Synchronicity often shows the way out of perplexing dilemmas. There is a light shining in the darkness, but the darkness doesn't know it's there. If your standing in darkness, turn back toward the light and your shadow disappears from sight. We are usually our own problem.
Fallacy: We Can't Give Away What We Don't Have
Taking Our Power Back, Women as Role Models
UFO's, Born Again Atheists, Agnostic Bigots, and The Art of Learning
Born Again Atheists are such a joy to behold; such militants birth excuses for every close-minded agenda disguised as an attribute of teaching but is indeed proof of not being teachable. The courage of our convictions is FINE (Friggin Insecure Neurotic Emotional) if that's what one needs to feel good enough about oneself, but the courage to QUESTION one's convictions, whatever they may be, is the great source of freedom. One can learn from ANYONE, regardless if they are 100% mistaken about anything or everything.
Open your heart, and your mind will follow. 'Who pays any attention to the syntax of things' (thank you, ee cummings) will never wholly love others. In a chess tournament, the best players respect the moves on the board and don't distinguish from whence they derive.
The good is the enemy of the best. “Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers.” Voltaire
When I was a teenager, I had a person who was in possession of an IQ of under 60 say something shockingly profound. It almost seemed like a genius spirit inhabited his consciousness for about three-seconds, spoke, and then stared at me waiting for a response. I was speechless but in possession of an experience that never left me. I from that day listened to everyone, no matter what. If Satan Himself dropped out of a UFO and said something I believed, I would run with it, regardless of the source.
Another two experiences helped me toward open-mindedness, AKA, Objectivity. 1) In my early 20's, I had a Mentor who was a certified genius (MENSA). He was my chess teacher, boxing trainer, martial artist instructor, and life coach. I was 100% convinced of a particular truth, and in a moment, this Mentor proved I was 100% wrong about it. 2) The very next day, he disproved another idea I relied upon 100% and thereby helped me to suspend my beliefs in the exercise called 'consideration.'
Lastly, I heard a college professor talking about Nietzsche, and how his mind questioned everything. I've had other items help free me not to have a box to think outside of, but sufficient unto the day is the reasoning thereof.
Occasionally, an Agnostic Bigot burns a metaphorical question mark on my lawn, but I'm not their problem, and they aren't my problem. "There's no such thing as reality; there’s only perception," said Dr. Phil on the Oprah Show.
I'm in charge of what I say, while others are in charge of what they hear. Like the Buddha said, when the student is ready, the teacher appears.
The lead singer of Metallica summed it up nicely: "Boredom comes from a boring mind."
Take what you like and leave the rest. Alas, "human survival and well being is ultimately a collective responsibility." Taha Aljamrah
Forgiving My Childhood Sexual Abuser, Chapter 11
God put love in my heart for the person that abused me as a child, doing for me what I could not do for myself. Forgiving My Childhood Sexual Abuser, Chapter 11, from The Little Book of Miracles, Stories from the Incomplete Skeptic.
"Forgiveness runs deeper than the offenses that requires its presence."
We need to take our eyes off of the abuse and focus 100% on God, but only God can make that possible. We mere mortals struggle daily with injustice, meanness, abuse, war, deceit, etc. Focusing on the dark side begets more darkness, but there is a light shining in the darkness, and while the darkness doesn't comprehend the light, it shines in darkness nonetheless.
Forgiveness runs deeper than the offenses that requires its presence. God maketh a table for me at my enemies' table, but they are my enemy while I am not their enemy.
The Bible describes Satan as the most beautiful angel in heaven and 1/3 of the hosts of heaven followed him. His EGO thought to reign over God and seeks to supplant our trust of God with outrage at the world. EGO: Edging God Out.
Don't believe any story that doesn't empower you.
To the pure of heart, all things are pure. If anything pisses Satan off, it's that no matter what he/she does, we align with God because our earthly problems belong to God. 'Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven'.
Look for Heaven. It is everywhere surrounding you, permeating your very existence at the deepest level, deeper than anything this world can throw at you.
