I often converse with people who are strong believers that the Bible, cover to cover, is the "word" of God. I personally do not believe that, and there are many reasons why. Mostly, I suppose, I don't believe it because neither Jesus nor Paul believed it.
On several occasions, Jesus violated the Sabbath. Mostly he cured people on the Sabbath, but he also instructed his disciples to get the group food from the fields on the Sabbath. The Pharisees were appalled. Jesus pointed out that God would not want people to avoid doing good things on the Sabbath, like pulling an ox from a ditch or feeding the poor.
Jesus and Paul both quoted Old Testament writers incompletely, editing out the parts extolling violence and exclusion, and retaining only the peaceful and inclusive part. The Old Testament contemplates that the Hebrews are the "chosen people" and all others are unclean. Jesus and Paul both clearly believed that all people on earth are "Chosen" people under God. That was extremely difficult for Jewish hierarchy at the time to take. It seems a difficult concept for many "Christians" today.
While Hebrews were unique and special in the eyes of the Lord, Jesus explained that those who follow Him are chosen to serve everyone else. We are to wash the feet of all others. We are to serve. We are not better than anyone else. In fact, it is our job to care for "the least of these."
Paul makes it clear that there are no special days; no special foods; no special anything. God does not care about such trivial issues. All rituals are simply man-made for man's personal satisfaction. Paul did ask us to respect others for whom a day, food, etc. is ritualistically important. God is the love in your heart for others. Both explained that one's connection to God is personal and direct.
Honestly I do not even understand why believing that the entire Bible is true is important to people. The Old Testament is just a history, and an admittedly embellished one at that. The stories of the Hebrews, handed down verbally over time, were written down after the Judeans (now known as Jews) were kicked out of Judah (capital city Jerusalem) and exiled to Babylon. To keep the exiled Jews' spirits up, and keep them feeling chosen despite their predicament, the stories were written down so as to show that if they do what their God says, good things happen, and when they do not, bad things happen.
In the early years, the Hebrews had no king. God was their king and he resided everywhere there was a tented temple set up according to the rules. Moses, Aaron, Joshua, etc, down through Samuel, were merely successive interpreters of what God was telling them. The demise of the Hebrews began when they decided they wanted a human king. Samuel tells God this is what they want and God's feelings are hurt. God explains that this is a bad idea and that human kings will be selfish and power hungry. He, of course, was right.
Saul, the first king, was good. David was beloved, but imperfect. He ordered one son killed so that his most beloved son could succeed him. Solomon was wise, but he began the years of increasingly bad kings. There were 13 tribes of Israel, each with different parts of Canaan, the Promised Land. One of the tribes made up of the descendants of Judah (the Jews) lived in Jerusalem. They demanded their own king. The other tribes became known as the Israelites and they demanded their own king. Then the two sets of descendants of Israel began to fight one another. God became an after-thought.
The Babylonians invaded and the Jews (not the rest of the Israelites) were exiled, just like when it all started, but not in Egypt this time. Eventually, the Persians beat the Babylonians and sent the Judeans back to Judah. You would think they would have learned, but of course they did not. They created a king, a hierarchy of Godly people and a path to God that had to go through those holy folks. The Romans invaded and eventually (in 70 AD) destroyed Jerusalem and kicked the Jews out again.
Why are the ancient theological mythologies and musings from a failed and defeated society, whose philosophy Jesus tried to fix, so important to modern followers of Christ? I have never understood this.
I suppose the main appeal is the idea that God created everything. Jesus refers to God as the creator, but does not mention that he did it in either of the two ways it is portrayed in Genesis. I think the fact that there are two creation stories is, at a minimum, evidence that they are just stories.
If you want to believe that God created everything, fine, but there is no logical reason to need to believe that it happened in 7 days, or in a Garden somewhere. By the way, the second creation story, the Adam and Eve story, is the Hebrews' story of their own holy beginning, not of all humans. There clearly were other humans in the story living in a town called Nod, where Cain went after killing Able. The most unsung member of the family, though, was Seth, who is actually the father of all Hebrews. Noah down to Abraham are descendants of Adam and Eve's third son, Seth. Just a side note I think is kinda cool.
So, could there be a higher power contributing to the evolution of humans? Who really knows? If you believe that, go ahead, but this does not conflict with science and there is no reason or logic behind contemplating that the world began only a few thousand years ago.
Oh well.
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Love
The election is over, so no more Obama Facts or pretty much anything else related to politics. Just random, and shorter, thoughts from now on.
Since I believe in the Harmony, the idea that "God" is a "spirit" that connects all souls to all others, I will be writing about what that means.
Perhaps it is no surprise that in every religion's core beliefs, loving one another is the ultimate way to stay in Harmony with all other souls.
Ultimately, though, there are no absolutes. The "Golden Rule" is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Therefore, the measure is YOU.
If you want to be loved deeply, then you need to love deeply.
If you want someone to take risks to love you, take risks to love others.
If you want others to care for you, care for others.
Etc.
If you don't want or give love, or take any risks to love others, or really care very much for them, do not expect others to love you, or take risks to love you, or care very much about you.
So, love everyone, regardless of who they are and what they have done to you.
The measure is not them.
The measure is YOU.
Since I believe in the Harmony, the idea that "God" is a "spirit" that connects all souls to all others, I will be writing about what that means.
Perhaps it is no surprise that in every religion's core beliefs, loving one another is the ultimate way to stay in Harmony with all other souls.
Ultimately, though, there are no absolutes. The "Golden Rule" is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Therefore, the measure is YOU.
If you want to be loved deeply, then you need to love deeply.
If you want someone to take risks to love you, take risks to love others.
If you want others to care for you, care for others.
Etc.
If you don't want or give love, or take any risks to love others, or really care very much for them, do not expect others to love you, or take risks to love you, or care very much about you.
So, love everyone, regardless of who they are and what they have done to you.
The measure is not them.
The measure is YOU.
Monday, October 1, 2012
ObamaFacts - Recessions
There have been eleven "official" US Recessions since the impact of the Great Depression and World War II.
Recession of Dates President at Start Worst Unemp.
1949 Nov 1948 – Oct 1949 Truman (D) 7.9%
1953 July 1953 – May 1954 Eisenhower (R) 6.1%
1958 Aug 1957 – April 1958 Eisenhower (R) 7.5%
1960–61 Apr 1960 – Feb 1961 Eisenhower (R) 7.1%
1969–70 Dec 1969 – Nov 1970 Nixon (R) 6.1%
1973–75 Nov 1973 – Mar 1975 Nixon (R) 9.0%
1980 Jan – July 1980 Carter (D) 7.8%
Early 1980s July 1981 – Nov 1982 Reagan (R) 10.8%
Early 1990s July 1990 – Mar 1991 Bush I (R) 7.8%
Early 2000s March 2001 – Nov 2001 Bush II (R) 6.3%
Late-2000s Dec 2007 – June 2009 Bush II (R) 10.0%
Of the 11 post-War recessions, only 2 started during a time when a Democrat was President. One could argue that perhaps in some of these the downturn actually started during the prior administration and the actual economic effects were not felt until the next Presidency.
Each of these Presidents was sworn into office in January.
President Date in Office Months until 1st Rec.
Roosevelt/Truman until 1953
Eisenhower January, 1953 - 1961 5
Kennedy/Johnson January, 1961 - 1969 No recessions
Nixon/Ford January, 1969 - 1977 11
Carter January, 1977 - 1981 36
Reagan/Bush January, 1981 - 1993 5
Clinton January, 1993 - 2001 No recessions
Bush January, 2001 - 2009 2
Obama January, 2009 - present. No recessions
You can click on each of the recessions above and go to the Wiki site that will tell you more about each one and why it happened.
The National Bureau of Economic Research decides when a "Recession" begins or ends. The NBER defines a recession as, ""a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales" http://www.nber.org/cycles.html
Seemed interesting.
For a graph of the recesions go to: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/fredgraph.pdf?&chart_type=line&graph_id=&category_id=&recession_bars=On&width=630&height=378&bgcolor=%23b3cde7&graph_bgcolor=%23ffffff&txtcolor=%23000000&ts=8&preserve_ratio=true&fo=ve&id=USREC&transformation=lin&scale=Left&range=Custom&cosd=1948-12-01&coed=2012-09-01&line_color=%230000ff&link_values=&mark_type=NONE&mw=4&line_style=Solid&lw=1&vintage_date=2012-10-01&revision_date=2012-10-01&mma=0&nd=&ost=&oet=&fml=a&fq=Monthly&fam=avg&fgst=lin
Recession of Dates President at Start Worst Unemp.
1949 Nov 1948 – Oct 1949 Truman (D) 7.9%
1953 July 1953 – May 1954 Eisenhower (R) 6.1%
1958 Aug 1957 – April 1958 Eisenhower (R) 7.5%
1960–61 Apr 1960 – Feb 1961 Eisenhower (R) 7.1%
1969–70 Dec 1969 – Nov 1970 Nixon (R) 6.1%
1973–75 Nov 1973 – Mar 1975 Nixon (R) 9.0%
1980 Jan – July 1980 Carter (D) 7.8%
Early 1980s July 1981 – Nov 1982 Reagan (R) 10.8%
Early 1990s July 1990 – Mar 1991 Bush I (R) 7.8%
Early 2000s March 2001 – Nov 2001 Bush II (R) 6.3%
Late-2000s Dec 2007 – June 2009 Bush II (R) 10.0%
Of the 11 post-War recessions, only 2 started during a time when a Democrat was President. One could argue that perhaps in some of these the downturn actually started during the prior administration and the actual economic effects were not felt until the next Presidency.
- How many months must a President be in office before the recession is considered on his "watch?"
- Below is a list of how long it was between inauguration and the first recession under each President.
- Presidents Kennedy, Clinton and Obama all inherited recessions that began in the prior administration. All were over within 5 months of their inauguration.
- No Republican President inherited a Recession begun during a prior Democrat administration.
Each of these Presidents was sworn into office in January.
President Date in Office Months until 1st Rec.
Roosevelt/Truman until 1953
Eisenhower January, 1953 - 1961 5
Kennedy/Johnson January, 1961 - 1969 No recessions
Nixon/Ford January, 1969 - 1977 11
Carter January, 1977 - 1981 36
Reagan/Bush January, 1981 - 1993 5
Clinton January, 1993 - 2001 No recessions
Bush January, 2001 - 2009 2
Obama January, 2009 - present. No recessions
You can click on each of the recessions above and go to the Wiki site that will tell you more about each one and why it happened.
The National Bureau of Economic Research decides when a "Recession" begins or ends. The NBER defines a recession as, ""a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production, and wholesale-retail sales" http://www.nber.org/cycles.html
Seemed interesting.
