Hello everyone! Hopefully you live in an area that was spared the disaster of Sandy. If you happen to live within its reach, I hope that you and your loved ones are okay. Please know that a whole nation is praying for you. That means me too. As many of you already know, I live in Denver, Colorado, so I am fortunate to be nowhere near the destruction. I do have a son in Baltimore who I haven't heard from yet or been able to reach, but I know where he lives and I think that he was spared from any real damage. Hopefully, we'll find out something today.
I want to thank Marglyn for reading my novel, Rescue of the Heart, and also for giving me such a very nice review on Amazon. I was about to give up. I thought that it may not be good at all because no one was letting me know their thoughts on it. But now, thanks to Marglyn, I know that it is as good as I thought it was. I sure worked on it long enough. So, God bless you Marglyn. Now if I could only get some more reviews like that. I love knowing that somebody likes my work. It makes me feel like a legitimate author.
This morning I was blessed with a sight that I am sure was not seen by many. I was on the outskirts of Denver and driving westward, back toward home. The sun was just coming up behind me. The road I was on was a straight, two-lane highway that had no other traffic at the time. To my left were power lines running toward the mountains in the distance. On my right was a train track and about a quarter mile down the road there was a train coming my way and it had it's headlight still on. The overall lighting of the area was soft, leaving a peaceful feel to it. It was pretty much quiet where I was because I could not yet hear the train. Looking up in the sky and toward the mountains was a full moon on the right side of this view. On the left side and just off center were four wispy clouds. I don't know what type of clouds they were. They were just wispy and appeared to be stacked like a set of plates atop one another. They were a soft pastel pink with a pastel streak of blue lining the bottom of each cloud. The rest of the sky was clear and still carrying the last hint that night was giving way to the new day. The terrain around me was open fields. It was a beautiful sight that I wish the whole world could have experienced.
It reminded me of my younger days when photography was everything to me. I lived for moments such as this. I would often stay out all night just waiting on the perfect moment to photograph a scene, sometimes on the Arkansas river or sometimes atop of Pinnacle mountain just waiting on the perfect lighting so that I could capture the perfect picture.
Those days are behind me now. When digital photography came on the scene, even though I fought against it, my love of being the great photographer slipped away. Film is hard to find nowadays and is too pricey. Everyone and everything has gone digital and automated. I prefer to take all day to get one shot as long as it is just right. With digital, you can fake so much of the picture. On film, what you see is what you get. Dimensions and depth of field is so much better produced on film. To me, a digital picture is nothing more than a snapshot. In my eyes it has the appearance of snapshots that have been glued to a poster board. So, my desire to create the perfect photograph has gone away. It was my art.
Back in the day, I would have stopped at just the right spot and unloaded my gear to capture that special moment. I wish you could have seen it.
I don't know why, but yesterday I was thinking about whistling. My daddy taught me to whistle way back when I was a young whippersnapper. He always enjoyed the musicality of whistling and would often be whistling one tune or another. He was pretty good too. That is the way I learned, whistling tunes. But as I grew older I found that a lot of folks thought it was annoying, so eventually I stopped doing it. Whistling had become something you did to call your horse or your dog or just to get someones attention. This type of whistling I could never do. I wanted to but I never could do it. I still wish I could but somehow that talent has never landed here. Nowadays, if I try to whistle, no matter which way I try it just sounds pathetic.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
The Love of Money has Created Another Kind of Slavery
TGIF Y'ALL!!! I'm sure that most of you are gladder (happier?) than me that the weekend is finally here. Yes, that's right. I officially count Friday as the first day of the weekend. Monday of course is the last day of the weekend. Why do I do that? (I overheard you asking the hairy man next to you). Well, simple, it's all about life.
I believe that life should be all about living and living it to the fullest. I believe that work (in its present day form) is really a form of slavery You are expected to devote 5 days of your life to making someone else richer than he/she already is. I know the rich don't think they are rich, but that because either they've been rich so long that they've forgotten what it is like to be without, or, they've just never been without.