More on Transparency & Healing Gender Separation
Ever problem starts small, with acquisitions surrendered, one successive approximation after another, until the solution seems impossibly distant. But solutions also surrender to success and it might take a while to unknot the generational impediments to healthy relationships once again.
It's none of my business what others think of me.
Seeing each other as we REALLY are is key. We can regain our innocence, and help others to do the same. Hurting people hurt people, I've heard it said, but I'm not willing to give that much room for play. Healed people 'heal people' is what I would rather focus on. Healed people were once hurting and needed healing. Someone had to touch their hearts for that to happen. Let's touch each other's hearts by running a complete virus scan and then purging the computer of the infected files. So what if we lose "programs" in the meanwhile? There's not a "price to pay" large enough to justify injuring people's hearts.
"Natural" & Its Misappropriation
Both thoughts and feelings are natural. Good & bad is a statement of the mind and has nothing to do with feelings, yet serves as a medium for the intellectualization of emotions, such as categorically saying, "Feeling bad is natural." Such a medium is the misappropriation of what is natural.
Most people who have a heart cry when they grieve the loss of a loved one. People might say the person feels bad, but they don't in that situation say that feeling bad is itself bad. No one mourns who does not love, and love is never wrong or "bad." They would in that situation say "feeling bad is natural." The expression of grief might be painful to observer or participant, but making our pain beautiful is about the consciousness of Grief as Praise and PROOF of Love. It's natural, and there's nothing 'bad' about it.
So while bad & natural does its tapdance in the thunderstorms of life, there is a tornado brewing, churning up rainbows in its swirling course until the spindle absorbs and then radiates every color imaginable. Tears become Holy Water, and the moistened, earthen heart sings its Praise.
Restoration of Innocence Through the 12 Steps
After Steps One & Two, Step Three is free.
Step Three for me happened when I freely chose to "turn it over", my life was no longer "mine" anymore. "WE" became a Triune of sorts, to wit: God, Fellow Members, and Me.
Step Eleven: WE is implicit in this Step, too: (WE) "Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out." Now IMO the language is relatively archaic, God being a "Him", but the heart hears deeper than the words used to transport any given message to the mind. For example, I am in charge of what I say, you're in charge of what you hear.
But I've noticed time and time again how NOT working the Steps INBETWEEN Steps 3 & 11 creates a gulf of misunderstanding between the heart & mind.
The heart is the feeling part of the mind, and the mind is the thinking part of the heart. In balance, the synergy is unstoppable, for INTUITION, deeper than WORDS, RECREATES our field of innocence. WE get our innocence back!
WE REcover (go back to what we were before the damage, back to who we REALLY are). Deep harmony releases a peaceful incense back to the world of our comprehension, AKA, Step Twelve.
The Culture of Blame & Gender Separatists
Sexual Harassment is a timely topic and one well-deserving of resolution, but when someone recently asked if I knew of ANY women who said they were never sexually harassed, I responded, "A couple" (it just so happens a woman on The View TV program just said it this morning, which I consider a timely coincidence). Yes, I believed a couple of females when they explicitly stated they were never a victim of sexual harassment.
I want to believe in the seductive Culture of Blame, victim-mentality gig. It's hard to wrap my mind around the idea when I try to dissect the 'whys' or 'how can it be true' of it all, but I refuse to call them dishonest. I'm reluctant to play Drill Sargeant or psychoanalyze their answer. If the circumstances were right and with no agenda, I might be willing to have that discussion with a good friend, but I viewed these women as intelligent, independent women. I remain reluctant to enable or engage the Culture of Blame.
It's a rare person who has not experienced some form of discrimination by the so-called "Opposite" sex. I prefer UNITY so view "us" in a Union of Polarities, or as a Fellowship of Equals.
Ironically, people often subscribe to an "Opposites Attract" philosophy. Maybe it's the Law of Attraction at work in the advent of gender separationism. We create what we believe.
