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JAMES' PERSONAL WRITINGS: SLOVING
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7.07.2007

BELOVED BLINDNESS

This insight is still in development but major progress is being experienced by me.

"Blindness" is beloved by us:
  • Conservatives: Beloved is their "blindness" to "the least of these"
  • Liberals: Beloved is their "blindness" to their need to "PAY THE PRICE" for "the least of these"

Blindness is BELOVED by:

  1. We the people because it enables our incalculable selfishness
  2. Corp-Military-Media-Government complex because in turns otherwise troublesome Humans into mailable "consumers" and "corporate drones"
  3. Liberals
  4. Conservatives

Our U.S. blindness is despised by:

  • World-wide terrorists

Our U.S. BELOVED BLINDNESS SHOULD BE DESPISED BY US ALL.

7.04.2007

TERRORISM DIFFERES FROM BUSH POLICY HOW?

TERRORISM

1. the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes.
2. the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
3. a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.

the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear

Acts of violence committed by groups that view themselves as victimized by some notable historical wrong. Although these groups have no formal connection with governments, they usually have the financial and moral backing of sympathetic governments. Typically, they stage unexpected attacks on civilian targets, including embassies and airliners, with the aim of sowing fear and confusion. Israel has been a frequent target of terrorism, but the United States has increasingly become its main target.

If there were Christians there would be no Terrorists

"If Christians lived according to their faith, there would be no more Hindus left in India." Gandhi


If Militant PeaceMAKERS abounded there would be no more terrorists in the world.

Until Militant PeaceMAKERS abound,
Terrorsts will abound.

WE BETTER GET BUSY.

7.03.2007

BECOMING A SOLDIER IS TO BECOME A DIFFERENT HUMAN TYPE

Of fundamental importance to personal Joy / Heaven in this life is to realize that we have available to us the option of not one, as our culture would have us believe, but two profoundly OPPOSITE states of mind:
  1. Selfishness
  2. Brotherliness / Otherishness

It has just struck me that there is an institution that consistantly and relyably CONVERTS individuals during the course of one's enlistment from Selfishness to Brotherliness (Brotherliness of an important sort). THE U.S. MILITARY does this.

The points here are that:

  1. The choice of Otherishness is one that anyone can make as we see in the choice made by millions in the military;
  2. Otherishness (the READINESS to give one's life for others) is profoundly opposite to Selfisnness as we can clearly see in this mass military "conversion" that ;
  3. WAR, such intensity of commitment, trumps any alternative through its overwhelming Joyfulness / Purpose / Meaning. From movies, imagination and personal knowledge we can see that there was no price that could get Ryan to leave the war (Saving Private Ryan.)

A ONE-SIDED PLANETARY WAR / SLAUGHTER RAGES

The forces of Greed / Selfishness / Mammon / Indifference / Disconnection / Neglect are assaulting the world on every conceivable front with a war-like seriousness of intention and approach of infecting every human heart.

Nowhere in serious opposition is to be found the forces of Love / Life / Truth. Nowhere are there those that:
  1. Face the fact of this global war by the forces of cancer.
  2. See, envision that the forces of Love / Life / Truth can and must fight to win.
  3. Envision that winning is possible.
  4. Begin fighting despite apparently insurmountable odds.

Start, is nothing being done? Oh yes:

  1. Liberal lip service.
  2. Token actions.
  3. Symbolic actions.
  4. Band-Aids

7.02.2007

ATTN MERCHANTS! "UNTO THE LEAST OF THESE..."

In the face of emergency where do you expect to find the good Dr., minister, nurse, soldier? At the emergency helping!

"Unto This Last (1868)," is one of two books to galvanize Gandhi in his early 20's. The thrust of these 3 essays is that nothing less should be expected of merchants. Their goods are the life's blood of society and they should be every bit as morally responsible to "the least of these my family," as are the best of Dr.s, soldiers, nurses....

THE WORLD IS ONE BIG EMERGENCY AND MERCHANTS SHOULD FOCUS ENTIRELY ON "THE LEAST OF THESE" AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS. NOTHING LESS. NOTHING MORE. NOTHING ELSE.

ULTIMATE ADVENTURE; THE REASON TO "BE" "GOOD"

People give their lives for adventure:
* Sky dive
* Scuba dive
* Hang glide
* Fly
* Ski
* Mountain climb....

Why "be" "good" like Jesus calls us to do?

"BEING" "GOOD" IS THE ULTIMATE ADVENTURE ; GIVE IT YOUR LIVES! Start Loving

OUR FEELING FOR HYPOCRISY MAY BE LIFE ITSELF

I highly recommend that as I am trying to do, that you connect with your experience of Hypocrisy as a youth; your youth being a time when your Hypocrisy detector was alive and well - full of feeling.

Hypocrisy: The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness. An act or instance of such falseness.

In our youth there is a very strong emotion within us when we detect Hypocrisy. No? As young people we have a strong FEELING about Hypocrisy!

Our feeling for Hypocrisy gets amputated as we become socialized as we move through life from our mid teens to mid twenties. Our Feeling for Hypocrisy may be our conscience and morality; Life / Love / Truth are integrated with our feeling for hypocrisy. When we lose one we lose the other.

If our-feeling-for-hypocrisy IS integrated with feeling and morality, with Life and Truth, then this explains why Jesus was so singularly riled by displays of Hypocrisy, as these arise from a loss of Feeling fro Hypocrisy.

