Panic

    Does it appear to you as it does to me that many people are getting into panic mode because of the coronavirus?  Now I’m not trying to minimize the importance of taking all precautions that you can to keep yourself and your family healthy, but doesn’t it seem that many are becoming a little bit on the side of being a bit paranoid?

     You have a family that on a “normal” two week period might use 14 rolls of toilet paper.  (I think I’m being a bit excessive, but we’ll use that for my illustration.)  Now they think they are going to need 10 packs with 12 rolls each because of the virus!!!

     As far as I’m concerned if that family is going to be using that much toilet paper within a 14 day self-quarantined time frame they must have a more serious problem than the virus.

     At the 17 stores around the region (Boston), the grocery chain Roche Bros. said demand was up nearly three times since Thursday (March 12^th) following a rush of news that pointed to an impending coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.  The spike in shopping has sparked fears that food supply chains will struggle to meet a sustained increase in demand.

     However, according to the New York Times:  “Americans have been alarmed by empty grocery shelves while food suppliers and retailers say they are struggling with surging demand, they insist the supply chain remains strong.”

     This has not been the first time that a mass hysteria has caused a shortage of toilet paper.  According to snopes.com: “In December 1973, Johnny Carson made a joke during his opening monologue on The Tonight Show about an upcoming toilet paper shortage. While Carson was not the first to comment on the situation, the talk show host’s joke was blamed for causing a nationwide toilet paper shopping spree.”

     “Carson read a real newspaper clipping about a toilet paper shortage on the air… The day after Carson read the clipping (and made a few jokes) about the “toilet paper shortage” people didn’t realize the story had been about commercial toilet paper and there was a surge of panic buying of consumer-grade toilet paper. This resulted in the stores selling out of the toilet paper they had on the shelves — which of course reinforced the rumor of a toilet paper shortage.” 

     Panic according to the dictionary is the “sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior.”  We only have to look around us at this time and see that this definition is being played out by a vast number of people in all communities.  We must control ourselves, be balanced in our needs, and continue to move forward with life.  Unfortunately, we’re only human.

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Don't panic so others will stay calm."

Superstitions

     If you would ask a person:  “Why are you superstitious?”  They would probably shrug their shoulders and say “I don’t know.”  Or they may try to blame it on the way they grew up or the area they are from.  However, there are basically two factors involved in all superstitions:  fear and ignorance!

     People have a variety of different superstitions that they believe in often depending upon what part of the world they live in.  Most people are familiar with some of the basic ones:  walking under a ladder, having a black cross your path, or breaking a mirror.  But some superstitions are really hard to think about and especially when you realize that there are people who actually believe these things.  Consider:

     A statue of an elephant with its trunk pointing upward and tail pointing toward the door will bring money into a home.

     Mirrors cause paralysis of the face if looked into after one has been eating.

     A glass of “holy” water placed behind the door wards off any evil spirits that may wish to enter a room.

     One should not sleep while exposed to moonlight, as it weakens eyesight and causes insanity.

     Some past superstitions concerning women and child birth are really in the realm of the unimaginable, but they have been shown by modern science to be fallacies.

     A woman who has just become a mother should refrain from washing her hair for 30 days or more after giving birth; she should refrain from taking a bath for 40 days if the baby is a girl, 41 if a boy.

     A new mother may not eat eggs, pepper, acid fruits, or even rice.

     She must avoid going out at night, as the evening dew may cause insanity.

     And here’s one that is really a dilly:  If a woman begins labor, she is told to make an infusion.  This is done by boiling in water two railway signal flags, a red one and a green one, and then drinking the water.  The red flag is believed to be good for stopping hemorrhage, and the green one supposedly shortens labor.

     Of course, on this day (Friday the 13^th) some people are very cautious.  The irrational fear of the number 13 has been given a scientific name:”triskaidekaphobia”; and on analogy to this the fear of Friday the 13^th is called “paraskevidekatriaphobia.”  Try to say those names really fast!

     Some of the things associated with this fear are unbelievable!  We have to remember that every year there is at least ONE Friday the 13^th and some years have up to three!  Long ingrained superstitions are often hard to deal with by many people but that doesn’t make them any less upsetting.  One thing for certain when it comes to how people deal with various situations in their lives:  We’re Only Human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Even with all your fears

you can be certain that after Friday the 13th

will come Saturday the 14th!"

