The fiction of the “self made” man
November 26, 2006 by Bill
Whenever I hear that threadbare cliche…”well, you know, he is really a self made man” I always start laughing. Laughing at the absurdity and stupidity of the cliche. There is no human alive who is “self made”. We all owe tons of appreciation to all of those other human beings who helped us along our way.
I started this Thanksgiving week by saying “thank you”. I am ending the week today by saying “thank you”. To me that is the heart of what Thanksgiving is all about.
I am remembering to say “thank you” to my grandparents and great grand parents, those brave and hardy and visionary souls who came west. broke the soil, and homesteaded.
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A simple “thank you”…will suffice
November 19, 2006 by Bill
You must know by now that one of my heroes was that giant mystic Meister Eckhart (1260-1327) who was light years ahead of his time. He was the father of German philosophy and the sharpest thorn in the side of the Christian church. He told them “to go around looking for God is like sitting on an ox looking for an ox to ride.”
Seven hundred years ago he wrote this: “if the only prayer you say in your entire life is “Thank You”…that would suffice.”
To me that is one of the most profound statements in the spiritual literature of humankind. Put it on your fridge door in five colors. That has been my first conscious act of the day for more years than I can remember.
What am I thanking? Not a “him”…or a “her” or any anthropomorphic ‘God’ “out there”. But to the Ultimate energy beyond the Mystery…to the ineffable…incomprehensible beyond the Mystery…to the Wonder behind the miracles of existence…”thank you” is the only prayer we need as we begin the celebration of a new day. Every moment is a new arrival. How do we respond to this marvel? In the exaltation of existence. It is one of the rewards of being human.
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Phony degrees and phony people
November 12, 2006 by Bill
In religion and politics phony people and phony degrees thrive in the fertile soil of the gullible. James Dobson and his Christian fundamentalist organization Focus on the Family wallow in hypocrisy. “Christ cures homosexuality” they bellowed in national magazines. They paraded John Paulk and his wife before the world as “proof”. Christ cured Paulk, they said. In October of this year Paulk was caught hustling in a Washington, D.C. gay bar. Matthew J. Glavin, president of the conservative legal foundation leading the fight to disbar President Clinton, was arrested for public indecency for hustling gay sex partners in an Atlanta park. A built in B.S. detector helps with phony people.
Phony degrees are everywhere. Ministers calling themselves “Dr.” have never earned a “Doctors” degree in their entire lives. These are ‘honorary’ degrees given by a small college of their own denomination. I have only known one minister, in 40 years, with an earned Ph.D degree in religion.
Today you can get any degree you want on your computer without ever leaving home or opening a book. For 25 bucks you can get degrees on what look like official forms of any university in America. Over 350,000 have become “instant ministers”. They can go out and get a church without one hour of serious study and spread their religious manure all over the landscape. The stupid and gullible will listen to every ignorant sermon they preach.
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