Jesus and Mary Magdalene (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This week is the summit of Christendom, it is the week that establishes our missions and our purpose. It is the week the God sacrificed His Son for our sake. This week we experience the Passion of our Lord, the scourging, the ridicule the lies and the humiliation. This week we are taken to the hill, we partake in the nailing of our Lord upon the cross, we share in the agony of Mary and John and we are party to the mocking. We cannot remove ourselves from the Passion, because the Passion is eternal. Christ died for our sins, our sins of today and of tomorrow. The Passion unfolds daily, when we sin, the hammer falls upon the nail that pierces our Blessed Lords skin with each utterance of disparity and sin. Our actions today, our inequity of our humanity places the crown of thorns upon His blessed head and our lies are the spit upon His most Holy face. We are the cross that we nail Him to, we are the sins that He died for, we are the bystanders that mock and call to Him, “Come down from the cross, and save yourself”. We are the reason for His passion.
We are also the reason for His Resurrection, we are the stone that covered His tomb, but we are also the stone that was moved away. We are Mary Magdalene, when she peered into the empty tomb and saw that our Lord was “taken away”. We cried the tears of loss and desperation as she did, in the frantic search for our Lord. We are Mary in the garden when she hears the word “Why do you cry” and we are Mary when she discovers that our Lord is not dead, but risen. We are the paradox that is humanity, we are the saints and sinners we are the crucifiers and the crucified, we are one with the Lord.
We carry our cross daily to the hill, we nail our own hands to the cross with our actions and we carry our own passion in remembrance our Lord. Holy week offers us the opportunity to experience the Passion, Death and Resurrection of our Lord in a very personal way. Through the Holy Mass and reflection upon our lives, we can and do die unto ourselves and resurrect anew with the Lord. Easter is a time of renewal, a time of death giving over to life, we see it in the earth with the birth of spring, and we experience it the Mass with the Holy Sacrifice of Communion. Catholicism offers the opportunity to truly walk with Christ on the road to Calvary, to partake in the Passion in a real sense and experience the resurrection in our lives. Allow this Easter session to truly awaken in you the Passion of our Lord, allow your feelings to flow as if from the wounds of our Lord and allow your heart to feel the last earthly movement and your soul to experience the Resurrection, not as a bystander, but as a participant. Join your suffering with our Lords, and allow the healing grace of the Passion to wash over you, to engulf you and renew you.
God Bless & have a Blessed Holy Week, one filled with many deaths and resurrections
Paul Sposite
Guided Insight Life Coach
42.303780
-83.378959
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Have you ever sat down and plotted out a course of action for your current work position? I am sure many of you have and think nothing of it. But for me its one of the hardest things to do. There are two things I hate, one is having to write or talk about myself. In every ministry class or self-improvement class I have ever taken, that is almost always one of the first tasks. Call it what you like “selling yourself” “listing your gifts” or just bragging, what ever you want to call it, to me its hard and to tell the truth, some what silly. But, I know of many people who thrive on that, create the list even when they don’t have to, drop it into what ever they are saying or writing. Any chance to shine and they will.
I remember once, when I was part owner of a store, the three partners all happen to be at the store at the same time, and a salesman walked it. He was, as expected, extremely friendly and knew how to sell. He didn’t start off with”would you like to buy this” but rather with “So tell me a little about yourselves”. Very smart move, great way to open up a sales pitch. So I started with the basics, I was a youth minister and part owner of the store, partner number two, same thing, partner number three, had to mention every church they worked at, every school they even considered going to and every degree they might have even given a thought to. Her introduction, 10 min, mine and the other partner, maybe 2 minutes max. The salesman, he really didn’t care, he was just hoping for an opening, and he found it, in partner number 3.
Why partner number 3, because he know that she would also be open to flattery. And with the power of flattery, her ego would be stroked and with her ego stroked, all reason and defenses would be out the window. Our only saving grace, I was the person in charger of purchasing all gift items, partner number 3 was in charge of the money and partner number 3, book. So we were safe, ego stroked or no stroke.
What does that have to do with stating your gifts or talents or what ever. To me its all about ego, and for anyone who has read my blogs over the years knows what I think about the ego, I have no use for it. Ego is Edging God Out, and is the root of all evil. I find no value in stroking your own ego, nor in having others stroke it for you. This has caused me many issues in the past, I have a hard time “selling’ myself, because I find it hard to talk about what I am capable to do, were my strengths lies, I am much more at ease talking about my deficits and what I lack.
