IDIOCY BASED ON A LIE

I was driving to Sedona today to pick up some free wood and the old brain started musing away. I thought back to the old Sabbath issue that helped get me into that theological abortion called originally the Radio Church of God, then the Worldwide Church of God. Both are now gone and have been replaced by hundreds of splinters and offshoots, mostly championed by some egomaniacal would be clone of Herbert W. Armstrong. They vary only in the degree and depths of their fanaticisms.

We believed, unlike even dumber fundamentalists, that the earth was created long before man was (known as the gap theory) but we still were sure that Satan destroyed everything in a gigantic interstellar war and there had to be a recreation that took a literal seven days about six thousand years ago and it was incumbent on us to observe that seventh day we were convinced the Jews preserved inviolate all these centuries.

I started to doubt that BS even while I was still a member and employee. There was a nagging doubt about it all that kept coming up. The longer I tried to observe the Sabbath, the more utterly absurb it became.

Sabbaths just don't fit in a technological, advanced world such as the one in which we live. Read the rules sometime. You can't even kindle a fire if you were caught out in the open in the upper Midwest after Sundown on wintry Friday night. The world would grind to a halt every seventh day. Plane schedules would have to make sure no plane landed at an airport after sundown Friday. If you were traveling, where would you eat if no restaurants were open.

I could go on and on. It's clear that the Sabbath was a gigantic pain in the ass even in much simpler ages. It certainly was for me while I was caught up in that nonsense and it was a great relief when I got it through my stupid head that it was all a big sham based on a myth that was a lie to begin with.

Limited work weeks is all we need so people can have adequate time for rest and personal things. We don't need some supposedly "holy" piece of time based on a creation account that is a gigantic lie foisted upon the Jewish people by priests who brought back and revised Babylonian myths after the Babylonian captivity and panned them off on the Jewish people for their (the priests) benefit.  It put the populace in a straight jacket they cunningly devised.

I now rest and recreate when I feel the need to do so. I recognize no holy time someone else arbitrarily sets up, usually for the purpose of getting me to come listen to their supposedly superior knowledge, wisdom and understanding so they can sucker me into supporting them in the style they conclude they deserve for all the service they're rendering me (different priestly class, same sham with same goal).  (I'm an old ranch kid.  I know what "servicing" is all about.  When you take a cow to a bull for "service," guess what happens,)

No thanks. Whatever time I have is my time and I'll decide how to use it.

JUST RUMINATING

Those Mexicans know how to eat! We enjoyed La Fonda mexican restaurant yesterday. Tonight, we just warmed up some refried beans and had tostadas with cheese, sour cream and Chachie's salsa, topped off with a bottle of wine. I'm still sipping on that. They tend to eat more balanced meals than lots of other people do.

No outside work today, but I did book a bi-lingual wedding ceremony for May 31 at Red Rock state park. The rest of the day was taken up with sales in early morning (we hit a very good estate sale this morning) and a short stop at WalMart. Then I hit things around here for much of the afternoon, cut back the climbing roses so they'll bloom again, sorted the recycling, patroled for new weeds and a couple of other little things.

Tomorrow, there's a community sale and after that more things waiting around here. There never is a lack of chores needing done, and they went begging much of last year while I was trying to make Aflac go. Don't miss it. Quite the contrary. It's a relief not to have the pressure. Live and learn.

Same with the Lions Club. Things like that are valuable in the community, but I'll leave it to others with fewer other pressures and consuming interests. Blogging and Facebook more than take their place and I control everything about both. Old independent, ornery me likes it that way.

I've come to realize that a self-reliant, independent person like me can never be happy tied to anything that limits autonomy. Nearly forty years of entrepreneurship thoroughly spoiled me, as some people might regard it. When my son Gene and I had our carpet business together, our motto was: "Eat no shit -- kiss no ass!" We didn't walk off many jobs, but when the situation called for it, we didn't hesitate. Really shocked one lady when I firmly told my son, "Pack up." I knew we were dealing with the clasic example of a bitch when her husband disappeared as she started questioning if we knew what we were doing and asked if we had references after she'd already hired us because she didn't understand, in her ignorance, why we were proceeding as we were. No professional is going to tolerate any ignorant amateur looking over their shoulder and questioning their professional expertise. At least, not this professional.

