to the moon, still others to the Sun to be and do what we have learned to dream.
Without Jesus, we would all have been irretrievably lost. We would not stand before God, clean or otherwise. We would never see the tears of the Father again —.either for grief at our continuing to choose misery or for His joy in our repentance. "For I have found that which was lost! Jesus has brought you back to Me!"
Friday, August 12, 2016
The trouble with "utopias"
so called, is that they are obsessed with consumption in the same way a dystopia is. Production is viewed as a necessary (even if not necessarily undesirable) evil to facilitate consumption. All planning is toward streamlining and mechanising the production process. Traditional u- and dys-topias (both hereafter referred to singularly as dys-topias) view consumption of the end product as the justification for its existence.
What's the opposite? Before we give it a name, let's define it. In stark contrast, whatever is on the other side of consumption-obsession is something devoted to the idea that we are made first to produce, to create, to share, to give, to make — an activity that justifies consumption. Something that claims the consumption is simply a means to that end. What fuels the creative, regenerative process must be consumed, otherwise, it lets things be.
In dystopias, nothing is safe from the eventual lust to satisfy appetite. Because the focus is on consuming, dystopian members are at constant war with themselves: the desire to destroy (ingest, digest, burn, oxidize
Dystopias work with entropy, heaven replenishes the order entropy feeds on.
Entropy may not be the enemy, but it is the force working opposite to the creative power of gods and men. Utopias join the work of breaking down, while this other thing's sole motivation is to build up.
What's the opposite? Before we give it a name, let's define it. In stark contrast, whatever is on the other side of consumption-obsession is something devoted to the idea that we are made first to produce, to create, to share, to give, to make — an activity that justifies consumption. Something that claims the consumption is simply a means to that end. What fuels the creative, regenerative process must be consumed, otherwise, it lets things be.
In dystopias, nothing is safe from the eventual lust to satisfy appetite. Because the focus is on consuming, dystopian members are at constant war with themselves: the desire to destroy (ingest, digest, burn, oxidize
Dystopias work with entropy, heaven replenishes the order entropy feeds on.
Entropy may not be the enemy, but it is the force working opposite to the creative power of gods and men. Utopias join the work of breaking down, while this other thing's sole motivation is to build up.
Credo, or: The Foundation for a New Society
I reject the notion that I must be compensated for my labour.
I give and do with no other thought than that I can.
What I can do, I will do.
I will be and do what I know must be done for me and my society to become Zion — one heart, one mind, dwelling in righteousness, having no poor among us.
I will treasure industry that feeds the human spirit.
I will honor industry that feeds the body.
I will not accept or acknowledge the worldview that keeps us beaten into our present submission.
I DO have an obligation to my fellow man.
What I can do, I will do.
I will work tirelessly today doing what is in my power to feed the spirit.
There is enough.
I will not fear.
I will give.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
New Pro-Choice rhetoric demands new Pro-Life perspective
Very interesting perspective. The "pro-choice" group is starting to refer more and more often to unborn children as 'alive,' but that verbal-cognitive acquiescence hasn't changed their heart-behavior advocacy of abortion.
This illustrates something that is true about many of the left's regressive, miserly, anti-human arguments: they are COMPLETELY emotion-based. Their stances don't start with facts and work toward policy, they start with whim, then they find "facts" to support them. If facts arise that negate the legitimacy of their foundation arguments, they just make up new facts and keep doing the same.
A real life hydra.
Facts, reality, expert argumentation — these are not the tools needed to fight the Left's dehumanizing, regressive agenda. Something has got to change in the heart. What's needed is conversion to Christ and access to the power and clarity of HIS heart.
What's needed is a complete world-view overhaul.
That said, what I'm writing here is NOT a vindication of the so-called conservative Right — that they have somehow been right all along and the Left needs to become clones of them.
Not by a long shot. The Right is, in many ways, similarly godless.
"What? All the praying, church-going, scripture-readers? All the 'God bless the USA'? All the defend life crew? The traditional marriage advocates?"
Yup.
Here's the clincher: campaigning for a few ideals that God espouses doth not a believer make.
What doth is a massive exodus to JESUS — not just the ideals that He taught. In absolute defiance of logic, our species' salvation is found in the PERSON of Jesus Christ — not just the life-skills that He taught. That is part of what is so wrong with the world today: we have taken parts of Christ's (and every other major god-figure of history) and distilled His person to a couple of quips that give license to do whatever we want.
Don't judge. Love your neighbour. Take care of the poor. Legislate change. Care for the earth.
Very nice.
Except, with the exception of loving your neighbour, he never said those things.
And even then, the problem of obsession with His message over devotion to His person remains.
Jesus did say that His followers would have life in Him, and have it more abundantly. But he predicated that life upon death: "Whosoever will save his [own] life will lose it. But whoever will lose his life for MY SAKE and the good news I bring will find it."
"To be My follower, you must deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me."
Where? Follow Him where?
To Gethsemane and Calvary.
And from THERE, to life in Him.
In HIM.
Not in a few extracted principles that He taught.
Either He is the creator and life of the world, or He isn't. We need to get past the patronizing, "Oh, you can believe that if you want," and deal with whether or not we are going to live our lives in harmony with that great reality — that Jesus IS God. That He IS out there. That He DOES care about how our hearts are developing. That His intent for humanity is that we actually become HUMANE as He is.
What the Left wants us to believe is that we are not a rebellious, immoral people — that all this we debate is simply a matter of personal preference and civil friction. And that MAN is ultimately the measure of all things. That the happiness of a few at all costs is the goal of government. That a well-justified, well-defended, well-accepted lie is a lie permissible to live out.