"We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." Talmud
Born Again Militant Atheism
For me, God is Love (or Good Orderly Direction). There's nothing to 'overcome' in surrender.
EGO = Edging God Out. Well, religionists can ESO = Edging Science Out, too. For me, Science & God are not opposites. Science "believes in" theories and some members "believe" in God or not. But whatever I choose to believe in is up to me.
A perfect circle rarely exists in nature, but when we pull out our tools and draw one, we might as mathematicians get excited. We might even have a 'relationship' with math. C'mon, I have heard countless people say they "LOVE" math. There's nothing wrong with that any more than it's silly to "LOVE" God. Math without a relationship is akin to the truth without paradox, because "truth" without a paradox is dead, just like faith without works is dead.
Here's an exciting circle: An Agnostic says they don't "know" if there's a God or not. Well, I believe there is a God, but I don't "know" it, either. I guess that makes me an Agnostic, of sorts. Here's the Full Circle Rub: if someone knows there's a God, they have just destroyed faith. If we see it, what value is there in belief or faith? What human perception holds for religion and science today will change over time. I would rather be on the Learning Curve of any given discipline than on the platform of an Agenda.
Intelligent people build prisons to think inside of, just as much as religionist can be dogmatic. Some militant atheists need a God in whom NOT to believe. I called this brand of Atheist, "Born Again Atheists."
Emily Dickinson said, "Dwell in possibility." Maybe Possibility is a Higher Power. I accept everyone whether or not they have a belief in a Higher Power (or not) and have enough self-respect not to feel threatened by an absence of faith that looks like mine.
We can love each other, even if we might not like someone or what they believe in, per se.
Me, I like everybody. That's one of the values that come from not making OVERthinking a Higher Power.
Live & Let Live is a GREAT Slogan.
The Problem/Solution Penitentiary or the Prayer of Serenity
If I'm not offended, there's nothing to forgive. That is to say, if I am not offended, there is no "problem" to solve. It's the Irony of the Ages that any given "Solution" needs a Problem to solve, much like forgiveness needs an offense to forgive.
For me, Serenity is a gift and the SECOND word in the Serenity Prayer.
No One Comes Out the Way They Went In
They have a saying in prison, "Nobody comes out the way they went in".
But guess what? When a judge embarks on their career, they're probably pretty excited about their prospects of making the world a better place to live in. But the truth is, even for a judge, or a cop, or social worker, or an attorney, or a civil rights worker, or a minister, or a humanitarian, or even for most great spiritual leaders, maybe the same truth encapsulates their lives as well.
Nobody comes out the way they went in.
However, we often show up for one reason and stay for another. It's not what happens to us that matter so much as how we respond to what happens. Our world seems to be addicted to judgment. When we criticize anyone for anything, I suspect we are really only proclaiming that our defects of character are superior to their defects of character.
The most secure prison in the world is the one we are in but don't know we are in. The invisible walls are always more secure than the solid ones. Dressing up slavery and calling it freedom, and then charging extortion to support the illusion of the equality is the sorest type of any inequality that exists.
The Truth May Set You Free, but You Might Get Locked Up for Telling It.
I was in a mental hospital for the Criminally Insane in Missouri (Biggs) for Evaluation. They let me go after a couple of weeks. They sent me to Biggs for Eval. They thought I was trying to beat the case on an insanity defense. I drove under the influence and had a dream/premonition about it and told a cop.
I have story upon story of how abuse permeates the system. Here's just one:
I saw staff treating human beings despicably in Biggs. An elderly male patient "punched" an orderly. The Thorazine Shuffle "punch" was so drugged-up, and the patient was so old, his 'punch' would not have harmed a kitten.
They wrestled the patient to his room. I was amazed to see the orderly break a needle off on the wall in the man's room and puncture his leg to inject a 'calming' med. The man cried in pain when it happened, puncturing my heart with compassion. They didn't even bother to shut his door entirely, so I stood there watching them hogpile him. The orderly saw me looking and gave me an aggressive look like, 'if you say anything, you're toast'! I never told anyone, but I saw how dehumanized people were treated.