Time Change

     Well it has happened again!  Are you readjusted from the change in the time?  That “springing” forward thing always gets in that “WHY did we have to lose an hour” mode!

     Hawaii and Arizona are the two U.S. states that DON’T observe daylight saving time and they seem to be getting by fairly well.  Although if you really want to get confused:  The Navajo Nation in northeastern Arizona DOES follow daylight saving time!

     There have been many who have tried for years to get this time change thing stopped!  However, as you can obviously see it has not been successful.  Why did we get ourselves into this irritating situation to begin with?

     According to timeanddate.com you may be a bit surprised.  “While Germany and Austria were the first COUNTRIES to use DST in 1916, it is a little-known fact that a few hundred Canadians beat the German Empire by eight years.  On July 1, 1908, the residents of Port Arthur, Ontario, today’s Thunder Bay, turned their clocks forward by one hour to start the world’s first DST period.”

     According to their information you can thank New Zealand scientist George Vernon Hudson and British builder William Willett for the idea of DST in 1895.  However, their ideas differed considerably.  Hudson proposed by means of a paper to the Wellington Philosophical Society suggesting a 2-hour shift forward in October and a 2-hour shift back in March.  This idea was never followed through.  Willett however really wanted to mess our minds up because he suggested setting the clocks ahead 20 minutes on each of the four Sundays in April and then switching them back by the same amount on each of the four Sundays in September.  We would be playing with our clocks EIGHT times during the year!

     Many have given credit to Benjamin Franklin as being the first to suggest seasonal time changes.  However, according to timeanddate.com concerning this idea from Franklin, they wrote:  “In a letter to the editor of the Journal of Paris, which was entitled “An Economical Project for Diminishing the Cost of Light”, Franklin simply suggested that Parisians could economize candle usage by getting people out of bed earlier in the morning.  What’s more:  Franklin meant it as a joke.” 

     Whether you are for or against this time change idea one thing is certain:  It doesn’t matter if you gain an hour or lose an hour, people are going to complain!  But again:  We’re only human.

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"If time changes everything,
why do we have to change time?"

Disease

    Today there is a lot in the news about the Coronavirus.  It seems that it is certainly spreading at an unbelievable rate.  People are being infected it seems without any known cause.  The more people try to take steps to prevent their becoming sick the more it appears that the virus is spreading.  Governments are spending multi-millions of dollars to try and get this infection under control.  But the truth appears to be that they still know very little about the disease itself.

     The COVID-19 (as it is being called) as of this writing has caused at least 14 deaths in the United States.  There are now confirmed cases of the coronavirus in 21 states, after the pathogen was found in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Colorado.  The virus has a mortality rate of 3.4% estimated by the WHO (World Health Organization) as of March 3^rd.

     However, there is a “disease” which affects all of mankind and the mortality rate is 100%.  Try as we may we cannot escape or prevent (at least currently) the sting of this inherited condition.  That uncontrolled “disease” is death.  Through human history individuals have searched for a “magic elixir” to prevent their eventual reality.  But in the end death overtook them all.  They have succumbed to the greatest enemy of mankind - - - Death!

     This eventuality of humankind has no regard for age, for gender, for status, for economic position, for nationality, or for race.  It is all inclusive and stalks after the entire population who live upon the earth.  It is not bound by the confines of national borders and gives no second thought a person’s current circumstances.  If it does not capture its prey while they are young it has the patience to wait until an individual is overtaken by “natural” causes.

     However, there is nothing “natural” about death.  Scientist and health professionals really do not understand why people grow old and die.  With all their research and medical advances they are still very much in the dark about this subject.  They have made some great advancement in the medical field and they are often able to treat a person’s symptoms and make them feel somewhat better.  They may even extend a person’s life by a few years.  In the end however, a person will be captured by this adversary death.

     There is one who can bring death to nothing.  He is also able to reverse all the effects that have been caused by death.  To take advantage of what He offers along with all the provisions it involves we must do our part and put faith in Him who will bring death to nothing!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"To have good health makes all other
things in life more enjoyable."

Stress

     In today’s world there are many times and many situations which cause us stress.  It may be to our advantage to understand this problem a little better.  What is stress?  How can we control the stress we may be under?

     Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body's reaction to a challenge or demand. However not all stress is bad.  In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid danger or meet a deadline.

   Why do we face stress?  Consider this example:  Sam has recently had his wife walk out on him without any reason.  He is now left to raise their two daughters on his own.  Only a week after this occurrence Sam was let go from his job.  What was he going to do now?    Within the next two weeks he would learn that one of his daughters has a life threatening disease and the medical bills are going to be piling up!  Sam is now in a situation where he sees no way out.  The foundation of his very existence is crumbling apart right around him.  He feels consumed from the stress that he is under.

     Probably most of us would never have to face a situation such as described above.  However, there are many other situations that individuals have to face which can cause our personal stress levels to go the max.  When these things do happen how can a person lower the level of stress that he have to deal with?

     Here are five ways that might help according to the Center for Mind-Body Medicine:

1.       Eat Well!  Replacing harmful substances such as caffeine, alcohol, and refined sugars, with clean proteins, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats will help regulate your hormone levels, including stress hormones.

2.      Shaking & Dancing.  The quickest way to relieve stress is to release endorphins through exercise.  Admittedly most of us don’t get enough exercise anyway.  So get up and move!  As little as fifteen minutes of moderate exercise per day can make a huge difference in your stress levels.  However, as a precaution please seek medical advice before starting any exercise program.

3.      Get a good night’s sleep.  To relieve stress before bed, try some relaxation techniques and disconnect from technology as much as possible an hour before bedtime.  To ensure the proper amount of rest (7-8hours is recommended), set an alarm reminding you to go to bed!

4.      Guided Imagery.  The body responds in essentially the same way to made-up imagery as it does to real experiences.  Positive, relaxing images can be an effective tool for relieving stress.  Keep this in mind when you are decorating your bedroom and do not put LOUD excitable pictures or posters within the room.

5.      Breathe.  This may sound a bit ridiculous.  We all breathe.  We do it all day, every day, and yet we often forget the healing powers of deep breathing.  By slowing down your heart rate and lowering blood pressure, breathing deeply relieves stress.  Give it a try!

     Maybe some of these points will be of help to you.  Remember, however, that we are only human and we are going to (at times) create the very problems of stress that we are trying to avoid.

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"When you reach your limit,

there's nothing wrong with asking for help."

Schedule

     Most of us have at least a “frame work” of scheduling within our lives even if we don’t realize it.  A schedule is no more than “a plan for carrying out a process, giving lists of intended events and times.”

     Think about it for a moment:  If we work secularly for a living we have scheduled for us our time of employment.  We work eight to five or whatever our work schedule calls for.  During that time we have to plan out our work: what will we do at this time or what at that?  Even within the work schedule there are events or appointments that we must allow time for.  This may all be as simple as knowing how things are going to flow through-out the work day.

     Even if we don’t work secularly we have to have some type of schedule for our daily activities.  We have to know when the kids need to be at school and when to pick them up.  There may need to time for doctors appointments, hair appointments, getting the laundry done, and don’t forget that important trip to Wal-Mart!

     But, if we are asked to sit down and WRITE out our schedule it becomes a major almost impossible task for us to accomplish.  Truly it doesn’t have to be that way.  Perhaps a simple pocket calendar will help us keep the various events of our lives in better order.  Now it is so convenient to ADD things to your phone calendar, which by the way, will give you advance notification of when that event is about to occur.

     Whatever simple manner we choose to use the point is USE IT!  There is nothing more hectic in our lives than to miss an appointment or to be late for an event that we have perhaps looked forward to for months!  And for you guys, there’s nothing more upsetting to your spouse than for you to forget your own anniversary.  She will never let you live it down.  Add to this fact:  As we get older our memories don’t work as efficiently as they did when we were younger.  But then again:  We’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"It's not how much time you have to get things done,

It's how much you done with the time you have!"

Beauty

     This is a topic that could be discussed and debated for a very long time.  This is true primarily because beauty is a very subjective topic.  We have heard said on many occasions: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  This is because what is beautiful to one person may not be the same to another.

