Miracles

I had a conversation with a Biblican (a person who believes that every part of the Bible is true - this as compared to a Christian who trusts in the teachings of Jesus) one day, and he was spouting off about all sorts of things and I stopped him and asked him this question (people hate it when I do that):

Would your faith be as strong if none of the "miracles" revealed in the Bible ever actually happened?

What if Moses did not part the Red Sea, God did not smite those living in Sodom & Gomorrah, God did not destroy the walls of Jericho so the Hebrews could get into the city and literally massacre every living thing in the town including women, children and animals, etc, etc?
What if Jesus did not feed the masses, heal the sick, cure the deaf and mute, allow the blind to see or raise the dead?
AND
What if Jesus never died on the cross, much less rose from the dead?

Well, the immediate response was not to entertain the question. It seems to me, I said, that if your faith depends solely, or really at all, on the occurrence of miracles, then it is not all that rock solid. If your faith, instead, is based on what you know in your heart to be true, then it seems to me it follows exactly what Jesus told us it would be. Do you:

• Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?
• Love everyone unconditionally, even your enemies?
• Forgive even before anything is done to you?
• Always strive to do what you know is the right thing to do?
• Believe in peace over violence?

Well, if so, miracles or not, you are following Jesus' basic teachings. How about that?

But since you have chosen to tune into this heathen diatribe I write, let's delve in on the whole miracle thing, shall we.

Scientists, mostly archaeologists, geologists, climatologists and anthropologists, have crafted plausible theories for many of the physical "miracles" of the Old Testament, assuming they even occurred.

• The great flood, which is in almost every theological writing from this area, probably occurred when natural global warming caused the ocean waters to rise high enough to crest the thin land bridges at the narrow mouths of the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. The resulting nearly simultaneous cascade into these deep long valleys, eroding the entrances even wider, resulted not only in massive catastrophic flooding of the towns located in the valleys (see ruins from this time period at the bottoms of these Seas) but then washed violently up on the other side, flooding the entire area we refer to as the Middle East. Perhaps Noah was an early climatologist and saw this tragedy coming. Sort of the Al Gore of his day.
• Sodom & Gomorrah were probably destroyed by parts of a huge meteor that scientists know flew over that area, raining debris over a great distance, the bulk of which pounded ultimately into the European continent.
• There are rocks known to nomads of the Sinai desert today that if struck by a staff will ooze water for them to drink. Certainly Moses, a denizen of that desert, knew this as well.
• I still contend Jericho was an inside job.

Ahh, good ol' Hebrew miracles. Probably just stories to explain natural things they did not understand glorified over time, but Jesus healing folks, well that certainly was real. Well, maybe . . .

What if, like most of what he did and said, these were not events but merely metaphors. Jesus' revelations about our personal connection to God, how we should treat one another, etc, certainly opened eyes that could not see, opened ears that could not hear and freed tongues that dared not speak. He changed people. He fed the spiritually hungry. He brought them to life with faith and a revelation that THEY were the sons and daughters of God. That they were important enough to have a real personal relationship with God. That they did not have to listen to the rabbi's and well heeled whoop-dee-doos at the Temples. That the Holy Spirit would guide them directly, if they had eyes to see, ears willing to hear, mouths willing to speak and a faith alive and well. While there is a great deal of repetition in Matthew, Mark and Luke about where Jesus went, there is remarkably less redundancy in terms of describing his miracles. He only ascends into heaven in one Gospel. Only one guy thought that was cool enough to make his book?

These are really amazing accomplishments. It is not every day a dead guy comes back to life, except in the plethora of zombie movies, and I sense it was not told quite that way back then. Why is there no independent or contemporaneous writing from others at the time about them? There were Greek and other scholars writing about all sorts of things at this time. Much of our current philosophy (like heaven and hell) were already being theorized and written about. We have stories about people who spoke, made a difference, did cool stuff and even performed miracle from this time period and before. Significant strides in mathematics, science and literature occurred in the 500 plus years before Jesus was even born. There were some very literate people, but no one wrote about these amazing miracles when they were happening.

This would make sense if these amazing miracles were merely metaphors from a wandering philosopher. It also explains why they were potentially converted in later writings to actual physical miracles. As time passed, the point of the moment was adjusted to fit the story-teller's needs or word of mouth, over the 30 - 50 years until the books were actually written, just changed the meanings honestly and inadvertently, as so often happens.