We can't win this one from the inside. No one cares, and no one believes someone who is mentally ill, traumatized, etc. when they speak out. If staff speak out, they risk much, too. Most people in prison suffered trauma in their youth, but they call it an "excuse" when it's pointed out.
I would probably get arrested if I wrote a book about all the shit I've seen or know about.
https://allpoetry.com/poem/6468-The-Corruptional-Facility-by-Timothy-Cameron
Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse (Serenity, Acceptance, Courage, Wisdom)
Serenity, Acceptance, Courage (AKA Willingness) and Wisdom is a gift (it's a package deal, therefore, "is" is appropo).
God,
GRANT
me the
Serenity to
Accept
the things I cannot change, the
Courage
to Change the things I can, and the
Wisdom
to know the difference.
"We intuitively know things which used to baffle us."
It’s Not Illegal to Be Crazy; It’s Only Illegal to Act Crazy
Jean-Paul Sartre penned, “Hell is other people.” I thought, “What’s he talkin’ about? I love people and do not consider people “hell.” I summarily dismissed his words. While I believe it is essential to have the courage of one’s convictions, I think it is imperative to question one’s convictions. There’s always more freedom in a question than in its answer. So, I forced myself to suspend my belief system and examine his proposition open-mindedly and in so doing, reinvented my perception.
Let’s examine the very words we might use to either trap or free us and take a snapshot of our legalese, namely, the adversarial system and its language. When someone's branded a perpetrator, it’s easier to call them a monster, or Inhuman, to demonize them. We do this in religion, politics, social strata and even regarding race. On a more subtle level, this demonization comes in gentler phraseology, such as, “Them” or “These People,” as if there is not a potential or capacity to harm others is present in every one of us.
Fortunately for everyone, very few of us act on thoughts we have when we’re angry or upset. It’s not illegal to be crazy; it’s only illegal to act crazy. But some of us have mugshots to prove we were behaving crazy. I do, but I am more than my mugshot. Though we might get booked and photographed by the police, we are more than our mugshots. We should not define ourselves or “others” by our worst moments. According to Attorney Emily Baxter, “We are all criminals,” or at least would have been had we been caught. All I can say is, “Thank God life isn't fair” because if it were fair, many of us would be in serious trouble right now.
Every country and culture packages and produces both violence and forgiveness. If we fail to recognize the underlying humanity of those who commit violence, how can we ever hope to change it? And how can we empower survivors to transcend tragedy if we are ripening a victim’s ability to feel ‘less than.” Why enable safe harbor to staying at the victim stage? Forgiveness is an inside job. We forgive not because the offender deserves forgiveness, but because we deserve peace. Forgiveness exorcises the demon and relieves the perpetrator of its brand; the forgiver finds peace. Fail to forgive, and the beast stays with the victim in a self-made prison of relationship.
When a victim owns the responsibility of being a victim, they take their power back. Victimhood sheds its snakelike skin against the rocks of compassion, which is, ironically provided by those who have “dropped the rock.” When an offender takes ownership of their offense, they release the culprit status of self-made guilt & self-pity, which paradoxically represents another form of victimhood. We need to hang up the blamethrower.
The world is addicted to judgment, and lack of mercy is a global contagion. Stop defining yourself and others by one's worst moments. We need to stop absorbing into our Collective Consciousness stories which don't empower us. Run a spiritual virus scan on yourself and then purge the virus from your system. For this writer, God is the oxygen in forgiveness.
In a search for distillation of wisdom, I was touring a graveyard reading tombstones, hoping to find a lifetime of experience all rolled into a word or sentence. On an obelisk, I read, “The sins of our brothers we write in sand, but their virtues we carve in granite.”
