maybe it's music.

There is a thought… how do we know what will happen after we die if we can't remember what happens before we were born… or wherever we were before we were born is where we will go after we die.

Patients with alzheimers and dementia, one could say, have an inability to remember where they came from - within this life. But, (if you’ve never seen the movie Alive Inside - you should) there is an incredible phenomenon with these patients and music - they tend to go back and remember the things that we’re once gone. Childhood memories and experiences. These men and women come alive again.

I was recently at a Troye Sivan concert in Capitol Hill. Troye is one of my favorite musicians who happens to be gay. Kim Petras (another of my favorites) opened for him and she is one of the youngest humans to ever undergo gender transition. I only say that since the concert was in Capitol Hill, my wife and I were most likely the top 1% of oldest and my wife and I - and daughter - were probably in the 1% of people who were straight. It was basically a gay pride event - of which I was thrilled to be at but you understand the scene. It was possible to feel like I didn’t belong.

I sat next to a person that I would (if I’m honest) normally not sit next to. A strange person. (I don’t need to say more.) Intimidatingly strange. The person was on their phone for the opening acts and, in my most judgmental self (which I’m very well trained at) I threw all kinds of judgments at this person.

And then Troye Sivan came out. And then this person stood. And then this person danced. And half-way through the concert I was dancing too, smiling, laughing, experiencing life with that person and everyone else in the concert. It was sacred.

And so… where was I before I was born? I can't say for sure but I think music has an amazing tendency to remind all of us - whether we have dementia or not - because in some sense we all have dementia about who we really are. And when some music comes on - we experience it - and we remember that we are part of the divine loving mystery of the universe, all of us, together as one. The labels, judgments, hatred, tribes are (as Alan Watts says) a play.

So… that song helps us to remember where we’re from. And, in that sense, have a good idea of where we’re trying to get.

So, the next time the song does that thing to you - let it really do something to you.

color...

Color is mind-dependent. Unlike length or shape, color doesn’t exist on its own. It is “relational,” as some philosophers say, maybe better thought of as an experience than as an attribute. And probably we should say that color happens rather than exists.

David Kastan and Stephen Farthing

tolstoy dropping the mic.

Socialism, Communism, Anarchism' Salvation Armies, the growth of crime, freedom from toil, the increasingly absurd luxury of the rich and increased misery of the poor, the fearfully rising number of suicides-are all indications of that inner contradiction which must and will be resolved. And, of course, resolved in such a manner that the law of love will be recognized and all reliance on force abandoned…

That, however, will either annihilate the Christian religion, which is indispensable for the maintenance of the State, or it will sweep away the military and all the use of force bound up with it-which the State needs no less.

Leo Tolstoy (around 1908)

book it.

Just a friendly reminder, given the time of year and maybe the fact that some of you are looking for some good presents - I do keep up my book lists.

And I’ve been reading some really good ones lately.

So if you’re desperate for something to read, or buy someone to read, look them over.

They’re even nicely divided into categories and sorted chronologically for you.

might as well say this now...

I received the email below in 2008, when Bush was president, we had elected a Democratic Congress two years earlier, and Obama was running that fall.

You don’t have to read it but it basically blames the economy on the Democrats. I’m sending this out now because in two years we’re going to have another faltering economy (the signs are already appearing) and it will be easy to blame the Democrats again.

The more things change…

So I figured I would just send it now and save you the time two years from now.

————

The facts - what has happened in 2 years! 

This email comes in three parts: 

Part 1: 
In just two years .  Remember the election in 2006? 
Thought you might like to read the following: 
A little over one year ago: 
1) Consumer confidence stood at a 2 1/2 year high; 
2) Regular gasoline sold for $2.19 a gallon; 
3) The unemployment rate was 4.5%. 

Since voting in a Democratic Congress in 2006 we have seen: 
1) Consumer confidence plummet; 
2) The cost of regular gasoline soar to over $3.50 a gallon; 
3) Unemployment is up to 5% (a 10% increase); 
4) American households have seen $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate 
(stock and mutual fund losses); 
5) Americans have seen their home equity drop by $1.2 trillion dollars; 
6) 1% of American homes are in foreclosure. 

America voted for change in 2006, and we got it! 
Remember it's Congress that makes law not the President. He has to work 
with what's handed to him. 

Quote of the Day........"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the 
history of the world.  I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it." 
-- Barack Obama       (????????) 

