Thursday, January 5, 2012

How many more commandments do we need?

Check out this picture:


Anyone see any problem with it?

Most will not- After all, most see this and automatically think "well, yeah- if we held these true, we'd keep all the other ones."


The problem is, there are those who would look at this, spout this, and do it all in such a manner as to say that THIS represents the bulk of what is commanded.


Since that's the case, let's go ahead and see what Christ had to say about it.

Jesus replied: '"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'"

So there you have it, straight from the Lord's mouth- Everything hinges on these two, yes; but we need the others.  


Why?


Because as humans, we twist things.  How many times has an ex told you they loved you?  How many times do you see the word "love" portrayed in films and television as something akin to foreplay?  




Ah...  I can see the light dawning in the minds of some folks who'd never thought about it before.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Rants

There was a time when I thought I would be done with ranting.  Apparently, that is not the case.  I'm going to tell you right up front- You really do not have to actually read this...  Tonight, it's really I who needed this.  I just needed to release.



When I was thirteen, I wrote a song based on the fact that I seemed to be around whenever anyone met the person that they'd been looking for.  My lady friends met guys they liked- and several married those guys.  My buddies met girls they liked- and several of them got married.  Today, the majority of my friends are married, with families, stable careers (or at least a job), and seeing dreams come true.  Sure, they have also seen their share of misfortune, so don't think I'm making it out to be roses!


However, getting back to the point, my friends found the one they were with for at least a year while around me.  When they needed romantic advice, they asked me.  When my lady friends wanted to know about a guy, they came to me because...  I'm not too threatening, apparently.  When my guy friends needed advice on wooing women, they came to me...  Because I'm a hopeless romantic.  Apparently, women like romance.  Who'd have thought?


In the middle of all of this romance and destiny calling and fate knocking, I stood wondering just why the hell nothing went right in this department for me.  Heh.  I dated a few girls I knew, but nothing ever worked out.  Meanwhile, my buddies were still with their significant others.  So, naturally, I did what any songwriter does in a highly emotional situation: I wrote a song.

I keep the fire going - I keep it alive
Emotions are real - I keep them pure
A real, true love - For this I strive
Advice I keep - Come glean my stores

But though I help and I assist
Though I search still I have missed
Always the best man, never the groom
Still have within an empty room...


I am the keeper - Of the fire
I make the flame leap higher
But when will the ice inside of me
Melt away for love to see
That though I keep the fire of lo-ve
When will love come to me?
When will love come to me?
When will love come to me?
When will love come to me?

I keep the fire going - I feed its burn
Hearts connect and I - I simply smile
They find love - And they turn
I smile and laugh and celebrate - Hurting all the while

For though I help and I assist
For all my searching still I miss
Still the best man, never the groom
Dust gathers in that empty room (ch)

Tonight, something occurred which was completely innocuous- Something completely innocent, without great pomp or circumstance.  I'm not going into detail about it, but suffice it to say that it was absolutely ordinary and normal.  It's always the small things.


With this "small thing," I realized something- Nothing has changed.


I am in a new place, and I am surrounded by new faces, but nothing about my being a keeper of the flame has changed a bit.  I still help others out; I'm still approached by friends seeking advice; and yes, I'm still keeping that room empty.

In short, I still haven't found her yet.




Don't take any of this to mean that I dislike helping my friends, or that I am in any way jealous.  I love to help my friends- In any way I can.  As far as jealousy goes, I find it to be a foreign concept.  I am happy for those around me who find love, and I am more than happy to be able to help in any way.  I love my friends and my family immensely, and I'm more than satisfied in displaying that love in any way I can.


Yet still, I cannot shake this feeling of having been overlooked.  With only one exception, every ex-girlfriend of mine has found happiness, and I am overjoyed for that.  I love that they've found a love they can cling to.  Meanwhile, I still have a lot of lady friends who remain just that- friends.  Some would say that I'm in the perfect position to be a playboy, yet I do not wish to be.


So, if I could add another section to that song I wrote so long ago, it would be:

How long will it sit in dust
How long must I lay and rust
How long till the waiting ends
How long till I'm more than a friend
How long till I know love's kiss
How long must I still be missed
How long till I lay my head
Beside hers in our bed?


