Friday, December 14, 2012

How Do You Want To Be Remembered?



When I was at the top of my game. Very young, a thriving and growing business, brimming with health, houses and cars owned out right, no debt whatsoever, beautiful young children, faithful wife and mistress. I had just become friends with Robert Shaw and taken the chief concert tuner position at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. It seemed that whatever I touched turned to gold.  My best friend of that decade, Bob Smith (his real name by the way) said to me, "Butch, if you died today, do you realize that those people who are singing your praises as a very talented piano technician, musician, artist, etc, would be saying six months later, 'What was that follow's name that used to tune at Symphony?'  I did not realize the truth of his statement, until a week later, the head of maintenance at the Arts Center Complex dropped dead of a heart attack.  We were great friends - shared conversations three times a week at least. I knew his hopes and aspirations, shared holiday parties, and many, many stories. He played tenor sax for Dorsey and toured for many years, he knew by boyhood friend Ed King (a generation older) who also toured with Jimmy and Tommy Dorseys' Bands and even played in the Glen Miller Band before the military days.  He was by far the most popular person at the Atlanta Arts Center complex.  Six months later almost to the day, I pulled into the alley way, my privileged parking spot, next to the stage door (the one the orchestra member envied) looked straight ahead at the office door of my dear deceased friend, and could not recall his name.  To this day, I have never recovered his name, and have never asked his name of others who might know as a lesson to the wisdom of Bob Smith's words. It is true. We can be forgotten by most people we have met, even some we have love, very quickly.

People accuse me of being an egoist.  What they don't realize is that I'm an "ego-all-ist." I really want to see everyone that I see, friend and stranger, do more than survive but thrive, to be imbued with LIFE.  I really want to see everyone that I see, close, and mere stranger on the street, develop the talents the Good Lord has given them. I have always basked in the success of all around me and grieved for their loses. On any day I would have taken a bullet to save friend or stranger, alike.

I've never hidden myself from my sinful self or denied the need of God's healing/salvation. But rather as a flawed man I have loved Our Father in Heaven, and His Son, Jesus Christ and the Blessed and Life engendering Holy Spirit, more than I have loved myself. On any given day in my years of living I would have flung my body to be burned, for the sake of those I love, or a stranger in harms way. For whatever reason, maybe the Holy Spirit bound to me at Baptism, if I dare love myself, I could not help but love everyone I see, also. In my years as Prison Chaplain when I hugged every inmate, and guard, and officer, and deputy Warden and Warden, and some in each category wept upon my shoulder, others would say, "How can you show such affection when he is a serial murder, or rapist. . . etc." I would say, it is worse than that, "That one sacrificed his infant son to Satan, on a cook stove, (this isn't fiction) and that one took his daughters as "sister wives", and that one murdered his girl friend and abuse her corpse for a week afterward, and when they managed to convict that one on a single charge of murder, they close the books on fifty one other murders – and he still gets a glint in his eye and enjoys talking about his handiwork. (He was known as The Hillbilly in Mafia circles, a valued “hit man” for the mob.) There is no human being so low that God does not love them, and if I claim THAT God to be in my heart and do not Love, I am a liar.” - Some would look at me as if I were insane. And of course when you choose radical love, those not possessed of it, but who see themselves a 'righteous' automatically hate you and are willing to invent any scandal against you. 

In these many decades of living, flawed as I am, sinful as I am, egoist as I am, I have never missed thanking God for my life and the life of others - not one day lived without acknowledging the blessing of mere breath, life, light in my eyes, beauty, truth, justice, liberty, the experience of just "being." 

How do I want to be remembered? - as a serious man who would kill you for abusing another, but who would take a bullet to keep you from suffering abuse. Do you understand what I am saying?  I am talking about in our sinfulness and imperfection standing for the GOOD. Perfect people don't stand for the Good, instead they stand in constant protection of their own egos, and self-image.  Being possessed of radical love is something very different. It is being willing to accept being thought a genius or a fool, a saint or a sinful man, whatever it takes to help the person who will never be able to repay you, to love the unlovely as well as the lovely, the broken as well as the strong, the user as well as the used.  But most of all, I want to be remembered for having let the following words pass my lips in song at least once a week, most time in a beautiful little chant of my composition.



The Akathist Hymn: "Glory to God for All Things"
This Akathist, also called the "Akathist of Thanksgiving," was composed by Protopresbyter Gregory Petrov shortly before his death in a prison camp in 1940. The title is from the words of Saint John Chrysostom as he was dying in exile. It is a song of praise from amidst the most terrible sufferings. 
(Chanting Key:  / = re me fa  ;      \ fa me re ;      _   = do do re '     ~  =  re me do re :     ^ la re re re re etc. 


Kontakion 1:  /Everlasting King, Thy will for our salvation is \ full of power. /Thy right arm controls the whole course _ of human life. / We give Thee thanks for all Thy mercies, seen and \ unseen. ~ For eternal life,  /for the heavenly joys of the Kingdom which \ is to be.  /Grant mercy to us who sing Thy  \  praise, ~both now and in the time to come. 
~Glory to Thee,  O God, ~from age to age. 
Ikos 1: /I was born a weak, defenceless  \child, /but Thine angel spread his wings over my cradle _ to defend me. /From birth until now Thy love has illumined my \path, ~and has wondrously guided me ~towards the light of eternity; /from birth until now the generous gifts of Thy providence have been marvelously showered \upon me. ~I give Thee thanks, ~with all who have come to know Thee, ~who call upon Thy name.   
/Glory to Thee for calling me \into being
/Glory to Thee, for showing me the beauty \of the universe
/Glory to Thee, spreading out before me heaven and \earth
~Like the pages in a book ~of eternal wisdom
/Glory to Thee for Thine eternity in this fleeting \world
/Glory to Thee for Thy mercies, _seen and unseen
/Glory to Thee through every sigh \of my sorrow
/Glory to Thee for every step _of my life's journey
~For every moment of glory
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 2:  ^O Lord, how lovely it is to ~be Thy guest. ^Breeze full of scents; mountains reaching ~to the skies; ^waters like boundless mirrors, reflecting the sun's golden rays and ~the scudding clouds.  /All nature murmurs mysteriously, breathing the \depth of tenderness. /Birds and beasts of the forest bear the _imprint of Thy love. /Blessed art thou, mother earth, in thy \fleeting loveliness, ~which wakens our yearning ~for happiness that will last for ever, ~in the land where, amid beauty that grows not old, ~the cry rings out: ~Alleluia!  