I put these little anecdotes on here in the hope that they may help people like my grandchilddren deal with life a little better once in awhile. It's not intended to be "tooting my horn." I've learned things in more than seven decades, and I hope what I write about accomplishes some good. My son was there to learn a lot of it in person, and he tells me he appreciates it. I can only be in one place at a time, but what I write can be many places now and later.

A FULFILLING MOMENT

I did one of my favoite things yesterday.  I officiated at a wedding.

 

Yesterday's wedding was outstanding at a Sedona resort and took place under cathedral like trees on the bank of Oak Creek. The couple was from Phoenix and, being computer savvy, they had found my blog and both said they loved it. Nice change. So many people hate it. I lost one caller a few weeks ago because of it. He obviously had an hostile attitude toward my opinions. That won't deter me.  Nothing will deter me anymore.

The bride had two sons who are either teens or pre-teen. Very fine young men with good bearing and manners and they both walked her down the aisle.

They also appreciated my ceremony which I've carefully crafted over the years to avoid all the traditional nonsense and even changed one statement yesterday to give less expert credence to Paul's statements about love in I Cor. 13. I know the literary creation called Paul is the real source of what is known as Christianity today, but that chapter is not the only meaningful teaching on the subject of love. So, I changed one sentence to include all the famous teachers on the subject. I'm always thinking, analyzing and evolving.

I wish this outstanding couple and their new family unit all the happiness and fulfillment possible. I know all too well that there will be problems to overcome, challenges to meet and the occasional disappointment or heartache. That's the reality of life, but dedicated, unwavering love and commitment will get them through.

It's a real fulfillment to do these wedding ceremonies. It can hardly be described as work. I've been privileged to do hundreds now since 1997, quite a few in prisons when we were in Phoenix. I often wonder how it all turned out and how many have been successful in claiming true happiness for themselves. I can only give them the legal start. The rest is up to them.

 

I have good "vibes" about yesterday.

LET'S GET REAL HERE

I get disgusted with the dumb expectations people have toward a president. They expect him to be a king and just get things done by command as soon as he is elected, not stopping to realize that this is a representative form of government and the president can't do a damn thing in most cases if the congress doesn't back him up.

Lot's of people think Obama has been sitting on his hands where Gitmo is concerned. Fact is, he issued an executive order to close down that embarrassing travesty soon after his inauguration but congress stymied and sabotaged it.

Congress (I mean the Republicans and a few traitor Democrats who should be kicked the hell out of the party) has done everything it could to sabotage every good thing Obama has tried to do since day one of his first administration. They are total assholes and I have no intention of apologizing to anyone for using that kind of terminology.

I despise everything the Republican party is and stands for.

TAKES GUTS TO REALLY LIVE

I was just relaxing on the patio with a morning cup of decaf and noticed once again the quote by Eleanor Roosevelt on the cup's side: "Do one thing every day that scares you." I bought it because of that quote -- many years ago now.

I can't claim to have done that every day of my life, but I have done a good many things that really scared me at first. So far, I've survived them all, sometimes the worse for wear.

I know many people who fit the old description, "stick in the mud." They will tolerate just about anything to keep from abandoning their comfortable rut. I suppose they get a comfortable sense of never changing dependability out of that, but it's not for me.

I remember how shaken I was when my first wife demanded a divorce and I could have just hunkered down and concluded It was best to just wait for happenstance to maybe end my sense of loneliness and abandonment. Instead, I looked around for groups that could be a help, soon getting into singles square dancing. A few girlfriends later, I found a reasonably compatible mate.

It scared the living begeebers out of me to start my own business and have to be responsible for landing and keeping my own customers, three times now, in Pasadena, Phoenix and Cottonwood. If anyone thinks being a self-employed entrepreneur is a bed of roses, try it sometime.

