A Proposal to Make America Safe

A review of recent events reveals that white men with guns sometimes shoot black men with guns ...  and vice versa.  Thus, the common denominator is twofold --- men with guns.  Furthermore, most men are slobs; most women are not.  So, women are better qualified than men to command a "well-ordered militia".  The Second Amendment just says "citizens".   In the event of a true threat to the liberty of our Free State, women may choose to distribute arms to men, but not necessarily "firearms", nor live ammunition, neither of which are specified by the Second Amendment.

What's the Fuss?

The world is in turmoil. 
So it seems.  On a global scale, nations are dealing with terrorism, disease, genocide, natural disasters and poverty.  On an individual level, it's the same -- people are struggling with their personal fears, health, mortality, physical security and finances.

How do I know this? 
My perception of everything that's happening in the world depends upon how I process electrical impulses in my brain.  Everything that I perceive, everything I've seen, heard or read about, plus everything that I conceive and that I believe, is electrical impulses in my brain.  All Creation ... the Present, Past and Future of the Universe and all that dwell within and beyond it, are merely electrical impulses in my brain.

Does it matter whether there is more to Reality than that? 
For practical purposes, everything has been reduced.  These electrical impulses are mine to do with as I please.  So, just for fun, I'll take my view of the world and stir in some fantasies and some memories. My vision of the future is imaginary, of course.  Memories are my perception of things that happened in the past, minus the details that I've forgotten, plus whatever I now imagine to have perceived at the time. Let's be honest, memories are (to some degree) imaginary.  The Truth is not naked.

So, it's all the same, huh?
When I recall the past or envision the future, it's all just electrical impulses ... like my perception of the present world in turmoil.  Everything is just electrical impulses in my brain.  
But wait! 
 Surely, my brain is not the true center of the Universe. I'm just a lowly pilgrim.  
So why, I humbly ask, is everybody making such a big fuss about my electrical impulses?

If you have an answer to this rhetorical question, I'd like to hear it. It will become another electrical impulse to be processed, then stored or forgotten, like the rest. Ho, Hum!  Of course, that's no excuse for you to be apathetic. I have mine. Go get your own.
   
FINI

IN THE BEGINNINGS: A Semi-serious Sonnet

So ...

God rested on the seventh day.

We have accepted that on faith.

But Scripture doesn't really say

what He did on Day the Eighth.

It seems that only Heaven knows

just how God spent that second week

With omnipotence would you suppose

He'd hit the beach in Martinique?

No!

Creators don't stop making things!

He would make some more dimensions

Full of divine imaginings,

    truly marvelous inventions,

        and Creatures unlike me and you.

That is what creators do!

TOWARD FULFILLMENT

(Reprise from April 11, 2010 - with one word change)

    Where are you going, my Little One ...?

We choose our path and pack our own duffel,
     mostly with stuff that's not worth its weight;
         and we set out on our own private odyssey --
             or perhaps we wait for a ship that never comes.

Though never quite sure where we are going,
     we are guided by Wisdom bought with pain
         and by a gift of Grace, which somehow appears,
             perhaps delivered by a prophet, or just by a friend.

The Cloud of Unknowing hides some distractions
      and we suddenly realize what we've known all along:
          that Being Loved is the place we have been longing for;
              and Loving is the only way that will surely get us there.
       
                    All the rest is colored bubbles.

An Invitation to Repeat Visitors

Welcome back, whoever you are.

If you come to visit from time to time
to my humble attempts at rhythm and rhyme,
A "Follower" I invite you to be.
It would feel most rewarding to me,
For, as a poet, I don't earn a dime.

You only need to register with an email address, to protect us bloggers from anonymous abusive comments.   You won't get any spam.  It would sure be inspiring to know that somebody out there actually reads some of this stuff.    I'd just like too know if it piques anyone's interest.   Comments are always welcome (even slightly abusive ones if they're the least bit constructive).
Lavish praise and unbridled admiration are preferred, of course.

   Thanks !

On the Road

Sometimes,
you meet pilgrims
who appear to be going your way.

But,
walking side-by-side
doesn't mean you share the same goal.