Ikos 2:  ^Thou hast brought me into life as into an enchanted paradise. ^We have seen the sky like a chalice of deepest blue, /where in the azure heights the _birds are singing. ^We have listened to the soothing murmur of the forest and ~the melodious music of the streams. ^We have tasted fruit of fine flavour and the ~sweet‑scented honey. ^We can live very well on Thine earth. ^It is a pleasure to ~be Thy guest.  
/Glory to Thee for the Feast \Day of life
/Glory to Thee for the perfume _of lilies and roses
/Glory to Thee for each different taste of \berry and fruit
/Glory to Thee for the sparkling silver ~of early morning dew
/Glory to Thee for the joy of \dawn's awakening
/Glory to Thee for the new life _each day brings
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 3  ^It is the Holy Spirit who makes us find ~joy in each flower, ^the exquisite scent, ~the delicate colour, /the beauty of the Most High in the _tiniest of things. /Glory and honour to the Spirit, the \Giver of Life, /who covers the fields with their \carpet of flowers, /crowns the harvest with gold, and gives to us the joy of gazing at it _with our eyes. /O be joyful and sing to Him: \Alleluia!  
Ikos 3 /How glorious art Thou in the \springtime, /when every creature awakes to new life and joyfully sings Thy praises _with a thousand tongues. /Thou art the Source of Life, the \Destroyer of Death. ~By the light of the moon, _nightingales sing, /and the valleys and hills lie like \wedding garments, _white as snow. /All the earth is Thy promised bride awaiting her \spotless husband.  /If the grass of the field is like this, how gloriously shall we be transfigured in the \Second Coming /after the Resurrection! How splendid our bodies, _how spotless our souls!  
/Glory to Thee, bringing from the depth of the earth an endless \variety of colours,
 ~tastes and scents
/Glory to Thee for the warmth and tenderness of the \world of nature
/Glory to Thee for the numberless _creatures around us
/Glory to Thee for the depths of \Thy wisdom, ~the whole world ~a living sign of it
/Glory to Thee; on my knees, I kiss the traces of Thine \unseen hand
/Glory to Thee, enlightening us with the clearness _of eternal life
/Glory to Thee for the hope of the unutterable, imperishable beauty of \immortality
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 4 ^How filled with sweetness are those whose thoughts dwell on Thee; ^how life‑giving Thy holy Word. ^To speak with Thee is more soothing than anointing with oil; ^sweeter than the honeycomb. /To pray to Thee lifts the \spirit, ~refreshes the soul. /Where Thou art not, there is on_ly emptiness; /hearts are smitten with sadness; nature, and life itself, become \sorrowful; /where Thou art, the soul is _filled with abundance, ~and its song resounds ~like a torrent of life: ~Alleluia!   
Ikos 4  /When the sun is setting, when quietness falls like the peace of \eternal sleep, /and the silence of the _spent day reigns, /then in the splendour of its \declining rays, /filtering through the clouds, _I see Thy dwelling‑place: ~fiery and purple, gold and blue, /they speak prophet‑like of the ineffable beauty \of Thy presence, ~and call to us in their majesty. ~We turn to the Father.  
/Glory to Thee at the hushed hour \of nightfall
/Glory to Thee, covering the earth _with peace
/Glory to Thee for the last ray of the sun \as it sets
/Glory to Thee for sleep's repose _that restores us
/Glory to Thee for Thy goodness even in the \time of darkness
~When all the world ~is hidden from our eyes
/Glory to Thee for the prayers offered by a \trembling soul
/Glory to Thee for the pledge _of our reawakening
~On that glorious last day, ~that day which has no evening
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 5 ^The dark storm clouds of life bring no terror to those in whose hearts Thy fire is burning brightly. ^Outside is the darkness of the whirlwind, the terror and howling of the storm, ^but in the heart, in the presence of Christ, ~there is light and peace, silence: ~Alleluia!  
Ikos 5  /I see Thine heavens re\splendent with stars. /How glorious art Thou _radiant with light! /Eternity watches me by the rays of the \distant stars.  ~I am small, insignificant, _but the Lord is at my side. /Thy right arm guides me _wherever I go. 
/Glory to Thee, ceaselessly \watching over me
/Glory to Thee for the encounters _Thou dost arrange for me
/Glory to Thee for the love of parents, for the \faithfulness of friends
/Glory to Thee for the humbleness ~of the animals which serve me
/Glory to Thee for the unforgettable \moments of life
/Glory to Thee _for the heart's innocent joy
/Glory to Thee for the \joy of living
/Moving and being able _to return Thy love
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 6 ^How great and how close art Thou in the powerful track of the storm! ^How mighty Thy right arm in the blinding flash of the lightning! ^How awesome Thy majesty! /The voice of the Lord fills the fields, it speaks in the \rustling of the trees. /The voice of the Lord is in the thunder _and the downpour. /The voice of the Lord is heard a\bove the waters. ~Praise be to Thee ~in the roar of mountains ablaze. /Thou dost shake the earth _like a garment; /Thou dost pile up to the sky the _waves of the sea.  /Praise be to Thee, bringing low _the pride of man. ~Thou dost bring from his heart ~a cry of Penitence: ~Alleluia!  
Ikos 6  /When the lightning flash has lit up the \camp dining hall, ~how feeble seems the light from the lamp. /Thus do You, like the lightning, unexpectedly \light up my heart ~with flashes of intense joy. /After Thy blinding light, how drab, how colourless, how illusory _all else seems.  ~My souls clings to Thee.  
/Glory to Thee, the highest peak of \men's dreaming
/Glory to Thee for our unquenchable thirst _for communion with God
/Glory to Thee, making us dissatisfied with \earthly things
/Glory to Thee, turning on us _Thine healing rays
/Glory to Thee, subduing the power of the \spirits of darkness
_And dooming to death _every evil
/Glory to Thee for the signs \of Thy presence
~For the joy of hearing Thy voice ~and living in Thy love
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 7 ^In the wondrous blending of sounds it is Thy call we hear; ^in the harmony of many voices, ^in the sublime beauty of music, ^in the glory of the works of great composers: /Thou leadest us to the threshold of \paradise to come, ~and to the choirs of angels. /All true beauty has the power to draw the soul \towards Thee, ~and to make it sing ~in ecstasy: ~Alleluia!  
Ikos 7 /The breath of Thine Holy Spirit inspires artists, poets and \scientists. /The power of Thy supreme knowledge makes them prophets and interpreters _of Thy laws, /who reveal the depths of Thy cre\ative wisdom. ~Their works speak unwittingly of Thee. ~How great art Thou in Thy creation! ~How great art Thou in man!  
/Glory to Thee, showing Thine unsurpassable power in the \laws of the universe 
/Glory to Thee, for all nature is _filled with Thy laws 