My sister thought I was making the mistake of my life when I moved to Arizona. Best choice ever, as far as I'm concerned. Absolutely no desire to move back to that California zoo. Phoenix became a hot old zoo of its own, so off to Cottonwood.

I could go on and on, but no need as far as I can see. Leaving a settled ranch life that could have been mine if I had compromised my desire for a different kind of life. Opting out of a religion I had dedicated my life to and which gave me a comfortable feeling of security no matter how regimented and controlling the atmosphere. Etc., etc.

I don't mean anyone should be rash and careless, but there is a time to coldly analyze the facts, determine what would be most fulfilling and get on with it.

INVOKING WITH REASON, NOT FAITH

I'm reading Herb Silverman's book, Candidate Without a Prayer. It's very interesting and inspirational to a secular humanist atheist like me.

On March 25, 2003, Herb (first atheist candidate for governor of South Carolina and founder of the Secular Coalition For America) was asked by Councilman Kwanjo Campbell to deliver a secularist invocation to a council meeting. What he delivered is so inspirational that I will post it here:

"Thank you for this opportunity to invoke a minority point of v...iew. Each of us is a minority in some way. It might be race, religion, sexual orientation, nationality, or any other aspect in which we may be regarded as different. Each of us is also part of some majority. It is when we wear our majority hats that we need to be most mindful of how we treat others. We must pledge our best efforts to help one another, and to defend the rights of all of our citizens and residents.

What divides us is not so much our religious differences in this diverse country, but the degree of commitment we have to equal freedom of conscience for all people. We are gathered today, both religious and secular members of our community, with the shared belief that we must treat our fellow human beings with respect and dignity.

In this invocation, I don't ask you to close your eyes, but to keep your eyes constantly open to the serious problems that city government can solve or improve. I don't ask you to bow your heads, but look up at what you can accomplish by applying your considerable talents and experience to the issues that confront us.

As you work together on behalf of all who live in this city, may you draw strength and sustenance from one another through reason and compassion. I'd like to close in a bipartisan manner by quoting from two persidents I greatly admire -- one a Republican and the other a Democrat.

First, the Republican: 'When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad. That is my religion.' Abraham Lincoln.

And, now, the Democrat: 'It's remarkable how much you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit." Harry S. Truman."

WHAT IT'S LIKE IN THE ECONOMIC TRENCHES

I continue to be astounded at the cost of things today. No wonder so many are close to destitution and homelessness!

We and the poms went to WalMart this morning. On her way out, Phyllis told me she had bought some potato salad and asked if I'd get some fish sandwiches for lunch at the instore McDonalds.

It was $7.04 for two not too large buns, 2 small squares of fish and two dollops of tartar sauce! Where was the gold foil they should have come wrapped in?

I know the young guy who served me isn't being paid very much and is probably only surviving by continuing to live with his parents who are also undoubtedly struggling and watching the steady decline in their standard of living and the increase in their debt level.

This never had to be. We are all slaves to our petroleum based economic system that is being stubbornly maintained by the millionaires and billionaires who own us all. Long ago, we should have been powering our commerce and ourselves on pollution free hydrogen made cheaply from electricity and water. Don't give me that crap about how dangerous hydrogen is. Nobody has a problem dealing with equally explosive propane, which is petroleum based, or with atomic energy of which we've had ample demonstration of it's horrific dangers. How many are going to ultimately die from that japanese disaster. How safe do you feel eating that tuna sandwich loaded with radioactive isotopes? Don't hear much about that, do you? A vast swath of the Ukraine and to a lesser extent much of Europe will be poisoned for generations -- unborn generations which will continue to pay the price.

It seems like our checks go faster each passing month, no matter how much we cut back, refinance our mortgage, switch auto insurance, etc. And, the millionaires and billionaires make snide remarks about our being freeloaders and somehow falsely entitled. Yeah, we're part of that 47% asshole Romney denigrated. He's set for life with his pirated millions stolen largely from pension funds he confiscasted from raided companies. Business man, indeed! Not in my book. Introduce him to me and I'll spit in his hypocrite face.

End of rant.