But certainly Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected. Hmmm, was he? Today we would look at that story and say, "The most logical answer that does not involve magic is probably the right one." It reminds me of the cartoon where the physicist is showing his work to another. There are complicated equations scribbled on each side, and in the middle connecting the two are the words "And then a miracle happens." The other physicist is not impressed, nor would we be if someone walked up to us and told us he was resurrected from the dead, even if he was a really Jesus-like persona - Martin Luther King, Mohamed, or Gandhi, for example.

Consider this alternatie ending:

• Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus were huge supporters of Jesus and big wigs in the Hebrew hierarchy. They were the wealthy elite.
• Late in his ministry, Joe and Nic go to Jesus (and perhaps his trusted friend Judas as well) and tell him that the Sanhedrin is going to come down on him hard and want to have him killed.
• "This would be good for the movement," Joe notes. Jesus and Judas nod nervously. "Yes. A martyr is always a plus," Nic explains. Jesus and Judas look at one another. "It is inevitable," Joe points out. At this point, I am fairly sure Jesus asked, "Umm, excuse me guys, but while certainly good for the movement and all, do I actually have to die." The two men are taken aback. They ponder this for a moment, and perhaps speak off to the side in hushed tones while Jesus and Judas stand uncomfortably in the middle of the room. When the two powerful men return, they had crafted a relatively simple plot to save Jesus' life, AND BONUS, make him an even better martyr than the last guy! "Brilliant." Judas exclaims. Jesus breathes a sigh of relief. It still does not sound all that great to him. "We will handle everything," Joe comforts and turns with Nic to venture to the patio to work through the details, as Joe's servant escorts the two wanderers out the front door. 
• So, according to the plan, Judas dutifully arranges for the government to find Jesus and arrest him. This was, as they noted, inevitable, but they wanted it to be done in a place where they could control the situation and the story.
• They probably did not bargain for the brutal beating Jesus underwent, but they did ultimately arrange for someone else to carry his cross for him.
• They paid at least one Centurion to give Jesus a bitter tasting sedative common at the time, through a sponge at the end of a spear that knocked hm out cold and made him appear dead.
• They paid a Centurion not to kill Jesus with the spear. "Merely a flesh wound now," Joe explained, "but make it look good." Nic added. 
• Unlike the others and custom at the time, Jesus' legs were not broken so that he would die faster. Why was that? Anomalies beget good conspiracy theories.
• Joe and Nic come and bargain, probably for an additional price, to have Jesus removed from the cross before sundown on the Sabbath so that he can be buried. He is dead to the eyes of the generally uncaring and now richer Centurions there, so they take him down. There is no doctor there to verify he is dead and that good zombie play was on at the theater and they now had money for tickets and, perhaps, a date.
• He is taken, and in witness of many wailing followers, is placed in Joseph's tomb. Under the guise of burial ritual, healing ointments are placed on his wounds and they are dressed. 
• As it says at the end of Matthew, though denied as a lie by the author, Joseph, Nic and the team return that night, knowing no Jew would be out on the Sabbath, pay off the guards, roll back the stone and take Jesus away to be healed. Remember Jesus was a regular breaker of the Sabbath, so why would his followers not behave that way as well?
• Early Sunday morning, before anyone else can get there, Mary Magdalen, a probable co-conspirator, brings another woman as a witness and creates the story that an angel rolled back the stone and Jesus rose from the dead. Each story is a bit different as it evolved with the telling.
• Most of the wounds, while not insignificant, were only flesh wounds. Others, such as the nails through his hands and feet, would have healed in time. The Roman tradition was to place the nails through the wrists and ankles, often breaking bones. The Bible says the nails were driven through his palms and feet, where the damage could be less severe. Who would notice? Later "doubting Thomas" puts his fingers into the resurrected Jesus' palms, not his wrists, to feel the nail holes there.
• If the paid off Centurions held back on the spear plunge, that wound would not have been too bad either.
• He is healed through medicines used at the time, not miracles.
• He returns to appear before the uneducated disciples and many others who followed him and is deemed to have been resurrected from the dead.
• Often he is not initially recognized. Probably because being discovered would be a bad thing for Jesus and the movement.
• People scoff, so the story of his ascension is created in the region where it is required but does not evolve where it is not required.
• The plan works. A new unifying, individual-based, personal relationship with God religion is born because of a great miracle. So regardless of its truth, the story is critical to the growth of Christianity. 

That is not too far afield to have happened. There are plenty of clues in the Bible itself, which is rather interesting. But perhaps the Bible story is true. Either way, whether it happened or not is not relevant to the question!