/Glory to Thee for what Thou hast revealed to us \in Thy mercy
/Glory to Thee for what Thou hast hidden from us \in Thy wisdom
/Glory to Thee for the inventiveness _of the human mind
/Glory to Thee for the dignity \of man's labour
/Glory to Thee for the tongues of fire that \bring inspiration
/Glory to Thee, O God, _from age to age 
Kontakion 8 ^How near Thou art in the day of sickness. ^You Yourself visit the sick; ^You Yourself bend over the sufferer's bed. ^His heart speaks to You. /In the throes of sorrow and suffering Thou bringest peace and unexpected \consolation. ~Thou art the comforter. /Thou art the love which watches over \and heals us. ~To Thee we sing the song: ~Alleluia!  
Ikos 8 /When in childhood I called upon Thee consciously \for the first time, /Thou didst hear my prayer, and Thou didst fill my heart with the \blessing of peace. /At that moment I knew Thy goodness and knew how blessed are those who \turn to Thee. /I started to call upon Thee _night and day; /and now even now _I call upon Thy name.  
/Glory to Thee, satisfying my desires \with good things
/Glory to Thee, watching over me _day and night
/Glory to Thee, curing affliction and emptiness with the healing \flow of time
/Glory to Thee, no loss is irreparable \in Thee, ~giver of eternal life to all
/Glory to Thee, making immortal all that is \lofty and good
/Glory to Thee, _promising us the longed for meeting ~with our loved ones who have died
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 9 ^Why is it that on a Feast Day the whole of nature mysteriously smiles? ^Why is it that then a heavenly gladness fills our hearts; ^a gladness far beyond that of earth and the very air in church ~and in the altar becomes luminous? /It is the breath _of Thy gracious love. /It is the reflection of the glory \of Mount Tabor. ~Then do heaven and earth sing Thy praise: ~Alleluia!  
Ikos 9 /When Thou did call me to serve my brothers and filled my soul \with humility, /one of Thy deep, piercing rays _shone into my heart; /it became luminous, full of light like iron glowing \in the furnace. ~I have seen Thy face, ~face of mystery and of unapproachable glory.  /Glory to Thee, transfiguring our lives with \deeds of love 
/Glory to Thee, making wonderfully Sweet the \keeping of Thy commandments 
/Glory to Thee, making Thyself known where man shows mercy \on his neighbour 
/Glory to Thee, sending us failure and misfortune that we may understand the \sorrows of others /Glory to Thee, rewarding us so well _for the good we do 
/Glory to Thee, welcoming the impulse \of our heart's love
/Glory to Thee, raising to the heights of heaven every act of love in \earth and sky
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 10 ^No one can put together what has crumbled into dust, ^but Thou canst restore a conscience turned to ashes. ^Thou canst restore to its former beauty a soul lost and without hope. /With Thee, there is nothing that \cannot be redeemed. _Thou art love; ~Thou art Creator and Redeemer. ~We praise Thee, singing: ~Alleluia! 
Ikos 10 /Remember, my God, the fall of Lucifer \full of pride, /keep me safe with the power \of Thy Grace; /save me from falling _away from Thee. /Save me from doubt. Incline my heart to hear Thy mysterious voice every moment \of my life. /Incline my heart to call upon Thee, present in \everything.  
/Glory to Thee for \every happening
~Every condition Thy providence has put me in
/Glory to Thee for what Thou speakest to me \in my heart
/Glory to Thee for what Thou revealest to me, _asleep or awake
/Glory to Thee for scattering our vain  i\maginations
/Glory to Thee for raising us \from the slough _of our passions through suffering
/Glory to Thee for curing our pride of heart by hu\miliation
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 11 ^Across the cold chains of the centuries, ^I feel the warmth of Thy breath, ^I feel Thy blood pulsing in my veins. /Part of time has already gone, but now \Thou art the present. ~I stand by Thy Cross; ~I was the cause of it. /I cast myself down in the \dust before it. ~Here is the triumph of love, 
~the victory of salvation. /Here the centuries themselves cannot  re\main  silent, _singing Thy praises: ~Alleluia!  
Ikos 11 ^Blessed are they that will share in the King's Banquet: ^but already on earth Thou givest me a foretaste of this blessedness. ^How many times with Thine own hand hast Thou held out to me Thy Body and Thy Blood, ^and I, though a miserable sinner, have received this Mystery, ^and have tasted Thy love, ~so ineffable, ~so heavenly.  
/Glory to Thee for the unquenchable fire \of Thy Grace
/Glory to Thee, _building Thy Church, ~a haven of peace ~in a tortured world
/Glory to Thee for the life‑giving \water of Baptism ~in which we find new birth
/Glory to Thee, restoring to the penitent purity \white as the lily
_Glory to Thee ~for the cup of salvation ~and the bread of eternal joy
/Glory to Thee for exalting us to the \highest heaven
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 12 ^How often have I seen the reflection of Thy glory in the faces of the dead. ^How resplendent they were, with beauty and heavenly joy.   ^How ethereal, how translucent their faces. ^How triumphant over suffering and death, their felicity and peace. /Even in the silence _they were calling upon Thee. /In the hour of my death, enlighten my soul, too, that it may \cry out to Thee: ~Alleluia!  
Ikos 12 ^What sort of praise can I give Thee? ^I have never heard the song of the Cherubim, a joy reserved for the spirits above. /But I know the praises that \nature sings to Thee. /In winter, I have beheld how silently in the moonlight the whole earth \offers Thee prayer, ~clad in its white mantle of snow, ~sparkling like diamonds.  /I have seen how the rising sun re\joices in Thee, /how the song of the birds is a chorus of \praise to Thee.  /I have heard the mysterious mutterings of the forests \about Thee, /and the winds singing Thy praise as they \stir the waters. /I have understood how the choirs of stars pro\claim Thy glory  /as they move forever in the depths _of infinite space. ~What is my poor worship! ~All nature obeys Thee, _I do not. /Yet while I live, I \see Thy love, ~I long to thank Thee, ~and call upon Thy name.  
/Glory to Thee, \giving us light
/Glory to Thee, loving us with love so deep, di\vine and infinite
/Glory to Thee, blessing us with light, and with the host of \angels and saints
/Glory to Thee, Father all‑holy, promising us a share_ in Thy Kingdom
/Glory to Thee, Holy Spirit, life‑giving \Sun of the world to come
/Glory to Thee for all things, _Holy and most merciful Trinity
~Glory to Thee, O God, ~from age to age 
Kontakion 13 ^Life‑giving and merciful Trinity, ^receive my thanksgiving for all Thy goodness. ~Make us worthy of Thy blessings, /so that, when we have brought to fruit the talents Thou hast en\trusted to us, ~we may enter into the joy of our Lord, ~forever exulting in the shout of victory: ~Alleluia! 
(repeat Kontakion 13 and Alleluia three times  * Then repeat Ikos 1 and then Kontakion 1) 



