Drinking and Other Addictions

Do Americans realize how much drinking alcohol has increased over the last decade? As much as the reliance on opioids, pain killers, and other addictive behaviors. Games and gaming, (and soon) virtual reality, exercise, diet changes, sex, porn, and even simpler things like shopping, travel, and social media use -- all of these, in their extreme, could be classified as addictions.

The results are also clear -- all the addictions, which are deviations and excesses that pull us away from a balanced life style, result in damage to our overall health. Sometimes that damage is psychological (we pretend we are doing what's best for us); sometimes the damage is physical (organs, blood pressure, brain health, and cellular health) can all be damaged by excess. And yet we continue.

I am no crazed apostle of balance and long life. By simple observation I perceive that Americans are increasingly harming themselves. Why? Perhaps to compensate for what's happening around us: crime, gangs, drugs, immorality, character lapses, and even the collapse of old institutions and mores like: government, the legal and ministerial professions, and our own standards of good behavior.

Take a look at your own life  -- are you living the best life you can. Are you happy, or just medicated. Are you willing to do the work to achieve what you want?

In any case you must: RESIST!

Life is...

Finding ways to help others. Giving love and receiving love. Hoping for tomorrow. Honoring yesterday. Listening to other people. Listening to your own heart and mind. Helping all children to thrive. Realizing that not everyone is like you. Hugging others without hidden agendas. Being unafraid to speak the truth.

Life is also...all about time and energy. Working for the greater good. Helping understanding spread throughout the universe. Respecting time passing. Honoring all generations. Smiling at the sun. Surviving the extremes in life, love, and the weather.

Being yourself. Living up to...your own expectations.  Loving yourself first.  Expecting and honoring beings greater than yourself. Kissing the world ... on all its levels. Touching what needs to be touched. Rendering to caesar what is caesar's, and to God what is God's. Opening up your mind and keeping it open.

 Continuing to "resist."

The Dangers of War ... For Everyone

Suffice it to say -- a nuclear "exchange" in war, even a tactical one; would open up the gates to the eventual annihilation of millions upon millions of innocent people. Whether the war is between North Korea and the US, or Russia and the US, or China and the US, the outcome -- eventually -- would be disastrous for all.

We all hope that Trump understands this and doesn't do anything "stupid" to back up his ridiculous tweets, We also hope that Putin understands that "war is death" not political longevity, even in the economically challenged Soviet Union. We need "cooler heads" and "intelligent generals and politicians" everywhere to understand that "war is DEATH" -- not the beginning of empire, or political power, or capitalist advantage, or anything else.

In America we loathe the self-righteous, pompous, and self-serving (for the Trump empire) policies of Donald Trump. In the Soviet Union we see the struggle to avoid another Stalin, or another Trump.
The search for a new Soviet supremacy has been compromised by both the oligarchs and the corrupt communist/capitalist establishment. Greed for power is coequal to greed for cash. Both are immoral and should be avoided in a just and peaceful world.

Remember to hold onto your minds, your mores, your morals, your conscience, your character, and the civilization they support.

And for Americans and everyone who can think --- resist, resist, resist!

When Paperwork is More Than Perfunctory

The great bureaucracies of the world are not necessarily countries -- they are actually the banks, hospitals, credit card companies, and telecom providers. They have "rules" as to how an account or an application for an account has to be done. Recently my sister and I tried to set up a checking account (with a large initial deposit mind you) and as the paperwork/information period wore on it became evident that my sister had not brought the paperwork necessary to complete the deal. She did not have 2 documents from the "approved list" -- only one. Actually she had 2 but one of them was expired (due to a hospital stay last year she was unable to renew her driver's license).

Now since she did have other documents at home -- a second trip to this bank was required.  As of this moment we are not sure whether these additional documents will be enough. Yikes.

Resist, resist, resist!!!