As I sit on this porch and rock alone
I think back and smile
Friends have brought joy to my home
My list of thanks could stretch for miles

Yet still I have an echo there
Where no echo should be
And never once was a fire lit
Where the fire ought to be...

I was the keeper of the fire
I made the flames leap higher
But the ice inside of me
Never melted away for love to see
So though I kept the fire of lo-ve
Love has never come to me...
I wish love would come to me...
Will it ever come to me...
See, it's only toyed with me...


...When will love come to me?
 

Monday, September 26, 2011

Erdogan's Egregious Error Part 1

Otherwise titled: How to make 6,000 a total of 600,000 with one phrase verbally expelled by an ignorant troglodyte.


In a recent interview, Recep Erdogan stated that Israel has killed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, while only "a few" Israelis have been killed by Palestinian rockets.  He made another statement which was just as ludicrously bogus, but let's deal with this first.

I have to notice, right off the bat, that the man does not challenge the fact that the Palestinians fires rockets into a sovereign nation.  That in and of itself should flip on a few lights as to the reliability of the man's statements; not to mention the true nature of his motives.  The Palestinians firing rockets are, at little best, terrorists.  Period.  There is no other accurate portrayal, no matter what the Mass (Sheep) Media says.

I am sure that there are Palestinians who want nothing more than to live in peace.  I am convinced of this.  Since this is the case, their fellows ought to cease their terrorist activities and work things out via proper procedure.  That, or the peace desirous Palestinians ought to hang their terrorist neighbors; that would make a greater impact than white flags, I guarantee it.

Either way, they cannot bring a demand for recognition of their "sovereign state" while inside the boundaries of a recognized sovereign nation.  Not without the go ahead from Israel.  In this case, Israel will not allow them to do so, and why should they?  The national boundaries they have now were gained through legal and proper channels; one with Egypt, and one with Jordan.  The area occupied by so-called Palestinians?  A part of Israel according to the Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace.  Those in the Gaza Strip?  Part of Israel according to the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty.




Back to Erdogan's idiotic remark.


The first and most obvious is the number he used.  According to B'Tselem numbers, there have been nearly 6,500 Palestinians killed since September 29, 2000 to the present day.  Even as a conservative estimate, these numbers are a far cry from "hundreds of thousands."  More interesting, perhaps, is the breakdown of this number.

According to B'Tselem, 98.8% of these figures are "killed on their own land."  How can that be, I ask, when these lands are properly Israel?  The fact that B'Tselem calls these areas "occupied territories" brings into question their own allegiance.  If you go to IfAmericaKnew, you find a further distortion of the facts: They state that according to B'Tselem, between 3,535-4,226 of these deaths belong to civilians.

Here's the problem- Palestinians have no actual army.  The entire population, fighting age, IS the army.  In a word, there may be no army, but there are also no civilians.  The only reason they can be classified by "civilians" by this so-called humanitarian organization is because they could not be "actively tied to violent activity."

By the way- Israeli deaths stand at roughly 1,262- Rough because it is not a complete enumeration.  This number is significantly higher than the "few" Erdogan stated.  While it is significantly lower than the deaths of Palestinians, take into account the emergency medical accommodations available within Israel.  If not for these, the large majority of the more than 8,000 injuries would surely have been mortal.  Incidentally, this would place the number of Israeli deaths at far higher than Palestinian losses.


Let's look at the beginnings of "Palestine."


They came into being roughly about 135 A.D.  Prior to this, the land was- Israel.  Palestine was formed as a direct result of the Roman Empire- It was a move by the emperor Hadrian in 135 AD to prevent the conquered Nation of Israel from attempting to rise up any longer.  He moved his armies into the region and scattered Israel.  At this time, Jerusalem was leveled, and two foreign peoples were moved into the new regions he'd created, respectively named Palestine and Aelia Capitolina, part of the new province Syria Palaestina.



So to recap, Palestinians claim to own land for which they never had right to; land which was wrenched from Israel by Rome for the origination of Palestine.  Israel finally reclaimed the land which was theirs prior to ancient occupation with the peace treaty signed between Israel and Jordan.  Now, Palestinians are attempting to claim land which was not rightfully theirs to begin with as theirs now- Though the land in question has been legally and rightfully Israel's since 1979 and 1994.