The reality of God's existence does not change to suit our lust.
Very interesting perspective. The "pro-choice" group is starting to refer more and more often to unborn children as 'alive,' but that verbal-cognitive acquiescence hasn't changed their heart-behavior advocacy of abortion.
This illustrates something that is true about many of the left's regressive, miserly, anti-human arguments: they are COMPLETELY emotion-based. Their stances don't start with facts and work toward policy, they start with whim, then they find "facts" to support them. If facts arise that negate the legitimacy of their foundation arguments, they just make up new facts and keep doing the same.
A real life hydra.
Facts, reality, expert argumentation — these are not the tools needed to fight the Left's dehumanizing, regressive agenda. Something has got to change in the heart. What's needed is conversion to Christ and access to the power and clarity of HIS heart.
What's needed is a complete world-view overhaul.
That said, what I'm writing here is NOT a vindication of the so-called conservative Right — that they have somehow been right all along and the Left needs to become clones of them.
Not by a long shot. The Right is, in many ways, similarly godless.
"What? All the praying, church-going, scripture-readers? All the 'God bless the USA'? All the defend life crew? The traditional marriage advocates?"
Yup.
Here's the clincher: campaigning for a few ideals that God espouses doth not a believer make.
What doth is a massive exodus to JESUS — not just the ideals that He taught. In absolute defiance of logic, our species' salvation is found in the PERSON of Jesus Christ — not just the life-skills that He taught. That is part of what is so wrong with the world today: we have taken parts of Christ's (and every other major god-figure of history) and distilled His person to a couple of quips that give license to do whatever we want.
Don't judge. Love your neighbour. Take care of the poor. Legislate change. Care for the earth.
Very nice.
Except, with the exception of loving your neighbour, he never said those things.
And even then, the problem of obsession with His message over devotion to His person remains.
Jesus did say that His followers would have life in Him, and have it more abundantly. But he predicated that life upon death: "Whosoever will save his [own] life will lose it. But whoever will lose his life for MY SAKE and the good news I bring will find it."
"To be My follower, you must deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me."
Where? Follow Him where?
To Gethsemane and Calvary.
And from THERE, to life in Him.
In HIM.
Not in a few extracted principles that He taught.
Either He is the creator and life of the world, or He isn't. We need to get past the patronizing, "Oh, you can believe that if you want," and deal with whether or not we are going to live our lives in harmony with that great reality — that Jesus IS God. That He IS out there. That He DOES care about how our hearts are developing. That His intent for humanity is that we actually become HUMANE as He is.
What the Left wants us to believe is that we are not a rebellious, immoral people — that all this we debate is simply a matter of personal preference and civil friction. And that MAN is ultimately the measure of all things. That the happiness of a few at all costs is the goal of government. That a well-justified, well-defended, well-accepted lie is a lie permissible to live out.
The reality of God's existence does not change to suit our lust.
Friday, August 5, 2016
Thursday, August 4, 2016
One nation under God?
What an outrageous claim!
What is the requirement of unity? The statement that speaks most to my heart on this topic comes from the story of Enoch. It was said of his people, "They were of one heart and one mind — they dwelled in righteousness and there was no poor among them."
One heart?
One mind?
Righteousness?
No poor?
Look across the street (or hallway, or room). Can you say you are of one heart with the person living there? Is your mind unified? Is your life governed by righteousness? Is there material distinction between you?
Again, do you value the same things as your neighbour? Do you see your life as intertwined with theirs? Do you analyze your actions and potential actions through the lens of their benefit to him? Are you working toward the same goal? Espousing the same standards? The same virtues? Are you living in a consensual state of harmony with the laws that lead to light, strength, power, and love? Do you view your possessions as rightly theirs as much as yours? Can you even see how your resources might be used in such a way that you both could be edified by them?
"Consider how different our relationships with [people] would be if we were as concerned with increasing [the power of God in us] as we are with increasing our personal power at work, or the balance of our bank account."
Next post:
Did Goliath and the Philistines know the God they were mocking? Could they have spoken so scornfully against Him had they known His power and character?
What is the requirement of unity? The statement that speaks most to my heart on this topic comes from the story of Enoch. It was said of his people, "They were of one heart and one mind — they dwelled in righteousness and there was no poor among them."
One heart?
One mind?
Righteousness?
No poor?
Look across the street (or hallway, or room). Can you say you are of one heart with the person living there? Is your mind unified? Is your life governed by righteousness? Is there material distinction between you?
Again, do you value the same things as your neighbour? Do you see your life as intertwined with theirs? Do you analyze your actions and potential actions through the lens of their benefit to him? Are you working toward the same goal? Espousing the same standards? The same virtues? Are you living in a consensual state of harmony with the laws that lead to light, strength, power, and love? Do you view your possessions as rightly theirs as much as yours? Can you even see how your resources might be used in such a way that you both could be edified by them?
"Consider how different our relationships with [people] would be if we were as concerned with increasing [the power of God in us] as we are with increasing our personal power at work, or the balance of our bank account."
Next post:
Did Goliath and the Philistines know the God they were mocking? Could they have spoken so scornfully against Him had they known His power and character?
Make us one!
"That's not what we are in America."
Sorry, but if it happens in America, then that is what we are in America.
There is no across-the-board agreement on what it means to "be an American." There isn't. And when we act or assume that we have this unity of thought, we are mightily deceiving ourselves and setting ourselves up for violent conflict with other members of our community.
Why violent? Because outright assertions or presumptive implications that you are what you know you are not is an attack on the most intimate part of your person of the most violent kind.
What is it to be America? To be Mormon? To be male? Black? White? Gay? Straight? Muslim? Christian?