     It is believed that this saying first appeared in the 3^rd century BC in Greek although in its current form it didn’t appear in print until the 19^th century.  Perhaps not giving full credence to the phrase the concept has been penned in many fashions:

     “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.”  [Kahlil Gibran]

     “Do not dissect a rainbow.  In other words, do not destroy a beautiful phenomenon by overanalyzing it.”  [Denise LaFrance]

     “That which is striking and beautiful is not always good, but that which is good is always beautiful.”  [Nino de L’Enclos]

     The sayings continue to echo within our minds from times of long ago and yet they continue to be made anew with words that people pen and speak within our own life times.  I think that Helen Keller perhaps put it into a most beautiful expression when she said:  “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched --- they must be felt with the heart.”

     It is possible that a person could spend their entire lifetime searching the world over for that which to them is the most beautiful of all things merely to realize at the end of their life that that which was truly the most beautiful thing was not that far away from them from the beginning.

     If beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder perhaps we should spend less time seeking beauty from an outside source, or trying to perfect it upon ourselves with cosmetics and changes which we feel can make us become more beautiful, and instead look within ourselves and seek to readjust the concept of beauty within our own mind so that OUR eyes become more attuned to what true beauty is.  Maybe the problem is not how we search for that which is beautiful, but how we should better perceive the beauty that is already around us every day!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Do not look at the outside beauty that fades,

but look at the beauty within that remains forever."

Anticipation

    There are always things that we look forward to with the anticipation at times almost unbearable.  There are other things that create a more fearful or anxious anticipation that often we would prefer if it did not happen.

     We may become so exited within our hearts about an upcoming event it almost drives us to the point that we may feel we cannot wait for the appointed date to arrive.  It may be a huge event in our lives: graduation, marriage, a job change or something else.  Or it may be something a bit more reserved like a vacation or even trying to wait out the work week until the weekend arrives!

     The swelling of the anticipation, or the height to which it crescendos, may depend much upon our age, our current position in life, or so many other factors.  The point is that we may at times feel an unrelenting impulse of anxiety just by thinking momentarily upon the anticipated event.  We may almost drive ourselves insane trying to control ourselves because of the strong emotional feelings which grow within us as we try to patiently wait for the foretold event.

     There are also those times and events within our lives that we anticipate with great sadness and sorry.  We reconcile to ourselves that these things happen, but we are never really and truly prepared for them to happen to us. 

     We may be advancing in years and now understand why older people moved much slower than we did when we were younger.  Those “extra” precautions that we now have to take just to walk around our own house or apartment are times extremely difficult and unpleasant.  And we only anticipate what we might have to do when things become even more difficult or perhaps impossible!

     Trips to the doctor become less looked forward to because we know that we are only going to receive more disturbing news about our health.  We anticipate that with each visit we will get better news but we know it doesn’t generally work that way.

     Yes, the days will arrive when we no longer are about to care for our own personal needs.  We might begin to anticipate how long that will continue until we come face to face with our own mortality.

     As for myself, I look forward to the future with great anticipation that all the bad and terrible things we have to face today will be a long forgotten memory of the past.  Each day will bring new and exciting adventures and I anticipate that millions of people will be able to join me in that new future.

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Deal with what happens,

not what you anticipate happening!"

Life

    We exist.  We move about and accomplish many things.  Sadly some of these things are not so good, but more than not we attempt to do the best we can under the circumstances that we find ourselves living under.  Many people go through their daily routines and never give any real thought to “life” and what it means to them.  This existence that many take for granted has consumed some individuals to be able to explain HOW it all happened.  They look to explain WHY we got here and HOW we fit into the greater “scene” that flows through the routine of human existence.

     One theory that is used to explain our existence is that of evolution.  According to yourgenome.org “In biology, evolution is the change in the characteristic of a species over several generations and relies on the process of natural selection.”  Many scientists who believe in evolution would tell you that billions of years ago, life began on the edge of an ancient tidal pool or deep in the ocean.  They then try to convince you that chemicals spontaneously assembled into bubblelike structures, formed complex molecules, and began replicating.  They believe that all life on earth originated by accident from one or more of these “simple” original cells.  They in some fashion try to portray this “theory” as fact that complex living organisms sprang, originally, from NOTHING!  That’s a bit hard to believe for a thinking person.