But in today's society, either you work to increase someone else's wealth or you become homeless because all the caves in the wilderness are either owned by the rich or are part of a national park that you would have to pay money too to be able to sleep there. If you had money in the first place, would you really be giving the park ranger money to allow you to sleep on God's dirt?
Did you notice that? It is the rich and the government that owns everything and has put a price tag on it. How did they come to own it? Well, it would appear that the rich bought it from the government who had previously stole it from God. Isn't that right? If you can't sleep in this spot but you can sleep in that spot for a few bucks and the one you pay the few bucks too is human, then in essence hasn't he stolen from the true owner which is God?
Is it wrong then, for a person to work for a living? No. But I believe it is wrong for an employer to affix a price to a portion of a persons life.
Example; (Employer) I will hire you to work for me. Here is a list of things I expect from you. You will be paid $XX per hour that I will own your time. You are required to work 8 hours a day for 5 days a week of your life, during which time I will own you and everything you do. Even the time you spend in the bathroom is mine and I can limit even that. I will allow you so much time to eat lunch, but you won't be paid for it, even if you have to work during said lunch. It is your lunch time, but even that time belongs to me because at the end of said lunch time, I demand that you be back to work and going full speed. At the end of the workday, you may return to your home and families but you are not to leave until the clock strikes a certain time, whether or not you have finished your work for the day. You will do this for 5 days in a row or 7 days,or on whatever days of the week that I decide to have you here. In essence, all your days are mine and I will allow you to have certain days to yourself as I see fit. As long as you work here you are allowed to live like you please as long as you can afford it. I own you.
(employee) Yes sir. (might as well have said, Yes master.)
"You load sixteen tons and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt!
St. Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go,
I owe my soul to the company store."
Tennessee Ernie Ford
It is difficult to look at it this way, isn't it? But when you whittle away all the stuff and look at the sticks and bones, that's what it is.
It reminds me of a movie that I saw at a drive-in when I was in high school. It was a comedy but I can't remember the title or who was in it. It took place during the caveman days. All the cave people looked pretty much as you would imagine, wearing animal skins and sporting long, scraggly hair. The women did all the cooking and cleaning the caves, while the men hunted for food. When the men made a kill, they brought it back to the tribe. The women would cut it up and cook it over a fire. Everyone would partake of the food and everyone was happy.
There was one man, though, that didn't hunt or do any of the work. He just enjoyed having everything given to him. Then one day the other men were talking about this man and how he never does anything. So they decided to approach him and find out what gives.
He told them that he doesn't have to work because he has these, and he opened his pouch to show them his collection of shiny rocks. The men looked at the rocks and were in awe of how pretty they were and then asked the man how he got them. He told them that he owns them and they are all over the place. The men looked out over the terrain and saw rocks scattered everywhere. The man told them that he owned them all. Dejected, the men looked down at the ground as if they had been defeated in battle. Then one of them spoke up and asked if he could have one but was told no. However, he could work for the man and he would pay him one stone for everyday that he worked for him. They all wanted to do that because that is the only way they could have rocks of their own. The man offered many jobs to the men. Some would hunt just for him, some would bring him animal skins for clothing, some would cook and some would clean for him.
And the men all agreed and did just that, much to the dismay of other tribe members who hadn't been there to take advantage of this once in a lifetime offer. They were going hungry because all the food was going to the man with the shiny rocks.
The neglected tribesmen wanted a job too, so they made an arrangement with the owner of the rocks. If he would give them shiny rocks like the others were getting, then they would work to clear the ground of all rocks by gathering them up and presenting them to the owner of the shiny rocks.
The moral was; That's how our dependence on money began. It was stupid then, and the stupidity has only extrapolated itself since.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5 KJV
I believe that life should be all about living and living it to the fullest. I believe that work (in its present day form) is really a form of slavery You are expected to devote 5 days of your life to making someone else richer than he/she already is. I know the rich don't think they are rich, but that because either they've been rich so long that they've forgotten what it is like to be without, or, they've just never been without.