For a graph of the recesions go to: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/fredgraph.pdf?&chart_type=line&graph_id=&category_id=&recession_bars=On&width=630&height=378&bgcolor=%23b3cde7&graph_bgcolor=%23ffffff&txtcolor=%23000000&ts=8&preserve_ratio=true&fo=ve&id=USREC&transformation=lin&scale=Left&range=Custom&cosd=1948-12-01&coed=2012-09-01&line_color=%230000ff&link_values=&mark_type=NONE&mw=4&line_style=Solid&lw=1&vintage_date=2012-10-01&revision_date=2012-10-01&mma=0&nd=&ost=&oet=&fml=a&fq=Monthly&fam=avg&fgst=lin
Monday, September 17, 2012
Courageous Faith
It is all well and good to say, "Follow your heart." or "Do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do." It is a whole different thing to actually do it.
The hard part about faith throughout time has been that sometimes it is quite difficult or risky to do the right thing. There are consequences. Sometimes those consequences are scary.
Assume there is a person in your class or at your place of employment who is a bit different. You feel in your heart that the right thing to do is to befriend that person. You do not just think it is something you should do because it would be nice, or something you feel guilty about not doing, because the person has no friends. Neither of those are reasons in and of themselves for you to act. No, in this case, you actually know in your heart that befriending this person is the right thing to do for you.
Well what does that mean? Well, if you believe what I am writing, then you have to befriend this rather odd person.
Yikes, but consider the consequences.
For me it is often that Oreo cookie that I did not get to taste. Maaannn, chocolate cookie and that cream filling and . . . . . well I can dream, can't I?
Sometimes the consequences are significant. Perhaps a law must be broken to, say, improve civil rights in this country. Your life could be risked to topple a dictator, to defend the nation, free enslaved people or to protect your rather odd friend from a mugger. There are amazingly couragious people who every day brave the consequences of doing the right thing, doing what they know in their hearts is the right thing for them. They hear their calling. They understand the risks and because they know it is the right thing for them, they act.
Generally our consequences are less grave. Perhaps social embarrassment when going out of your way to applaud a magnificent performance in the middle of church, potential loss of a "friend" who you suddenly find to be a bigot, time away from people you love to move a cause forward or help the homeless, financial costs to support a charity or position, or just the loss of the joys of Oreo cookies to keep your weight loss moving forward.
I find, as I talk to people about this, that a significant impediment to doing what the Spirit of Truth, as Jesus called it, tells them is the right thing to do for them, is their own Christian church leaders, or their wife, grandmother or mother, or those they go to church with. "I don't really understand what the fuss is about, but I can't support gay marriage because I would be ostracized from my church and friends if I did." "I am a Republican/Democrat because my entire family is, so I just vote that way because it is easier." "Even though I love her, she is Jewish and my Irish family would disown me if we were married." Luckily more and more people are breaking those bonds, freeing their minds and doing what they know is right, damn the consequences. While political issues often don't sway us, love conquers all.
I have found that usually when you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do, things ultimately go well, or not as bad as you thought. Not always right away and not all the time. Thousands of people have given their lives and freedoms to free the enslaved, help improve equality, and drive out oppressors. Perhaps the result for them was not so bad. What about the wounded who survived? It amazes me how many would do it all again because it was the right thing to do and losing a limb or two is a physical loss, not a spiritual one. Still others curse the day they joined the military, though at the time they were sure it was the right thing to do. Hmmm. Consequences.
Not everything is our personal burden. It is not the right thing for many of us to do the things others feel compelled to do. We should not feel guilty that we are not doing something for the homeless, for example. We do what is right in our hearts for us as to others, and that, no matter what it is, is our calling. Most people have no interest in babbling on about spiritualism and, based on the readership of this blog, even fewer care to read about it. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to write it down and perhaps one person will benefit. Perhaps that one person is me. Who knows.
Having the courage to do what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do, all the time and despite the consequences, is what keeps us in Harmony with all things.
Love to all.
The hard part about faith throughout time has been that sometimes it is quite difficult or risky to do the right thing. There are consequences. Sometimes those consequences are scary.
Assume there is a person in your class or at your place of employment who is a bit different. You feel in your heart that the right thing to do is to befriend that person. You do not just think it is something you should do because it would be nice, or something you feel guilty about not doing, because the person has no friends. Neither of those are reasons in and of themselves for you to act. No, in this case, you actually know in your heart that befriending this person is the right thing to do for you.
Well what does that mean? Well, if you believe what I am writing, then you have to befriend this rather odd person.
Yikes, but consider the consequences.
- There is a very good chance that this rather odd person will latch onto you like glue and never let you out of her sight. You are her only and bestest friend forever. You are not sure you could handle that.
- There is a decent chance that your other friends, who you know consider this person to be a bit more than "a bit odd," will, at a minimum, have a harder time including you in things for fear you will bring "Her" along.
- If you do go with your old friends and your new rather odd friend finds out that you did not invite her along, she will be hurt, and you don't want to have to deal with all that.
For me it is often that Oreo cookie that I did not get to taste. Maaannn, chocolate cookie and that cream filling and . . . . . well I can dream, can't I?
Sometimes the consequences are significant. Perhaps a law must be broken to, say, improve civil rights in this country. Your life could be risked to topple a dictator, to defend the nation, free enslaved people or to protect your rather odd friend from a mugger. There are amazingly couragious people who every day brave the consequences of doing the right thing, doing what they know in their hearts is the right thing for them. They hear their calling. They understand the risks and because they know it is the right thing for them, they act.
Generally our consequences are less grave. Perhaps social embarrassment when going out of your way to applaud a magnificent performance in the middle of church, potential loss of a "friend" who you suddenly find to be a bigot, time away from people you love to move a cause forward or help the homeless, financial costs to support a charity or position, or just the loss of the joys of Oreo cookies to keep your weight loss moving forward.
I find, as I talk to people about this, that a significant impediment to doing what the Spirit of Truth, as Jesus called it, tells them is the right thing to do for them, is their own Christian church leaders, or their wife, grandmother or mother, or those they go to church with. "I don't really understand what the fuss is about, but I can't support gay marriage because I would be ostracized from my church and friends if I did." "I am a Republican/Democrat because my entire family is, so I just vote that way because it is easier." "Even though I love her, she is Jewish and my Irish family would disown me if we were married." Luckily more and more people are breaking those bonds, freeing their minds and doing what they know is right, damn the consequences. While political issues often don't sway us, love conquers all.
I have found that usually when you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do, things ultimately go well, or not as bad as you thought. Not always right away and not all the time. Thousands of people have given their lives and freedoms to free the enslaved, help improve equality, and drive out oppressors. Perhaps the result for them was not so bad. What about the wounded who survived? It amazes me how many would do it all again because it was the right thing to do and losing a limb or two is a physical loss, not a spiritual one. Still others curse the day they joined the military, though at the time they were sure it was the right thing to do. Hmmm. Consequences.
Not everything is our personal burden. It is not the right thing for many of us to do the things others feel compelled to do. We should not feel guilty that we are not doing something for the homeless, for example. We do what is right in our hearts for us as to others, and that, no matter what it is, is our calling. Most people have no interest in babbling on about spiritualism and, based on the readership of this blog, even fewer care to read about it. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to write it down and perhaps one person will benefit. Perhaps that one person is me. Who knows.
Having the courage to do what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do, all the time and despite the consequences, is what keeps us in Harmony with all things.
Love to all.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Harmonic Balance
If everyone was in harmony with everyone else, wouldn't that be incredibly boring? Wouldn't we all agree with one another? Wouldn't that be the Stepford Wives or something?
The answer is no. Nature is about balance and so is the Harmony. Just like the two sides of a scale, there must be equal amounts on each side for it to balance. In Asian terms, there must be yin and yang. The Harmony needs people to be on all sides of an issue, different personality types, balance against our comfort level, etc., so that it balances and remains in harmony. Diversity is a key component of harmonious balance.
I think of it in terms of what are called "normal distributions" which when graphed show up as "bell curves." If you remember back to high school math or science, a bell curve looks something like, well, a bell (see image at left). The line starts close to a floor (x axis) and gradually rises slowly at first and then faster until it begins to level out at its highest point. It then goes back to the floor or x axis on the other side of the midpoint in an exact mirror of the first side. Under each point on the curve is the number of people who got that particular grade, answered a question a particular way, have a certain characteristic, believe a particular way, etc, as compared to all the othes. The midpoint is the highest point on the bell and more people share this characteristic than any other point on the curve, but that point does not represent a majority of all people. A majority of the people are within this taller part of the curve, but they are all over under that curve and are equally balanced on either side of the center point. See for more mathematical explanation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution.
It is called a "Normal" Distribution because most things in nature are distributed this way. In the current climate, consider politics. Most people are independents and fall in the middle, the bigger part of the bell curve. Most of us are not right squarely in the middle. We tend to feel more drawn one way or the other. On the edges are the more hard core Democrats and Republicans. All the way out on the edges are the true philosphically unusual. All are critical. This balance creates harmony.
The reality is that "Democrat" and "Republican" are concepts far too broad for the way I see the Balance in the Harmony. We need to consider every single issue and way of thinking. One person may be truly pretty far out on the edge on one issue, say saving baby seals, and be quite toward the middle on almost every other issue, perhaps even leaning toward the other party on most everything else. In the grand scheme of things, this balance creates harmony.
It is not all about politics, but about everything. Religious and spiritual beliefs, intelligence, eating and exercise, tolerance, need for power, care for animals, interest in science or art or history, and even speed in the 100 meters. For every Usain Bolt on the very far edge of that curve, there is someone of the same age who cannot walk at all. Most of us lie somewhere in the middle. Speed is normally distributed across the population. While Usain Bolt is way out on the edge in terms of speed, he may be quite in the middle in terms of the vast majority of the other issues in life.
I think of the harmonic balance, the Harmony, as a 3-dimensional bell curve. An infinite number of bell curves around the same central axis (the vertical line above) representing the normal distribution of people on every single issue there is. That is the harmonic balance.
For it to work, there have to be those who set the two edges. They define the issues. They crystalize the concerns, because they care more deeply about them than anyone else. For there to be a 100 meter dash, there has to be someone passionate and gifted enough to want to be the fastest person in the world. For anyone to care about the baby arctic seals, there has to be someone passionate and courageous enough to go up there and document their story. There has to be the driven, passionate small set of people on each extreme or there is no issue. There has to be the gifted and the challenged for us to recognize there is a need. The rest of us listen to those on the extremes and those near the extremes to understand what the issues are, what the concerns are and why we should care. Over time the bell curve may move toward one end or the other as more people gravitate toward, but often not all the way to, one extreme or the other.
Consider a hot issue at the moment - marriage. Not that long ago it would be unheard of in America to marry outside your historic heritage. Irish immigrants married other Irish immigrants. Germans other Germans, etc. Eventually that restriction broke down as those on the edge married outside their herritage. Of course there remained those who hated the idea on the other extreme, but that position lost followers and the entire curve moved slowly toward more lenience in marriage.