So- With all of this being said, I have just one question:

What is the issue here?  Bottom line, Israel is dealing with squatters, and they're even willing to give them portions of Israel.


Try taking over someone's home and see if they're as kind.


PS: Hello to the readers from the United Arab Emirates and other Middle East countries.  I welcome all of your comments, but for those of you who are prone to aggressive linguistic jabs, I say this: Save any threats for some other person.  I'm not intimidated. Thanks.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Flirting DOES NOT Help A Relationship

This is an older blog that I just wanted to repost due to the ridiculous amount of chatter I've been hearing lately on this very subject.  Supposedly, this sort of thing is good for a relationship- Anyone who says that obviously has a screw loose.  With that said, I give you:
------------------------------------------------------------


In regards to the article written by Dave Zinczenko and published on Yahoo courtesy of Men's Health. This article can be found here:
Why Flirting Can Help Your Relationship



Flirting DOES NOT Help A Relationship

The idea of flirting outside of marriage is so akin to adultery, I find it offensive. There is a certain level of flirting that is natural, is normal, and is almost a subconscious thing. The cashier at the convenience store paying a compliment, or vise versa, for example.


However, to knowingly flirt while in an emotional drought in one's relationship puts one in dangerous territory, to say the least. Women especially are vulnerable to this form of emotional "foreplay," as the article called it.

The reason is that women are largely emotional beings. While very rational, and intelligent, God created women to be more in touch with their emotions for their children. (For their husband, to a degree, but that's a different topic.)

Because of a woman's naturally emotional standpoint, when her husband is not meeting those emotional needs at home, the last thing that she needs is to have that need met outside of her husband. It can cause/will cause her to question the validity of her marriage, the competence of her husband, even the genuineness of her feelings for him.
Obviously, you can see where this situation CAN lead to adultery.


For a man, the danger is slightly different. Not quite as threatening on an emotional scale, but just as dangerous, nonetheless.
A man has the ability to know when a woman is flirting with him. The mark of a truly content husband is his inability to notice, or his refusal to lend credence to, another woman's flirtations. As you can imagine, therein lies the problem- IF he is truly content.

As this article focuses on a couple who have hit a rough patch, we must assume that one or both are not feeling fulfilled. This means that, in spite of himself, a man's detection system is fully operational.

Because of this, when that pretty little waitress calls him honey and winks, there's something that hits him inside. If he is not careful, this will cause his thinking to become much more sexual in nature, leaving him fantasizing about someone other than his wife.
For this man, it is a rather short step from the fantasy to the action, provided he truly has convinced himself that there's no point in holding out.


I completely believe that there are men and women who have enough self control to not fall into temptation. I am convinced that a person is truly blessed when their spouse, following a withstood temptation, returns home to sweep them off their feet, demonstrating their love in action in a way both needed.
In this regard, I can see the author's point- However, it is far too risky and dangerous to initiate such a situation on one's own. Such a thing is like issuing an invitation to the devil.


However- Flirting within the relationship... Have fun!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Two and a Half... Laughs.

All right- I'm about to do something I have never really done on this blog...  Review a television show.

I don't know if anyone caught the new Two and a Half Men, but...  Well, let's just say that their idea to kill off Charlie but keep the show going has not inspired me to continue watching.  Let's be honest about this- Charlie Sheen WAS the show.  There really is nothing else there without him.  Every other person on the show was more of a supporting role than anything.

Now, they've brought in Ashton Kutcher.  At first, I wasn't sure what to think about the move.  It could have been good, it could have been bad.  Turns out, bad doesn't BEGIN to cut it.  They're replacing the rascal character with a billionaire whose whining could potentially win over Moaning Myrtle from Harry Potter.  More than that, suddenly ALAN is the lady-advice guru?!  For crying out loud- It would have been better to get an over-the-fence neighbor!

As much as I hate to say it, the season premiere was funniest in the scenes where Charlie was being talked about, or talked to...  And the sad thing is, Charlie was nowhere to be seen.  That doesn't bode well for that 70's show kid...

Honestly, the best thing the network could do, at this point, is announce that Sheen will be signed back on, and turn this whole new season into some horrendous nightmare...  Sort of like the one it's shaping up to be.