  

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Prove an Atheist is a Fool and FaceBook Will Come After You



A Message for the Secular Humanist Eric Bell



Wednesday, December 12, 2012

The Tenuous String to LIFE Some Hold.



What does Richard Daley have to do with it?



What did she say? I said, to the huge stern looking black man sitting across from me, as we awaited the fate of our vehicles, awaited the snake-oil salesman presumed auto repair shop manager, who one pigeon at a time produced solemn and official sounding diagnosis of wear'n'tear and tires and brakes that need replacing and truth that needed erasing. "I didn't hear it," the black man responded, looking not pleased that I had addressed him, confirming what I had perceived that he was away in a different world. I felt it more than observed it - it was somewhere intense and this wasn't a normal morning, it was grief soaked and angry.

Dear Reader, May I suggest a skill you should use some day? Use a fake name and address or the person of a friend to present the auto just six weeks ago diagnosed and restored and money paid, to the same snake-oil salesman presumed auto repair shop manager. It is sometimes an eye opener.

Please repair the slow leak in my right rear tire,” I ask and nothing more. So, with fake name and new account, and fake address, for this monumental tire repair the car is whisked into a bay, placed on the rack and hood opened; two men hover around the open hood. You see "there is that 28 point diagnosis," when all I wanted was the fastener screw remove from my right rear tire; but in a little while the sad diagnosis arrives:

"The rear brakes need adjusting, the drums removed and turned, the rear brakes are not really working" Oh how could that be? "When you mash the brake the rear wheels keep turning as if no brakes at all . . ." he pauses seeing the glint in my eye and not knowing what to make of it, decides that money is not a object. He studies faces all day long and knows I'm not the least concerned; so he pressed for more than a brake job "and there is no coolant in the system at all, it won't hold past freezing, it is just water . . .”
"Wow, just water no anti-freeze" I say, as if buying it, but my face tells another story and the snake-oil salesman is off his game.
"Almost no measurable anti-freeze . . ." Seeing my non-concern he conjures another diagnosis "which has left rusty residue and the weather is about to turn freezing; the coolant system has to be completely flushed and anti-freeze installed" and still the glint of unconcern, now I'm smiling broadly "and new tires all around and alignment a must, but thank God the real expense, the front rotors and disks are fine."

I thought, "they ought to be, they are brand new," but I said instead, "And the motor is still running, I presume" dead pan, this time with no glint in my eye.

He jerked nervously thinking he may not understand my face. "Ah, good one." He says with a nervous cough and excuses himself to use the restroom.
The huge black man says, "You ain't buy'n any of it are you?"
"Well, he forgot to mention the fastener screw in my right rear tire. That's what I came in for, to get my rear tire repaired."

When Bob the snake-oil salesman returns I say,"Boy, I wasn't expecting all that. Please write up an estimate, so I can talk it over with Lxxxx, my wife, so we can figure out what we can afford to do." Bob, the snake-oil salesman, presumed auto repair shop manager, who had a decade ago given up his clip board and carbon paper for the preset thievery programmed into the franchise software, clicks away on the keyboard; it sounded ominous and expensive. Yes, nearly a thousand dollars worth of work. And of course he backed the hearse up and let me smell the flowers, must repairs or I would be endangering the lives of my precious wife who drives this vehicle. (I say lives, cause I swear she has nine.)

The printer sputters and the sad story is told. But I say, "I swear, my wife told me that you guys put brakes on that car not six weeks ago." Panic on the oily salesman's face, then anger as he knows he has been exposed for the low life he is. He asks, "What's her name?" nervously moving his hands over the computer keyboard.

I press, "If the back brakes were not working, AT ALL, that would stand me on my head every time I touched the brakes. Would it not?"

"I suppose so . . .What's her name?"
"But, nothing of the sort has happened . . . and IF you all did the brakes in October, why here in early December are the rear drums in need of turning? and the rear brakes in need of adjusting? Aren't they self adjusting? Didn't you already turn the drums and install new shoes?"
"Well, yes. I suppose so, or maybe not . . . ah humm, what's her name?"

"And radiator and cooling system you flushed a mere six weeks ago is now devoid of anti-freeze and consists of water only? Please tell me, how did that happen?"
Oily salesman looks at me as if he does not care, and with an honest disdain and threatening look says, "I suppose I don't really know." He had to choke back the "and don't really care, you S.O.B." All the happy salesman removed from his tone, nothing left but disgust that I would be so impolite as to point to reality and expose his fraud to his face.

I say, "Of course, you understand, that now nothing you can say has any credibility and never will. BTW don't miss that that was my polite way of calling you and your establishment a con man and a clip joint, respectively. I will take your estimate and carry it immediately to someone I trust and we will examine every issue. How much do I owe you for the tire repair?"
There was silence, then keys sputtering and the official verdict, he lays the paper on the table, without a word. It read, "Tire Repair, "$0000.00".

While all this was happening, and since it bored me to tears; and my major concern was not to account the sin to this sinner, lest I would have throttled him, and boxed his ears, permanently reducing his sense of hearing. (I'm such a sinner I would have ENJOYED it and the old me would have done it. The new me would have REALLY enjoyed doing it, but chose otherwise) . . . . while this was happening I was listening to the T.V. "Good morning Chicago" and what did I hear???????