Then the issue was marriage outside the faith. Jews married Jews. Catholics were excommunicated if they married non-Catholics. Similar fates, if not as official, resulted as to other inter-faith marriages, even among protestant faiths, and of course even in those situations the woman was expected to convert to the man's faith. Eventually that issue too became less relevant as the curve moved more toward tolerance and away from those who held fast to the old ways. Ther are those who still profess religious purety in marriage, of course.
Then in the 1960s the issue of inter-racial marriage became a hot issue. It was against the law in many places. The government acted to force change in this attitude, but eventually it was the people whose spirits make up the Harmony, who moved the normal distribution farther to allow more tolerance to allow anyone to marry anyone they love regardless of race, creed or national heritage. There remain those on the other fringe who despise all of these marriages as wrong and impure, and there probably always will be.
The next step is Gay marriage. Again the bell curve is moving slowly toward tolerance in allowing anyone who loves someone else to marry that person. Again there are laws against this in many States. The Harmony will likely continue to move the curve in that direction as more and more people follow their hearts and do what they know God is asking them to, and not what their father, pastor or neighbors think.
It takes the activists on the edge to create the issue. Both edges, for and against. For most of us the issue is not relevant and without those passionate few championing the cause from the edges, the issue would not exist.
All the while there is the next edge, it seems. And all the while there are those on the other edge fighting any movement toward that edge. Perhaps the curve will not move. If it does, perhaps that will be as far as it ever goes. On every issue there are many ways of thinking; many arguments; all of which are right for the person who honestly in their heart belives them to be true for them. The balance around everything is fluid. There is no one right answer. There is only what is right for each person, individually. That is the essence of the Harmony.
They key is that what you feel, what you believe, what you do and how you act has to be true to you personlly. It cannot become your belief because your church pastor said so, your mother said so, your neighbors say so, your friends, or peer group say so. There is a lot of pressure on each of us to believe or do whatever makes things easy for us at the moment, and we perceive this as harmony, but we know inside that we have lied to ourselves and it never sits quite right. We ignore it, but living a lie never feels better.
Why is that? Because whenever we fail to do what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do, FOR US PERSONALLY, we are ignoring the voice of God, however you define God. To some that voice is the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth through which God speaks to everyone and provides them with the truth for them, according to Jesus at least. For me it is my connection to the "spiritual internet", the Harmony, the spirit that gives us free will, that connects all of us to all others. The spirit that causes everything to remain in balance and thus in Harmony.
Do what you know in YOUR heart is the right thing to do and you will remain in Harmony with all living things.
The answer is no. Nature is about balance and so is the Harmony. Just like the two sides of a scale, there must be equal amounts on each side for it to balance. In Asian terms, there must be yin and yang. The Harmony needs people to be on all sides of an issue, different personality types, balance against our comfort level, etc., so that it balances and remains in harmony. Diversity is a key component of harmonious balance.
I think of it in terms of what are called "normal distributions" which when graphed show up as "bell curves." If you remember back to high school math or science, a bell curve looks something like, well, a bell (see image at left). The line starts close to a floor (x axis) and gradually rises slowly at first and then faster until it begins to level out at its highest point. It then goes back to the floor or x axis on the other side of the midpoint in an exact mirror of the first side. Under each point on the curve is the number of people who got that particular grade, answered a question a particular way, have a certain characteristic, believe a particular way, etc, as compared to all the othes. The midpoint is the highest point on the bell and more people share this characteristic than any other point on the curve, but that point does not represent a majority of all people. A majority of the people are within this taller part of the curve, but they are all over under that curve and are equally balanced on either side of the center point. See for more mathematical explanation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normal_distribution. It is called a "Normal" Distribution because most things in nature are distributed this way. In the current climate, consider politics. Most people are independents and fall in the middle, the bigger part of the bell curve. Most of us are not right squarely in the middle. We tend to feel more drawn one way or the other. On the edges are the more hard core Democrats and Republicans. All the way out on the edges are the true philosphically unusual. All are critical. This balance creates harmony.
The reality is that "Democrat" and "Republican" are concepts far too broad for the way I see the Balance in the Harmony. We need to consider every single issue and way of thinking. One person may be truly pretty far out on the edge on one issue, say saving baby seals, and be quite toward the middle on almost every other issue, perhaps even leaning toward the other party on most everything else. In the grand scheme of things, this balance creates harmony.
It is not all about politics, but about everything. Religious and spiritual beliefs, intelligence, eating and exercise, tolerance, need for power, care for animals, interest in science or art or history, and even speed in the 100 meters. For every Usain Bolt on the very far edge of that curve, there is someone of the same age who cannot walk at all. Most of us lie somewhere in the middle. Speed is normally distributed across the population. While Usain Bolt is way out on the edge in terms of speed, he may be quite in the middle in terms of the vast majority of the other issues in life.
I think of the harmonic balance, the Harmony, as a 3-dimensional bell curve. An infinite number of bell curves around the same central axis (the vertical line above) representing the normal distribution of people on every single issue there is. That is the harmonic balance.
For it to work, there have to be those who set the two edges. They define the issues. They crystalize the concerns, because they care more deeply about them than anyone else. For there to be a 100 meter dash, there has to be someone passionate and gifted enough to want to be the fastest person in the world. For anyone to care about the baby arctic seals, there has to be someone passionate and courageous enough to go up there and document their story. There has to be the driven, passionate small set of people on each extreme or there is no issue. There has to be the gifted and the challenged for us to recognize there is a need. The rest of us listen to those on the extremes and those near the extremes to understand what the issues are, what the concerns are and why we should care. Over time the bell curve may move toward one end or the other as more people gravitate toward, but often not all the way to, one extreme or the other.
Consider a hot issue at the moment - marriage. Not that long ago it would be unheard of in America to marry outside your historic heritage. Irish immigrants married other Irish immigrants. Germans other Germans, etc. Eventually that restriction broke down as those on the edge married outside their herritage. Of course there remained those who hated the idea on the other extreme, but that position lost followers and the entire curve moved slowly toward more lenience in marriage.
Then the issue was marriage outside the faith. Jews married Jews. Catholics were excommunicated if they married non-Catholics. Similar fates, if not as official, resulted as to other inter-faith marriages, even among protestant faiths, and of course even in those situations the woman was expected to convert to the man's faith. Eventually that issue too became less relevant as the curve moved more toward tolerance and away from those who held fast to the old ways. Ther are those who still profess religious purety in marriage, of course.
Then in the 1960s the issue of inter-racial marriage became a hot issue. It was against the law in many places. The government acted to force change in this attitude, but eventually it was the people whose spirits make up the Harmony, who moved the normal distribution farther to allow more tolerance to allow anyone to marry anyone they love regardless of race, creed or national heritage. There remain those on the other fringe who despise all of these marriages as wrong and impure, and there probably always will be.
The next step is Gay marriage. Again the bell curve is moving slowly toward tolerance in allowing anyone who loves someone else to marry that person. Again there are laws against this in many States. The Harmony will likely continue to move the curve in that direction as more and more people follow their hearts and do what they know God is asking them to, and not what their father, pastor or neighbors think.
It takes the activists on the edge to create the issue. Both edges, for and against. For most of us the issue is not relevant and without those passionate few championing the cause from the edges, the issue would not exist.
All the while there is the next edge, it seems. And all the while there are those on the other edge fighting any movement toward that edge. Perhaps the curve will not move. If it does, perhaps that will be as far as it ever goes. On every issue there are many ways of thinking; many arguments; all of which are right for the person who honestly in their heart belives them to be true for them. The balance around everything is fluid. There is no one right answer. There is only what is right for each person, individually. That is the essence of the Harmony.
They key is that what you feel, what you believe, what you do and how you act has to be true to you personlly. It cannot become your belief because your church pastor said so, your mother said so, your neighbors say so, your friends, or peer group say so. There is a lot of pressure on each of us to believe or do whatever makes things easy for us at the moment, and we perceive this as harmony, but we know inside that we have lied to ourselves and it never sits quite right. We ignore it, but living a lie never feels better.
Why is that? Because whenever we fail to do what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do, FOR US PERSONALLY, we are ignoring the voice of God, however you define God. To some that voice is the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth through which God speaks to everyone and provides them with the truth for them, according to Jesus at least. For me it is my connection to the "spiritual internet", the Harmony, the spirit that gives us free will, that connects all of us to all others. The spirit that causes everything to remain in balance and thus in Harmony.
Do what you know in YOUR heart is the right thing to do and you will remain in Harmony with all living things.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Proof of God - Reprise
Mostly God is something or someone that you take on faith, but does that have to be the case? Some 20 years ago now, a non-practicing Jewish friend of mine began me on the quest to prove "God" exists. God, in our various mythologies, is given the power to change things. To see the future. To control everything. Over the course of the next several weeks, we will explore that some more, but first we have to prove that a God actually exists.
Scientists have a hard time with the idea of a God, and yet it is actually science that helps to prove God does in fact exist. Perhaps not the old guy with the beard sitting on a throne in the sky, but spiritual presence beyond physics and science that we all know in our hearts exists.
Life has certain characteristics of inanimate objects. Generally to accomplish tasks it follows the laws of physics. We can only lift a certain weight off the ground if several aspects of physics are in play: we have the right leverage, we use the right balance, and the chemical reactions in our muscles provide us with adequate strength to overcome the desire of the object to remain at rest. Our nerves work using a series of chemical reactions which in turn cause muscles to react, pain the be registered, etc.
That part of the body is the machine. We have heard it many time. We have a soul and we have the machine that is the body. We can repair and replace parts of the body machine like we repair and replace parts of a car. We can rewire it of block the effects of the wiring with things like paralytics and pain relievers. We can put in a new motor. We can even create artificial parts or use parts from animals.
The machine operates entirely on the rules of physics that govern the operation and actions of every inanimate object in the earth, the world, the universe.
Consider another machine. An automobile, for example. It is very complex. It often has a computer brain that does a great many things to make sure the vehicle operates properly. But not being alive, when turned off it cannot do anything.
All inanimate objects are completely predictable. Consider the pool table. Several balls on a felt table with bumpers and pockets. There are many forces at work, all completely predictable. So simply predictable that with a bit of practice most of us can create the right amount of force in the pool cue to cause it to strike the cue ball with the proper force and at the proper angle, taking into account the friction of the felt on the table and the reactions of the bumpers, to cause a colored ball to find its way into a pocket. Great pool players can do this so well that they can set up the other balls on the table to make sure they can make another shot, followed by another until the table is clear.
Bowlers can send a ball down a oiled lane with a hook into the pocket to predictably knock over 10 pins. Great bowlers do this with greater frequency. It is wholey predictable that if the ball is thrown right the pins will fall properly leaving none.
Golf, basketball, baseball, auto-mechanics, hunting, and every other endeavor man has created relies on the complete and total predictability of working with inanimate objects. The best even allow for physical forces difficult to predict, like allowing for the wind. We all know if they knew the precise wind speed and angle throughout the flight of the arrow, for example, the great archer could completely predict where the arrow would land. This is the simple stuff that even you and I can understand and even get right once in awhile.