To me, the real question is,

If NONE of the miracles in the Bible are true, even the most important one, is your faith still strong enough to believe and follow the simple teachings of Jesus, or more accurately, what you know in the honesty of your heart is right?

OK, now I really have to dodge those lightning bolts.

A Process of Understanding God

It is fun for me to think through spirituality in a logical and scientific way. My mother posits that once we die, that is all. Body and soul turn into dust. That is Old Testament and a very legitimate way of looking at things, but for me, the math, the science does not work.


Jesus said that we connect directly to God through the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of Truth. In the end, that connection is all that matters. See Matthew 12:31-32 and Mark 3:29, and John 16: 12-15. (I use the NIV).

Prayer is the way to connect to the Holy Spirit. Not to ask for things, but to ask for guidance. That is what I came to call the "Harmony," mostly because non-religious people (aka Mom) freak out at words like "Holy Spirit" because of the layered history of misinformation placed on that and other Biblical words.

That is where I created the words at the top of this blog, expanded to what they are today:
"Do what you know in your heart is the right thing to do, regardless of your feared earthly consequences and regardless of what your minister, mom or friends say you should do, because that is the Spirit communicating with you and to do so will keep you in harmony with all (originally God's people, but now) all souls."

In the Old Testament, God had emotions. He got mad, frustrated, sad, happy, etc. I thought, does God have emotions? As I have read it, there is a lot less of this in the New Testament, but the Father is still said to be happy or angry from time to time. He just does not show it with major catastrophes.

In the Old Testament, God could move physical things and make weather and floods happen. Can God control physical things like that? Again, there is very little separating of rivers or destroying of towns or leading the Jews in battle in the New Testament, but Jesus does heal the sick and even the dead.

In the Old Testament, God guided people through deserts, talked to them through bushes, in dreams and directly almost face to face. Does God act like that? There is not much of that in the New Testament.

In the 2000 plus years since Jesus, there has been almost none of any of that stuff. Perhaps I missed it.

So then I had to ask what came to me as the core question no one discussed, "WHAT is this God?" I spoke to ministers, who had no answer. "It is enough to have faith that there is a God." they say. I thought, well then why not lots of gods for all the things we used to have gods for. Of course we still have them, Mother Nature, Father Time, and all the saints, for example. Books I have read refer to God. No explanation as to what we are talking about. Amazingly, no one I spoke to seemed to even sit down and ponder this question, "If there is a God and only 1 god, WHAT is God."

I went back to Jesus. He said that the Spirit of Truth is all that matters. Well then, what composes this spirit? How can I prove it exists at all? I derived my Proof of God analysis which is posted earlier in this blog. I thought it through over many years, but also spoke to some physicists about the science side of it. Basically, and you should go read it in its entirety, it proves there is an operator of our machine-bodies that is not physical or energy as we currently understand those concepts, but something different - our spirit, our soul - but not scientifically different.

And, we know that the spirit of life that makes us alive and conscious and able to drive our machine-bodies, leaves us when we die. That is the essence of death. Since we know through science that things do not go away, matter and energy cannot be destroyed, just altered, that similarly total spiritual existence must survive our deaths. Everything we currently understand about physics and biology are located there in the corpse. But dying people have been weighed just as they die, and there is an infinitesimal loss of weight just as the person passes away. Interesting. To me, and other theorists, this is the spirit of life leaving the body.

People who have died on a table report that their conscious selves leave their bodies and can see their corpses laying there on the table being resuscitated. (Note that doctors still heal death) They report seeing a bright light and following it. I am a deep believer in "ghosts." I grew up in a haunted house. We experienced them first hand. I believe that these are the spirits of a former life, the driver of the machine-body still hanging around for some reason.

As much as I contemplate it, the math and science, as I have delved into it, does not allow me to conclude that the soul dies and disappears from existence upon death. To me, like all energy and matter, it survives, just in a different form.


So then what? Off to heaven with God? Well that returned me first to WHAT is God. Is he even a He? Of course not. Does he sit on a throne with Jesus beside him in some kingdom in the skies (see Zeus)? I did not see that. It is mythical and does not fit my scientific analysis of this situation. There is no physical kingdom in heaven with pearly gates that we go live in when we die, and similarly no hell. That is magic and we no longer believe in magic, at least I do not.