One man says this Mormon isn't Christian, but what he means is, "This man is in defiance of absolute right!"
This politician says that one isn't exhibiting traits of an American, but what she means is, "That woman behaves or believes contrary to the ideals of America, which is absolute right!"
You've heard the phrase, "Cool is as cool does," right? You know what that means? It means that if someone self-identifies as a ________, then what they do is what a ________ does.
Period.
That is exactly what I am talking about.
Seems simple enough, right? Call yourself whatever you want and whatever you do is part of whatever name you give yourself.
And it's true absolutely without exception.
The implications can be a bit challenging, though, to our current sense of sensibility.
Define "American" as somebody who satisfies the requirements for legal citizenship, then whatever those people DO is part of America.
Is it American to murder? Well, do some Americans murder? Then murder is a part of America.
Do American women have their unborn babies killed? Then that is a part of America. Do some American men marry other men? Then that is part of America. Do some white kids hate some black kids?
You get the idea.
If you are a biological female are sexually attracted to biological males, then that phenomenon is part of the biological female picture. If it happens in America, then it is American. If it happens in Mormondom, then it is part of Mormondom. If the practitioner says she is a Mormon, then it is a Mormon behavior. If it happens in your family, then it is a part of your family. If you are a biological female and your are sexually attracted to other biological females, the that phenomenon is part of the biological female picture. If it happens in America, then it is American. If it happens in Mormondom, then it is part of Mormondom. If the practitioner says she is Mormon, then it is a Mormon behavior. If it happens in your family, then that is part of what it means to be in your family.
What I'm talking about is our propensity to start with words instead of people when dealing with other humans.
You are (usually) not my definition of American. You are (usually) not my definition of Mormon. You are (usually) not my definition of Muslim. Or my definition of black or white or Russian or whatever. You exist on a plane entirely above and outside of my conception of these words. Your existence — the limit of your experience — is not constrained by the limit of my vocabulary.
You are YOU.
Before any terms or definitions, you are YOU.
Though, in general, it is a matter of outstanding existential debate whether we are more than our names, it is entirely appropriate here to say that we are. So when we self-identify with a term or definition, then we bring ourselves to that the meaning of that word, and not the other way around.
And really, when the end of the statement is simply, "This is me! This is what I am," we don't have too much problem with it.
However, what we are really saying in all the examples at the beginning of this is, "I'm right and you are wrong." "My life is in harmony with the mysterious laws of rightness and yours is not."
God is on my side — not on yours.
We all would get a great deal further toward where we wanted to go if we would recognize what we are really saying: that I am right, and you are wrong. That we really don't have as much in common with each other as we have been pretending.
Next article: Whether socially healthy people involve themselves in the "I'm right" debate at all.
Sorry, but if it happens in America, then that is what we are in America.
There is no across-the-board agreement on what it means to "be an American." There isn't. And when we act or assume that we have this unity of thought, we are mightily deceiving ourselves and setting ourselves up for violent conflict with other members of our community.
Why violent? Because outright assertions or presumptive implications that you are what you know you are not is an attack on the most intimate part of your person of the most violent kind.
What is it to be America? To be Mormon? To be male? Black? White? Gay? Straight? Muslim? Christian?
One man says this Mormon isn't Christian, but what he means is, "This man is in defiance of absolute right!"
This politician says that one isn't exhibiting traits of an American, but what she means is, "That woman behaves or believes contrary to the ideals of America, which is absolute right!"
You've heard the phrase, "Cool is as cool does," right? You know what that means? It means that if someone self-identifies as a ________, then what they do is what a ________ does.
Period.
That is exactly what I am talking about.
Seems simple enough, right? Call yourself whatever you want and whatever you do is part of whatever name you give yourself.
And it's true absolutely without exception.
The implications can be a bit challenging, though, to our current sense of sensibility.
Define "American" as somebody who satisfies the requirements for legal citizenship, then whatever those people DO is part of America.
Is it American to murder? Well, do some Americans murder? Then murder is a part of America.
Do American women have their unborn babies killed? Then that is a part of America. Do some American men marry other men? Then that is part of America. Do some white kids hate some black kids?
You get the idea.
If you are a biological female are sexually attracted to biological males, then that phenomenon is part of the biological female picture. If it happens in America, then it is American. If it happens in Mormondom, then it is part of Mormondom. If the practitioner says she is a Mormon, then it is a Mormon behavior. If it happens in your family, then it is a part of your family. If you are a biological female and your are sexually attracted to other biological females, the that phenomenon is part of the biological female picture. If it happens in America, then it is American. If it happens in Mormondom, then it is part of Mormondom. If the practitioner says she is Mormon, then it is a Mormon behavior. If it happens in your family, then that is part of what it means to be in your family.
What I'm talking about is our propensity to start with words instead of people when dealing with other humans.
You are (usually) not my definition of American. You are (usually) not my definition of Mormon. You are (usually) not my definition of Muslim. Or my definition of black or white or Russian or whatever. You exist on a plane entirely above and outside of my conception of these words. Your existence — the limit of your experience — is not constrained by the limit of my vocabulary.
You are YOU.
Before any terms or definitions, you are YOU.
Though, in general, it is a matter of outstanding existential debate whether we are more than our names, it is entirely appropriate here to say that we are. So when we self-identify with a term or definition, then we bring ourselves to that the meaning of that word, and not the other way around.
And really, when the end of the statement is simply, "This is me! This is what I am," we don't have too much problem with it.
However, what we are really saying in all the examples at the beginning of this is, "I'm right and you are wrong." "My life is in harmony with the mysterious laws of rightness and yours is not."
God is on my side — not on yours.