The laws of physics, however, not only govern physical objects, but also energy, light, sound, dark matter, dark energy, anti-matter, and a whole host of weird things that physicists find in nature. They find them, however, because they calculate their existence in advance using math and the laws of physics. Then, once theorized by brilliant minds, they are found in nature just as predicted. Black holes with bits of anti-matter at the edges. Planets circling stars with a slight wobble as the planets rotate around them in eliptical orbits. Dark matter and dark energy, which are much larger than their counterparts in terms of the universe and its contents. Neutrons, electrons, quarks, and particles smaller still. (Note that these smaller particles are very odd and behave according to an as yet generaly not understood set of additional "laws" referred to generally as Quantum Mechanics, but that is too deep for this).
No one has actually seen any of these things. The light we see from the universe is millions of years old at the youngest. Planets are too small to see. Atoms, much less sub-atomic particles, are too small to see. We find them and prove they exist using the predictability of the laws of physics.
The Big Bang Theory is based on predictions. Scientists can see that everything they observe in space is moving. When they use the laws of physics and trace these movements back in time billions of years, everything ends up in one place. Hence the theory that it all was once in one place and then suddenly "bang" it exploded into existence. The cool thing is they can determine what elements were caused first and how the remaining ones were caused over time. It is still a theory, but it is based on the pure predictability of inanimate objects.
But, Houston, we have a problem. Living things, and humans in particular, have the power to violate the predictability of the laws of physics. While living things USE the laws of physics to accomplish tasks, unlike inanimate objects, they are not bound by them.
"What on earth do you mean?" you ask.
If the laws of physics applied, from the moment of the Big Bang forward the actions of every single particle of matter would be completely predictable and would continue to be forever. Out in space, this is true.
Think about that for a moment.
That would mean that I am typing this because the particles in my fingers that began a path at the moment of the big bang caused me to type this.
That would mean that you are reading this because at the moment of the Big Bang every single particle in you was destined to be where you are right now doing what you are doing right now.
That would mean that there is no free will whatsoever.
Lots of things in the universe are predictable from the moment of the Big Bang, which is how they figured it out.
We know both subjectively and objectively that we do have free will. Biologists will confirm that living things decide to move, which causes particles to change directions from the path they were set on when the Big Bang happened, or from last week or seconds ago.
We can decide to move when we desire to move. We cause our body machines to do things, suddenly and without any required action-reaction sequence. Yes we then use physics to our advantage to make the body-machine, automobile-machine, cell phone-machine, etc do things, but we decide how and when to operate them and what they will do. The automobile does not move until we cause our body-machines to get into it, turn the key and make it do things. When we get into that car, we have simply augmented our body machines to allow our body-machines to do things it could not otherwise do, but we are still operating one machine so that it operates the other machine (and sometimes while texting on yet another machine we cause a crash and injury to both of the other machines in the process).
So what is it that gives us the ability to cause our body-machines to move in ways that violate the pure and lovely predictability of the laws of physics.
That, my good friend, is what we refer to as "God." This is a physics-proven fact. The ability of living things to use physics to accomplish things, but to violate the laws of physics to start the process. The difference, the intervention, is life. Life is spiritual, not physical. It is real. It is quantifiable. It is measurable. But, it is free and unpredictable. That spiritual component of life is "God" unless you want to call it something else, which is fine with me. I call it the spiritual internet or the Harmony. It is the Holy Spirit to some. It is the "force" if you are a Star Wars groupee. I just proved its existence, you can choose the name you like best.
More when my particles get around to it again.
Post Script: Interestingly, well at least to me, I read an article by a physicist who notes that on earth, in particular humans, have so changed things that the predictability of pure physics is interfered with. For example, if left to their paths after the Big Bang, that table and chair you are sitting on would likely still be growing or would have fallen in the forest to be eaten by bugs, that steel in your lamp would still be ore and the gas in your car would still be petroleum in the ground. It would have followed the path it was destined for when the Big Bang begun.
So not only do we change things within our own body-machines to make it do things, but we have moved particles from the path of their predictable physics-based destiny to a location of our chosing, using physics, but moving the particles completely in violation of the laws of physics.
The theory of the butterfly effect contemplates that every movement that we make that changes the natural movement of these particles, even the beating of a butterflies wings, changes every particle everywhere in some way. Physicists call it chaos or entropy. Basically stuff that cannot be explained because humans messed with it. That is why physicists stare out into untouched space.
This physicist has noticed, however, that there are things in space that are showing a bit of this. Stars and stuff too far to be effectively altered by anything we have done are exhibiting a touch of this chaos. Since the light we see from space is older that human-kind itself, whatever we are sending out there will not be effecting the light we see coming to us for millions of years.
So that means that something else is causing particles to stop following the rules of physics way out there in the universe, and it started way before any humans existed. Hmmm. Think about the implications of that observation.
Scientists have a hard time with the idea of a God, and yet it is actually science that helps to prove God does in fact exist. Perhaps not the old guy with the beard sitting on a throne in the sky, but spiritual presence beyond physics and science that we all know in our hearts exists.
Life has certain characteristics of inanimate objects. Generally to accomplish tasks it follows the laws of physics. We can only lift a certain weight off the ground if several aspects of physics are in play: we have the right leverage, we use the right balance, and the chemical reactions in our muscles provide us with adequate strength to overcome the desire of the object to remain at rest. Our nerves work using a series of chemical reactions which in turn cause muscles to react, pain the be registered, etc.
That part of the body is the machine. We have heard it many time. We have a soul and we have the machine that is the body. We can repair and replace parts of the body machine like we repair and replace parts of a car. We can rewire it of block the effects of the wiring with things like paralytics and pain relievers. We can put in a new motor. We can even create artificial parts or use parts from animals.
The machine operates entirely on the rules of physics that govern the operation and actions of every inanimate object in the earth, the world, the universe.
Consider another machine. An automobile, for example. It is very complex. It often has a computer brain that does a great many things to make sure the vehicle operates properly. But not being alive, when turned off it cannot do anything.
All inanimate objects are completely predictable. Consider the pool table. Several balls on a felt table with bumpers and pockets. There are many forces at work, all completely predictable. So simply predictable that with a bit of practice most of us can create the right amount of force in the pool cue to cause it to strike the cue ball with the proper force and at the proper angle, taking into account the friction of the felt on the table and the reactions of the bumpers, to cause a colored ball to find its way into a pocket. Great pool players can do this so well that they can set up the other balls on the table to make sure they can make another shot, followed by another until the table is clear.
Bowlers can send a ball down a oiled lane with a hook into the pocket to predictably knock over 10 pins. Great bowlers do this with greater frequency. It is wholey predictable that if the ball is thrown right the pins will fall properly leaving none.
Golf, basketball, baseball, auto-mechanics, hunting, and every other endeavor man has created relies on the complete and total predictability of working with inanimate objects. The best even allow for physical forces difficult to predict, like allowing for the wind. We all know if they knew the precise wind speed and angle throughout the flight of the arrow, for example, the great archer could completely predict where the arrow would land. This is the simple stuff that even you and I can understand and even get right once in awhile.
The laws of physics, however, not only govern physical objects, but also energy, light, sound, dark matter, dark energy, anti-matter, and a whole host of weird things that physicists find in nature. They find them, however, because they calculate their existence in advance using math and the laws of physics. Then, once theorized by brilliant minds, they are found in nature just as predicted. Black holes with bits of anti-matter at the edges. Planets circling stars with a slight wobble as the planets rotate around them in eliptical orbits. Dark matter and dark energy, which are much larger than their counterparts in terms of the universe and its contents. Neutrons, electrons, quarks, and particles smaller still. (Note that these smaller particles are very odd and behave according to an as yet generaly not understood set of additional "laws" referred to generally as Quantum Mechanics, but that is too deep for this).
No one has actually seen any of these things. The light we see from the universe is millions of years old at the youngest. Planets are too small to see. Atoms, much less sub-atomic particles, are too small to see. We find them and prove they exist using the predictability of the laws of physics.
The Big Bang Theory is based on predictions. Scientists can see that everything they observe in space is moving. When they use the laws of physics and trace these movements back in time billions of years, everything ends up in one place. Hence the theory that it all was once in one place and then suddenly "bang" it exploded into existence. The cool thing is they can determine what elements were caused first and how the remaining ones were caused over time. It is still a theory, but it is based on the pure predictability of inanimate objects.
But, Houston, we have a problem. Living things, and humans in particular, have the power to violate the predictability of the laws of physics. While living things USE the laws of physics to accomplish tasks, unlike inanimate objects, they are not bound by them.
"What on earth do you mean?" you ask.
If the laws of physics applied, from the moment of the Big Bang forward the actions of every single particle of matter would be completely predictable and would continue to be forever. Out in space, this is true.
Think about that for a moment.
That would mean that I am typing this because the particles in my fingers that began a path at the moment of the big bang caused me to type this.
That would mean that you are reading this because at the moment of the Big Bang every single particle in you was destined to be where you are right now doing what you are doing right now.
That would mean that there is no free will whatsoever.
Lots of things in the universe are predictable from the moment of the Big Bang, which is how they figured it out.
We know both subjectively and objectively that we do have free will. Biologists will confirm that living things decide to move, which causes particles to change directions from the path they were set on when the Big Bang happened, or from last week or seconds ago.
We can decide to move when we desire to move. We cause our body machines to do things, suddenly and without any required action-reaction sequence. Yes we then use physics to our advantage to make the body-machine, automobile-machine, cell phone-machine, etc do things, but we decide how and when to operate them and what they will do. The automobile does not move until we cause our body-machines to get into it, turn the key and make it do things. When we get into that car, we have simply augmented our body machines to allow our body-machines to do things it could not otherwise do, but we are still operating one machine so that it operates the other machine (and sometimes while texting on yet another machine we cause a crash and injury to both of the other machines in the process).
So what is it that gives us the ability to cause our body-machines to move in ways that violate the pure and lovely predictability of the laws of physics.
That, my good friend, is what we refer to as "God." This is a physics-proven fact. The ability of living things to use physics to accomplish things, but to violate the laws of physics to start the process. The difference, the intervention, is life. Life is spiritual, not physical. It is real. It is quantifiable. It is measurable. But, it is free and unpredictable. That spiritual component of life is "God" unless you want to call it something else, which is fine with me. I call it the spiritual internet or the Harmony. It is the Holy Spirit to some. It is the "force" if you are a Star Wars groupee. I just proved its existence, you can choose the name you like best.
More when my particles get around to it again.
Post Script: Interestingly, well at least to me, I read an article by a physicist who notes that on earth, in particular humans, have so changed things that the predictability of pure physics is interfered with. For example, if left to their paths after the Big Bang, that table and chair you are sitting on would likely still be growing or would have fallen in the forest to be eaten by bugs, that steel in your lamp would still be ore and the gas in your car would still be petroleum in the ground. It would have followed the path it was destined for when the Big Bang begun.
So not only do we change things within our own body-machines to make it do things, but we have moved particles from the path of their predictable physics-based destiny to a location of our chosing, using physics, but moving the particles completely in violation of the laws of physics.