My action plan for work is similar to this, I am being asked to define what I want, were I want to be and how I need to get there. This is a hard task for me. The issue is, I love what I do, but I am extremely unhappy in how it is done.
I am a technical instructor for a major PLM software, I write and deliver the course. I have been doing this for over 15 years, and must say I have gotten very good at it. Am I the best, depends on who you ask, am I the worst, same thing, depends on who you ask. I know I am good at what I do, and I also know I love what I do. But… Doing the same thing over and over and over can get to you. Fighting the same battles day in and day out gets old and feeling that you have no control over it, well that, to me, is the kicker. So this current task my company is asking for, my development plan, is suppose to help me achieve my goals. But what are my goals, were do I want to be in 6 month, one year or five years from now? Hard to say.
My interest is not software, I am not a programing nerd, I am a teacher that happens to teach software. I was lucky to walk into this job, allowing me to use what ever skills I may happen to have as a teacher, to teach software. I love the creative process of teaching and developing the courseware. But I would be just as happy teaching paper folding as I am teaching software. In truth, I love to teach, plane and simple. So were do I go from here.
Do I decide its time to change gears, quit and find a new job teaching, giving up 15 years with the company, leaving my many friends and the comfort of what I know? Or do I find ways to make this work, stick it out and hope for the best? This is the dilemma, and this is why I hate having to do this.
The frustration is with myself and work, but more with myself. I understand and know, internally, that I have the power within me to fix it. I can accept it or not. If I accept it, than I have to stop the bitching about it, move on and keep on keeping on. If I decide to not accept it, than I have to fix it or leave. Either way accept or not, I have to get over it and move on. And that is what this document represents to me, I have to decide what I want and articulate it in this document. And I don’t want to face it, I don’t want to think about it, but I am being forced to.
In away, I am feeling like Charlie Brown, I know I am unhappy, but I just don’t know why. I need my Linus,
Sometimes questions . “So, tell me about yourself”, “where do you see yourself in five years”, are questions you need to hear, even when we don’t like them. I know that this task set before me is driving me nuts, but I also know it is something that I have to face, sooner rather than later.
God Bless and Happy Lent
Paul Sposite
Guided Insight Life Coach
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1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”
11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]
16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.
18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 22 The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”
Matthew 13:1-23 (NIV)
A good spring reading, planting the garden, caring for the garden. Jesus used parables to teach very deep and profound messages, he used everyday life situations to teach of eternity. Jesus connected to the common man with stories of the everyday. Yet people had a hard time understanding Him, His stories seemed to go over there heads. Why? What made the parables that hard to understand? It seems to us, a little over two thousand years later that what Jesus said is as plain as day. Your deeds are the seeds, your actions are sown into the soil of your soul and our confession is our weeding of our garden.
Jesus, it seems to us, spoke very clearly, but Jesus also stated:
“Though seeing, they do not see;
though hearing, they do not hear or understand.
If that is not a human trait, I don’t know what is. How often we do not see what is before us, the sunset, the bloom of the rose the smile of a child. And how often we do not hear the sounds of the world, the soft wind that blows through the tress, the gentle babble of the brook or the sweet song of the song birds. We miss out on the glories of life, all to often because we are to caught up in life. Or so we think. Life is not to be tossed about, we are to carefully plant our seeds, nurture them and weed our gardens, not just scatter them about and hope for the best. Would you plant your vegetable garden in such a fashion? I think not, it would be a waste of your time, money and effort, so why toss about your soul is such a fashion? Why take such little care for what will bring you eternity?