I did the analysis in my brain and through readings of the Bible and other books, some on other religions and some on scientific issues, and over many months I came to believe that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the spirit of life was just that, a spirit and that is truly "God." This, in my mind, is a provable aspect of our overall physical existence, like other as yet unexplained things such as anti-matter, dark energy, quantum mechanics, and the Big Bang. Actually adding this sort of unpredictable spiritual quotient of life helps to explain a lof of equations that do not otherwise stay on point unless they are focused on inanimate things in space. Even there, we find entropies that miss the calculations. Are those the effects of this life spirit? Beyond this entry to contemplate, but I am sure I will get to it some day.

I concluded that each of the spirits of life that occupy our bodies while we are alive, are integral parts of the larger Spirit. All living things from Amoeba and bacteria to humans that have a spirit of life running their body-machines, and I do not know when that happens, are part of that Spirit. That is why we have a direct connection. That is why the "holy spirit" guides us. Not because it is a mysitical power or a magical guy in the sky. It is because that Spirit is the essence of the driver of our machine-bodies. That is why, in my opinion, love is the connection and not greed or desire.

Note, we are not integrated into that Spirit, but connected to it. We can chose, perhaps more than any other creature, to not follow what we know would keep us in harmony with all other souls. We can ignore the connection to the spirit. Our brains are phenomenal computers, which we can use to do the right thing, our own thing, or what others say we should do. We have choice. Our drivers have the wheel. They do not have to listen to the Spirit in the back seat if they do not want to. I suspect most people do not.

I believe that if we could tap into that spiritual internet of all of the souls in the world and perhaps well beyond, we could make life on this earth amazingly better. If we were guided by the overall love of all souls for each other, perhaps things like war and greed would go away. Perhaps we would learn that war and greed are not bad things, but part of the balance of life. Who knows. Not there yet.

So what happens after we die. I have had people ask me whether we stay as ourselves or are swallowed up into a larger spirit and mixed in and lose our individual identities. That would be the same as what Mom postulates. We, as separate humans, go away even though the spirit essences continue. Perhaps parts of our spirit are bundled randomly into a new life spirit as it enters into another newly born machine-body. Or perhaps our same life spirit survives into life after life or reincarnation like some eastern religions believe. Hmmmm.
Lots of next things to think about.

What is "Heaven?"

I have heard my father-in-law, who is struggling later in life with some significant illnesses, say many times that he is ready to die. It has made me contemplate end of life like never before. What I found out, at least for me, is that I do not fear death. Mostly it is because everyone does it eventually. It seems quite the trendy thing to do really.


I contemplated what happens after we die. I suppose that is the biggest fear of those facing death in the relatively near future. I believe in a concept of God that is rather simple. To me God is all of the spirits of all of the souls in the world. This explains the trinity. God is the Father because the souls of my ancestors are all part of that spirit. It is the son, because the spirit permeates all of the living souls on earth all the time. We are all the sons and daughters of God, because we are the living embodiment of all the spirits that make up God.

Most important to Jesus is the Holy Spirit, which Jesus called the Spirit of Truth. Jesus explained that you can ignore or disbelieve God and you can ignore or disbelieve Jesus, but the Holy Spirit must be listened to. The Holy Spirit is the connection between our souls and the universal spirit of all souls we call God. When we connect to that Spirit; when we ask for guidance; when we listen carefully; when we are open to hearing the answers to our prayers, we are connecting directly to God, to the spirit of all souls current and past, we are truly in harmony with all the souls living and not.

I believe that our bodies are just machines that our souls occupy for a lifetime. When we die, it is simply time for us to leave our failing machines behind and rejoin the Spirit, rejoin those who have died before us, but I do not believe we leave our connection to those still alive. We become part of the Holy Spirit for those we love.

Our souls are connected to those souls forever. The Holy Spirit is the voice of those who care deeply for us; those who have gone before who want to guide us, help us, and show us the way when we are lost. Someday, when the time it right, we all will rejoin the spirit, but we will not leave those whose souls remain in their bodies. You will still be there helping to guide us and all those who you love and who love you. It is a common seemingly known truth. Yes she is dead, but she has not left you.

Jesus showed us that we are here to serve; not to have our feet washed by others, but to wash the feet of others; to love our family, no matter what they do; to love those we are mad at, those who are mad at us, those who perceive themselves as our enemies, and perhaps most of all, those least fortunate. I believe that never changes. I believe that when you have found the ability to love so deeply that you love everyone no matter who they are or what they may have said or done, and through such love, learn to forgive completely without expectation of anything in return, you have found heaven. It does not matter whether you are here on earth or your soul is part of the Spirit in the next world.