We all would get a great deal further toward where we wanted to go if we would recognize what we are really saying: that I am right, and you are wrong. That we really don't have as much in common with each other as we have been pretending.
Next article: Whether socially healthy people involve themselves in the "I'm right" debate at all.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
de labore sub tyrranis, pars secunda
At this one again.
The fundamental struggle of my existence (no exaggeration) right now is how to reconcile the urge to live for God and the apparent necessities of a (forgive me) godless culture.
"What?! Godless culture? Here in the heart of Mormondom? Counties numero uno for religiosity? Are you attacking my bishop? My Relief Society sisters? My grandma?!"
Of course not.
I'm not saying the waking, rational minds and hearts of you, your neighbours, or your grandma are anti-god. I'm not saying they are in knowing rebellion against God. I'm not saying that Mormon culture specifically is anti-god. This is a problem much, much bigger than Mormondom.
I'm not. What I am saying
I love conspiracy theories as much as (maybe more than) the next man, but that isn't what this is about either. On the one hand, I guess I am talking about the mother of all conspiracies — it gives birth to all others — but it isn't master-minded by any elite class or closet hitlerian. In fact, I don't know if it is masterminded at all. But it is perpetuated. It is buoyed up. It is supported.
By whom?
By you.
By me.
By almost all of us.
"Let's assume I accept, having not even heard yet, the allegation that we are all complicit in some abominable injustice. I don't need to know what the evil is, just tell me what I am doing to support it."
Deal: You go to work.
"I knew it. You're a socialist. You think making money is bad and that those that have have some moral obligation to give it to the lazy, undeserving poor."
Nope. Not that either.
"Then you don't believe that work is necessary to sustain life."
Wrong again. THIS IS NOT A TIRADE AGAINST LABOR, BUT LABOR UNDER AN INVISIBLE TYRANY.
Of course work is necessary. All the essays ever written on the virtue of work — I believe them. All the motivational speeches that list WORK, day in and day out, as the primary factor for success and achievement — I agree with them. Every sermon given from every pulpit that ever hounded or hinted at the idea that "In the beginning," God worked — I know they are true. I support it.
The law of the harvest. Karma. Reap what you sow. Ants and crickets. Noah and the ark — guys, I believe!
But there is a sinisterity that underlies nearly all our interactions as they pertain to the sustaining and development and enriching of human life on this planet. Something tied to our motivation. Something about our basic view of why we do productive things and how we consume the fruits of them.
"To see the captive hears released —
The sick, the hurt, the poor at peace.
We lay down our lives for Heaven's cause."
Is that why you work?
That is why Jesus worked. That is what Jesus worked. I cannot believe that it is impossible for us to do it to.
Enoch succeeded. Joseph didn't.
Don't you get the feeling that it is possible?
The fundamental struggle of my existence (no exaggeration) right now is how to reconcile the urge to live for God and the apparent necessities of a (forgive me) godless culture.
"What?! Godless culture? Here in the heart of Mormondom? Counties numero uno for religiosity? Are you attacking my bishop? My Relief Society sisters? My grandma?!"
Of course not.
I'm not saying the waking, rational minds and hearts of you, your neighbours, or your grandma are anti-god. I'm not saying they are in knowing rebellion against God. I'm not saying that Mormon culture specifically is anti-god. This is a problem much, much bigger than Mormondom.
I'm not. What I am saying
I love conspiracy theories as much as (maybe more than) the next man, but that isn't what this is about either. On the one hand, I guess I am talking about the mother of all conspiracies — it gives birth to all others — but it isn't master-minded by any elite class or closet hitlerian. In fact, I don't know if it is masterminded at all. But it is perpetuated. It is buoyed up. It is supported.
By whom?
By you.
By me.
By almost all of us.
"Let's assume I accept, having not even heard yet, the allegation that we are all complicit in some abominable injustice. I don't need to know what the evil is, just tell me what I am doing to support it."
Deal: You go to work.
"I knew it. You're a socialist. You think making money is bad and that those that have have some moral obligation to give it to the lazy, undeserving poor."
Nope. Not that either.
"Then you don't believe that work is necessary to sustain life."
Wrong again. THIS IS NOT A TIRADE AGAINST LABOR, BUT LABOR UNDER AN INVISIBLE TYRANY.
Of course work is necessary. All the essays ever written on the virtue of work — I believe them. All the motivational speeches that list WORK, day in and day out, as the primary factor for success and achievement — I agree with them. Every sermon given from every pulpit that ever hounded or hinted at the idea that "In the beginning," God worked — I know they are true. I support it.
The law of the harvest. Karma. Reap what you sow. Ants and crickets. Noah and the ark — guys, I believe!
But there is a sinisterity that underlies nearly all our interactions as they pertain to the sustaining and development and enriching of human life on this planet. Something tied to our motivation. Something about our basic view of why we do productive things and how we consume the fruits of them.
"To see the captive hears released —
The sick, the hurt, the poor at peace.
We lay down our lives for Heaven's cause."
Is that why you work?
That is why Jesus worked. That is what Jesus worked. I cannot believe that it is impossible for us to do it to.
Enoch succeeded. Joseph didn't.
Don't you get the feeling that it is possible?
Monday, August 1, 2016
The whole man
"It is a puzzling development, as yet poorly understood, that the “caring” in networks is in some important way feigned. Not maliciously, but in spite of any genuine emotional attractions that might be there, human behavior in network situations often resembles a dramatic act - - matching a script produced to meet the demands of a story. And, as such, the intimate moments in networks lack the sustaining value of their counterparts in community."