All weekend I tended to my gardens, cleaning out the leftover fall leafs and pulling the weed, planting some new seed and doing the basic spring start-up. It was lots of work, not yet finished, and it was hard, but over all satisfying. But I am paying for it today, the pain in places I did not know could even hurt, the thought that I will have to do it all again, to the rest of the gardens and the simple fact that gardening, like life, is never done. There are always weeds to pull, plants to trim, grass to cut and so on. It seems that there is always a reason to care for our gardens. But how often do we neglect our gardens? I know that once summer hits, it is harder to force myself to go out and work in my garden, who wants to work hard on a beautiful summers day? What one of us would rather sit drinking an iced tea and reading a good book, or take a trip to the sandy beach. But I know that if I don’t tear out the weeds, they will over take my garden, and smother out the plants, turning all my hard work into a mess. And when that happens, the cleaning up is many times harder than the up keep. To spend a few hours each week weeding is easier than tearing out the garden and rebuilding from scratch. This past weekend I had to just that, tear everything out of one garden and start all over. I was given wild onions that I planted in a small round garden. The first year, they looked great, I have 6 plants, the second year I had maybe 15 plants, the third year, I have 50 or more. So out it came, each one of them. And it was hard work, digging, and pulling, rebuilding the walls of the garden, turning the soil and replanting new plants. If I would have cared for the wild onions, pulled them up, ate them and thinned them out, the work would not have been so hard. But I allowed nature to takes its course, and the onions over powered the garden, making in look a mess, as if it had not a caretaker. The onions did as they were made to do, they reproduced, but I was to care for my garden, to pull some for food and pull some for the over all health of the garden. But I neglected it, I allowed the onions to crowd out each other, to infringe upon each other, not allowing each other the space to grow. And now I pay the price, I dug them all up, replanted a few in two other gardens and created a new one.
Is that not like our life, we plant seeds of sin, sure they seem simple and harmless enough when we plant them. A little white lie here, are little envy here and we think nothing of it. But that little lie grows and becomes a big lie, it blossoms and turns to seed, planting new lies, that all seem harmless. But before we know it, the lies have overtaken our life, and we are lying about needless things, lying about our lies. The garden of our soul is now overtaken by the one simple lie that started it all. The planting bad seeds is easy, you just toss them to the wind, but the planting of good seeds takes time and care.
This Lent take the time to tend to your garden, tear out the weeds of your life, and plant new seeds of love, hope and charity. Use lent as the springtime for the soul, plant new gardens of prayer and reverence, and tend to the care of your garden, making it a place of contemplation and praise.
God Bless & Happy Lent
Paul Sposite
Guided Insight Life Coach
42.303780
-83.378959
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8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”
10 He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
11 And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
Genesis 3:8-13 (NIV)
The story of Adam and Eve, our first parents, is a story often told and one that we all know. God made Adam, than Eve, Eve ate of the fruit and gave it to Adam. God came for His walk in the garden, with Adam and Eve, and Adam and Eve hid… Why, because they were naked…
Naked, meaning nothing to cover them, yes, but no. Naked has a deeper meaning here, the nakedness they felt was manifested on the outside, but was truly on the inside. The shame they felt was not a shame of the body, but a shame of the soul, for they now understood good and evil, they now knew what it was like to sin, and the soul was shamed.
We all are naked before the Lord, for He sees everything, there is nothing He does not know, for He created us and loves us. We are all sinners and we all, at some point feel shame for our actions.
Adam and Eve fashioned fig leaves together to cover their shame, they hid themselves from the sight of God, but God could see them and He questioned them. The first reaction, blame others… Eve the snake, Adam the woman. But who truly sinned, who was truly to blame, Adam, the first man, the first priest. His Church, the garden, under his care, all that God has created. Adam was given guardianship over Gods creation. How do I know this, what makes me say this, God had Adam name all the creatures of earth. To name something is to care for it. We, as parents, name our children, and in doing so, take on the responsibility of caring for and nurturing and protecting that child. Adam was given the same responsibility. God created Eve from Adam, flesh of my flesh blood of my blood, as Adam put it. So Eve was of Adam and of God, but Adam was of God only. Adam was the first priest, his church, the garden, his flock, all of Gods creation. As the priest, he was charged with protection all with in his domain, all of Gods creations, and all within the garden. By allowing the devil to enter into the Garden, Adam had failed, he had fallen asleep at the gate and allowed Eve to be tempted. Adam had sinned.
The nakedness of humanity had started, sin has entered our world and all the lies to cover up our nakedness had become part of our humanity. We may not use fig leafs to cover our nakedness anymore, but we still cover up nerveless.
Stories of priest falling asleep on the job is not just a Adam story, we experience it today. The news stories if Priest abusing their powers, embezzling money and of course the sex scandal. But that is only the Priest we identify, in truth, we Catholics, all of us, are priest (lower case p), by our very Baptism we are priest, profit and king. We are Adams of our own gardens, and we have dominion over all with in it, our children, pets, family’s and communities. Have we fallen asleep at our gates? Have we let the snake into our gardens? As a fallen race, I would venture to guess the answer is yes, we have allowed the snake in, but have we allowed the snake to tempt us? Once again I would have to say yes, we have, we all have because we all are human and being so means we all have failed, we all have sinned. But now comes the next question, what have you done about it? Have you just allowed the snake to take over or have you worked diligently to exterminate the snake?