     Another “theory” that is promoted by many, but has not received major acceptance by today’s scientific community, is that of “Ancient astronauts.”  This promotion refers to the pseudoscientific idea that intelligent extraterrestrial beings visited Earth and made contact with humans in antiquity and prehistoric times.  Proponents suggest that this contact influenced the development of modern cultures, technologies, and religions, and even human biology.  A common position is that deities from most, if not  all, religions are extraterrestrial in origin, and that advanced technologies brought to Earth by ancient astronauts were interpreted as evidence of divine status by early humans.  Many feel that there is very compelling evidence to support this assumption.  Included within this assumption by some is the idea that life originated somewhere other than this planet and was “intentionally” brought here by an alien race or races.

     I surmise that when a person does some serious thinking on this matter of life one can see that LIFE, a complex organism even within the study of a single cell organism, cannot come into existence from nothing.  According to universtoday.com “As Einstein showed us, light and matter are just aspects of the same thing.  Matter is just frozen light. And light is matter on the move.”  He thereby says that energy and matter are two sides of the same coin.  His famous equation E=mc2 shows that energy can be transformed into matter and vice versa, matter into energy.  This basically helps us to understand that life did not come from nothing but was the transformation of elements and energy into a living being.

     And if we take that portion of the “ancient astronaut” theory that states it was “intelligent extraterrestrial beings” that are being consider we can look at life from a more realistic possibility.  Extraterrestrial means “of or from outside the earth or its atmosphere.”  Then there is no reason to consider otherwise.  We are told in the bible that God created the first human couple and instructed them to multiple upon the earth.  With that simple basic belief we can understand the complexity of the human family and can learn why so many things are currently the way they are.  We can also learn what we are instructed to do with our lives to make our futures happy and successful.  We have before us the opportunity to choose life!  Or to suffer the consequences!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"Within each living thing

there exist a reflection

of the Creator."

Love

     It is probably the most prolific topic about which songs are written:  LOVE!  Think about it for a moment.

     “Somebody to Love” by Queen.  “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles.  “Whole Lotta Love” by Lez Zeppelin.  “I Want to Know What Love Is” by Foreigner.  “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley.  “All Out of Love” by Air Supply.  I could continue this list for a long time.  However, it seems we always want to talk about love, to sing about love.

     Within various times during our lives we have “The Look of Love” (Dusty Springfield).  Although I’m not actually sure what that “look” is?  From time to time we want to let others know that they are the “Sunshine of Your Love” (Eric Clapton, Cream).  Then there are times we can practically assure people that “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again” (Tom Jones).  But that’s unlikely to really happen!

     And who can forget “When a Man Love a Woman” (Percy Sledge)?  That song truly helped us males to see some of the “foolish” things we do when we find ourselves “in love.”  We might endure a “forbidden” love affair if the feelings become too strong, understanding “You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away” (The Beatles) if we think we can make it continue.

     However, there are those few who almost make us never want to ever love again.  “You Give Love a Bad Name” (Bon Jovi) talks about that situation.  And “Love Hurts” (Nazareth) attempts to give us a more realistic view of the situation of love.  This is especially true if you add to your consideration “Love Is a Battlefield” (Pat Benatar).

     But many of the true affectionate feelings of love are embedded within “Never My Love” (The Association).  Even if you personally don't believe in love for yourself, this song will make you understanding how love can make you have very strong feelings for another.  Songs will also make you understand why you would never want to live in “A World Without Love” (Peter and Gordon).

     I could go on, however, we constantly fantasize about love within our lives, how it makes us do the impossible on occasions and yet when we look around us love is truly lacking within our world today, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” (The Righteous Brothers).  I want everyone to think about this and instead of merely “singing” about love, let’s put love into action within our everyday lives!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"There is no place for hatred

when your heart is filled with love."

Not Bad

   Have you ever had someone ask you:  “How do you feel?”  I’m sure you have because we all do it every day.  The problem is most people who ask don’t really want to know the answer.  At least not the real answer!

     When asked we usually come back with a quick “Not bad.”  Or maybe a “Pretty good.”  The point being we don’t want to bother someone with all the painful details of our lives.  In reality, we may be suffering inside with pain and anxieties which many people wouldn’t want to know to begin with.

     Sometimes the way we respond may be the actual way we feel:  Not bad.  Or pretty good.  The plain truth is we don’t know what feeling good really means.  When we respond to someone with those answers what we really mean is we don’t feel as bad as we did the day before.