I was speaking with an alcoholic and she mentioned that part of the 12 steps is to make a moral inventory of your life, to confess to God, as you understand him, and at least one other person anything that troubles you about your past life, and then to make amends to those you honestly feel you need to forgive or those from whom you wish forgiveness. She queried, “What religion would require such a thing?” I said, “All of them.” We just don’t tend to do this because it is uncomfortable. It is the essence of Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah. Jesus told us to confess our sins and repent (to recognize the wrong in something you have done and be sorry about it, make amends to those you have wronged, and change your ways), and the Catholics formalized the process. It is a critical part of Islam and I am sure most other forms of worship.

I believe this is an exercise guided by the Holy Spirit, connecting to those souls who have gone before you, those who love you and want to guide you and help you on your path. Most important, however, is that this is a personal exercise. The evaluation is not what would others think? It is, “What do you, in your connection with the Spirit, honestly believe?”

Someday, when the time is right, your soul will cross over. It will not go to hell. There is no such place. It will join the Spirit which is all of the souls of all who live now and all who have lived before, and you will be responsible to love and guide those souls still in bodies here on earth.

I have a very simple prayer I say all the time. It goes something like this.

“God, the Spirit of all Souls, thank you so much for all the wonderful people and things you have brought into my life. Please help me to love them all. Please provide me guidance as I go through life. Please help me do what I know in my heart is the right thing to do, no matter the consequences or fears, for I know that guidance is from the Spirit of God and you who love me will not lead me astray.”

Be happy, for being happy is your decision. Be at peace and know that the Spirit of all of the souls of all who love you are still with you and available if you let them in. Be in harmony with all those around you and love because love is heaven.

Guest Post from Mom: Response to My Prior Post "Bible Stuff"

Good information. About 19% of Americans now are self- declared "nones". This term is being used to describe both non believers in god and believers who do not associate with any religion or describe themselves as religious. Many of these "nones" are on the evolutionary path toward being non believers, secularists, humanists etc. and are moving away from a belief in a higher power.

Why? Not sure but many find that there is a disconnect between the messages of love that are supposed to be the basis of Jesus words in the new testament, and the judgementalism, bigotry, and outright hate expressed by many who say they are religious. [Interjection:  Philosopher Anne Rice refers to this as Conflicted Religious Identity Syndrome (CRIS) and is reflected by people who are increasingly "quitting Christianity" in favor of following the loving, all-inclusive, serving and peaceful teachings of Jesus and other great philosophers. Sadly today, Christianity and Jesus are often not synonymous.] It has been shown that religious people respond to crisis such as floods, hurricanes etc. in a humanitarian way, reaching out to others to help, but often return to a false piety in their daily living.

Organizations such as the Rationalist Society, Freedom From Religion, etc. are there for people to think through their beliefs from a different perspective. These and many others, support those who were reluctant to "come out" as it were, as atheists and non believers for fear of rejection by society. Now people are talking, sharing, and reasoning together.

I do believe for some, religion serves a real purpose of support and help in need and to feel someone cares about them in their daily lives. They form communities of like believers who share ritual and connections. Often they continue to believe out of fear of not believing. However, for some reason or other, the "nones" are now the third largest "religion" in the world behind Catholics and Muslims.

Can it be that organized religion has failed to resonate with so many because they recognize that religion is not required for good and moral living, that it has failed to carry out the pious messages from the pulpit and been used to promote the antithesis of love? Or has religion simply become irrelevant and meaningless as anything but adherence to a set of rules set up by a denomination to keep a flock together?

Under all the preaching, pontificating, evangelizing, analyzing, praying and struggling, is the simple need for community. How that comes about and survives will be more important to the future that ancient texts and stained glass windows. Since nearly one third of all young people describe themselves today as "nones" it seems the world is moving in a direction away from church and will need guidance and support from groups other than churches to provide community, love, and help.

This is a challenge for us all.


Mom   Disclaimer: The foregoing message, while interesting, is the opinion of the author (Mom) and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of this station, its parent companies, or of any of its affiliates, including its siblings, children and wife. Love to all.

Bible Stuff

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.

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.

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.

• 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

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.

• 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.

Lot's of potential consequences of doing the right thing. In the end, you have to follow your heart, trust your instincts, believe that the spirit is guiding you in the right way, and take the leap and befriend the person. It will probably end up being one of the greatest decisions you have ever made, though many of the expected consequences will happen, and you will have to deal with them, and you will grow as a result.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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,

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.

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.

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/,

"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.

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.