Part 2: 
Taxes...Whether Democrat or a Republican you will find these statistics enlightening and amazing. 
 www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html <http://www.taxfoundation.org/publications/show/151.html> 

Taxes under Clinton 1999                    Taxes under Bush 2008 
Single making 30K - tax $8,400             Single making 30K - tax $4,500 
Single making 50K - tax $14,000          Single making 50K - tax $12,500 
Single making 75K - tax $23,250           Single making 75K - tax $18,750 
Married making 60K - tax $16,800       Married making 60K- tax  $9,000 
Married making 75K - tax $21,000       Married making 75K - tax $18,750 
Married making 125K - tax $38,750     Married making 125K - tax $31,250 

The democratic candidate will return to the higher tax rates It is amazing how many people that fall into the categories above think Bush is screwing them and Bill Clinton was the greatest President ever. If Obama is elected, he says he will repeal the Bush tax cuts and a good portion of the people that fall into the categories above can't wait for it to happen. This is like the movie The Sting with Paul Newman; you scam somebody out of some money and they don't even know what happened. 

PART 3: 
You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much?  Read this: 
Boy am I confused.  I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is  the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us.           
I now  find that to be RIDICULOUS. 

I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until   they  are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them.  I have  included the URL's for verification of all the following facts. 

1.      $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens  each year by state governments.     
Verify at: http://tinyurl.com/zob77 
2.      $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens. 
Verify at:  http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html 
3.      $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.  
Verify at: http://www.cis..org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html 
4.     $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school  education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English! 
Verify at:  http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0.html 
5.      $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies. 
Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html 
6.  $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens. 
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html 
7.  30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens. 
Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html 
8.  $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare &  social services by the American taxpayers.  
Verify at:  http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.html 
9.  $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused  by the illegal aliens. 
Verify at:  http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.html 
10.  The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens.  In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US 
Verify  at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.01.html 
11.  During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries.  Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin  and  mariju ana, crossed into the U. S from the Southern border. 
Verify at: Homeland Security Report:  http://tinyurl.com/t9sht 
12. The  National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of  between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period." 
Verify at:  http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportation.pdf 
13.  In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back to their countries of origin.  
Verify at: http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm 
14.  "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex Crimes  Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States ." 
Verify at: http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml 

The total cost is a whopping 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. 
Why are we THAT stupid?  If this doesn't bother you then just delete the message.  If, on the other hand, if it does raise the hair on the back of your neck, I hope you forward  it to every legal resident in the country including every representative in Washington, D.C. - five times a week for as long as it takes to restore some semblance of intelligence in our policies and enforcement  thereof. 

And, the President just vetoed the new farm bill that snuck in 1 billion  dollars in extra food stamps a year, Congress overrode his veto and passed  it anyway!  SCAREY enough for you??!! 

GOP Jesus

church, temple, and mosque.

It is so important to taste, touch, and trust such moments. Words and complex rituals almost get in the way at this point. All you can really do is return such Presence with your own presence. Nothing to believe here at all. Just learn to trust and draw forth your own deepest experience, and you will know the Christ all day every day - before and after you ever go to any kind of religious service. Church, temple, and mosque will start to make sense on whole new levels-and at the same time, church, temple, and mosque will become totally boring and unnecessary. I promise you both will be true, because you are already fully accepted and fully accepting.

Richard Rohr

repeat over and over...

Gun ownership is not the problem.

Serbia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland are all in the top 15 countries for gun ownership and their per capita gun homicide rates dwarf ours.

Because…

they have gun restrictions.

Gun restrictions do not equate to not letting people own a gun.

Can we please repeat this over and over and over?

No country completely bans gun ownership. (Even without the NRA.) China is pretty close but even there they are not banned entirely.

No one wants to prevent people from owning guns.

Lots of people want to restrict people from using guns to kill innocent people.

Can we discuss that instead?

15 things I'm happy about today...

1. The first openly gay governor: Jared Polis of Colorado.

2. The youngest ever member of Congress: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.

3. The first Muslim women in the House: Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.

4. The first Native American women in the house: Sharice Davids of Kansas and Deb Haaland of New Mexico.

5. The first black woman to represent Massachusetts in the House: Ayanna Pressley.

6. Abolishment of unpaid prison labor in Colorado.

7. The first Latinas from Texas in the House of Representatives: Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia.

8. About 1.5 million ex-felons in Florida have regained the right to vote in 2019.

9. Medicaid expansion in Utah, Idaho, and Nebraska.

10. Legalized marijuana in Michigan, Nebraska and Missouri.

11. Higher minimum wages in Nebraska and Missouri.

12. Retroactive reforms in Florida.

13. Required unanimous jury verdicts in felony cases in Lousiana.

14. A variety of amendments to expand the right to vote in Florida, Michigan, Colorado, Nevada, Maryland and Utah.

15. Stronger gun control laws in Washington.

More diversity, more equality, and more humanity.

via CNN, Huffpost, and Vox

this president...