The theory of the butterfly effect contemplates that every movement that we make that changes the natural movement of these particles, even the beating of a butterflies wings, changes every particle everywhere in some way. Physicists call it chaos or entropy. Basically stuff that cannot be explained because humans messed with it. That is why physicists stare out into untouched space.
This physicist has noticed, however, that there are things in space that are showing a bit of this. Stars and stuff too far to be effectively altered by anything we have done are exhibiting a touch of this chaos. Since the light we see from space is older that human-kind itself, whatever we are sending out there will not be effecting the light we see coming to us for millions of years.
So that means that something else is causing particles to stop following the rules of physics way out there in the universe, and it started way before any humans existed. Hmmm. Think about the implications of that observation.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Who Cares "Who/What" God is?
Isn't pure faith that there is a God enough? To some, sure. To others, who or what God is becomes the basic blockage to any faith at all. The images of God are so unsettling or obscure, and perhaps this will not change that, but here goes.
If God is an omnipotent king sitting on a throne in some mystical place called "heaven" with pearly gates and all that; a power who can grant you your every wish (if he feels like it), then God becomes distant, petty, vengeful, picky and . . . well, a despot. We cannot truly build a relationship with this God. He rules. We act. We don't act. He smites us.
Even if God is a being of some sort who is also a benevolent dictator, who loves us all as we are, but is still judgmental, spiteful and sometimes downright cruel to those not "chosen" or "faithful" then how can we trust this God? Especially if we are all sinners? Is this really who or what God is? What sort of "being" is this God? Mysterious at best. Scary really.
We have all tried to be good. We have all asked for things we have never received. We have all asked for family members to recover from illness, yet they have died. We have prayed individually. Sumitted group prayers to the pastor. Counted beads, lit candles and all sorts of things these Gods seem to want, and yet we do not receive what we asked for or our family member dies. What is up with that?
We have suffered and received hardships that God could have stopped. Why did he let that happen? Then there are the "miracles." People of faithless relatives and mediocre pasts, at best, survive a disaster or recover from a terminal illness. What is up with that?
Even Jesus, when his faith that God would save him from the pain of the beatings and of the crucifiction was broken and he hung from the cross in severe pain, asked, "Father why have you foresaken me?" Even he felt let down by this omnipotent God-king. How then can we, mere mortals, have a deep and trusting relationship with this sort of God?
If we do not believe in the Zeus-like characterization, but have no other concept of what or who God is, then how can we truly have a relationship with it, whatever it is? So who or what God is, it seems to me, is critical if we are going to have a true relationship.
When we see "God" not as an entity but as a real spiritual internet, the collective spirit that is composed of and connected to every other soul on the planet, then how we think of that relationship changes. We can have a relationship with other people. We do it all the time in person and even etherially in the actual electronic internet, and it works for us.
People can empathize with us, but they cannot completely protect us. We get that.
People can understand us, even if they do not agree with us. We get that.
People can share our joy, love us unconditionally and with conditions, and we get that.
We understand the frailties and strengths of people and inherently understand the power of bonding with others to enhance our own strengths and shore up our own frailties.
When we recognize who we are praying to and their limitations, our prayers become less selfish. We know that our family, friends, congregation, neighbors and team mates cannot grant us our every wish. Knowing this about who and what God is has changed the way I pray.
Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive." We contemplate that what he meant was that if you are faithful and believe in the one God enough he will give you anything you want. If you ask and you don't get it, then you are obviously not faithful enough.
I think what he meant, however, is that the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, goes both ways. Ask for guidance, and you will receive it. Ask for truth, and you will receive it. Ask how to stay in harmony with all other living things, and you will know in your heart what is the right thing to do.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is not, Do unto others as I say you should.
He told us to love one another, to love everyone no matter who they are, including our enemies. Be in harmony with all other souls.
According to the Lord's prayer, you are only forgiven to the extent you forgive others, not to some set rule from a despot. Forgive and you will be forgiven back.
Jesus implored us not to judge one another, but to leave that to God later. Be in harmony even with those who are different than you, who disagree with you, who dislike you, who do not understand you, etc.
The message is reciprocal not dictatorial. This flows through the teachings of Jesus and almost every other great philosopher and prophet throughout time. The Harmony is all-inclusive.
What is amazing in my life is that when I connect to the Harmony and do what I know in my heart is the right thing to do, things go well. I am acting in Harmony with all other souls around me. I become connected to people I need to be connected to seemingly out of the blue. I find a place that is right for me. I stay centered, more relaxed and dramatically less concerned over things like money. I know. I have faith, that when I listen to the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, my life is in balance, in harmony and connected.
Try it. It is very easy and of course it is rather difficult. NEVER do what you feel you should do if you know in your heart you should not do it, no matter what Grandma says or will think. NEVER do what you want to do WHEN you know in your heart it is not the right thing to do. ALWAYS do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. When you do, no matter what that action or inaction may be, you will be in Harmony will all other souls and the result will be the right, spiritually harmonious result for you.
That is why who or what "God" is, matters. More to come. Enjoy life!
If God is an omnipotent king sitting on a throne in some mystical place called "heaven" with pearly gates and all that; a power who can grant you your every wish (if he feels like it), then God becomes distant, petty, vengeful, picky and . . . well, a despot. We cannot truly build a relationship with this God. He rules. We act. We don't act. He smites us.
Even if God is a being of some sort who is also a benevolent dictator, who loves us all as we are, but is still judgmental, spiteful and sometimes downright cruel to those not "chosen" or "faithful" then how can we trust this God? Especially if we are all sinners? Is this really who or what God is? What sort of "being" is this God? Mysterious at best. Scary really.
We have all tried to be good. We have all asked for things we have never received. We have all asked for family members to recover from illness, yet they have died. We have prayed individually. Sumitted group prayers to the pastor. Counted beads, lit candles and all sorts of things these Gods seem to want, and yet we do not receive what we asked for or our family member dies. What is up with that?
We have suffered and received hardships that God could have stopped. Why did he let that happen? Then there are the "miracles." People of faithless relatives and mediocre pasts, at best, survive a disaster or recover from a terminal illness. What is up with that?
Even Jesus, when his faith that God would save him from the pain of the beatings and of the crucifiction was broken and he hung from the cross in severe pain, asked, "Father why have you foresaken me?" Even he felt let down by this omnipotent God-king. How then can we, mere mortals, have a deep and trusting relationship with this sort of God?
If we do not believe in the Zeus-like characterization, but have no other concept of what or who God is, then how can we truly have a relationship with it, whatever it is? So who or what God is, it seems to me, is critical if we are going to have a true relationship.
When we see "God" not as an entity but as a real spiritual internet, the collective spirit that is composed of and connected to every other soul on the planet, then how we think of that relationship changes. We can have a relationship with other people. We do it all the time in person and even etherially in the actual electronic internet, and it works for us.
People can empathize with us, but they cannot completely protect us. We get that.
People can understand us, even if they do not agree with us. We get that.
People can share our joy, love us unconditionally and with conditions, and we get that.
We understand the frailties and strengths of people and inherently understand the power of bonding with others to enhance our own strengths and shore up our own frailties.
When we recognize who we are praying to and their limitations, our prayers become less selfish. We know that our family, friends, congregation, neighbors and team mates cannot grant us our every wish. Knowing this about who and what God is has changed the way I pray.
Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive." We contemplate that what he meant was that if you are faithful and believe in the one God enough he will give you anything you want. If you ask and you don't get it, then you are obviously not faithful enough.
I think what he meant, however, is that the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, goes both ways. Ask for guidance, and you will receive it. Ask for truth, and you will receive it. Ask how to stay in harmony with all other living things, and you will know in your heart what is the right thing to do.
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It is not, Do unto others as I say you should.
He told us to love one another, to love everyone no matter who they are, including our enemies. Be in harmony with all other souls.
According to the Lord's prayer, you are only forgiven to the extent you forgive others, not to some set rule from a despot. Forgive and you will be forgiven back.
Jesus implored us not to judge one another, but to leave that to God later. Be in harmony even with those who are different than you, who disagree with you, who dislike you, who do not understand you, etc.
The message is reciprocal not dictatorial. This flows through the teachings of Jesus and almost every other great philosopher and prophet throughout time. The Harmony is all-inclusive.
What is amazing in my life is that when I connect to the Harmony and do what I know in my heart is the right thing to do, things go well. I am acting in Harmony with all other souls around me. I become connected to people I need to be connected to seemingly out of the blue. I find a place that is right for me. I stay centered, more relaxed and dramatically less concerned over things like money. I know. I have faith, that when I listen to the Holy Spirit, the spiritual internet, the Harmony, my life is in balance, in harmony and connected.
Try it. It is very easy and of course it is rather difficult. NEVER do what you feel you should do if you know in your heart you should not do it, no matter what Grandma says or will think. NEVER do what you want to do WHEN you know in your heart it is not the right thing to do. ALWAYS do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. When you do, no matter what that action or inaction may be, you will be in Harmony will all other souls and the result will be the right, spiritually harmonious result for you.
That is why who or what "God" is, matters. More to come. Enjoy life!
Monday, August 13, 2012
The Spiritual Internet
"God" is the interconnection of the spirits of all livings things to all other living things. Essentially the spiritual internet connecting each of us to everyone else. When we listen to that spirit, everyone else's spirit is guiding us to understand how our actions can create harmony among all living things, among those who make up the spirit, the "holy" spirit if you will.
If you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do you are connecting to this spirit, the holy spirit, of all living things to one another. If you listen to it and do what you know in YOUR heart is the right thing to do, you will remain in harmony with all living things. When you ignore your heart, your conscience, the spirit, you are creating disharmony no matter how good you think what you are doing may be.
It takes great faith to do this. You often know in your heart what to do, but it is not what society or whoever says you "should" do. in addition, there are often perceived and feared consequences to doing what you know in your heart is right. "What will Grandma say?" "Will my friend still like me?" Will people think I am wierd?" "Will I be hurt emotionally?" "Will I get hurt physically?" Or worse, "is what I know in my heart to be the right thing to do against the law and likely to land me in jail or cost me money?"
All valid concerns when we follow our hearts. Truly follow.
There is also a critical difference between what our physical bodies "want" and what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do. We struggle with the desires of the body, which are not all bad and often right at the right time. When we connect into the spirit that connects all of us, we will know the difference between what we desire physically and what is the right thing to do for us at that moment in time, because it will be in harmony with everyone else. Sometimes, thankfully, they are the same thing.
In the end, being connected into the Harmony, the spirit that connects all of us to each other, or God if you want, will always result in things actually turning out the best way possible.
Some Thoughts on What God is Not: There are thousands of images attributable to God. The most common of course is of an old wise man with a long white beard sitting regally upon a golden throne clothed in robes, with angels and cherubs flitting about and your chosen prophet standing at his right hand. The man/God may carry some sort of staff or sceptor. His hair is long and flowing. His skin is burnished tan and healthy. His hands are large and he is much more muscular and physically powerful than a man of his age should be. See images of Zeus from Greek mythology, the depiction of God in Revelations and more recently, King Neptune in "The Little Mermaid."