I turned to the huge black man who was now paying attention and quietly chuckling, his stomach visibly shaking, seeing that I had left the snake-oil salesman, presumed auto repair shop manager, mute, red-faced and frightened. "What did she say?"

"Mayor Daley's nephew arrested for a murder committed eight years ago and covered up? Eight years living the high-life in California while his victim lay creating a worm farm on the plains of Illinois? That's how things are."

"And what was that other story, some prank phone call and a suicide?" The black man suddenly serous said, "Some Australian radio talent pulled a hoax on a nurse in the U.K. who was caring for the Queen's granddaughter-in-law. The nurse thought the hoax was true, that she was somehow responsible for injuring or killing Kate, and in despair killed herself."

I looked the huge black man in the eye for the first time and locked his gaze. I had witnessed his anger, depression and tension since my arrival. I said, "Can you imagine someone having such a tiny and tenuous connection to life, that one phone call, JUST ONE PHONE CALL, could end it all?"

I had no idea what private hell that statement elicited in his minds eye, but tears freely flowed down his cheeks, the grief so deep he had to fight to keep from bending double. As he wept without sound, the snake-oil salesman rushed to the bathroom for the fourth time in thirty minutes; I'm sure this morning he needed yet another hit of coke. I took by huge friend by the arm and walked him outside into the freezing wind of the parking lot - U.S. Hwy 41, Indianapolis Blvd, Hammond, the traffic whizzing by; the jack hammers pounding on a Mafia Union FAKE project across the street, nine months and nothing accomplished, just milling around and occasional sound of the jack hammers . . . I didn't ask his name. But when he had calmed down, the heaves of his grief reduced, I asked, "Do you know what I live for?"

He said, "I thought I did, till a few months ago I got that call. My boy offed in Afghanistan. His mamma just looks hollow-eyed and I smile through my tears. I've thought about ending it a thousand time since, several times every hour . . . every hour, 24/7."

I quoted a poem of my childhood, by George Linnaeus Banks, without attributing, just as if the words were my own,
"I live for those who love me,
Whose hearts are kind and true;
For the Heaven that smile above me,
and awaits my spirit too;
For all human ties that bind me,
For all task by God assigned me,
for the bright hopes yet to find me
and the good that I can do.”

“I live to learn their story
Who suffered for my sake;
To emulate their glory,
And follow in their wake;
Bards, Patriots, Martyrs and Sages,
The heroic of all ages,
Whose deeds crowd History's pages,
And Time's great volume make.”
He backed up and looked at me hard in the face, as if all life depended on the next words, then said, "You are serious, aren't you?"

I said with a little edge in my voice, "Couldn't you have used the stereotypical 'ain't' to aid the story's flow?"
His eyes widened as if he could not believe his ears, "What?"
I said, "I'm going to tell this story, so couldn't you have used the stereotypical 'ain't' to aid the story's flow." And this time I said it with anger, as if he was a stupid oaf. Anger flashed and he took hold of my right arm, pressing his thumb into my flesh like a vise. It really hurt, but I dead panned him and said, "See, how the depression demeans you, because murderous intent and a death wish are synonymous. Look here is the truth, plain and simple, only the most selfish S.O.B.s on the planet kill themselves, or very small people who hold a very tenuous cord to life, like that British nurse, or the guy who can't stand losing a job. Some just kill themselves and others take out a group and then kill themselves." He released my arm. "The great writer Charles Dickens once remarked in an article to a newspaper about stupidity of the Death Penalty, how many men have said, 'There I've killed her and I'm glad to hang for it.' That is when hanging becomes a reward and YOU know what I'm talking about."

He looked stunned. I said, "Look, we are both packing. I've carried my gun for more than forty-five years. Never shot anyone, always prayed I never would need to. But you . . . Your not used to having a gun on you. You've been patting it, reassuring yourself that it is there and you have it for a purpose, some special purpose this morning, Right?"

"I was planning on killing that mutha-fucker," he says nodding at the snake-oil salesman, "He knowed my wife's grief and still ripped her off, while I was on a trip."

"Knowed my wife's grief" I said openly mocking the formerly articulate black man. He was not quite as aggressive knowing I was armed. There was a moment of silence, then I said with all the sympathy I could muster, "You weren't on a trip, you were on a binge, and YOU left her vulnerable. Why? Because you were wrapped up in your own grief, as if your grief was the only grief any human being on the planet has every experienced." He turned stony faced. “Hardest grief I faced in my life, my anchor reposed of a horrible death, it's four in the morning and I've down half a fifth of Jameson, and there before me, in the blue flicker of the T.V. - were the scenes of a devastating earth quake, where the estimates of those killed was twenty-four thousand plus. I'm sitting there with my grief, and I knew others as grief stricken by the same death; I could not fathom the pain of the hundreds of thousands affected by those twenty-four thousand deaths. It gave me a weird, painful but helpful perspective. This is life man, people die, people suffer and the only revenge is living in the face of it all.”

“I've thought that, my boy just one of more than three thousand killed in Afgan .. . the though hasn't helped.”

"Look, it is obvious that I was meant to be here to save two people; you and him. I was meant to expose and humiliate him in front of you. Nothing happens by accident to those who love the Lord and the Lord loves you, because he was waiting for you here."

"Where is he? I don't see him."

"Then you are not looking . . . hard as it might be to believe HE is here, behind these eyes, HE is standing here!" I said, pointing at my own chest, then without hesitation I launched into that poem, I had not previous recited for fifty years.
"I live to hold communion
With all that is divine,
To feel there is a union
"Twixt Nature's heart and mine;
To profit by affliction,
Reap truth from fields of fiction,
Grow wiser from conviction,
And fulfil God's grand design.

"I live to hail that season
By gifted one foretold,
When men shall live by reason,
And NOT alone by GOLD;
When man to man united,
and every wrong thing righted,
As Eden was of old.

"I live for those who love me,
For those who know me true,
For the Heaven that smiles above me,
And awaits my spirit too;
For the cause that lacks assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance,
And the good that I can do. (- George Linnaeus Banks.)

He said, "Do you believe that? Do you believe we can actually do good and not just pace time and scramble to survive?"

"You just described the life of a beast. I'm not a mere beast, though the beast lives close to the surface." I nodded toward Bob, presumed auto repair shop manager, who was now working his next victim, but glancing nervously toward us. He felt the violence in the air.