     And maybe we should just leave it at that and move on with our lives.  However, there are times when we should really get a bit more detailed about our response.  I know that people mean well, but have you ever gone to the doctor’s office for an appointment and the first thing the receptionist asks you is:  “How are you feeling today?”

     My mind always rushes to the response (which I don’t say):  “What do you mean?  I’m coming to the doctor’s office!  Do you think I just wanted to stop by and see how everyone here was doing?”

     You, of course, come back with the response:  “Not bad!”  Then you wait until they are able to get you into that extra little office so you can wait so more for the doctor to see you.  Then there’s that light little knock and the door opens and the doctor walks in.  The doctor’s first response:  “How are we doing today?”  Does anybody realize WHY people go to the doctor’s office?  Are they just trying to be funny in some slick medical fashion?

     I think from now on when asked “How are you doing?”  I’m just coming back with a simple:  “For an old, fat man falling apart, I'm doing pretty well."  But, like everyone else, I'm only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"When you ask someone how they feel, 

be prepared, they may tell you!"

The Times

    Let’s pause for a moment from our usual blog discussions and consider a few thoughts from our times and the situation that each of us may have to face.

     “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”

     Within today’s population it is estimated that over 50% of those living are under the age of 30.  When you consider that every day that number will continue to increase you can certainly see the potential truth in the above quote.  Whoever has the power of youth behind their decisions and intentions will no doubt be able to accomplish much in this world.

     We notice how everyday commercial firms attempt to influence the minds of the young into whatever product, service, or venture that they wish to promote.  We also see how governmental organizations will focus their attention on the younger population to obtain the “majority” of supporters.  This hasn’t changed for decades.  The youth will continue to be a major motivating force within world dynamics.

     “The broad masses of a population are more amenable to the appeal of rhetoric than to any other force.”

     The vast majority of the world’s population will be swayed by the prolific flow of words of promise than they will be by an invading army.  It has been demonstrated over and over that those who will voice (or pen) the winsome words that the vast majority “want” to hear can be persuaded to follow those who have the implication of promise in their speech, regardless of any true intentions of bringing those promises to fruition.   

     Empires and great nations have been toppled by the speeches of powerful men in the past and will no doubt be victim to the same means of destruction in the future.  The power and boldness of the spoken word can never be overlooked nor taken lightly.

     “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”  “The greater the lie, the greater the chance that it will be believed.”

     This has always been the case with humans.  If the winsome words that are being spoken are all false, the only way to have people accept them is to make sure that the lie is SO BIG that it would make most people feel that it MUST be true or why would anyone say something so ridicules? 

     Any yet look at people around us today.  Some are so desirous a change, wanting their circumstances to improve; they are willing to believe whatever is told to them.  Those in politics make their living doing this.  They promise whatever the people want to hear knowing most often they are not going to be able to deliver what has been offered.  Think about it:  How can you get better roads, better schools, better fire and police protection, better military facilities and staff and NOT raise taxes?  How do people think these things are going to be paid?

     “All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.”

          Propaganda: The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person is only going to be accepted if the people can understand what is being told to them.  This doesn’t differentiate between what are “ideas” or “information” intent on “helping” the institution, cause, or person from that which is a “rumor” that has the purpose of “injuring” an institution, cause, or person.

     Whichever the case may be the propaganda must be grasped by the “least intelligent” of those to whom it is intended to affect.  This will aid tremendously with it being accepted and acted upon as was its intended purpose.

     “The day of individual happiness has passed.”

     Today it is very difficult to find someone that is truly happy.  Varying situations and conditions exist that work to produce just the opposite within individuals.  Even the attempts by governmental authorities to improve the conditions of their constituents is lacking in providing real happiness to those that they serve.  The time of people going to bed happy and satisfied with the way things are has surely become a thing of the past.

     “I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator.”

     It seems that very few put their real trust in God.  However, when their actions come under question they become very religious people.  Some would even agree with the quote shown above and apply it to their own actions.  They truly conceive within their own minds that their actions are “in accordance with the will of God”!  Yet they commit serious atrocities against humankind and contribute to the devaluing of human life.  It’s almost unbelievable that they can think this way but sadly they do!  However they may reply:

     “Who says I am not under the special protection of God?”