The following is from Andrew Sullivan. You may not agree with everything he says - I don’t - but it’s hard to disagree with this summarization of our current president. The full article is worth reading.

There are few historical guides. It is hard to think of a precedent for a president who endorses violence against political foes, sees the Justice Department as his own personal prosecutor, calls the press “the enemy of the people,” tears children from parents, brags of multiple sexual assaults, threatens to lock up his opponents, enthuses about war crimes, “falls in love” with the foulest dictator on the planet, refuses to divest of personal holdings in office, lambastes allies, treats the Treasury as a casino, actively endorses the poisoning of the environment, destabilizes NATO, baits minorities, lies incessantly, and oversees a resurgence of the white nationalist right. Any single gesture in any one of these areas would have been political death for most previous presidents. But we live in a time when we have come to expect that all this can now empower and even reward an American politician, rather than ruin him.

Also - make sure to vote.

the boy who cried wolf...

We all know the story. The boy said there was a wolf three times and there wasn’t. And, then, when there actually was a wolf, no one believed him. He had lost trust.

Okay.

But, what if the boy saw a wolf that no one else could see until later?

What if he was saying “Hey I think I heard something?” and he actually did?

What if he saw the eyes and everyone else missed them?

Then what happens to the story?

Yes they might be lying.
Or you just might not be seeing and hearing what is true.

being good.

I grew up hearing “Being a good person is not enough…”

Many still claim it. In fact, it’s basic theology for many.

But, ironic enough, the Bible (of Christianity) says differently. It actually pretty clearly states that being good enough is enough.

The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats is a little story Jesus tells about two groups of people who meet the “King”. One group is sent away by the King and the other is welcomed in. And both groups are judged strictly on what they did.

So, not only does the story say being a good person is enough, it also says what a good person does: they feed people who are hungry, they give water to people who are thirsty, they clothe those who are naked, help those who are sick, invite strangers in, and visit those in jail. In other words, they take care of their fellow humans. In other words they are “good” people.

Interestingly enough, sex or no sex, gay or no gay, drugs or no drugs, pledging allegiance to America or not, reading one’s Bible or not, going to church or not, believing Jesus died on the cross for your sins or not, and a whole list of other things don’t appear to have anything to do with being “good” or not - at least not in this story told by Jesus.

Being good is taking care of our fellow human beings.

So, just try to be better - a little more good - today.

It’s probably more than “enough”.

not necessarily...

I’ve recently noticed that a lot of non-profits, movements, causes, etc… claim legitimacy based on reasons like…

1. This has been around for x amount of time.

2. Many people have given their lives/money/passion to this cause.

3. It has changed the lives of hundreds of people.

4. Though many have fought to end/resist/destroy it, it has withstood the onslaught.

5. It has personally changed the life of the person speaking/writing/promoting it.

And none of these are bad. But they are not inherently good either.

All of them could be said by someone who supports the idea of slavery and/or genocide and/or retributive violence and/or a list of other things. Some you might agree with and some you might not.

So, this may seem obvious, but I had to recently remind myself.

1. Some of the oldest ideas are the worst.

2. People give their lives/money/passion to every cause. What’s my cause? Why?

3. Everything changes hundreds of people. What’s the change I’m promoting and supporting? Why?

4. Most things have withstood onslaughts from those who disagree. What do I resist? Why?

5. What has changed me? Him? Her? Has it been beneficial? Why? Why not? To me? To society? Has the end been written? Why? Why not? Who’s side am I on?

The first 5 are pretty easy. And tempting. The last 5 are much harder. And probably worth more of our time.

suits.

Have you ever wondered why NFL owners wear suits to watch a game?

I assume it’s some left-over from the time when coaches wore suits too. Why?

I assume it’s some left-over from the time when people in charge dressed up. Why?

I assume it’s some left-over from the time when clothes were incredibly expensive and so, if you could afford nice clothes, it meant you were rich, and if you were rich, you were powerful.

I honestly don’t know. It probably doesn’t matter much.

What does matter: what left-overs are you still participating in for no reason?

10 signs we should take a break from a ritual.