"Here's the deal . . . sorry, I didn't get your name . .
"Jacob"
"Here's the deal, Jacob, my friend. We are all born with the instinct to do good. And in the course of our lives people try, but they are hampered with sin that produces pride and selfishness. Pride and selfishness are the great self-delusion, where we mask our selfishness, lusts, envies, anger, etc, as if we are acting for the good, while in fact we service the lusts of our own pride. Despite that, with a little help from the Good Lord, we can actually do good. You have to be open and willing to do good when the opportunity is presented. Here is the secret. What am I seeing when I look at you? but someone who's heart is broken, thinking about ultimate things. We cannot give what we do not ourselves possess. We cannot bear the unbearable unless our hearts are filled with grace. We cannot weep tears with the sorrowing and comfort them in their pain unless we have suffered brokenness ourselves and have turned to God in our darkness and asked Him for help like a small child full of trust. Your heart was genuinely broken with a single phone call. Now you are ready to do some good? Trust me, that is the way it works."

I believe you are telling me the truth. I will start praying. I've been so angry I couldn't pray.”

“Let's start now.” I won't share the prayer, but it was short and powerful.

Looking as if he were ten years younger he said, “Amen.” Then in a moment,
"Can I have copies of your estimate and the bill for the work they did? My wife will believe me if I show her that. She thinks this crew is honest."
"Sure, let's go to the bank down the block and use the printer." All I wanted was to get a screw removed from my right rear tire and the leak plugged. It took nearly three hours.

When we parted from the bank parking lot, Jacob said, "I want you to know that this morning was better than church."

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Big Time Censorship on FaceBook

Over the life of Facebook, I have had four accounts that just instantly disappeared.  Each time it followed a debate with an Atheist where I proved the idiocy of Atheism and exposed the particular atheist's false and driving psychology.  This last account "Piano Butch" was suddenly scrubbed no warning, no notifications following my debate with the Anti-Christian - pretend anti-Islamist - Eric Bell.

If you are interested in keeping touch with me on Facebook friend me at.
http://www.facebook.com/archpriest.symeon


Why Icons are Important in the battle against Islam.



There is a very good reason that Islamists want to get rid of Icons. The following was written by: 

Robert Spencer is a scholar of Islamic history, theology, and law and the director of Jihad Watch. He is the author of eight books, eleven monographs, and hundreds of articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism, including the New York Times Bestsellers The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) and The Truth About Muhammad. His latest book, The Complete Infidel’s Guide to the Koran, is available now from Regnery Publishing. 

The Byzantine icon above is the work of the 16th-century iconographer Theophanes the Cretan. There are many things that are un-Islamic about it: 

1. It is an image of human beings, which violates the traditional Islamic prohibition of images; 

2. It depicts Jesus not as a Muslim prophet but as the incarnate Son of God (his halo reads ο ων, the One Who Is, a title of divinity derived from the name of God that God gives to Moses in Exodus 3:14), in violation of the oft-repeated Qur’anic injunction that Allah has no Son (4:171; 9:30; 25:2; 39:4; 72:3; etc. etc.); 

3. In line with #2, it depicts what Muslims would consider to be idolatry, as the holy child’s mother kneels and adores him; 

4. In the beam or spear coming from heaven down to the child in the cradle, it depicts the activity of the Divine in the world, assuming the doctrine of the Trinity, which is rejected somewhat imprecisely in Qur’an 4:171 and 5:116; 

5. The cradle resembles a casket, foreshadowing the redemptive death of Christ, which is denied in Qur’an 4:157. 

Now, whether you are a Christian or not, whether or not you believe all or any of these things, the question that is before us this Christmas and every Christmas these days is whether or not people should be allowed to believe these things if they think they are true. Nowhere in the Islamic world today do people who believe these things enjoy full equality of rights with Muslims. In Pakistan, Iraq, Egypt and elsewhere Christians are frequently victimized because, as I have tried to show above, some of their core beliefs are considered blasphemous in authoritative Islam. 

And that assumption of blasphemy, since Islam is a political program as well as a set of religious beliefs, does not allow for live-and-let live tolerance of those with whom one disagrees. The blasphemers and those who insult Islam must be subjugated under the rule of the Muslims. We see this agenda being articulated every day; we see Christians and others victimized by it every day; and we see the world largely yawning and indifferent as all this goes on. 

This Christmas, remember that the Islamic supremacist program has you on its list. You may not be a Christian. You may not be a Jew. You may not be a Hindu. But the jihad is universal. You are on the list. 

So this Christmas, may all of us whose conversion, subjugation, or death is envisioned by the adherents of Sharia stand together. Let us stand together as Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, atheists, secularists, what have you, and stand up against those who would kill us or subject us to institutionalized discrimination because they find our beliefs offensive. 

For be assured: if we do not stand together, they will prevail. And if they do, and all the rich expressions of the human spirit, from Theophanes the Cretan to the fashioners of the Buddhas of Bamiyan, from Aristotle to Oriana, will be trampled into the mud, destroyed, exploded, ruined, effaced. We will all be the poorer. Our children will be the poorer. 

Merry Christmas to all Christian Jihad Watchers who celebrate the Feast on this day. 

Monday, December 10, 2012

Blessed John Paul on Islam


"Whoever knows the Old and New Testaments, and then reads the Koran, clearly sees the process by which it completely reduces Divine Revelation. It is impossible not to note the movement away from what God said about himself, first in the Old Testament through the Prophets, and then finally in the New Testament through His Son. In Islam, all the richness of God’s self-revelation, which constitutes the heritage of the Old and New Testaments, has definitely been set aside.

“Some of the most beautiful names in the human language are given to the God of the Koran, but He is ultimately a God outside of the world, a God who is only Majesty, never Emmanuel, God with us. Islam is not a religion of redemption. There is no room for the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus is mentioned, but only as a prophet who prepares for the last prophet, Muhammad. There is also mention of Mary, His Virgin Mother, but the tragedy of redemption is completely absent. For this reason not only the theology but also the anthropology of Islam is very distant from Christianity."
- John Paul II, Pope of Rome, quoted in Christianity and Plurality: Classic and Contemporary Readings by Richard J. Plantinga

Thanks to Father Symeon Elias for this quote.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Posers Teaching Pantheism As Modern Enlightenment


Giovanni Langranco's depiction of "The Council of the god." 

Check this out. The ancient and perennial paganism is parading as a new and intelligently complex view of God, which god it reduces to, and synonymous with, mere material reality, a god who is "nature and everything". 