     The rants of a mad man will always include the inevitable “fact” that he will claim that he is within his rights to conduct himself the way he does because “God is on” his side of any of the issues that are being brought forth.

     Beyond all logical thinking the “conquer” will proclaim that all his actions are due to his being motivated to do the will of God.  Or that he views himself as the “instrument” that God is using to accomplish His will here upon this Earth.  And why shouldn’t he view himself this way when he feels that by his superior intellect he will prove himself to be right in all he does!

     “It is always more difficult to fight against faith than against knowledge.”

     Regardless of what a person has been taught he or she can be made to believe something entirely different by means of clever persuasion of the contrived falsehoods of man.  Against all reasonable logic a man can be made to think outlandish thoughts within his mind.  And he can be convinced to put these thoughts into actions that reflect a lack of sensible thinking by any reasonable individual.  And how could one reasoning in such a manner be able to get away with the atrocities that would be committed because of his preposterous thinking and his manipulation of humankind that is gullible enough to listen to his outrage?

     “How fortunate for leaders that men do not think.”

     Once an individual or group has decided that they will blindly follow the proposals of a mad man they have forsaken their own freedom of thought.  They choose to allow the actions and the thinking of another to guide them into whatever path of destruction that will be brought upon them.  They relinquish that valuable commodity of their right to think for themselves and place their future into the hands of those leading them.  Many of them will do so without truly understanding where this “leader” is taking them.

     I started by stating that we would look at the times in which we are living and at a possible future that we may have to face by giving up our right to free will and having others think for us.  But in actuality ALL the quotes I included within this article were made by Adolf Hitler in the 1930s.

     “Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany’s Nazi Party, was one of the most powerful and notorious dictators of the 20th century.  Hitler capitalized on economic woes, popular discontent and political infighting to take absolute power in Germany beginning in 1933. Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939 led to the outbreak of World War II, and by 1941 Nazi forces had occupied much of Europe.  Hitler’s virulent anti-Semitism and obsessive pursuit of Aryan supremacy fueled the murder of some 6 million Jews, along with other victims of the Holocaust.  After the tide of war turned against him, Hitler committed suicide in a Berlin bunker in April 1945.” [www.history.com]

     Could the world be heading for a similar situation in our times?  Hopefully, men will have learned from history and will not allow such a thing to happen again.  However, reconsider the quotes I have included above and you will note that they can very easily be applied to people, circumstances, and occurrences that are around us at this very moment.  And as far as our “learning from history,” we mustn’t forget we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"You should not have another man 

tell you what YOUR opinion is."

Alone!

     You may have never heard of John Donne.  In 1624 he wrote Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions and Seuerall Steps in My Sicknes – Meditation XVII.  But you may be familiar with the ending of that poem which says:  “And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls It tolls for thee.”  This part of the poem was the inspiration for Ernest Hemingway’s 1940 novel For Whom The Bell Tolls, regarded as one of Hemingway’s best works.

     However, I want to consider the beginning of that poem within this writing:  “No man is an island entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.”  Donne was stating an obvious conclusion:  Human beings necessarily depend on one another.  You can’t manage a certain situation all by yourself!

     Regrettably this is how most of us travel through this span of time that we call our life.  We hold within ourselves problems and difficulties thinking that others will think less of us if we confide that we are facing certain difficulties.

     This is especially true if we are dealing with some personal emotional or physical ailment.  “No one will truly understand what I am going through.”  And that may be a true statement.  Everyone faces their personal circumstances in different ways.  But we don’t have to face them alone!

     We need to let go the shackles which tend to bind us to our perceptions of what others may think.  We need to remove from our minds any perceived “stigma” which we may feel will be attached to our present condition.  We need to reach out to those around us and seek any help that they may be able to provide, even if it is their ability to sit with us and give us a “listening ear.”

     We shouldn’t isolate ourselves with an inner fear that we will be looked down upon or condemn ourselves because of what is happening to us.  We cannot build a wall around ourselves thinking that things will become better for us if we remove ourselves from the ones that can provide us the strength to continue to fight.  We cannot become an island upon ourselves thinking that we will be better if no one is able to reach us.

     NO!  We must reach out to others and let them help us in whatever way they can!  Our biggest obstacle to overcome is ourselves --- but then again, we’re only human!

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"To live a life without others,

May be worse than not living a life at all!"