Is God a very powerful wise old man sitting on a throne? I think not, and I think that few people still believe in this sort of human-like God. Of course, while the Old Testament proclaims that we are made in the image of God, the New Testament consistently refutes idols and images of God as in any way human-like. See Romans 2:22 for example.
Proof of God: In an earlier post, I "proved" there is a "God." Of course, for those who "believe" one need not prove there is a God. There just is and always has been a God. I suppose I went through the process of proving there is a God for those of us who were not really sure and needed proof. It is rather complicated to sum up, so if you need proving, go read it.
So that begs the next logical question. "What" is God? If God is not an old wise man sitting on a throne on top of Mount Olympus or in the Kingdom of Heaven or at the bottom of the seas, then what is God?
Some Bible Thoughts: If one reads the Bible, and in particular the New Testament, I think that it is clear that God is a spirit, even though there are many passages that envision God as a being of some sort. God is metaphorically a Father and a Son, but by that, I believe that what Jesus and Paul meant is that God is our family. Jesus explained that there was a lot more for people to learn that he did not have time to tell them. He explained that the Spirit of Truth will guide us to the real truth. John 16:12 - 15. He explained that we have a direct relationship with God. God is within us. God connects us. We do not have to go through anyone or anything else to get to God. We are connected directly to God. That was hard for the priests of the day to handle.
He explains that it does not matter if you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, God. It does not matter if you blashpeme, or curse or disrespect, Jesus. It is only when you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, the Spirit when you are truly in trouble. Matthew 12:30 - 32, and Mark 3:28-29. Not that you should put all your faith in what the Bible says, but on God there seem to be a lot of people who care what it says on such things.
So what is the point of these statements? If you look into your heart honestly, your conscience will tell you what is the right thing for you to do at any particular moment in time. Your conscience or your metaphorical "heart" knows, because it is connected to the Spirit. In the Bible the Spirit is connected to God. When you lie to yourself, ignore the Spirit, your conscience, and fail to follow your heart, you are ignoring your connection to God, the truth for you, personally. The truth for YOU is not found in books or laws or rules or what Grandma or your priest or mother or whoever says, or anything else for that matter. What is right for you is found in one place - inside you. That is all through the new Testment and there are too many verses to recount.
So again we come to "What" is God. The Spirit is connected to God. The Spirit is within us. The Spirit is what makes us alive and able to drive the machine that is our bodies. So rather than a great and ageless man, God is a spirit.
I thought about this for many years. I have asked the Spirit of Truth for guidance. I have read the Bible, things written by many deep thinkers, many who are not Christian, and listened to atheists, agnostics, muslims, sikhs (my auto repair guy who is great), and just talked things out with people. I began to notice things, perhaps as natural as anything, but they seemed to guide me. I came to believe first that God was a spirit that all of our spirits come from when we are born, and all go back to after we die. I still believe that to be essentially true.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I found something else. Something I call the "Harmony." This was really by accident. Once connected to it and faithful to it, everything in my life just seemed to fit, to work, then get better. Coincidences happened. I met the right people at the right time. People touched my life at the right moment.
I found that whenever I did something for selfish reasons, it did not work out, no matter how well thought through and analyzed and planned for. This was especially true if it involved money. We all know the story of the rich young man who approached Jesus and asked how he could follow Jesus. Jesus told him to sell all of his assets and give them to the poor and then he could join and follow Jesus. The rich man could not do it. Jesus said, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The point of this story is not that rich men will not get into heaven. It is that wealth makes it harder to do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. Mortgages and Country Club dues are large and have to be paid. Spouses and children have needs that befit your station in life. This man knew what was right for him in his heart, yet he did not have the faith to suffer the consequences of the actions he knew were right for him. Sometimes the right thing is awfully hard and takes a great deal of faith.
I live by a very simple tenet,
As I have lived my life this way, odd coincidences have occurred in my life. Things always work out for the best. I am always happy. I am more calm. What I have also felt is that when connected into the Harmony, I am connected to everyone who is also connected. I have come to believe, therefore, that the Spirit Jesus speaks of, is the connection of the spirits of all people to one another through a common global/universal spirit, if you will. The spiritual internet.
I have felt driven to write this and to share this. I hope it helps you find harmony and peace in your life.
If you do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do you are connecting to this spirit, the holy spirit, of all living things to one another. If you listen to it and do what you know in YOUR heart is the right thing to do, you will remain in harmony with all living things. When you ignore your heart, your conscience, the spirit, you are creating disharmony no matter how good you think what you are doing may be.
It takes great faith to do this. You often know in your heart what to do, but it is not what society or whoever says you "should" do. in addition, there are often perceived and feared consequences to doing what you know in your heart is right. "What will Grandma say?" "Will my friend still like me?" Will people think I am wierd?" "Will I be hurt emotionally?" "Will I get hurt physically?" Or worse, "is what I know in my heart to be the right thing to do against the law and likely to land me in jail or cost me money?"
All valid concerns when we follow our hearts. Truly follow.
There is also a critical difference between what our physical bodies "want" and what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do. We struggle with the desires of the body, which are not all bad and often right at the right time. When we connect into the spirit that connects all of us, we will know the difference between what we desire physically and what is the right thing to do for us at that moment in time, because it will be in harmony with everyone else. Sometimes, thankfully, they are the same thing.
In the end, being connected into the Harmony, the spirit that connects all of us to each other, or God if you want, will always result in things actually turning out the best way possible.
Some Thoughts on What God is Not: There are thousands of images attributable to God. The most common of course is of an old wise man with a long white beard sitting regally upon a golden throne clothed in robes, with angels and cherubs flitting about and your chosen prophet standing at his right hand. The man/God may carry some sort of staff or sceptor. His hair is long and flowing. His skin is burnished tan and healthy. His hands are large and he is much more muscular and physically powerful than a man of his age should be. See images of Zeus from Greek mythology, the depiction of God in Revelations and more recently, King Neptune in "The Little Mermaid."
Is God a very powerful wise old man sitting on a throne? I think not, and I think that few people still believe in this sort of human-like God. Of course, while the Old Testament proclaims that we are made in the image of God, the New Testament consistently refutes idols and images of God as in any way human-like. See Romans 2:22 for example.
Proof of God: In an earlier post, I "proved" there is a "God." Of course, for those who "believe" one need not prove there is a God. There just is and always has been a God. I suppose I went through the process of proving there is a God for those of us who were not really sure and needed proof. It is rather complicated to sum up, so if you need proving, go read it.
So that begs the next logical question. "What" is God? If God is not an old wise man sitting on a throne on top of Mount Olympus or in the Kingdom of Heaven or at the bottom of the seas, then what is God?
Some Bible Thoughts: If one reads the Bible, and in particular the New Testament, I think that it is clear that God is a spirit, even though there are many passages that envision God as a being of some sort. God is metaphorically a Father and a Son, but by that, I believe that what Jesus and Paul meant is that God is our family. Jesus explained that there was a lot more for people to learn that he did not have time to tell them. He explained that the Spirit of Truth will guide us to the real truth. John 16:12 - 15. He explained that we have a direct relationship with God. God is within us. God connects us. We do not have to go through anyone or anything else to get to God. We are connected directly to God. That was hard for the priests of the day to handle.
He explains that it does not matter if you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, God. It does not matter if you blashpeme, or curse or disrespect, Jesus. It is only when you blaspheme, or curse or disrespect, the Spirit when you are truly in trouble. Matthew 12:30 - 32, and Mark 3:28-29. Not that you should put all your faith in what the Bible says, but on God there seem to be a lot of people who care what it says on such things.
So what is the point of these statements? If you look into your heart honestly, your conscience will tell you what is the right thing for you to do at any particular moment in time. Your conscience or your metaphorical "heart" knows, because it is connected to the Spirit. In the Bible the Spirit is connected to God. When you lie to yourself, ignore the Spirit, your conscience, and fail to follow your heart, you are ignoring your connection to God, the truth for you, personally. The truth for YOU is not found in books or laws or rules or what Grandma or your priest or mother or whoever says, or anything else for that matter. What is right for you is found in one place - inside you. That is all through the new Testment and there are too many verses to recount.
So again we come to "What" is God. The Spirit is connected to God. The Spirit is within us. The Spirit is what makes us alive and able to drive the machine that is our bodies. So rather than a great and ageless man, God is a spirit.
I thought about this for many years. I have asked the Spirit of Truth for guidance. I have read the Bible, things written by many deep thinkers, many who are not Christian, and listened to atheists, agnostics, muslims, sikhs (my auto repair guy who is great), and just talked things out with people. I began to notice things, perhaps as natural as anything, but they seemed to guide me. I came to believe first that God was a spirit that all of our spirits come from when we are born, and all go back to after we die. I still believe that to be essentially true.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I found something else. Something I call the "Harmony." This was really by accident. Once connected to it and faithful to it, everything in my life just seemed to fit, to work, then get better. Coincidences happened. I met the right people at the right time. People touched my life at the right moment.
I found that whenever I did something for selfish reasons, it did not work out, no matter how well thought through and analyzed and planned for. This was especially true if it involved money. We all know the story of the rich young man who approached Jesus and asked how he could follow Jesus. Jesus told him to sell all of his assets and give them to the poor and then he could join and follow Jesus. The rich man could not do it. Jesus said, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. The point of this story is not that rich men will not get into heaven. It is that wealth makes it harder to do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do. Mortgages and Country Club dues are large and have to be paid. Spouses and children have needs that befit your station in life. This man knew what was right for him in his heart, yet he did not have the faith to suffer the consequences of the actions he knew were right for him. Sometimes the right thing is awfully hard and takes a great deal of faith.
I live by a very simple tenet,
Do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do and
you will remain in harmony with all living things.
As I have lived my life this way, odd coincidences have occurred in my life. Things always work out for the best. I am always happy. I am more calm. What I have also felt is that when connected into the Harmony, I am connected to everyone who is also connected. I have come to believe, therefore, that the Spirit Jesus speaks of, is the connection of the spirits of all people to one another through a common global/universal spirit, if you will. The spiritual internet.
I have felt driven to write this and to share this. I hope it helps you find harmony and peace in your life.
Monday, June 25, 2012
ObamaFacts: Unemployment
Unemployment is an area where President Obama regularly receives robust criticism. Is it appropriate?
Then and Now: The President was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that month the unemployment rate was 7.8%. As of May 2012, the last publication, it is 8.2% . The next publication will be July 6th for June. Based on that alone, one might conclude that things have not changed much, and they certainly have not improved. But that may not provide the entire picture.
What Should We Expect Unemployment to Be? First, how bad is an unemployment rate of 8.2%? According to Trading Economics, "Historically, from 1948 until 2012, the United States Unemployment Rate averaged 5.7800 Percent." Since 1970, the average unemployment rate has been 6.4%. That means we are off the average by at most 2.4%, and more accurately 1.8%, which seems not all that bad. Still, it is not an improvement.