— That genius again
The issue here as I see it is one of fundamental human integrity: where and under what circumstances is it permissible to be all that you are? Or is the whole human story one drawn-out condemnation to an existence of fractionalized, part-experiences?
Do we ever get to be whole?
The abomination of our current work-system is that we claim ownership of (i.e. we "purchase") specifically delineated parts of another's life with little to no concern, interest, or respect for the rest of it. As a way of life it is WRONG. It undermines our every effort to preach love, liberty, and virtue. It says, "Those parts of you that I find useful can be commandeered for my own purposes, but my involvement with you stops at that — beyond what I desire in you, you have no rights of existence."
Our very notions of freedom stem from this warped ideology: I am at liberty when I can experience the world and its people only in filtered mono-chrome — inasmuch as I pay for it.
Or them.
"You've no right to behave that way toward me — I paid only for certain parts of you. Leave the rest at the door. You're no whole person on my clock."
It is an abhorrent way to live.
It is fundamentally immoral and completely incongruous with the merciful aims of deity that would turn us into beings of such deep and abiding glory that we would warrant WORSHIP.
Who are we to shatter the human spirit? How have we taken it upon ourselves to dissect our neighbor into so many cuts of meat? To steal from him the harmony of divinity and reduce him to brick and mortar to build up our own fortresses of isolation?
Lord, have mercy!
— That genius again
The issue here as I see it is one of fundamental human integrity: where and under what circumstances is it permissible to be all that you are? Or is the whole human story one drawn-out condemnation to an existence of fractionalized, part-experiences?
Do we ever get to be whole?
The abomination of our current work-system is that we claim ownership of (i.e. we "purchase") specifically delineated parts of another's life with little to no concern, interest, or respect for the rest of it. As a way of life it is WRONG. It undermines our every effort to preach love, liberty, and virtue. It says, "Those parts of you that I find useful can be commandeered for my own purposes, but my involvement with you stops at that — beyond what I desire in you, you have no rights of existence."
Our very notions of freedom stem from this warped ideology: I am at liberty when I can experience the world and its people only in filtered mono-chrome — inasmuch as I pay for it.
Or them.
"You've no right to behave that way toward me — I paid only for certain parts of you. Leave the rest at the door. You're no whole person on my clock."
It is an abhorrent way to live.
It is fundamentally immoral and completely incongruous with the merciful aims of deity that would turn us into beings of such deep and abiding glory that we would warrant WORSHIP.
Who are we to shatter the human spirit? How have we taken it upon ourselves to dissect our neighbor into so many cuts of meat? To steal from him the harmony of divinity and reduce him to brick and mortar to build up our own fortresses of isolation?
Lord, have mercy!
Drawing near with our lips but keeping our hearts in stark reserve
We have gotten to the point where we the people generally bend our theoretical acquiescence to the idea that love actually is the answer.
But where are we learning to love? How are we doing at it? At whole-hearted loving?
But where are we learning to love? How are we doing at it? At whole-hearted loving?
"The proclivity to hide or deny unflattering facts..."
This is an attempt to put words to a feeling that has been growing stronger for some time and pertains directly to the very touchy subject of presumptive virtue.
Generally speaking, I believe that no one (read that NO ONE) ever does anything but what they think is right (read that RIGHT — aka, utterly acceptable and often duty-driven by one's
I read the phrase that became the title of this post in an op-ed piece about Mormon polygamy and other, apparently, "unflattering facts" of Mormon history. Something about the line bothered me so much that I immediately had to stop reading and make some sense of the assumption. It is especially close right now because it rings of an air that is embedded deep in the current political discourse of today as well as the "-ism" rants flying around the media and internet.
I think part of what bugs me about this is that I've heard the same logic used to condemn another's opinion while simultaneously propping up the virtue of one's own.
exempli gratia. LGBT: "I can do and say what I want in public and if you complain then you are homophobic." Religionists: "I can do and say what I want in public and if you complain then you are impeding on my 1st Amendment rights."
I've reaching, but haven't gotten to the heart of what's bugging me yet...
Here's this: If we all really believed as similarly as we pretend to, we would all get along better. That we struggle so much to get along is a clear indicator that we do NOT have the same base value set.
The laws of a country do not indicate unanimity of opinion, but division.
Is there any law that says we eat? Relieve our bowels? Breathe?
Why not? Because there
We are assuming too much about the rightness of fairness. Fairness neither is nor has any inherent virtue. It disn't. Fairness is a tool, just as reason, faith, logic, law, physical force, restraint, or even "facts," for that matter, are TOOLS. They don't exist as objective standards of virtue. They don't exist for their own sakes. They exist to give us access to God. Period. And whatever and however we gain access to God, the Only True God, and the Perfect Son He sent, is fair game: full disclosure, partial disclosure, hearing both sides, or hearing one — to God, the point is not and has never has been fairness. It has been salvation and exaltation.
Generally speaking, I believe that no one (read that NO ONE) ever does anything but what they think is right (read that RIGHT — aka, utterly acceptable and often duty-driven by one's
I read the phrase that became the title of this post in an op-ed piece about Mormon polygamy and other, apparently, "unflattering facts" of Mormon history. Something about the line bothered me so much that I immediately had to stop reading and make some sense of the assumption. It is especially close right now because it rings of an air that is embedded deep in the current political discourse of today as well as the "-ism" rants flying around the media and internet.
I think part of what bugs me about this is that I've heard the same logic used to condemn another's opinion while simultaneously propping up the virtue of one's own.
exempli gratia. LGBT: "I can do and say what I want in public and if you complain then you are homophobic." Religionists: "I can do and say what I want in public and if you complain then you are impeding on my 1st Amendment rights."