1. We still believe the ritual matters - simply because it’s a ritual.

2. We allow “the ritual” to replace “the life”.

3. We’re exhausted. We don’t have space or rest.

4. We think we have to. Or are supposed to. Or are expected to.

5. We get mad at people who don’t practice it.

6. We think we are pleasing someone with it.

7. We think it pleases a deity.

8. We wonder why that deity seems so far away.

9. We’re bored.

10. We can’t think of 3 other experiences/actions that provide similar results.

where are our elders?

The very well known marshmallow experiment poses a question (roughly) to kids: you can have 1 marshmallow now or wait 10 minutes and have 3.

Interestingly, there have been at this point numerous studies that the younger someone is, the more apt they are to focus on short term thrilsl over long term consequences.

So, the younger someone is the more likely they are to choose the metaphorical 1 marshmallow. Which would then assume, that the older someone is the more likely they are to choose the later, realizing after years of experience that long term consequences matter.

I once heard someone say that we are a nation filled with grown teenagers. If there is a reason that the elderly in our country are routinely dismissed by the younger generations, it’s because they act just like older versions of the younger generation. In fact, one could argue at this point the older generation is acting worse than the younger - obsessed with the now so much that the future be damned.

Maybe because I’m reading Chip Conley’s book about the making of a modern elder or maybe because I’m getting older myself (and thinking lots about this) or maybe because it’s hard to find older people that I look up to (they definitely do exist) or maybe it’s because I really do expect more from the older generation than looking out for themselves… but, please…

If you’re older, please be an elder, not just an older.

We need you.

And if you’re younger, unfortunately for you, we may need you to start acting like elders sooner than later.

winning.

I had an epiphany, of sorts, which shouldn’t be an epiphany at all because it seems really obvious. But maybe that’s how most epiphanies work.

Anyway…

We wall want to win. That’s it. So we root for our team and if we win, we cheer and if we lose, we are sad. Why? Some will say tribes, some will say prestige, I say winning. We just, plain and simple, want to win.

And we want to win every game. Not just football games that we don't play but games we do play. And not just the competitive - we all want to win. Business… we want to win. Politics… Trump has said it as bluntly as possible: who cares what we do if we’re winning?

And when we don’t win, we get upset - not only that we’re not winning - but at the person that is.

We just need a win.

So if my college team loses, maybe my pro team will win and they if they lose maybe my fantasy team and if they all 3 lose, than maybe my political party will win, or maybe I’ll take down a fellow employee and win the promotion… it’s constant, never-ending, where can I get a win?

But, here’s the thing: you and I can win every day. It’s just a matter of running a completely different race.

Who’s winning the contentedness race? The peace race? The gratefulness race? The helping others succeed race? The rest/space/meditation race. The calm race.

Funny how few are running those, and yet there is so much winning to be had there.

lonely numbers.

Something I learned from Factfulness - a book everyone should read - that I’ve extended to some other things.

Always beware of numbers that are alone.

China emits more CO2 than any other country.
Chicago has more murders than any other city.
Jim gives more to charities than anyone else in town.

CO2 emissions per person? (The U.S. is more than double China)
How many murders for that given population? (Chicago isn’t on the top 20 for U.S. Cities)
What percent does Jim give away? (Jim is a multi-millionaire)

Remember the poor widow who gave her last coin? See that’s a small number (1) that goes with another number (0) and it changes the whole story.

Yep. Still matters.

On a day when it looks like someone who is clearly partisan - in fact, arguably as partisan as anyone has ever been before being elected to the supreme non-partisan court of the land - at a time when partisanship now means distrust, anger, hate, cheating, vile lies, and propaganda - at a time when politicians are as deluded, and deluding, as anyone - at a time when the leader of our land claims that it’s hard to be a young male - at a time when women are laughed at for traumatic experiences - at a time when the same president laughs at creating traumatic experiences for women (on tape) and still gets elected to lead a nation - at a time when the overtly religious are more in love with empire than any other kind of deity…

well it’s easy to be discouraged.

So, pick up Factfulness. Start reading it. There’s a reason Obama recommended it: it’s a reminder of reality, on a different scale.

There is love. There is goodness. There is beauty. There is improvement, even on days when it feels like we’re going backward.

—-

Oh, also. Vote.

And please stop the “they’re all corrupt so I don’t vote” line. Yes, they might be, but there are still hard realities that our society depends on you to make decisions about, and then to own, and then to be brave in discussing, respectfully, face to face with other human beings, while trying to bring those realities to fruition (after you vote).

leave.

“To leave Christianity is the most Christian thing a Christian can do.”

Just to spur some thought on this Friday.