Average Range: The unemployment rate typically rises and falls naturally over time. Since 1970, highs have tended to be above 7.0%. Three times in that time, highs were above 7.8% under both parties. The unemployment rate exceeded 10% for a period of 10 months in 1982 - 83 during the Reagan administration, though there should be no value judgment as the eras and circumstances are quite different. Lows have tended to be below 5% during that time, though the unemployment rate was not below 5% at all from January 1974 until May of 1997. In the 509 months since 1970, regardless of the party of the President, the US has experienced almost twice as many months with unemployment above 7% (170 or 33%) than it has months where unemployment was below 5% (91 or 18%). The unemployment rate has been above 8% almost as often (79 months or 16%) as it has been below 5%. So query whether 8.2% is really much outside of the range of US average unemployment rates for the last 40 plus years?
Trending: When the President took office, unemployment was on the rise. In May of 2007, unemployment hit a rather typical low of 4.4%. By January, 2009, less than 2 years later, it had risen by 3.4% and it continued to rise until October of 2009 when it hit its recent high of 10.0% for one month. Therefore, in a period of 2 years and 5 months (29 months total), the unemployment rate rose by 5.4%, or more than double. Actually, this rise is historically typical. Twenty of those months (69%) occurred prior to the inauguration of the President and nine after. Similarly, 63% of the rise in unemployment occurred prior to and including January 2009. Once the rate hit 9.5%, however, it took 17 months to fall back below that rate. Unfortunately while the rise to the peak has been fairly rapid, the return to the trough (low and good unemployment) has historically taken longer, as seems to be the case this time around.
What is the President's Number? When we evaluate the President, should we start at 7.8% when he took office, 8.7% in March 2009 when the economy hit bottom, or the high of 10% in October 2009? One could argue that whatever the President did or did not do, it is unlikely his policies would have been able to effect this continued rise in unemployment, certainly through March when all other factors hit bottom. So perhaps 8.7% is the number against which the President should be judged. If so, unemployment is down a modest, 0.5%, but at least that is improvement.
Lagging Indicator: The facts are that historically unemployment lags changes in the economy. In other words, as the economy falls, unemployment tends to stay lower and then rise to its worst point about 2 - 3 quarters after the economy has hit bottom, and vice versa as the ecomony improves. Employers are slow to fire. Belt-tightening plans are laid out, internally costs are squeezed from processes, systems are automated, early-retirement is offered, and finally lay-offs of those who will then actively seek work occur. Some laws prevent rapid lay-offs. Failing small companies hang on as long as possible before closing their doors and sadly letting their family of employees go. Some companies try bankruptcy to hang on. All this takes an employer 2 - 3 quarters after the pain of the recession hits to actually plan, execute and complete.
Since the economy and stock market hit bottom in March of 2009, it would have been predicted that unemployment would continue to fall naturally, at a minimum, until September, 2009, 2 quarters later, and just as likely until December, 2009, 3 quarters later. In this case the peak was in October, 2009, squarely in the predicted range. So perhaps the President's starting point number should be 10%. That means that at least arguably unemployment under the President has fallen by 1.8%, which is progress indeed.
Recovery: Based on my two prior posts, at least arguably the economy is recovering. Perhaps from the standpoint of the markets, perception and output, we have actually recovered and are growing comfortably. Gross Domestic Product has grown consistently over the last few years, though below its historical average of 3.2%.
One would expect, then, that it will be some months before we see a recovery in the unemployment rate back to historical averages of around 5.8% to 6.4%. BUT we are closer to normal than people are led to believe.
Then and Now: The President was inaugurated on January 20, 2009. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that month the unemployment rate was 7.8%. As of May 2012, the last publication, it is 8.2% . The next publication will be July 6th for June. Based on that alone, one might conclude that things have not changed much, and they certainly have not improved. But that may not provide the entire picture.
What Should We Expect Unemployment to Be? First, how bad is an unemployment rate of 8.2%? According to Trading Economics, "Historically, from 1948 until 2012, the United States Unemployment Rate averaged 5.7800 Percent." Since 1970, the average unemployment rate has been 6.4%. That means we are off the average by at most 2.4%, and more accurately 1.8%, which seems not all that bad. Still, it is not an improvement.
Average Range: The unemployment rate typically rises and falls naturally over time. Since 1970, highs have tended to be above 7.0%. Three times in that time, highs were above 7.8% under both parties. The unemployment rate exceeded 10% for a period of 10 months in 1982 - 83 during the Reagan administration, though there should be no value judgment as the eras and circumstances are quite different. Lows have tended to be below 5% during that time, though the unemployment rate was not below 5% at all from January 1974 until May of 1997. In the 509 months since 1970, regardless of the party of the President, the US has experienced almost twice as many months with unemployment above 7% (170 or 33%) than it has months where unemployment was below 5% (91 or 18%). The unemployment rate has been above 8% almost as often (79 months or 16%) as it has been below 5%. So query whether 8.2% is really much outside of the range of US average unemployment rates for the last 40 plus years?
Trending: When the President took office, unemployment was on the rise. In May of 2007, unemployment hit a rather typical low of 4.4%. By January, 2009, less than 2 years later, it had risen by 3.4% and it continued to rise until October of 2009 when it hit its recent high of 10.0% for one month. Therefore, in a period of 2 years and 5 months (29 months total), the unemployment rate rose by 5.4%, or more than double. Actually, this rise is historically typical. Twenty of those months (69%) occurred prior to the inauguration of the President and nine after. Similarly, 63% of the rise in unemployment occurred prior to and including January 2009. Once the rate hit 9.5%, however, it took 17 months to fall back below that rate. Unfortunately while the rise to the peak has been fairly rapid, the return to the trough (low and good unemployment) has historically taken longer, as seems to be the case this time around.
What is the President's Number? When we evaluate the President, should we start at 7.8% when he took office, 8.7% in March 2009 when the economy hit bottom, or the high of 10% in October 2009? One could argue that whatever the President did or did not do, it is unlikely his policies would have been able to effect this continued rise in unemployment, certainly through March when all other factors hit bottom. So perhaps 8.7% is the number against which the President should be judged. If so, unemployment is down a modest, 0.5%, but at least that is improvement.
Lagging Indicator: The facts are that historically unemployment lags changes in the economy. In other words, as the economy falls, unemployment tends to stay lower and then rise to its worst point about 2 - 3 quarters after the economy has hit bottom, and vice versa as the ecomony improves. Employers are slow to fire. Belt-tightening plans are laid out, internally costs are squeezed from processes, systems are automated, early-retirement is offered, and finally lay-offs of those who will then actively seek work occur. Some laws prevent rapid lay-offs. Failing small companies hang on as long as possible before closing their doors and sadly letting their family of employees go. Some companies try bankruptcy to hang on. All this takes an employer 2 - 3 quarters after the pain of the recession hits to actually plan, execute and complete.
Since the economy and stock market hit bottom in March of 2009, it would have been predicted that unemployment would continue to fall naturally, at a minimum, until September, 2009, 2 quarters later, and just as likely until December, 2009, 3 quarters later. In this case the peak was in October, 2009, squarely in the predicted range. So perhaps the President's starting point number should be 10%. That means that at least arguably unemployment under the President has fallen by 1.8%, which is progress indeed.
Recovery: Based on my two prior posts, at least arguably the economy is recovering. Perhaps from the standpoint of the markets, perception and output, we have actually recovered and are growing comfortably. Gross Domestic Product has grown consistently over the last few years, though below its historical average of 3.2%.
One would expect, then, that it will be some months before we see a recovery in the unemployment rate back to historical averages of around 5.8% to 6.4%. BUT we are closer to normal than people are led to believe.
Monday, June 18, 2012
ObamaFacts: The Economy
Certainly the economy is not as robust as we would like it to be. That being said, it is undeniably better than it was on January 20, 2009 when Barack Obama was inaugurated. Some facts:
US Industrial Production Growing: According to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ "industrial production measures changes in output for the industrial sector of the economy which includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Industrial Production is an important indicator for economic forecasting." Based on the rhetoric one would suggest that this must be down horribly over the last few years. But nothing could be further from the truth.
As of January, 2009, industrial output was falling at a rate of over -9%, and fell to around -12%. It had been negative, in other words industrial output was shrinking, for all of the previous year. Within 6-months of taking office, the trend in US Industrial Production changed. Over the last 2.5 years, US Industrial Production has averaged around a +5% growth rate. It was +4.7% in May, 2012. This means US Industrial production is Growing.
As a comparison, change in:
Euro Area's Industrial Production was negative in January 2009 and is still negative, though not as bad. This means it continues to shrink.
China's Industrial Production was growing at over 18% in January 2009, and is now growing at under 10%.
US Business Confidence Up: According to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ this index, also referred to as the Purchasing Manager's Index, "is a composite index of five indicators (production level, new orders, supplier deliveries, inventories, employment level), which are extracted through surveys to more than 400 purchasing managers from around the country, chosen for their geographic and industry diversification benefits."
As of January, 2009, US Business Confidence (PMI) was 35.5. It was 60.1 in May, 2012, UP 69%.
Not surprisingly given recent debt crises, Euro Area business confidence was in negative numbers and is still in the negative numbers.
Chinese Business Confidence is up about 25% since January 2009.
US Consumer Confidence Up: "The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) is a barometer of the health of the U.S. economy from the perspective of the consumer. The index is based on approximately 3,000 completed questionnaires reflecting consumers’ perceptions of current business and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for six months hence regarding business conditions, employment, and income."
As of January, 2009, the CCI was 35. It was 65 in May, 2012, UP 86%.
Euro Area Consumer Confidence has been negative for many years. The US has at least always been positive.
Chinese Consumer Confidence is essentially the same as it was in January 2009.
US Exports Up: Well certainly we are not exporting at all well, with an economy as bad as ours. Ahhh, not really true. In fact, according to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/,
As of Jaunary, 2009, US Exports were well under $130 billion dollars/month.
In May of 2012, US Exports were $183 billion dollars/month. UP 46%.
Euro Area Exports are up from about $110 billion/month to just under $150 billion/month.
China exports were worth 181.1 billion USD in May of 2012.
Perhaps we are moving in the right direction after all.
US Industrial Production Growing: According to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ "industrial production measures changes in output for the industrial sector of the economy which includes manufacturing, mining, and utilities. Industrial Production is an important indicator for economic forecasting." Based on the rhetoric one would suggest that this must be down horribly over the last few years. But nothing could be further from the truth.
As of January, 2009, industrial output was falling at a rate of over -9%, and fell to around -12%. It had been negative, in other words industrial output was shrinking, for all of the previous year. Within 6-months of taking office, the trend in US Industrial Production changed. Over the last 2.5 years, US Industrial Production has averaged around a +5% growth rate. It was +4.7% in May, 2012. This means US Industrial production is Growing.