The garden of Eden was paradise, but man, in his imperfections, allowed evil to enter within its gates. He allowed it because he allowed his ego to control him actions, his desire to be more than what he is became his downfall and we are still dealing with it today. Our ego is the snake and our lies are the fig leafs and our shame the nakedness.
The Cross of Redemption has opened of the gates of Heaven, but the gates of the Garden of Eden are still locked to us, someplace on earth paradise sits, but we are too vain to see it, our eyes are covered over with our own vanity, that we could not see it even if we were standing in the middle of it. Our inequities blind us to the perfection of Eden and keep us in a state of nakedness.
Christ, the new Adam, has redeemed us and renewed our priesthood with His body and blood. His suffering was the down payment and His death the price, he purchased our salvation and guaranteed its delivery through His resurrection. Adam came into this world naked, than trough sin covered up his nakedness, Christ died upon the cross naked to defeat the sin that Adam introduced.
Lent offers us a time to expose ourselves before God, to remove the fig leafs and stand naked before our God. A time to ask for forgiveness and a time to receive it. Like Adam, we all have allowed sin to enter into our lives, we all have allowed our ego to control our actions,but unlike Adam we have the promise of salvation. Adam, by covering himself in sin, closed the gated of Heaven to us, but Christ, but uncovering the sin, exposing Himself to our sins, has open the gates of Heaven to us. We must work hard in our gardens to eradicate the snake, to remove it from our gardens to till the soil and plant the seeds of forgiveness and love. Use this Lenten session to do a bit of gardening, attend the Sacrament of Confession, make peace with your soul and tend to your garden.
God Bless & Happy Lent
Paul Sposite
Guided Insight Life Coach
42.303780
-83.378959
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31 At that time some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.”
32 He replied, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ 33 In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!
Luke 13:31-33 (NIV)
Are you the Fox; are you the one trying to kill Jesus? Harsh question, but one that must be asked. The answer, I would venture to guess would be the same for all of us, “Yes, at times, I am the fox, yes at times I do try to kill Jesus.” Our actions or even inactions are how; our sins and lost opportunities are what we use as our weapons. When we sin, we are piercing the side of Jesus, pounding the nail into his precious hands and applying the crown of thorns upon His head. No action goes unfelt by Him who gave everything no sin goes unnoticed.
It sounds a little harsh to say that we are trying to kill him, but in truth, we already have, Jesus died for our sins, our sins of yesterday, the day before and the sins of today and what lay ahead. His death upon the cross was not just a moment in time, it was time itself, and it shattered time and placed His suffering, death and resurrection outside of time. His passion is not repeated with each sin, because it is happening now, in the moment and all moments, because no moment exists outside of the passion.
As Catholics we celebrate the passion at each Holy Mass we attend, the last supper, were Jesus is seated with His friends, the agony of the Garden, were Jesus weeps tears of blood for our inequities and the scourging, were Jesus is beaten and bloodied for our sake. Moreover, the death upon the cross, the cross of humanity, the cross of humility the cross of forgiveness, we witness this at each and every Mass. The resurrection of our Lord and the promise of life everlasting is celebrated at the altar of Love, the altar of Sacrifice, all this is our privilege to witness and partake in. The Holy Eucharist is not a representation or a reenactment; it is the Passion, the one and only Passion of our Lord. Jesus is not re-crucified over and over again, He died for our sins once, and we celebrate it and take part in it at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
So no, I do not think saying we are like the Fox, out to kill Jesus, is too harsh. It is our sins that killed Him, and it is His love for us, in the here and now, that raised Him from the dead and offers us the promise of eternal life. Nevertheless, that eternal life comes with a price, His life and our cooperation.
We are called to cooperate with Jesus, to allow the Holy Spirit to work within us and through us. Our works and our faith are the price we pay for our sins. Yes, I know Jesus paid the price, His death, and yes, I know that our actions can never pay that price. Yes, I know that some do not agree with works as a part of salvation, that faith alone get you into heaven. All I can say to that is, good luck, for faith without works is dead. That is for another blog. This blog is asking you, are you the Fox?