Why
assume a common goal
when you started in different places?

So,
run your own race
and stay in your own lane 'til the end.

If You Close the Door ...

So,
you think no one can hurt you
if you close the door
and lock it from within.

Now,
no one can hear you
no one can help you.
no one can even ask "How are you?"

Soon,
your friends stop trying.
You think no one can hurt you?
Someone just did.

CHRIST on an Acrostic: The Cross is Us!

Christ did not cease to suffer after His death.
He endures our pain: every stab, every woe.
Remember that He arose before He ascended.
It matters not that His body once died.
Still suffering ~ for us ~  Christ lives
Though He insists His burden is light.

"Know that I am with you always."  [Matthew:28-20]

A PCYNICAL PSALM

Note:  The P is silent, as in swimming.


This is the day the Lord has made;
but let's not get too overjoyed.
For minute by minute it's destined to fade;
and once it's gone by, it's destroyed.


This little gem is just a reminder that I'm still on the planet.
I've been busy writing music -- soon to be presented on DrSpeedbump.com

SOMETHING RESEMBLING an OGRE

When something resembling an Ogre
has found a home in your backyard,
walk around the beast, three times at least,
before you start poking at it.
Provoked, it might attack suddenly.
Unprovoked, it will likely circle you
to assess your behavior,
instead of starting to poke at you.

You'll soon realize that the two of you
are dancing rather than fighting.
You'll see one another from all different angles.
You may learn that your dance partner
is merely something resembling an Ogre,
and not at all fearsome or ferocious.
It could be fun, you know --
even if it is a real Ogre.

EVOLUTION

Evolution is nothing more
than God taking very small steps.
Intelligent design is just taking time.
God hasn't finished creating us yet.
Thy Will be done on earth,
little by little.
When You're eternal,
always have been
and always will be,
There's really no need to hurry.

ETERNAL LIFE

In the Here and Now,
Time is a non-entity
Just as it is in Eternity.
In the absence of Time,
We cannot be moved or stopped.
We cannot cease to be.
Eternal life is Here and Now.
A gift that few unwrap.

REGRET

The tree that you planted
under the window
has grown to block the sun.
Still, after all these years,
you don't have the heart
to cut that old tree down.

The WISDOM of INNOCENCE - A Lesson for Grown-Ups

Children keep their sense of wonder
Even when hard rain is falling.
Why does lightning beat the thunder?
Why must all the birds stop calling?
Why do grown-ups keep complaining?
It won't stop the rain from raining!

REALITY

Reality is, more or less, the Will of God.
Our Free Will accounts for the "less".
Nothing is anything,
if (or unless) God wills it,
or at least allows it.
So...
I can do anything I wish, God willing.
Conversely, without God, I can do nothing.
Sometimes, God lets me do nothing.
He doesn't expect me to do anything!
Isn't that something?

PAIN

If the body's so smart to send pain to the brain
to tell it that something is wrong,
how come it's so dumb that it doesn't get numb
when the thing that was wrong is gone?

LIKE SILENCE

You will shatter it
if you name it ~ like silence.
Why dissect a rose?

A DIFFERENT WORLD

A dream is real until it becomes a tale.
Words are from a different world.
They will fail you.
So just embrace it.
Let it rumble in the depths.
Hold the unspoken with your soul.

ENVY or "Consider the Turtle"

Does the turtle envy the bird
for its ability to fly?
No more than the bird envies the fish
for its effortless swimming.
Does that fish envy the amphibious frog
for being equally at home in two different worlds?
No more than the frog, the fish and the bird
envy the turtle for its invulnerability.
And so it goes; for all creatures were given
special talents that define their individuality.
Most of them never complain.

Find your gifts. Some are well hidden.
Open them and use them. Make them shine.
Say "Thank You!", even if you hear no applause.
Others may envy you, though this might surprise you.
Chances are, they are none other than those
you regarded as more gifted than yourself.
Consider the turtle.

BE STILL ~ Based on Psalm 46, more or less

There is nothing in the world that resembles God so much as silence.

~ Meister Eckhart (1260-1328)

Be still and know that I am God

Be still and know

Be still

be

b

...