I've reaching, but haven't gotten to the heart of what's bugging me yet...
Here's this: If we all really believed as similarly as we pretend to, we would all get along better. That we struggle so much to get along is a clear indicator that we do NOT have the same base value set.
The laws of a country do not indicate unanimity of opinion, but division.
Is there any law that says we eat? Relieve our bowels? Breathe?
Why not? Because there
We are assuming too much about the rightness of fairness. Fairness neither is nor has any inherent virtue. It disn't. Fairness is a tool, just as reason, faith, logic, law, physical force, restraint, or even "facts," for that matter, are TOOLS. They don't exist as objective standards of virtue. They don't exist for their own sakes. They exist to give us access to God. Period. And whatever and however we gain access to God, the Only True God, and the Perfect Son He sent, is fair game: full disclosure, partial disclosure, hearing both sides, or hearing one — to God, the point is not and has never has been fairness. It has been salvation and exaltation.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
More from the genius
"We have to demand that new voices and new ideas get a hearing: my ideas and yours. We've all had a belly-ful of authorized voices mediated by television and the press. A decade-long free-for-all debate is what is called for now — not any more 'expert' opinions. Experts in education have never been right; their 'solutions' are expensive and self-serving and always involve further centralization.
"And we've seen the results!"
— Same genius
"And we've seen the results!"
— Same genius
Scrap a "school system" and reinstate a LIFE one
“Independent study, community service, adventures and experience, large doses of privacy and solitude, a thousand different apprenticeships — the one-day variety or longer — these are all powerful, cheap, and effective ways to start a real reform of schooling. But no large-scale reform is ever going to work to repair our damaged children and our damaged society until we force open the idea of “school” to include family as the main engine of education. If we use schooling to break children away from parents — and make no mistake, that has been the central function of schools since John Cotton announced it as the purpose of the Bay Colony schools in 1650 and Horace Mann announced it as the purpose of Massachusetts schools in 1850 — we’re going to continue to have the horror show we have right now.
"The 'Curriculum of Family' is at the heart of any good life. We've gotten away from that curriculum. It's time to return to it.
"The way to sanity in education is for our schools to take the lead in releasing the stranglehold of institutions on family life, to promote during schooltime confluences of parent and child that will strengthen family bonds."
— Some genius
"The 'Curriculum of Family' is at the heart of any good life. We've gotten away from that curriculum. It's time to return to it.
"The way to sanity in education is for our schools to take the lead in releasing the stranglehold of institutions on family life, to promote during schooltime confluences of parent and child that will strengthen family bonds."
— Some genius
Social media and social reality
What do we hunger for that we can't get from Facebook or "work"?
Personal, face-to-face, messy, beautiful, intimidating, challenging, validating, interaction with other human beings, the only purpose of which is to experience raw, pulsing life.
Physical touch.
To see the physical fruit of some worthy labour.
Eye-contact.
Smells.
True surround sound.
Live, unencumbered positive human responses.
Personal, face-to-face, messy, beautiful, intimidating, challenging, validating, interaction with other human beings, the only purpose of which is to experience raw, pulsing life.
Physical touch.
To see the physical fruit of some worthy labour.
Eye-contact.
Smells.
True surround sound.
Live, unencumbered positive human responses.
On self-teaching
"We've got to give kids independent time right away because that is the key to self-knowledge. And we must re-involve them with the real world as fast as possible so that their independent time can be spent on something other than abstraction.
"This is an emergency! It requires drastic action to correct!"
"This is an emergency! It requires drastic action to correct!"
Family happiness
My question … was the simplest of questions, lying in the soul of every man from the foolish child to the wisest elder: it was a question without an answer to which one cannot live, as I had found by experience. It was: “What will come of what I am doing today or shall do tomorrow? What will come of my whole life?” Differently expressed, the question is: “Why should I live, why wish for anything, or do anything?” It can also be expressed thus: “Is there any meaning in my life that the inevitable death awaiting me does not destroy?”
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Mindweather 101
Notes from the Underground:
1. Emotions, like weather patterns, come and go — the issue is not that we have emotions, but how we judge them and ourselves moment to moment as we experience them. "Something must be wrong with me" is condemnation coming from an external source, even if the voice is our own. Kids don't question whether or not they are okay until they receive some message/signal from an external saying either that they are or aren't (BOTH negatives, because it sets up for a false world view that says the purpose of life is to ascribe rightness or wrongness to everything, including our emotions).
"I didn't know I wasn't okay — that my existence was a problem."
2. "Mindweather 101, All of Life’s online class, was designed
to set people loose on their own unique path towards
vibrant mental health." — Brilliant!
Soul dump for new forum of Awesomeness
Perceive, analyze, express.
Find people who can but aren't and help them see honestly what they could.
Forum for sharing, rejoicing together, encouraging, community exploration
What do people hunger for that is not currently being fed to them through social media and existing communities?
What are people hungering for?
Provide forum where we can invite people to feel okay being what they most love about themselves.
"I just love this!" — How many of us do what we do because we LOVE it versus our being addicted to the socially accepted outcomes the baaa-havior produces?
Freedom from social media.
This can NOT be about self-validation, but the experience of our humanity.
No name.
Do you know that what you think is the answer to your problem is actually the root of the problem?
More question:
Vision: Share awesomeness, intimate connection with people
Activitator.
Patron saint: Dr. Bronner
Starting activities: presentations, discussion, music, reading, discussion, movies, discussion.
***Keeping rants to a minimum will go far in preserving the sense of vision that we are going for. Plenty of rants on social media.
"I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books , music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps — what more can the heart of a man desire?"
Social media
Find people who can but aren't and help them see honestly what they could.