Are not our sins the nails that pierced the Lords skin and held him tight to the cross of iniquity? Is it not our actions, murder, lies and deceits that bloodied His body? Are we not culpable for His persecution? Anyone who says no is either a liar or the devil, the Fox that pursued our Lord, persecuted and Tortured Him and put His innocent life to death. We are the solders that marched him to Pontius Pilate; we are the centurions that delivered Him to Herod for humiliation. We are Simeon, who reluctantly took up His cross, and yes, we are the ones who pounded the nails in to our Lord.
Lent offers us a time to reflect upon that, to look at our lives and see the moments in time when we pounded that hammer of sin upon the nail of humanity, piercing the skin of love. Lent offers us the opportunity to revisit the passion of our Lord is a special way, and look upon His face as he takes His last breath, and offers up His spirit for our sake, the sake of a fallen creation. Spend some time with our Lord as He walks His way through the passion narrative, read Bible stories and let yourself be seen in them, become one of the many that crowded the streets as Jesus walked to His death. Place yourself at Peter’s side when he denies our Lord and recall the times you denied Jesus for your own sake. Be upon that hill and fell the grief of Our Lady as she watches he son, Our Lord, put to death and hear the words of Jesus within your heart, when he says “Forgive them, they know not what they do” for those word were spoken to you. Experience the moment of death, when the sky turned black and the tears of God fell upon the earth. Feel the shame of the Centurion as he came to realize what he has done and feel the joy when his heart is converted.
Lent is a time of reflection, a time to look back over your life and see it through the eyes of Christ. The Church offers us this Holy Session as a time of preparation and purification before the Holy Session of Easter. Use it, allow the graces of Lent to work within you and face your past. See the times that you, like Herod, are the Fox chasing after Jesus to kill him. However, Lent is also the time that you allow Jesus to reach His goal, the goal of driving out demons and healing people. Allow Him to heal you this Lent, allow Him to drive out your demons. He can only do this, if you are open to Him, so open yourself to Jesus this Lent and let His sacred hands to heal your soul, let the blood of Christ wash away your sins and renew your soul.
God Bless & Happy Lent
Paul Sposite
Guided Insight Life Coach
42.303780
-83.378959
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The past week offered up some shock and dismay, with the mess in Oslo. The more I hear about it on the news the more one has to consider what evil is going on in this world. I know many do not believe in a active devil, one that plays a part in our daily lives, but one must consider the possibility after such a horrendous act. The pure and simple evil of it all.
The latest report states that he, the terrorist, or one could say, the devils hit man, set off the explosion for the soul purpose of keeping peace officer and other such first responders occupied so he could go tot the island to shoot and murder the innocent young victims. That’s it, that was the plan, big explosion on the main land, travel to island and shoot… And sadly it worked all to well.
The argument for active participation of the devil in our world today spoke loud and clear in Oslo, as it did on 9/11 here in the states, the British heard him speaking with the subway bombing as have countless others through the all to human army of the evil one. He exist and is more than active in our world. It is said that the devils best tool of evil is to make us think he does not exist. How true, what better way is there to work under the radar than to have the ones you are attacking believe that you do not exist. We, through our complacency, make his work that much easer.
Terrorist are proof positive of his work here on earth, but that is not the only sign of his existence, we can see it everyday, if we just stop to look:
- Abortion
- Euthanasia
- Sex abuse
- Divorce
- Murder
- Disrespect
- Laziness
- Lies
- Stealing
The list is as endless, anyway we can show God that we do not care, do not believe, are ways the he, the evil one, can interact in our lives and move us further away from He that created us, from He that loves us, from our Heavenly Father, God.
The devil exist and he is active in our world today, as he was in the past and will be in the future.
Play for the victims in Oslo, pray for the salvation of the soul of the terrorist and pray for all of humanity…
God Bless
Paul
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President Obama’s much-told story about his mother’s fight to get cancer coverage was untrue, according to a recently published book. And the White House isn’t disputing the author’s account.
The New York Times reports that Janny Scott, in her biography, “A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s Mother,” writes that Stanley Ann Dunham‘s health insurance provider did, in fact, cover most of the medical expenses related to her uterine and ovarian cancer.
New York Times, July 13: In her book, published in May by Riverhead Books, Ms. Scott writes that Mr. Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, had an employer-provided health insurance policy that paid her hospital bills directly, leaving her "to pay only the deductible and any uncovered expenses, which, she said, came to several hundred dollars a month."
Do we have a right to expect the President of the United States to tell us the truth? Or are we to expect that the President can spin stories and tell lies? Are we living in a day and age where this is the norm?