But in today's society, either you work to increase someone else's wealth or you become homeless because all the caves in the wilderness are either owned by the rich or are part of a national park that you would have to pay money too to be able to sleep there. If you had money in the first place, would you really be giving the park ranger money to allow you to sleep on God's dirt?
Did you notice that? It is the rich and the government that owns everything and has put a price tag on it. How did they come to own it? Well, it would appear that the rich bought it from the government who had previously stole it from God. Isn't that right? If you can't sleep in this spot but you can sleep in that spot for a few bucks and the one you pay the few bucks too is human, then in essence hasn't he stolen from the true owner which is God?
Is it wrong then, for a person to work for a living? No. But I believe it is wrong for an employer to affix a price to a portion of a persons life.
Example; (Employer) I will hire you to work for me. Here is a list of things I expect from you. You will be paid $XX per hour that I will own your time. You are required to work 8 hours a day for 5 days a week of your life, during which time I will own you and everything you do. Even the time you spend in the bathroom is mine and I can limit even that. I will allow you so much time to eat lunch, but you won't be paid for it, even if you have to work during said lunch. It is your lunch time, but even that time belongs to me because at the end of said lunch time, I demand that you be back to work and going full speed. At the end of the workday, you may return to your home and families but you are not to leave until the clock strikes a certain time, whether or not you have finished your work for the day. You will do this for 5 days in a row or 7 days,or on whatever days of the week that I decide to have you here. In essence, all your days are mine and I will allow you to have certain days to yourself as I see fit. As long as you work here you are allowed to live like you please as long as you can afford it. I own you.
(employee) Yes sir. (might as well have said, Yes master.)
"You load sixteen tons and what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt!
St. Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go,
I owe my soul to the company store."
Tennessee Ernie Ford
It is difficult to look at it this way, isn't it? But when you whittle away all the stuff and look at the sticks and bones, that's what it is.
It reminds me of a movie that I saw at a drive-in when I was in high school. It was a comedy but I can't remember the title or who was in it. It took place during the caveman days. All the cave people looked pretty much as you would imagine, wearing animal skins and sporting long, scraggly hair. The women did all the cooking and cleaning the caves, while the men hunted for food. When the men made a kill, they brought it back to the tribe. The women would cut it up and cook it over a fire. Everyone would partake of the food and everyone was happy.
There was one man, though, that didn't hunt or do any of the work. He just enjoyed having everything given to him. Then one day the other men were talking about this man and how he never does anything. So they decided to approach him and find out what gives.
He told them that he doesn't have to work because he has these, and he opened his pouch to show them his collection of shiny rocks. The men looked at the rocks and were in awe of how pretty they were and then asked the man how he got them. He told them that he owns them and they are all over the place. The men looked out over the terrain and saw rocks scattered everywhere. The man told them that he owned them all. Dejected, the men looked down at the ground as if they had been defeated in battle. Then one of them spoke up and asked if he could have one but was told no. However, he could work for the man and he would pay him one stone for everyday that he worked for him. They all wanted to do that because that is the only way they could have rocks of their own. The man offered many jobs to the men. Some would hunt just for him, some would bring him animal skins for clothing, some would cook and some would clean for him.
And the men all agreed and did just that, much to the dismay of other tribe members who hadn't been there to take advantage of this once in a lifetime offer. They were going hungry because all the food was going to the man with the shiny rocks.
The neglected tribesmen wanted a job too, so they made an arrangement with the owner of the rocks. If he would give them shiny rocks like the others were getting, then they would work to clear the ground of all rocks by gathering them up and presenting them to the owner of the shiny rocks.
The moral was; That's how our dependence on money began. It was stupid then, and the stupidity has only extrapolated itself since.
Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
Hebrews 13:5 KJV
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