Forum for sharing, rejoicing together, encouraging, community exploration
What do people hunger for that is not currently being fed to them through social media and existing communities?
What are people hungering for?
Provide forum where we can invite people to feel okay being what they most love about themselves.
"I just love this!" — How many of us do what we do because we LOVE it versus our being addicted to the socially accepted outcomes the baaa-havior produces?
Freedom from social media.
This can NOT be about self-validation, but the experience of our humanity.
No name.
Do you know that what you think is the answer to your problem is actually the root of the problem?
More question:
Vision: Share awesomeness, intimate connection with people
Activitator.
Patron saint: Dr. Bronner
Starting activities: presentations, discussion, music, reading, discussion, movies, discussion.
***Keeping rants to a minimum will go far in preserving the sense of vision that we are going for. Plenty of rants on social media.
"I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books , music, love for one's neighbor — such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children, perhaps — what more can the heart of a man desire?"
Social media
Thursday, July 21, 2016
The only reality you have is PEOPLE and their expectations
Give your life to making life rich for others and you will find yourself surrounded by wealth.
Perceived options:
1. Trust that things as they are is as they should be — we have no choice to change things.
2. Maybe some external circumstance or person will come in and force change us from the outside.
Reality:
It is possible that no change will ever be instituted upon us. It is possible that the earth will never quake and burn and destroy a third of all life upon it. It is possible that no foreign army will ever invade our nation and institute a martial law of terror as punishment for the immorality of its people.
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
The purpose of childhood education is not college
The purpose of childhood education is not to prepare a child for college.
Why? Because the purpose of college is what? To land a good job somewhere. To make money.
If A is for B and B is for C, then the purpose of a primary education is to make money.
Give me a break.
The only thing that matters to a sane human being (and all children are sane) is meaning.
Why? Because the purpose of college is what? To land a good job somewhere. To make money.
If A is for B and B is for C, then the purpose of a primary education is to make money.
Give me a break.
The only thing that matters to a sane human being (and all children are sane) is meaning.
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Nothing practical
Another thing:
I am a little skittish about not having a set goal for a child's perusal of mathematics.
I can get over that.
I am a little skittish about not having a set goal for a child's perusal of mathematics.
I can get over that.
Children's books that need to be written
Children's books that need to be written:
Who Gets to Choose? — The realities of free speech, free press, and a free country
If You're Whining You're Losing
Nothing is Fair — Really.
Choosing What You REALLY Want — You know you want this, but is what you're doing really getting it for you?
If You Don't Know What The Kings Know, You Can Only Be Their Slave — Pick up a book and read. There are no new methods of slavery. They've all been tried before, and they only work on those who don't understand them.
Everything Comes from Somewhere — Milk does not come from a grocery store, nor smiles from Walmart.
Nothing is Free — If it exists, it cost somebody's life.
Where Does it Go? — On trash, dreams, poop, and peoples.
Why Do People Use Drugs? — The reality.
Who Gets to Choose? — The realities of free speech, free press, and a free country
If You're Whining You're Losing
Nothing is Fair — Really.
Choosing What You REALLY Want — You know you want this, but is what you're doing really getting it for you?
If You Don't Know What The Kings Know, You Can Only Be Their Slave — Pick up a book and read. There are no new methods of slavery. They've all been tried before, and they only work on those who don't understand them.
Everything Comes from Somewhere — Milk does not come from a grocery store, nor smiles from Walmart.
Nothing is Free — If it exists, it cost somebody's life.
Where Does it Go? — On trash, dreams, poop, and peoples.
Why Do People Use Drugs? — The reality.
Thursday, July 7, 2016
With all your getting, get wisdom
Impressions from today:
Claudia Gardner/Jex/Marsden — education not recommended as a profession by educators. Them that can't succeed at teaching move on to administration and law-making. (Rob Marsden). I had just left the driveway on the little Mongoose BMX bike and headed down 9800 So to find Jorge and his family. A CRV passed me, then pulled over and out came Claudia, asking if my bike wasn't too small for me and whether I wouldn't want to use her large bike as she was leaving town for a day or so. "Never say no," right? She recommended two Brackenberry children as possible tutoring needs.
Ed Liebing — Andrus, Hyrum. Pearl of Great Price Commentary... Skousen, Eric (?). In the Beginning.
Bishop Clare and Ed both said that this last year (much longer, really) has been a time of proving, and that God now knows my heart. Ed reminded me that our choice to express joy, love, praise, and gratitude is what keeps us the Lord's. Will I praise and love Him no matter the circumstance, degree of blessing, in sickness or in health. If I have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, can I feel so now?
Zion is a matter of the heart.
Jake Jackson.
Also, 11 policemen were shot at a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally last night, 5 fatally. Another officer was shot when he responded to a 911 call that turned out to be an ambush.
Claudia Gardner/Jex/Marsden — education not recommended as a profession by educators. Them that can't succeed at teaching move on to administration and law-making. (Rob Marsden). I had just left the driveway on the little Mongoose BMX bike and headed down 9800 So to find Jorge and his family. A CRV passed me, then pulled over and out came Claudia, asking if my bike wasn't too small for me and whether I wouldn't want to use her large bike as she was leaving town for a day or so. "Never say no," right? She recommended two Brackenberry children as possible tutoring needs.
Ed Liebing — Andrus, Hyrum. Pearl of Great Price Commentary... Skousen, Eric (?). In the Beginning.
Bishop Clare and Ed both said that this last year (much longer, really) has been a time of proving, and that God now knows my heart. Ed reminded me that our choice to express joy, love, praise, and gratitude is what keeps us the Lord's. Will I praise and love Him no matter the circumstance, degree of blessing, in sickness or in health. If I have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, can I feel so now?