President Obama does not corner the market on spinning webs and stretching the truth, but to use his own mother to gain political headway is, well a little to much for me. (read here)
Here’s a fact that may surprise you: Candidates have a legal right to lie to voters just about as much as they want (read this). Well that’s good news to know that when they lie to us, they are not breaking any laws… Our right to freedom of speech is paramount and should apply to everyone. But one would hope that our elected officials would be help to a higher standard. But it seems that we, the voters, do not, that we expect to be lied to, and when we are not, when the politician tells the truth, we react as if they did something wrong. Take the new Governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, he is doing what he promised to do, and now there is a recall effort. If Governor Snyder would have been like other elected officials, he would have gotten into office and served his own self-interest. Yet he did not, he got into office and did what he said he would.
I may not agree with him on everything he is doing, but he is doing what I voted for him to do. He is doing something most politician don’t, he is doing what he said he would, how refreshing that is….
I find it somewhat disheartening that so many people just take the lies and deceptions as part of life. We should expect more for our elected officials and from ourselves. But we must expect more from ourselves before we can even ask that of others. As Jesus tells us,
“You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” Matthew 7:5
We, as individuals, as family and as community must set higher standards, we must create an environment that expects the truth and requires that we hold ourselves and our communities to higher standards.
There was a time when a lie was considered to be a sign of disrespect, but now it seems to be a excepted part of our communications. At one time we knew we could tune into the nightly TV news and expect to hear the truth, but it seems this is no-longer the case. We have accepted the fact the new casters will spin and twist, even lie to get there own political point of view across. (Read this)
(See this)
Trust, is it a thing of the past, can we only expect twist and 1/2 truth from our politicians and others we are to trust.
God Bless
Paul
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Global Warming…. Really, its 55 degrees here in Michigan and it’s May 19th.. Hmmm, Right now I would be happy with global warming. Hell I would be happy with normal temps.
I remember as a kid in school learning about the new ice age we were going to have, they use to tell us that if we did not change our ways that we would be covered in ice… Well that didn’t happen, so now is we will all burn up, and that isn’t happening, so they changed it to climate change. This way they have there asses covered no matter what happens.
Each time they make predictions, they get it wrong, for example, the ozone layer hole, they stated that we needed to stop using aerosol cans, to stop the hole. So the government outlawed the arousal cans and guess what, the hole is still there, and it got bigger, after it got smaller.. .Hmm, think maybe that its just doing what is was made to do?
We have been “studying” this for only a small amount of time, the earth has been around for a lot longer than we have, and it seems to be doing fine… Yet we feel that we are so smart that we know, based on 30 or 50 years of research, what the earth is doing, how it does it and what we need to do to help her. Hmmm, sounds a little high and mighty to me. But what do I know, I don’t have lots of letters after my name.
Forget the fact that not to long ago we had an email scandal, proving that the scientist involved in the global warming research were “fixing” the results to prove there point. Forget facts, they only get in the way.
The left wing liberals do not like facts, they interfere with there plans to control everything and everyone. Yet the facts are facts. We find this in all aspects of liberal thinking, be it politics, social issues or religion. The facts just get in the way. But what can we do… Well first off, conservatives can get better educated about the facts, and we can get better at education others with the facts. Liberals are masters at disseminating falsehoods, propaganda or out and out lies. Yet we find it hard to tell the truth, we know the truth, we just don’t like to “push” the truth on others. Yet liberals do it day in and day out, and at the same time accuse conservatives of “pushing” our agenda on others.. .Hmmm, sounds odd to me.
Global something or other is just a way for liberals to try to control us, with laws and regulations demanding that we believe in an unproven fact. Much like evolution and creation. If the liberal was truly “open minded” as they claim they are, they would be willing to accept the fact that we really don’t know if Global what ever you want to call it, is real or not, they would be willing to accept the fact that creationism is as viable as evolution. Yet they don’t, instead they push there agenda on us as if we are little children who cannot think for themselves. Go figure…
As for me, a little global warming would be good right about now, I am sick of the rain and cooler than normal temps… But what do I know….
God Bless
Paul
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I love polls, the percentages and averages of things. That’s one reason I like to read TownHall magazine. In each and every issue they have polls. They give snapshots of how Americans are thinking at any given moment in time. In the January issue, that I was able to finish reading, thanks to my mini, yet unexpected vacation in Germany, I was able to read the polls. So I thought I would share a few with you in this posting.