"FOLLOW JESUS WORD." Teresa of Calcutta

To the best of my knowledge, when asked how she became who she became, and how she did what she did in her life Teresa said that all she did was "follow Jesus word."

I know of no evidence that at any juncture in her life did she offer any further explanation either in word or action:

  • To my knowledge she never focused on what the evangelicals totally focus on - Teresa focused not at all on PAUL'S WORD: Romans 10 Verse 9: "if you confess 5 with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Bosh.
  • To my knowledge Teresa never focused in her thoughts, words or deeds on the Old Testament, NOT AT ALL!

The same goes for Gandhi, and I think also for Dr. King and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Teresa, Gandhi, King, Bonhoeffer... found it sufficient to -

"FOLLOW JESUS WORD."

Duh.

"Flesh" / Selfishness is INFERIOR, NOT "BAD"

SELFISHNESS IS NOT BAD -

My interest here and elsewhere is not academic accuracy or consistency although I believe my work would score quite high on this dimension.

My interest IS how to live a life of extraordinary Joy; how to find that Path and how to avoid the pitfalls and traps.

Although counter intuitive, A MAJOR TRAP is the notion that "Flesh" / Selfishness are "bad." It cannot be true that they are "bad," REALLY, as evidenced by:

  • An entire globe that is Hell bent :-) on embracing the Religion fanatically practiced by the West - "Flesh" / Selfishness.
  • Two hundred years of U.S. pleasure beyond measure without APPARENT hell to pay (let's continue to overlook the American Indians, Coal Miners, Mill Workers, Slaves....) isn't bad; not "bad" in a generally useful sense of the word. In Truth, Selfishness seems awesome!

HERE IS WHAT WE MUST RECOGNIZE: SELFISHNESS IS INFERIOR TO MILITANT PEACEMAKING -

Selfishness is INFERIOR to Militant PeaceMAKING, Otherishness / Love / Life / Truth / Global Connectedness. The proof? Although in our movies we pull the punch in the end as the "guy gets the girl," OUR HERO DOESN'T REALLY GO THROUGH HELL AND BACK FOR THE GIRL. DOES HE!?!?!?! He does it, pay an enormous price in order to SAVE the world, FOR THE INTRINSIC JOY OF IT!!! And

THE JOY OF MILITANT PEACEMAKING
IS SUPERIOR TO
THE PLEASURE OF SELFISHNESS.

Disconnectedness - the Conservative / Republican Sin

I wonder if Conservatives / Republicans / Hawks realize that it is their -

  • Disconnectedness from "the least of these"

- that infuriates Democrats / Liberals; and rightly so.

Democrats may somewhat recognize this.

Lip service - the Liberal / Democrat Sin.

I wonder if Liberals / Democrats / Peacenicks realize that it is their -
  • Lip Service
  • Lack of personal sacrifice
  • Lack of commitment
  • Lack of hard work
  • Lack of willingness to die for their cause
- that infuriates Republicans / Conservatives; and rightly so.

Republicans do not recognize this.

ATTN! "How did you use the time I gave you," Our Father asks.

Ye seekers of Truth / Life / Love be ware!

The gift of Our Father, the "talent" S/He gave us is TIME!
  • Do not burry it in the ground!
  • Don't spend His/Her time worrying.
  • Don't spend His/Her time planning.

Take your best shot! Learn from it. Take your best shot again. Learn from it. REPEAT.

"Ready, Fire, Aim." Tom Peters, consultant. This is a wonderful concept he writes about. Did you ever go to, or see the arcade game where you shoot a streem of water into an opening, and if you can get in enough water in time you win a prize? One could pull the trigger on shot at a time, BUT NO ONE DOES. They use the stream continuously to aim!

Teresa of Calcutta said. "God does not expect us to be successful--only faithful."

BE FAITHFUL!!!! ENJOY!!!!

Inconceivable

"CONNECTION," "WORLD FAMILY" IS THE "GATE"

Selfishness / Sin / Error is the
SYMPTOM.

Disconnectedness / Indifference / Ignorance (of "the least of these") is the DISEASE.


Love / Life / Truth / World Family / Connection / Empathy / Compassion is
HEALTH / CURE

7.01.2007

Organized Religion is beyond recovery

No? Ok:
  • Caucasian is what anyone that sees me would label me, DESPITE THE FACT that I have dark brown moles and other marks on my body.
  • Healthy despite some aches and pains...
  • Bald is what I'd be called despite the few hairs left.
  • Non-athlete...
  • Non-brain-surgeon....

Aside from being trite, the above illustrates a crucial point. The Truth is not to be confused with Purity or Absolutism.

Organized Religion, taken as the "bodies" that comprise it CAN NOT NOW, NOR OVER THE CENTURIES, BE DESCRIBED AS:

  • Healers
  • World-wide brothers
  • Powerful forces of global healing
  • Courageous
  • Army of God

If one were in desperate need of any of the following I, Start Loving, would NOT be the best place to begin:

  • Black Man.
  • Brain Surgeon.
  • Athlete....

We are in desperate need of:

  • Healers
  • World-wide brothers
  • Powerful forces of global healing
  • Courageous Army of God for ALL humankind

Is there a body promising of becoming these (above)?

  • Catholics?
  • Protestants?
  • Evangelical?
  • Jews?
  • Muslims?

NO. We must begin outside any of these bodies. These bodies are beyond redemption.