“Hell is other people.” I focused on the word, “other.” Ah yes, it became apparent what Sartre might have meant. Other races, other religions, other political parties, other orientations, other classes, and the myriad of “other” Us/Them scenarios. Quit spending time thinking about things you don’t like or don’t want. ‘Look for the Good’ in any given person, place or thing, and you’ll find it.
Anybody Care?
Just wondering.
Changing Conversations Inside Our Heads
Changing conversations inside of my head is something I've done since I was a young person. All day long, every day, I'm subject to rehearse a speech in my mind. Over and over and over again I prepare my speeches, hone ideas, polish my feelings and do my best to incorporate the feelings of any given future audience in this process. I have to strip resentments from my consciousness, dissolve negative conversations and their import from my desire to deliver a powerful presentation. Gratitude brings me into a harmonious relationship with the good in everyone that surrounds me in my perception. Always hold the energy of surrender in any given endeavor. I am in charge of what I say, the audience is in charge of what they hear. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. So a surrendered teacher merges with a surrendered student, and the space of surrender is filled with love. Acceptance is a gift.
Messengers and Messages
We all grow up and are always growing up, I suppose. Kinda like recovered/recovering. But what messages have you heard that either empowered you to rise above your difficulties and what messages have you heard to the contrary, and what do you do with these messages?
You ever have one of those periods where you realize you are not worth a shit to yourself or anyone else? I have heard that many times in my life. I've also heard that I've done nothing but destroy lives. I believe it sometimes, today being one of those times. I have asked many an audience to tell at least three people a day that they love them, but best that I can tell, no one has done it. That's OK because the message was delivered, even if the courage to carry it out was lacking.
So today I feel like my life has amounted to nothing good. People buy my book out of sympathy at best, while most ignore the message. I'm just the messenger, but I'm also just human with a long history of being talked down to, verbally abuse and the people I love being dishonest with me, even though I am totally OK with loving them regardless of their shortcomings. I believe most dishonest is not dishonest (sounds contradictory) but is rather an act of distrust. I put my heart out there through poetry, Blogging, speaking, doing acts of kindness when I can, yet feel my life is hopeless. No one will ever love me. I'm too broken or something, I don't know.
So if anyone reads this, please don't say anything on Facebook to comfort me. I figure no one reads my Blog, anyway, so I don't need to say this, but on the random chance God inspires someone to read this, I ask that you PM or text me rather than say anything on Facebook. I've asked God for wisdom and strength, whatever that means. I'm still here for a reason.
I put two lidocaine patches on and am going to go drive if I can handle it.
GENETIC LEGACIESA
We are more than higher mathematics and the manipulation its comprehension benefits "us".
I still hear it argued that IQ & physical and mental health gene pools can be a gene pool problem, decipherable by in vitro processing to promote ‘human flourishing’. Biotechnology has the potential to promote more than human potential. Like any dictator, it can be malevolent or benevolent, a technological nightmarish apocalyptic undermiracle, or a rise of the Titans to destroy the gods of science. Embryo selection and the profilers that identify desirable traits serve the selector, like the Bureau of Prisons feeding the Department of Justice who is paid to correct the correctors. Maybe the legacies of Atlantis hiding in the gene pool of all humanity or not, but who gets to decide? The elimination of hereditary diseases is attractive? Sparta did this in theory, by casting all of the non-blonde, non-blue-eyed babies to their fate in ravines (to free the gene pool of lesser taints). It’s an interminable slippery slope that hides like an egoic infection in the intellects of the ‘masters of the universe’.
In any given family, sibling IQ rates rarely differ more than 15 points, and the Guinness book of world records show the highest IQ’s come from two persons with high IQ’s having offspring. Yet, we don’t have Atlantis purifying and directing our evolution, nor have we abolished slavery, genderism, sex-trafficking, addiction, and the other vices plaguing humanity.
Compassion, if it can be bred, should be inculcated from the desire to evolve, and not vice-versa. Maybe there is one difference between folks with high IQ's and those without such privilege, is people with privilege 'get away with' their crimes of non-compassion.