(All poll results taken from TownHall January 2011 pg. 80: Rasmussen conducted the polls)
51% of Americans fear that the government will do to much to “help” the economy, 39% believe they will not do enough. And 10% have no clue.
Interesting given the rhetoric coming form the Obama administration, who feel that “Big Government” is the answer. Well it seems that Americans do not agree with Obama on this issue.
In another poll Americans were asked if the Government was currently operating with in the limits of the Constitution of the United Stated. 44% said no, 39% said yes and 17% have no idea what is happening to America or know what the Constitution is all about.
Interesting numbers, if you take the time to think about it. Nearly half of Americans feel the government is over stepping the powers granted to them by the people in the Constitution. 44% in no majority, but it is also no minority. Most Americans understand that our government is taking freedom from us, and giving power to themselves. Add to that that a majority, 51%, of Americans feel the government is doing to much the “help” the economy and we get a better over all picture of what we think of our current situation. Add to that the following facts:
66% of Americans fell the federal payroll should be cut by 10%, that’s just another way of saying Government is to big, we want and need a smaller, less intrusive government. Yet if we listen to the pundits on the left we would believe that Americans want more government oversight and intrusions into our daily lives.
How can the left media, politicians and just basic left leaning citizens continue to believe the lies they tell? I have heard many a great conservative radio host stating they believe that the left truly believe what they are saying, I find this hard to believe.
I have posted before about a leftist friend I have. One who believes in the “principles” of the left ideology, regardless of the facts. Over the years I have proven, with hard core facts, that the left hurts America, the the left hurts the minorities and the left is nothing but a cover up for a socialistic form of government, one set on taking freedom and retaining power. Yes she is on moved by this, she remains left.
Sure she will admit, if pushed in to a corner, that the social programs intended to help minorities, the poor or other left issues, ultimately end p hurting them, but remains committed to the “idea” of it all.
It is mind boggling that educated people can think that way. I just don’t get it.
If, for example, it is proven, with out a doubt, that conservatives give more time, money and even blood than liberals do, would you not as a liberal want to rethink your standing and belief that liberals are the “Party of compassion”? Logically that would make sense, but no, the left continues to lie about that, they continue to paint the Conservatives and money hungry anti-poor cruel, beat your kids kind of people. Yet the book “Who really Cares” proves, with out a doubt, that it is the Conservatives who gives more to charities, all types, donate more time at the soup kitchens and donates more blood to the red cross. And the truly interesting fact is this, the author was on a mission to prove that it was the LIBERALS who cared more. He was a liberal set out to undermine the conservatives, but the facts just would not work in his favor. Ultimately he had to do something that most liberals would never do, he had to print the truth. Yet my liberal friend, who read the book, agreed she was shocked, still stands by the bleeding heart mantra that conservatives are the enemy of the poor. Amazing!
I just don’t get it….
Truth be told, I don’t think the liberals really care about facts, facts only get in the way of total domination over the people. Facts are the enemy of the state, and liberals believe in the state as if the state was a god. So maybe that’s why I just don’t get it, because I believe the state is just a means for the people to govern themselves. I believe in the people, were as liberals believe in the state, the concept of Big Government, the nanny state who cares for you from birth (if you make it that far) till death.
I just love polls and facts, they are so interesting, even when I may not like the out comes. I will admit I have been taken back by a few polls that questioned my understanding or belief in something. And I will do more follow up research on the topic, and from time to time I have changed my views on certain topics. But over all, I find that most social and political polls reinforce my conservative point of view. And that makes since, considering that most Americans consider themselves to be conservative and pro-life.
Thus far in 2009, 40% of Americans interviewed in national Gallup Poll surveys describe their political views as conservative, 35% as moderate, and 21% as liberal. This represents a slight increase for conservatism in the U.S. since 2008, returning it to a level last seen in 2004. The 21% calling themselves liberal is in line with findings throughout this decade, but is up from the 1990s.
(source)
A new Gallup Poll, conducted May 7-10, finds 51% of Americans calling themselves "pro-life" on the issue of abortion and 42% "pro-choice." This is the first time a majority of U.S. adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.
(source)
So over all I am in step with America, one day I hope the liberals will join in…
God Bless
Paul
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A lot of press has been used on the Bush Tax Cuts, they were set to expire today. The liberals rang out with the same old “Cut’s for the rich” mantra, yet if you took the time to read the facts you would see that this is just not true. The Bush Tax Cuts did shift the burden of taxes, but not to the poor like many liberals would claim, but to the rich.
