Keep Your Eye on the Prize

Today's news leads off with the deportation of a 95 year old ex-Nazi prison guard. Okay. He was, by all accounts, a despicable man, at least 70 years ago, and I'm not at all sorry to see him go. But, in the whole World, is this really the most important thing going on?
California has been burned to ashes and, if they ever get rain again, which is becoming another issue, the mud slides will be frightful. Around the World, the Ring of Fire seems to be growing more and more active. I am quite sure that no one really wants to look at the potential for more and stronger volcano eruption, earthquakes and tsunamis, but it may be a good idea to start thinking about emergency management strategies/ Iran is testing long range missiles. Russia has launched a satellute that can, potentially be used as a weapons platform/ Missouri, the geart of America's farmland is going through a catastrophic drought. And so on.
I am not about to start ranting about theses issues. I want to point out the power of misdirection. WE humans are easily distracted. This is the essence of stage magic. The President goes on, at great length  , in praise of fallen cops and soldiers. Fine, I feel horrible when folks are senselessly killed, but, when the talk goes on and on, something else is going on. Likewise, when a celebrity death is the lead story. Sane when trials and investigation concerning small time crimes stemming from political maneuvering dominate the news for days and months for years.
I am not saying that we are being lied to. There is truth in all of these headline stories. The whole thing is far more subtle. Our attention is being directed away from the important to the trivial. Why?
One, someone, or some group of someones, is up to no good and hope to get their way before we notice. Or, something is about to happen and it is being kept from us because, if it is revealed, panic will ensue. Or both. There is thought, and some evidence, that certain elite folks want to grab all they can before all hell breaks loose, then flee the scene with all the goodies. Is that true? Maybe. Either that ot we are all considered idiot children who cannot handle the truth.
Stage magic is a close cousin to occult magick, of the Crowlean sort. Both types work by mind manipulation. Stage magic is harmless fin. The other sort is neither. When people are attempting to manipulate your attention and, in essence, control your thought, that is, by definition, black magick.  We must fight such action if we are to keep our lives and our souls
Fight it by always looking for what is being stressed by the media and by politicians and corporations. In fact, those are now the 3 branches of our Government. Always look deeply and always remember what really counts, life, family, friends, God. In other words, keep your eyes ob the prize.

Take the High Road

As we go through the insanity that is this modern World, we are confronted with rudeness, violence, and depravity. Those have always been a part of the human condition and I suppose they will continue to be with us for long years to come.
It is so easy to fall into such traps, or so it seems. Actually, it is quite difficult. You tax your soul, your spirit, to the breaking point. Yes, there are people who behave horribly, and, sometimes, they are successful. Often, their lives descend into chaos and misery. Even if they retain their surface worldly success, they suffer in their personal lives. True, sometimes they wind up with people who are as mentally ill as they are, and yes, horrible behavior is a mental illness, they will pay retribution when they leave this life. Make no mistake. We do have immortal souls and they do pay for past mistakes, unless we repent and do penance.
I am not preaching a sermon, just stating facts about how the Creation works. If you don't like that, too bad. I certainly have not lived a saintly life, far from it. I have repented, which simply means to have a change of heart, and I have done penance. I still make a lot of mistakes, but I try to correct them quickly.
Part of our problem stems fro our constant bombardment, by the media, with depraved images of sexuality, violence, greed and decadence. They should remember the words of Jesus, " Woe unto you who lead these children astray. It would be better if you had a millstone tied to your neck and were cast into the seal. He was not one to mince words.
We all need to learn to tune out the garbage we are being fed. If you find certain presentations titillating, but uncomfortable, you need to get away from them. This does not mean banning content, censoring. That never works. Nor does it mean that you can only view Sesame Street and read Mother Goose. There are many programs, books, movies and pieces of music that can hold the interest of grown ups without boring them silly. Also, beware the news. Sometimes they are far too graphically violent.
You cannot, and should not, try to control the World. The Creator grants freedom to the Creation. But, you can choose what you allow to penetrate your consciousness and how you react to the input.  Always, take the high road. Rise above the disease. It's not that hard. Have a very Blessed day. 

Parts Unkknown

It seems that Anthony Bourdain has killed himself. I seldom write about celebrity mishaps and I was no fan of his on screen persona. However, I did like his show, Parts Unknown.
It was a way to get a glimpse into the way other people live. It was daring, insightful and, at times, fairly dangerous. I had trouble with his extreme liberal view of things, but that is just who he was. At least we had way to see how our fellow humans live. I often thought that it would be interesting to have a conservative host visit the same spots to see an opposite view. The truth general lies somewhere in the middle.
But, that is not going to happen. Real conservative get no time in the media, except on Fox  and then all they seem to do is praise and defend the President.
We get little insight into how other folks live. There are internet reports and that is admirable, but the TV networks have so much more money and vast resources. They could do spectacular programming.
I am in no way a globalist, but I do believe that the individual nations need to understand each other. We must get along to some degree. The best way to get there is by showing each other our lives. Let the Chinese see our day to day doings and let us see the Iranians. Let New Jersey see the Congo and let Christians see Buddhists. We all have our quirks and faults but we have mire in common than we think. The media could be the path to bridging many of the World's divisions.
Instead, we get Dancing With the Stars and Real Housewives.