Show me the Creator of anything that does not stand outside of his own creation, who is rather encompassed, circumscribed and defined by his creation and I will then believe that the universe itself is "self-created."

https://www.facebook.com/everythingisgod
Pantheism  Here is what these New Age pantheists say: "Join us in helping REDEFINE THE WORD GOD for future generations. Einstein and other brilliant scientists, mathematicians, philosophers, and poets speak of a God that is EVERYTHING, altogether.

(editor note - he said sarcastically - those scientists who lived and learned in the Christian culture, could not possibly have been thinking about the Christian God who is according to /Christian theology, (1) Uncreated, (2) Omnipresent, (3) Omnipotent, and (4) Omniscient - That God won't do, because he is more than physical "nature" and "everything".)


"It's time to take back and reclaim the word God. All around the world, children are taught that God is limited; that God is a man; that God is not in control of "evil"; that God is angry and superficial. They are taught an idea of God that was created when the world was flat.

(<smile> editor note- of course this paragraph is just ignorant, well . . . so was the first paragraph. This person is so ignorant of Christianity that he/she believes Christianity to be dualism and the Christian God to be handicapped and a mere man.) 

"But some of us are fortunate enough to know that God is nature; God is everything. Please "Like" our page and "Share" our posts in order to celebrate, spread and support this simple belief to the point that one day the world will know the advanced definition of God."

Editor note - Even in Pagan terms this is not anyone's "advanced definition." In fact the definition of God as "nature and everything" is a regression, a devolution, a devaluing of even the knowledge of the Almighty Creator held by the ancient Pagans.  In the Rig Veda, the most ancient Hindu text, we find this in the 129th hymn of the tenth book and it represents some profound speculation and truth about the Creator of Nature and Everything - who was not that Nature and Everything, but rather created it. If you follow the understanding held in this hymn you would sooner or later arrive at the full revelation of the Christian Creator God, not some deity, limited by the human definition of "nature" and "everything."  But rather a Deity outside of definition, incapable of being defined, spoken of in human language merely anthropomorphically in Kataphatic and Apophatic terms but never circumscribed, positively defined by human understanding, thought, language or definition. Yet a God that has revealed Himself, to the degree we can know and experience, if we seek him. 

Rig Veda 129th Hymn of the 10th Book:
Nor Aught nor Naught existed; yon bright sky
Was not, nor heaven's broad woof outstretched above.
What covered all? what sheltered? what concealed? 
Was it the water's fathomless abyss?
There was not death - yet was there naught immortal,
There was no conflue betwixt day and night;
The only One breathed breathless by itself,
Other than It there nothing since has been.

Darkness there was, and all at first was veiled
In gloom profound - an ocean without light -
The germ that still lay covered in the husk
Burst forth, one nature, from the fervent heat.
Then fist came love upon it, the new spring
Of mind - yea, poets in their hearts discerned,
Pondering, this bond between created things
And Uncreated.  Comes this spark from earth
Pondering, and all-pervading, or from heaven?

Then seeds were sown, and the mighty powers arose - 
Nature below, and power and will above - 
Who knows the secret? who proclaimed it here,
Whence, whence this manifold creation sprang? 
He from whom all this great creation came, 
Whether his will created or was mute, 
The Most High Seer that is in highest heaven
He knows it - or perchance even He knows not. 

Even the extra-canonical Gospel of Thomas holds a better understanding of the nature of Being than our neo-pagan friend. In that Gospel of Thomas it has Jesus saying, "If matter came to be because of the Spirit, that is a wonder! But if Spirit came to be because of the material, that is a wonder of wonders and folly." 


The "mighty powers" in this Vedic hymn are the pantheon of gods that represent a devolution of theological thought, not an advance. The Judeo/Christian Tradition does not ignore this pantheon of "gods" - the pantheon is answered and put in its place many times in Psalms.

 Psa_82:1  A Psalm of Asaph. God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. 
Psa_82:6  I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. 
Psa_86:8  Among the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord; neither are there any works like unto thy works. 
Psa_95:3  For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 
Psa_96:4  For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. 
Psa_96:5  For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens. 
Psa_97:7  Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods. 
Psa_97:9  For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth: thou art exalted far above all gods. 
Psa_135:5  For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. 
Psa_136:2  O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. 
Psa_138:1  A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. 


Even the ancient Hindu scriptures state in their own way, before there was being, their was God, uncreated, not part of nature nor "all things", who was before nature and all things. Just as understood, stated and celebrated in Christian theology, scripture, liturgy, tradition and creed.

"All things came to be, by HIM, and without Him not one thing has being."

Edgar Allan Poe and Natural Law



“That Nature and its God are two, no man who thinks, will deny.  That the latter, created the former, can, at will, control or modify it, is also unquestionable. I say “at will;” for the question is of will, and not, as the insanity of logic has assumed, of power. It is not that the Deity cannot modify his laws, but that we insult him in imagining a possible necessity for modification. In their origin these laws were fashioned to embrace all contingencies which could lie in the Future. With God all is Now” - Edgar Allan Poe - (The Mystery of Marie Roget)   




What Poe does not suppose is the fact of the fallen state of nature, compromised as it is to death, which awaits the “revelation of the sons of God (plural).  At this point in time, when supposed “miracles” occur, men wonder at these, when in fact it is simply the operation of natural law in its unhampered, uncompromised state, that is, the life engendering true natural law. 

Rom 8:19  For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. 
Rom 8:20  For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, 
Rom 8:21  Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 
Rom 8:22  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 
Rom 8:23  And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

What does this mean, the recapitulation of all things into Christ? A friend shared this:

"At Mass today, Father said Noah, Moses, Abraham & King David ware Catholics, like Mary. 'Before we defend the Faith, let's take a look at what Faith is.' Good stuff. More 'Big Picture' stuff."

His priest was right, but not in anyway someone without a "big picture grasp of salvation could understand."  I answered:

"If Catholic is viewed as the Anakephalaio (ultimate headship) of Christ, the recapitulation or summing up of all things under one head, and not political vaticanism, then your priest was correct. Few grasp the meaning of Catholic past the hierarchical form of Romanism. But he is right in the grand picture. The damage done by Adam's rebellion is much more profound to the entire creation than people realize, where instead of "evolution" is "devolution" and now in this wonderful era of the reign of Jesus Christ, all real things are being saved - renewed - not over a sea of evil, not despite a sea of evil, but actually through a sea of evil, by what some have called the Startling Coalescing of Contrarieties in Jesus Christ. In this great work nothing is left to waste, the Holy Spirit in Wisdom unseen is synergistically weaving every action, even the most desperate actions of the most evil people for the good of the whole. As one of the Holy Fathers rightly said, "Even Hell is salvitic, but it would take a fool to choose it."