In 2002 the latest year of available data, the top 5 percent of taxpayers paid more than one-half (53.8 percent) of all individual income taxes, but reported roughly one-third (30.6 percent) of income.
The share of taxes paid by the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers will fall from 4.1 percent to 3.6 percent.Source: U.S. Treasury, Office of Tax Analysis (read article here)
I get so frustrated when I try to have conversations with the liberals about the tax cuts. There are two main points that upset me the most. The first is just the simple fact that the argument that the tax cuts hurt the poor and make the rich richer… The facts just don’t prove it, as the two bullet points above show. It is just an out-and-out lie. Yet the media and liberals keep saying it. And many just keep believing it. The first argument is fact, the second argument is not.
The second argument is based on ideology. The liberal ideology goes something like this:
It is wrong for people to make more money then others, it is unfair that there hard work should be rewarded off the back of their workers.
There are several variations of that ideology, but the basics are all the same, it is unfair…. What is unfair? Is it unfair if one baseball team earns more on ticket sales than an other? Is it unfair if one CEO makes less than another? Is it unfair if one child gets an “A” on their report card and others only get “C”s? Fairness has nothing to do with equality. A baseball game is fair when all the rules are the same, a grade a student receives is fair when each student is afforded the same opportunity to receive an “A”. (Fairness)
the other part of the argument is based on the idea of “To Much”:
They just earn too much, the profits that company made is grotesque.
Who determines what is too much and what is not? What is the standard that is used? Does the scale change based on were you live, the size of your family or the type of work you do? Or is it just a value the liberals toss out when every they want to rally the troops?
At my place of work we have one benefit that was not removed from us that most other companies have, free coffee. Yep, I can drink all the free coffee, tea or hot coco I want and they provide free filtered water. Too some this may seem a bit silly to even bring it up, but trust me I have a point. At my place of employment we also receive bonuses every quarter and they just placed a ping-pong table in an old unused classroom. So yes, my company tries to make the work environment fun and relaxing. Now I do drink the coffee and get the bonus, but I do not use the ping-pong table. Such is life, I don’t play ping-pong. Now if it was an air hockey table I would be in their playing, but it’s not so I don’t.
So what does all this have to do with fairness and the bush tax cuts… I’ll tell you, I work with a young man who sees the free coffee as unfair, he don’t drink it, and there for he gains no benefit from it. In-fact he sees it as a loss to his bonus. Yet he does play ping-pong and see nothing wrong with that. Now some may think he has a point, the coffee has to be replenished yet the ping-pong table is a one time fee. Yep, he tried that one on me, and he is correct, it is a one time fee for the table, but the room it takes up, the old classroom, does cost the company each and every month in rent. I am willing to be the rooms rent is more than the coffee per month.
You see, fairness to him, was only what he thought effected him negatively, when I brought up the fact that the room rent was more than the coffee, well lets just say he decided he was only “joking” about the coffee. If that is true, that was the longest joke I have ever heard, because we have worked together for over 8 years and for most of the 8 years he was complaining about the “fairness” of free coffee. Now I don’t hear that so much. Hmmm, interesting isn’t it…
The two arguments that the liberals use to scare people about the Bush Tax Cuts are nothing but lies and a screwed up definition of fairness… All will benefit from the extension of the Bush Tax Cuts, yes the poor as well as the rich. The liberals need to stick to the truth, they need to base there fights on facts, not on their own skewed view of the world. Fairness and equality are not the same thing, It is fair to offer all the same chances to achieve wealth in this great nation of ours, but the results will not, and should not, be equal. Some will work harder than others to achieve wealth, and yes some will just have dumb luck and stumble in to it. Me, I say “God bless them all” and “Good Luck”. And yet others will work just has hard and achieve nothing and some will lose it all. To them I say “God Bless” and “Keep working at it”. Is that fair? Nope it’s not, but such is life, was that equality at work, Yep it sure was, each and every one of us has the opportunity to achieve greatness, yes some of us may have to work harder than others to achieve it, be we all have the same opportunity to pursue happiness, that does not mean we will all arrive at it.
So may this New Year bring you all the opportunity to achieve greatness, and may you, be it through hard work or just dumb luck, find it.
God Bless
Paul
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