Time For a Change.

As I approach my mid-fifties, I tend to reflect on life quite a bit. I see changes that are exciting in the field of Religion, where the image of a loving God "father/mother" is replacing the image of God as a scorekeeper- watching with anger and disgust as you rack up sins that assure you will never be worthy of being with Him in heaven. I recently read a book called "Into The Light" by Dr. John Lerma. It is about people who have shared their "pre-death" experiences with Dr. Lerma who is the medical director of a hospice in Texas. There are quite a few commonalities in the accounts in the book, one of which is the experience of angels or deceased loved ones appearing to the dying patient around 4 weeks prior to their death. The book reinforced my belief in an afterlife, but more importantly in the idea that we come into this existence with a mission which we will complete to a greater or lesser degree according to how much we were able to love ourselves and others. That is the evolutionary path we travel and it requires a willingness to grow and change CONSTANTLY.
There are great changes occurring in technology and communications as well. The youth are into it full tilt, but I'm just trying to keep up as evidenced by this blog which I started only a few days ago. Blogging is a funny thing. I don't know why others do it, but I can tell you why I started. I feel like a failure. Thats right, I have always believed that I should leave the world a better place than I found it, but to my dismay, I haven't a thing to leave of my own making other than words and ideas, most of which will never get published, or read. I have 3 beautiful adult children who managed to stay alive until their eighteenth birthday without ending up in prison. But I take no credit for making children, that was all God's doing. I take no credit for raising them because that was a constant shipwreck and I was just holding on for dear life. But my kids, like most kids today have quite a bit of technical know-how. They communicate through text and instant messaging. They all have a "my space" page. My boys have super dexterous thumbs from playing video games. I have discovered a downside to this advancement however, they have retarded their physical development. Too many hours in front of an electronic box does not make for healthful living. Their spiritual development was retarded a long time ago when they decided there was no God ergo no reason to pray. They did adopt a Taoist philosophy and claim to meditate, but I'm not sure they are truly engaging in spiritual self improvement, and that concerns me. We are after all, body, mind and spirit and neglecting one area leaves a person out of balance. My personal downfall is the body part, so I choose not to judge them too harshly. Another technological advancement that I really like is the podcast and stream links. I can listen to my favorite programs at my own pace. One of my favorite is Coast to Coast with George Norey. I find the show mentally stimulating and at my age I need all the stimulation I can get.
Another inevitable change that comes in middle age is sagging...EVERYTHING in my case, due to laziness. I'm always amazed at the energy level in children and wonder why it is wasted on the young. I'm too tired to workout on a regular basis, and good food is part social, part taste and I'll be damned if I'm giving that up. You know, that is one question I am going to ask God when I croak...Why not let kids sleep and adults bounce of the walls...or cliffs or whatever suits them?. I also have a constant battle with unwanted hair. I suppose if I were more evolved I'd just embrace these changes, but I live in a society that worships youthful appearance so I'm inclined to be concerned about that...and if by chance I let it go, my kids are sure to raise a fuss about it. I don't want to embarrass them, so my plan is to move deep into the woods where I can retire and deteriorate under a less critical gaze. Still when I look in the mirror lately I am more likely to see my mother looking back at me than myself.
CHANGE... it may not be graceful but it is inevitable so why not enjoy the ride. It can be a BLAST!

The Blastometer is vacillting on this one.

"Law and Order"...racism at it's finest!

I watched "Law and Order" tonight and once again I was blown away by the blatant racism on American television. The episode featured the story of a white woman who encouraged her sons to stand up for themselves when their basketball was stolen by a black kid at a neighborhood park. The sub-story was that affluent people (presumably the "bad" white folks) were moving into a black impoverished neighborhood in the name of rejuvenating the inner city. I assume the idea was to rid the city of criminal elements, but the way it was played out, poor people were being displaced by rich people and somehow that was an injustice. I guess only poor people are allowed to live in U.S. cities... Or perhaps they are ENTITLED to live there because they have managed to chase everyone else away. Anyway, this woman drove the three white kids back to the park to retrieve their ball, but expecting that the thieves might have knives,(ya think? It's only the inner city!) she told her boys to arm them selves with baseball bats. When they arrive at the court the boy who STOLE their basketball claimed he didn't have it and one of the white boys began to chase him with the baseball bat. (Bad Move) The father of the thief saw his son being chased by the kid with a bat and he did what any self respecting black, impoverished American would do...he pulled a gun and shot the assailant killing an innocent bystander in the process. (apparently being impoverished doesn't preclude one from amassing the funds necessary to procure a firearm) Now the white D.A. decides to try the white mother who told her kids to stand up to bullies with baseball bats, and the black father who shot them to ostensibly protect his son, THE THIEF, in the same court on the same day before the same jury. Ahhh, Solomon in all his wisdom couldn't have planned it better. And in the end, they both receive identical sentences. It seems that NBC would have us believe that standing up to a bully is as egregious an offense as killing one. The suggested response to a bully, according to this program, would be to go to the authorities with the problem. That one really got me laughing. I live in a suburb of Los Angeles and if I walked into the police station to complain that a kid on a public basketball court stole my kids basketball, I'd get laughed out of the station. In all honesty I wouldn't send my kid into a predominantly black neighborhood to confront a bully with a baseball bat. In a sane world I'd want to confront the kid or his parent myself but I'd be afraid to in a predominantly black, thug infested neighborhood. Teenagers rightfully hate it when mommy gets involved, so I'd probably stand by feeling helpless and watch them do what any self respecting white kid would do in that situation. Leave the public park to the gangs and find or build a safe court somewhere else. Of course then we'd be racist for having a more exclusive basketball court. The truth is that programs like this do little to ease racial tensions because they focus on race and socioeconomics and fail to look at the real cause of the problem. Law abiding people have no defense against criminals who are "lawless". The police are ill-equipped and disinclined to act until blood is shed or life is lost. That is the brutal truth. The problem isn't black or white or brown or rich or poor...it is navy blue and wears a shield. It is a broken legal system and it is a National media that instigates and perpetuates the hatred every chance it gets. Face it America, poverty is a problem for every ethnicity, and if we don't quit thinking in color and start thinking and acting with integrity the only "Law and Order" we'll ever see is what the television is dishing out, and that is one foul tasting dish.

The Blastometer is off the charts.