Zion is a matter of the heart.
Jake Jackson.
Also, 11 policemen were shot at a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally last night, 5 fatally. Another officer was shot when he responded to a 911 call that turned out to be an ambush.
(apparently) [Un]common wisdom
"As a former criminal, in a time way back when, if the officer had his gun out and said stop, you stopped. And p.s. I don't know where all these "innocent" victims came from, because I spent years in prison and didn't meet one innocent prisoner, not one. Now as an adult with children, I teach them to respect the law and it's officers. I have friends on both sides of the law and am quick to call bullshit if someone tries to say something is unjustified just because some Facebook post says so..."
de labore sub tyrannis
Today I went down to city hall to order trash service. I didn't expect to receive from the experience such condemnatory argumentation against government employment.
But first, a few definitions:
Government — an organization whose providential income stream is effectively ensured, no matter the quality (or disquality) of the services/goods provided, or even the desireability of services/goods provided. An organization whose monopoly is ensured by law. see also "racket"
By extension, government employee is any person working in any organization whose income is assured regardless of the worth or quality of the service provided.
Income — what you get from elsewhere or else-whom; that for which you are dependent upon something other than yourself for obtaining.
(Please note: this is an iron-clad, exceptionless definition, despite seemingly obvious special cases. Let's look at a few. "Income is what I earn." — Thank you. What you once did not have was brought into your possession. Whether you deserved it or earned it means nothing in this regard. "God causes the rain on both the just and the unjust. Is that income?" — Yes, income includes everything that you get possession of that you once had no possession of. The definition is not limited only to our narrow idea of "payments" received after satisfying the requirements of a person or entity who withholds until you perform. Income may be, and, in matter of fact, most often is, free and non-compulsory. Sun, precipitation, air, Granting this, we all may rightly count ourselves among the very rich. Passive, residual income for even the least deserving of us.)
Income may be earned or un-earned, deserved or undeserved, fair or unfair, but it is that which comes from somewhere else. If it already "belonged" to you — if you already had full and free access to it — it would be something different.
It is societally unsustainable and morally reprehensible for one or many sectors of a population to receive without condition and be justified or protected by the law to do so.
The issue here is accountability and feeling the bite of actual costs. If you are accountable to no one but an internal personal or corporate morality, there is no external check or balance to the universal im-, a-, or sub-morality of your actions.
Everett would love to ensure his own income. (Who wouldn't?)
But he can't.
Why? Because he wants what others have and they have no reason to give it to him.
But first, a few definitions:
Government — an organization whose providential income stream is effectively ensured, no matter the quality (or disquality) of the services/goods provided, or even the desireability of services/goods provided. An organization whose monopoly is ensured by law. see also "racket"
By extension, government employee is any person working in any organization whose income is assured regardless of the worth or quality of the service provided.
Income — what you get from elsewhere or else-whom; that for which you are dependent upon something other than yourself for obtaining.
(Please note: this is an iron-clad, exceptionless definition, despite seemingly obvious special cases. Let's look at a few. "Income is what I earn." — Thank you. What you once did not have was brought into your possession. Whether you deserved it or earned it means nothing in this regard. "God causes the rain on both the just and the unjust. Is that income?" — Yes, income includes everything that you get possession of that you once had no possession of. The definition is not limited only to our narrow idea of "payments" received after satisfying the requirements of a person or entity who withholds until you perform. Income may be, and, in matter of fact, most often is, free and non-compulsory. Sun, precipitation, air, Granting this, we all may rightly count ourselves among the very rich. Passive, residual income for even the least deserving of us.)
Income may be earned or un-earned, deserved or undeserved, fair or unfair, but it is that which comes from somewhere else. If it already "belonged" to you — if you already had full and free access to it — it would be something different.
It is societally unsustainable and morally reprehensible for one or many sectors of a population to receive without condition and be justified or protected by the law to do so.
The issue here is accountability and feeling the bite of actual costs. If you are accountable to no one but an internal personal or corporate morality, there is no external check or balance to the universal im-, a-, or sub-morality of your actions.
Everett would love to ensure his own income. (Who wouldn't?)
But he can't.
Why? Because he wants what others have and they have no reason to give it to him.
To work
The word is engagement.
I taught a student a math lesson for the first time in a year.
What I noticed:
1. He was just as quick to pick up on the concepts as students always have been. Me having lost degrees of my touch did nothing to blunt the simple elegance and effectiveness of presenting Math as a language.
2. Today I lacked a long-term vision about where to take this student.
3. I need to speak regularly with people who are also interested in the subject of math -- either teaching it or learning it.
4. My work is no longer one-on-one. If it isn't expanded to something much broader than that, it is dead.
5. The basic tenets of mathematics really can be taught in a matter of months -- it is the presentation of their application that should fill up the majority of a child's educational time. Heavens -- who studies French or German for 12 years? For how many does basic conversational proficiency in Russian require 10 years of regular study?
MATH IS A LANGUAGE, PEOPLE.
6. Words do not give a person understanding of a concept -- experience gives understanding. Words provide tools to communicate and share, especially in the absence of present experience (not the absence of experience at all -- without experience, words can never anything other than sound). A child feels hunger, sadness, and happiness long before it has words to describe them -- language does not teach them how to feel, but how to communicate our feeling -- how to experience feeling in a context over which we have some control, some perspective. Words (spoken, gestured, or quantated) never take the place of experience, but the broader our vocabulary, the closer to real experience hearing becomes -- the greater the likelihood that our hearing the word approaches to experiencing the meaning the word is meant to convey.
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