Blessings of Christmas -- Human and Divine

On this Christmas Day -- many of us are moved to charity, compassion, and love for one another. I do wonder (as you do) why those wondrous elements are not there throughout the year: every day, every situation, every relationship. Is it somehow not chic to love one's co-workers; or not politically correct to truly love one's neighbors, or even uncool to love those you consider enemies?  Love all -- and wish the best for all, according to the principles you own of right and wrong, and real conscience.

Jesus's message to humanity is to love. I am now, personally, both a Christian and a Buddhist. Have I added Buddhism to my own belief system because Christianity is lacking? Not so much. I have added Buddhism, specifically KoShinto Buddhism, because Christianity too often falls short of its own principles. Women are not treated fairly -- they are subjugated by the old laws of Old Testament Judaism. They are treated as the causes of sin -- in a male-dominated society, ethnicity, practice. That is not right. The ancient precepts of Judaism are passed on and picked up by the modern Christian church, especially Catholicism. Even with a wise and very holy Pope in place, modern Catholicism often fails in its beliefs and its mission. Why is the Catholic Church still treating women (nuns, laity, teachers) as they did in the 9th century?  Are women still somehow the "Eve of the 'apple' story" -- tempting righteous men to sin?

Why is Catholicism so against "gay sexuality" when an estimated 30% of the Catholic priesthood is gay? Is being gay really a sin -- or is it a biological and neurological condition of sexual preference?
Is "sex" the original sin? Is that why the Catholic Church (and so many other pseudo-Christian sects) hung up on sexuality?  We must continue to grow in wisdom and understanding -- not be strapped to the ancient grinding wheel of times past.

We are allowed to understand and respect sexual preferences in a new way -- as long as we continue to honor our own basic principles of love and respect for others.


Merry Christmas; RESPECT FOR ALL; and continue to Resist!

The State of Christmas

Christmas is "love" -- it truly depicts a story of love and redemption via the Christian story of Jesus. What Americans sometimes fail to see is that there are many such stories in the mythologies of every ethnicity, every religion, every set of tribal legends. Just because you believe in Jesus and his miraculous coming -- doesn't mean that it is the only truth.  Many "Native American" stories/myths tell of sacrifice and giving in times of pestilence and pain.

Ancient Celtic stories -- long before the introduction of Christianity to far Northern Europe tell of animal and human sacrifices: given to the main god of that region. In every part of the World there are religions that depict sacrifice. It is arrogant and small-minded to think that the story of Jesus' birth is the only such story. But we are always the victims of our own parochialism.

The God of Israel is a god who sacrificed other people to free the Jews -- at least according the the Biblical legends surrounding the story of Moses. Any religion/myth you can name will have an element of sacrifice. Believe in that -- that the "diversity" of the world as to ethnicity, religion, mores, and practises binds us into one human family. "Sacrifice" given for love's sake -- is the glue that holds civilization itself together.

And so, Merry Christmas; Happy Hanakkah: Blessed Kwanza; Holy Ramadan; Happy Winter Solstice; et al. If there is a God (and I acknowledge deep inside that there is), then all manners of love induced by sacrifice show his/her presence.  Even ---

RESISTANCE!

Curiosity......?

Just as one of the greatest elements of Christmas ... is waiting for the day to arrive: presents for kids, celebration for families, connections and conversation for all -- so too waiting for sengateCREATE is now all about the...anticipation!  What will it be; when will it start; how will it operate; what will it do?

Is it the kind of idea that can be "fleshed" into a winning and worthwhile something? Is it a "sham" or simply a cursory, not-well-thought-out idea? Is it a "trumpian  hoax?"  Is it "fake news?"  Who can say? I can.

At this point I will say that it is "real" and will do "real things" and will make a "real difference!"And it is coming...soon. February 1st all (or at least the the planning for "all" will be shown; all will be delineated; the shape and direction will be plotted and revealed. Wait for it -- wait for it...

And as always continue to resist!