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Natural Law Requires and Natural Law Giver.


Good governance is not strictly Christian though the Christian example - America's first 200 years is the clearest example of wise governance and the first Western culture to recognize the inviolable state of Human Rights, flowing from Human Dignity granted by Nature's Law and Nature's Creator and Law-Giver. Even the ancient high Pagan traditions understood this; this isn't strictly and uniquely Christian, it includes all people of good will, but make no mistake it culminated and is seen most clearly in the Christian Tradition, in Christ's Church and the lives, practices and teachings of her Saint, Theologians and Ordinary practitioners of "The Way."

File:Konfuzius-1770.jpg

Confucius the Icon of Confucianism said, "What is ordained in heaven is called the essential nature of man. The following of this essential nature is called the natural law. And the cultivation and refinement of natural law is called culture." Would that post-modern, post-human Secular Humanists held even the wisdom of the ancient pagan, Confucius. 




Lao Tsu a contemporary of Confucius and the Icon of Taoism painted a picture of the devolution of society, in the example of the moral devolution of men. He said:

"A man of the highest virtue does not keep to virtue and that is why he has virtue.
(that is, he acts unconscious of virtue - naturally choosing what is good and life engendering at any moment)

"A man of lowest virtue never strays from virtue and that is why he is without virtue.
(He just described the Utopian seekers, ignoring the "gift of humanity" and acting on abstract principles obtained and created in human pride.)
"The former never acts yet leaves nothing undone. The latter acts but there are things left undone.

"A man of highest benevolence acts, but from no ulterior motive. A man of the highest rectitude acts, but from ulterior motives.

(The words above had a huge impact upon me. This is the opposite of the sickness of religion or slavery to philosophy.  It is the willingness to live, and the acceptance of every day AS IT IS. People look at me shocked when I tell them that I don't care anything about my personal salvation. What? They exclaim! Shouldn't our goal be our personal salvation? Shouldn't our goal be to become a saint!?
Maybe - I don't care.  Nor do I care if someone views me as a genius or a fool, a saint or purely evil, all this is meaningless.  What I care is if in each moment I act from the reality of who I am, never
 acting - that is pretending for the benefit of anyone.)

"A man most conversant in the rites acts, but when no one responds rolls up his sleeves and resorts to persuasion by force.
Hence, when The Way was lost there was virtue;
 when virtue was lost there was benevolence;
When benevolence was lost there was rectitude;
when rectitude was lost there were the rites.
The rites are wearing thin of loyalty and good faith and the beginning of disorder."


Could Lao Tsu have imagined this time, when the religious resort to bombs and mass killings, suicide bombs and all the rest, following a narrow ritual of five prayers a day and follow the low righteousness of a serial murderer, pedophile and mad man-Mohammed?

Or could he have imagined the 20th century, where more people were martyred for their religion, by religionists than had been "martyred" in every previous century since his own life?  (I include the "atheist/secular humanists/communists/darwinian-naturalists" all as "religionists." They all have certainly "rolled up their sleeves and resorted to conversion by force, ethnic cleansing and ideological genocide.) 

Knowing the history of Human Dignity and the failure of governments to properly protect the unalienable rights of ordinary people, that is, we who are gifted with human dignity, Saint Robert Bellarmine, taking some ideas from Saint Thomas Aquinas and expanding upon them, actually created our form of Government, the Representative Republic with three branches, balance of powers and checks and balances, etc - (1) Executive (2) Legislative (3) Judicial. He did this, centuries before our Declaration of Independence and Constitution were written.  Of course, the 'executive branch' was envisioned by Saint Bellarmine as a monarch with limited powers. The founding fathers were familiar and gave George Washington the opportunity to be "King."  Did you know that? Washington thought better of it and declined. By the way, this Saint Bellarmine is the same fellow maligned in history by the Secular Humanists in the Galileo heresy affair. The Secular Humanists always slander him.

All said - From Confucius & Lao Tsu, to Isaiah, and other Old Testament writers who developed the dignity of the individual, to Greek philosophers, to the early, middle and late Church fathers -  This is our rich heritage and each generation has to LEARN IT, so that they may claim it anew and preserve and protect this precious GIFT.

What is the lazy alternative?

If, on the other hand, you agree to be governed without the principles of inviolable objective natural law (derived from the natural law giver) and rather accept in any given era, by relativistic morality and situational ethics, what may be mutually agreed by the majority or the elite, according to the convenience of pragmatism and utilitarianism, don't be surprised when you, yourself, are endangered, having become inconvenient and of little use, like in the womb, or sick, or disabled, or old or one holding a troubling contrary opinion.

In such a society, Russia/Ukraine in the Communist Soviet Union era, millions of Ukrainian middle-class landowners, actually the "bread basket of Russia" became "inconvenient" for the soviet state.  Millions of the landowners were starved to death, or lead off to death camps to be executed by the cold. Tens of million of the peasants working on their lands were starved to death, in what has become known as the Great Holodomor. Two decades later the Soviet Union could not feed itself, and America actually had to loan them money so they could purchase grain from American Mid-Western Farmers.


Americans believe this sort of thing cannot happen to them, but the ground work is already set for something similar to happen here and soon.  We see the propaganda at work: Anyone who does not accept the "new morality" and the "new government system, collectivism, internationalism and Sharia compliance" is viewed as evil and a potential terrorist.  So, Christians are evil if they hold their faith inviolate. We are viewed as "irrational, dangerous and violent" if we hold the knowledge contained in the first three paragraphs of this article.  You see, each generation has to fight for their Liberty anew; it is not handed to us on a platter for free.  And if we fail to press our unalienable rights in the public square, next comes the slaughter. This is what history teaches. In this there is no middle ground. We are not talking about right vs left, Conservative vs Liberal, NeoCon vs Marxist, but Liberty vs Slavery. In this, as I say, there is no middle ground, no area of compromise. 

Final Judgment - the Missing Link in the JFK Assassination Conspiracy.

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