As a comparison, change in:
Euro Area's Industrial Production was negative in January 2009 and is still negative, though not as bad. This means it continues to shrink.
China's Industrial Production was growing at over 18% in January 2009, and is now growing at under 10%.
US Business Confidence Up: According to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/ this index, also referred to as the Purchasing Manager's Index, "is a composite index of five indicators (production level, new orders, supplier deliveries, inventories, employment level), which are extracted through surveys to more than 400 purchasing managers from around the country, chosen for their geographic and industry diversification benefits."
As of January, 2009, US Business Confidence (PMI) was 35.5. It was 60.1 in May, 2012, UP 69%.
Not surprisingly given recent debt crises, Euro Area business confidence was in negative numbers and is still in the negative numbers.
Chinese Business Confidence is up about 25% since January 2009.
US Consumer Confidence Up: "The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index® (CCI) is a barometer of the health of the U.S. economy from the perspective of the consumer. The index is based on approximately 3,000 completed questionnaires reflecting consumers’ perceptions of current business and employment conditions, as well as their expectations for six months hence regarding business conditions, employment, and income."
As of January, 2009, the CCI was 35. It was 65 in May, 2012, UP 86%.
Euro Area Consumer Confidence has been negative for many years. The US has at least always been positive.
Chinese Consumer Confidence is essentially the same as it was in January 2009.
US Exports Up: Well certainly we are not exporting at all well, with an economy as bad as ours. Ahhh, not really true. In fact, according to http://www.tradingeconomics.com/,
"US [exports] reached an all time high of 184.44 Billion USD in March of 2012."
That is more than China!
As of Jaunary, 2009, US Exports were well under $130 billion dollars/month.
In May of 2012, US Exports were $183 billion dollars/month. UP 46%.
Euro Area Exports are up from about $110 billion/month to just under $150 billion/month.
China exports were worth 181.1 billion USD in May of 2012.
Perhaps we are moving in the right direction after all.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
ObamaFact: The Stock Market
Investors in the stock market buy shares of stock when they believe that the price of that stock will increase. Since January 20, 2009, the date Barrack Obama was inaugurated, they have been right. The market hit bottom just 48 days later. We can only evaluate the President based on what has happened since he became President, regardless of who or what created the situation he inherited. The percent change is based on March 9.
1/20/09 3/9/09 6/15/12 % Change
Dow Jones IA $7,949 $6,547 $12,767 UP 95%
S&P 500 $805 $660 $1,343 UP 97%
NASDAQ $1,441 $1,268 $2,873 UP 127%
Certainly some rebound is inevitable, but if the economy and the future of the United States were as grim as predicted by some, it seems to me that the world would not be investing so heavily into US capital markets.
By the way, if you check, the European and Asian markets have not rebounded quite so well.
3/9/09 6/15/12 % Change
Nikei (Japan) $7,086 $8,569 UP 21%
Hang Seng Index (HK) $11,694 $19,234 UP 64%
EURO STOXX 50 (EU) $1,919 $2,181 UP 14%
FTSE 100 Index (UKX) $3,531 $5,479 UP 55%
More fun ObamaFacts to come.
1/20/09 3/9/09 6/15/12 % Change
Dow Jones IA $7,949 $6,547 $12,767 UP 95%
S&P 500 $805 $660 $1,343 UP 97%
NASDAQ $1,441 $1,268 $2,873 UP 127%
Certainly some rebound is inevitable, but if the economy and the future of the United States were as grim as predicted by some, it seems to me that the world would not be investing so heavily into US capital markets.
By the way, if you check, the European and Asian markets have not rebounded quite so well.
3/9/09 6/15/12 % Change
Nikei (Japan) $7,086 $8,569 UP 21%
Hang Seng Index (HK) $11,694 $19,234 UP 64%
EURO STOXX 50 (EU) $1,919 $2,181 UP 14%
FTSE 100 Index (UKX) $3,531 $5,479 UP 55%
More fun ObamaFacts to come.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Proof of God
Proof of God
Mostly God is something or someone that you take on faith, but does that have to be the case? Some 20 years ago now, a non-practicing Jewish friend of mine began me on the quest to prove "God" exists. God, in our various mythologies, is given the power to change things. To see the future. To control everything. Over the course of the next several weeks, we will explore that some more, but first we have to prove that a God actually exists.
Scientists have a hard time with the idea of a God, and yet it is actually science that helps to prove God does in fact exist. Perhaps not the old guy with the beard sitting on a throne in the sky, but spiritual presence beyond physics and science that we all know in our hearts exists.
Life has certain characteristics of inanimate objects. Generally to accomplish tasks it follows the laws of physics. We can only lift a certain weight off the ground if several aspects of physics are in play: we have the right leverage, we use the right balance, and the chemical reactions in our muscles provide us with adequate strength to overcome the desire of the object to remain at rest. Our nerves work using a series of chemical reactions which in turn cause muscles to react, pain the be registered, etc.
That part of the body is the machine. We have heard it many time. We have a soul and we have the machine that is the body. We can repair and replace parts of the body machine like we repair and replace parts of a car. We can rewire it of block the effects of the wiring with things like paralytics and pain relievers. We can put in a new motor. We can even create artificial parts or use parts from animals.
The machine operates entirely on the rules of physics that govern the operation and actions of every inanimate object in the earth, the world, the universe.
Consider another machine. An automobile, for example. It is very complex. It often has a computer brain that does a great many things to make sure the vehicle operates properly. But not being alive, when turned off it cannot do anything.
All inanimate objects are completely predictable. Consider the pool table. Several balls on a felt table with bumpers and pockets. There are many forces at work, all completely predictable. So simply predictable that with a bit of practice most of us can create the right amount of force in the pool cue to cause it to strike the cue ball with the proper force and at the proper angle, taking into account the friction of the felt on the table and the reactions of the bumpers, to cause a colored ball to find its way into a pocket. Great pool players can do this so well that they can set up the other balls on the table to make sure they can make another shot, followed by another until the table is clear.
Bowlers can send a ball down a oiled lane with a hook into the pocket to predictably knock over 10 pins. Great bowlers do this with greater frequency. It is wholey predictable that if the ball is thrown right the pins will fall properly leaving none.
Golf, basketball, baseball, auto-mechanics, hunting, and every other endeavor man has created relies on the complete and total predictability of working with inanimate objects. The best even allow for physical forces difficult to predict, like allowing for the wind. We all know if they knew the precise wind speed and angle throughout the flight of the arrow, for example, the great archer could completely predict where the arrow would land. This is the simple stuff that even you and I can understand and even get right once in awhile.
The laws of physics, however, not only govern physical objects, but also energy, light, sound, dark matter, dark energy, anti-matter, and a whole host of weird things that physicists find in nature. They find them, however, because they calculate their existence in advance using math and the laws of physics. Then, once theorized by brilliant minds, they are found in nature just as predicted. Black holes with bits of anti-matter at the edges. Planets circling stars with a slight wobble as the planets rotate around them in eliptical orbits. Dark matter and dark energy, which are much larger than their counterparts in terms of the universe and its contents. Neutrons, electrons, quarks, and particles smaller still.
No one has actually seen any of these things. The light we see from the universe is millions of years old at the youngest. Planets are too small to see. Atoms, much less sub-atomic particles, are too small to see. We find them and prove they exist using the predictability of the laws of physics.
The Big Bang Theory is based on predictions. Scientists can see that everything they observe in space is moving. When they use the laws of physics and trace these movements back in time tens of billions of years, everything ends up in one place. Hence the theory that it all was once in one place and then suddenly "bang" it exploded into existence. The cool thing is they can determine what elements were caused first and how the remaining ones were caused over time. It is still a theory, but it is based on the pure predictability of inanimate objects.
But, Houston, we have a problem. Living things, and humans in particular, have the power to violate the predictability of the laws of physics. While living things USE the laws of physics to accomplish tasks, unlike inanimate objects, they are not bound by them.
"What on earth do you mean?" you ask.
If the laws of physics applied, from the moment of the Big Bang forward the actions of every single particle of matter would be completely predictable and would continue to be forever. Out in space, this is true.
Think about that for a moment.
That would mean that I am typing this because the particles in my fingers that began a path at the moment of the big bang caused me to type this.
That would mean that you are reading this because at the moment of the Big Bang every single particle in your was destined to be where you are right now doing what you are doing right now.
That would mean that there is no free will whatsoever.
Lots of things in the universe are predictable from the moment of the Big Bang, which is how they figured it out.
We know both subjectively and objectively that we do have free will. Biologists will confirm that living things decide to move, which causes particles to change directions from the path they were set on when the Big Bang happened, or from last week or seconds ago.
We can decide to move when we desire to move. We cause our body machines to do things, suddenly and without any required action-reaction sequence. Yes we then use physics to our advantage to make the body-machine, automobile-machine, cell phone-machine, etc do things, but we decide how and when to operate them and what they will do. The automobile does not move until we cause our body-machines to get into it, turn the key and make it do things. When we get into that car, we have simply augmented our body machines to allow our body-machines to do things it could not otherwise do, but we are still operating one machine so that it operates the other machine (and sometimes while texting on yet another machine we cause a crash and injury to both of the other machines in the process).
So what is it that gives us the ability to cause our body-machines to move in ways that violate the pure and lovely predictability of the laws of physics.
That, my good friend, is what we refer to as "God." This is a physics-proven fact. The ability of living things to use physics to accomplish things, but to violate the laws of physics to start the process. The difference, the intervention, is life. Life is spiritual, not physical. It is real. It is quantifiable. It is measurable. But, it is free and unpredictable. That spiritual component of life it "God" unless you want to call it something else, which is fine with me. I just proved its existence, not the name.
More when my particles get around to it again.
Post Script: Interestingly, well at least to me, I read an article by a physicist who notes that on earth, in particular humans, have so changed things that the predictability of pure physics is interfered with. For example, if left to their paths after the Big Bang, that table and chair you are sitting on would likely still be growing or would have fallen in the forest to be eaten by bugs, that steel in your lamp would still be ore and the gas in your car would still be petroleum in the ground. It would have followed the path it was destined for when the Big Bang begun.
So not only do we change things within our own body-machines to make it do things, but we have moved particles from the path of their predictable physics-based destiny to a location of our chosing, using physics, but moving the particles completely in violation of the laws of physics.
The theory of the butterfly effect contemplates that every movement that we make that changes the natural movement of these particles, even the beating of a butterflies wings, changes every particle everywhere in some way. Physicists call it chaos or entropy. Basically stuff that cannot be explained because humans messed with it. That is why physicists stare out into untouched space.
This physicist has noticed, however, that there are things in space that are showing a bit of this. Stars and stuff too far to be effectively altered by anything we have done are exhibiting a touch of this chaos. Since the light we see from space is older that human-kind itself, whatever we are sending out there will not be effecting the light we see coming to us for millions of years.
So that means that something else is causing particles to stop following the rules of physics way out there in the universe, and it started way before any humans existed. Hmmm. Think about the implications of that observation.
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