America Adrift

America currently is adrift, floundering in a sea of emotions, fear being the main one. People watch the news, which may not be a good idea, and grow frightened, nervous. They are shown a world that loathes us, where evil waits at every corner, and where their jobs are on the line every time they start their day. They are shown a world where blacks hate whites, Latinos don't get along with Anglos, and no one likes Moslems, where heterosexuals hate gays, and where Republicans and Democrats are rapidly demonizing each other. As a result, folks watch too much sports on TV, eat too much, drink too much, take too many drugs and spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about their sex lives ( just watch any sports program and  see how many adds for erectile dysfunction treatments there are). Enough.

Look, things are not good, but we are not at the beginning of the Apocalypse. I don't see the 4 Horsemen saddling and I haven't heard Gabriel sounding his trumpet. It is true that some people in some parts of the world are anti-American but, if we had any brains, we could solve that problem by keeping our noses out of their affairs. Trust me, there are still countries that are fond of American people, they just aren't happy with our government.

Many, by far the majority, of Black and White folks get along just fine. Many of my best friends have been Latin and if the media did not keep stirring things up, most Americans get on pretty well with Moslems; they have been among us for years and they are like everyone else, some good, some bad, and most in between.

I know very few people anymore who give much thought about gay people. Sure, there is some residual homophobia, but it is fading rapidly. And, from what I see, most Americans are none too fond of extreme Republicans or extreme Democrats.

We are all just people. We are all a mixture of good and bad. I know no saints and all of us sinners really aren't that bad, quirky maybe, but that keeps life interesting.

So, don't buy into doom and gloom and, at the same time, don't see the world through rose colored glasses. Just be realistic. And stop being so damn afraid. We have problems but, if we stop looking for governments to solve our problem, we can make some headway. Turn off the TV, get outside and take back the Country. Who knows, maybe that's all people need to do to cure those ED problems

America, Golf and Celebrities

I would again like to mention the way we treat celebrities. I am not a follower of pop entertainers or TV stars, nor do I follow a lot of sports, but, as I have written, I do watch professional golf. The recent Masters triggered this post.

Jordan Speith is currently the number 2 ranked player in the World. At the age of 22, he has 7 wins, 2 of them majors. In his last 5 majors, he has 2 wins, 2 seconds, and a 4th. That is far better than most golfers do in their entire careers.

Since he came on the scene,  he has been the focus of way too much attention and since his 1st Masters win, it has gotten out of hand. Yes, he is a brilliant young golfer but the key word is young. He is still learning the game. His accomplishments are great, but he likely will get better. But, he will not be brilliant on every shot, in every round, in every tournament. Yet, analysts seem to grow hysterical when he flubs a shot.

Being young, he has not yet learned to say 'no.' He seems to be available for every possible interview, has hustled around to countless TV appearances, and has kept up an unsustainable schedule of play. He has to learn that he does not have to accommodate everyone. All of us, even 22 year-olds, need some rest and time to ourselves. Add to a hectic schedule, the pressure to not just play well, but to play brilliantly and win everything. and something has to give. At the recent Masters, it did.

During a week when he was not at his best, Jordan was pushed and interrogated by the media. He managed to stay in the lead by sheer determination, until finally, on the 12th hole of the last round, the wheels fell off. He looked burnt out and showed it by making a bad choice on the tee and chunking his next shot. It happens to everyone, but, the media seemed to go into near weeping hysteria at the turn of events. Now, Jordan will be pushed to be brilliant his next time out, or all will bemoan his fall from golfing greatness.

Speith seems to be a very decent, down to Earth young man, but, if he is not careful, he could be eaten up by the celebrity machine of the media. To them, he is a commodity, and if they think he has fallen off his game, they will dump him. That would not be a bad thing. In fact, it may be the best thing that could happen to him, because the pressure would be off, but some people fall in love with fame and react very badly when it diminishes.  Hopefully, Speith can remain level headed.

The golf media wants another Tiger Woods and they will not get one, not for a long time if ever. He was that good and how he stood up to the pressure and stayed that consistent is beyond me. The current lot of young players, Jordan, Ricky Fowler, Jason Day, Rory McIlroy and the rest are fine players but none is Tiger. Yet watch the golf announcers. Whoever wins is suddenly heralded as the next greatest ever, until they have bad week, the they laud someone else. All of that is symptomatic of the publics lust for celebrities. It is a cultural disease and the players need to find a way to keep centered and opt out of the celebrity game.  Our culture eats celebrities alive and spits out the remains when the next hot thing comes along.