BLING IS NOT WORTH IT

  I wrote this 
  six years ago.  
http://nocryingatmyfuneral.blogspot.com/2006/06/open-letter-to-parents-children-and.html 


I just reread it.  I knew I was right when I wrote it. I'm now very sure that I was right.  If it is possible, more right now than I was then. I should perhaps have entitled it, "If it doesn't insure your future, don't do it."



I know that it is strange when you wake up one morning and realize that thoughts that you had growing up make more sense than ever 50 years later.  Over the last few years I have been spending a lot of time in the Bible.  Now that is a little strange for a Catholic, I know.  But the one thing that has constantly grabbed me and will not let go is the recurring theme that the thoughts that were written 4,000 years ago about human behavior are the same today.  
THE SAME.  
"Why do you spend money for that which is not bread?" (Isaiah 55;2)
"You ask and do not receive because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasure." (James 4;3)
"Go your way.  Sell all that you have, give the proceeds to the poor, then come and follow me." (Mark 10;21)


It is hard to accept that we are in the same mindset about how to manage our financial affairs.  Our expectations about the power that money has to make us happy haven't changed either.  Money buys us a quick drink, a round on the dance floor a headache in the morning and a grouchy spouse.  That's a great return on investment.  It has ever been thus.  
So, my thought for today is already before you.  If you want to see what I wrote six years ago in the very first blog post that I created in my entire life, click on it and have fun.  Then offer a prayer for the couple for whom someone spent a fortune.  They need God, because the bling didn't work. 

DEFINING MOMENT -- WHAT? WHEN?

This now the 17th of February,2012.  It will be so for about another one hour and forty-five minutes.  This not really very significant except that I got a brainstorm today that fits in with which I have been planning now for about 6 or more months. It is one of those moments that defies description.  It moved me to take notes while I was waiting for Belle to come out to the car from a small errand that she was completing.  That doesn't happen very often.  Even though I do a lot of writing, I rarely get moved to take notes so as to not forget something.  I think of something and swear to myself that it is great grist for my blog mill.  So I open up my mental Bible and put my right hand on the page and swear that I will make that the topic of "365 Thoughts..."  Dare I tell you you how many broken vows I have racked up?  Nope.  But this is different.  It is so different because it defies the plan that I already have for this project.  The Plan, as I know it in my heart is at least 10 years old.  It might even reach back to 15.  Let me check.  I have it right here.  Just a sec, OK?  I found some good stuff, but no dates.  I do know that it has to be between ten to 15 years ago.
So, anyway, today I finally came to the realization that there is one moment in my life that says who I am.  I am willing to say that everything that I have ever done or failed to do revolves around that moment.  I would never have given a thought to the possibility of that happening to me.  I was just quoting a famous French philosopher last week.  I was saying to a friend that this philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre said that that the way a person dies defines who that person was.  Hey, wait just one little minute here, I am not yet dead.  Yet, I am not afraid to say that I have discovered that important moment in my life that is irretrievably "THE MOMENT."  
It is interesting that I find myself writing about it on this blog, because I had plans to make another blog the home of my deep philosophical, psychological,  theological musings.  I even had the title defined when I first made the notes I have mentioned above. So, I have a decision to make.  I'll let you all know what it is when it is cast in stone.  Don't think for a minute that I am going away.  Ha!  Nice try.  
I wonder how many of you have had that experience of being overtaken with such a profound awakening.  This is the third time that I have had one, but none this powerful, not one with such a sudden eruption.  This was perhaps only about five or six months in gestation. So now I have it.  You are all with me in this.  The moment is not ripe for divulging it.  My plan since the outset has a deadline a short time in the future.  It is longer than you can hold your breath, but it is not very long.  I promise that I will tell you.  Imagine, a coming of age saga of an old man.  
I was also pushed to run to one of my favorite psalms after "the event:"  [Psalm 86]

⁹All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name.

 ¹⁰For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.

 ¹¹Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

 ¹²I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

 ¹³For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Verse 13 is the one I flashed on.  I sure pray that I can live up to that grace.

SOLA SCRIPTURA -- THROUGH THE BIBLE ALONE

So, you think you know your Bible?  Hang with me a bit, and I bet I can get you to wondering about how smart you really are about what you know about the contents of this Sacred Book.  If you are a native speaker of English, or if you know English as an accomplished second language, you will recognize a lot of these common expressions.   The challenge that I am hurling at you is to match the expression of everyday English with the Scripture source that gave it to us English speakers.
Ready?  Here goes.


1. A fly in the ointment.
2. The signs of the times.
3. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
4. Don't cast pearls before swine.
5. In the twinkling [blink] of an eye.
6. The land of Nod.
7. The apple of his eye.
8. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
9. There is a season [time] for everything.
10. You reap what you sow.

I know that you Catholics are going to be at a disadvantage here.  First of all, most of us don't know the Chapter and Verse of the Scripture.  We know the whole story and sometimes we don't even know the author.  Don't let that bother you, this is not a test.  It is just a statement of the influence that the Scripture has on the inhabitants of this earth.  Look around and see other proofs of this.  Look at the great paintings, the sculptures and the architecture.  So why would the language be exempt?  Not only English, by the way.  Other languages have the same expressions.  In French we do things "dans un clin d'oeil" [#5] and we "récolte ce qu'on a semé." [#10]
This is a little bit of  fun for you all.  The real reason behind it is to show you that the Bible isn't the heaviest book that you have in the house.  I'll bet that some of you, no matter what your religious convictions are, haven't given this much thought.   When you finish this little exercise and while you are still shaking your head about the fact that these expressions are only 3,000 years old, think about this: Proverbs.  This is living proof that the "More things change, the more they stay the same."  When I looked up the origin of this aphorism, which is French in the 19th century.  Then at the same time, I found this: http://supergrannysmusings.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-things-change-more-they-stay-same.html
You have to visit this.  There is something there that I guarantee will demand your attention.


  See below for the references to the Bible verses responsible for the expressions listed above.
1. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 10, verse 1
2. Matthew, Chapter 16, verse 3
3. Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 38
4. Matthew, Chapter 7, verse 6
5. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 15, verse 52
6. Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 16
7. Deuteronomy, Chapter 32, verse 10
8. Matthew, Chapter 7, verse 15
9. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3
10. Galatians, Chapter 6, verse 7


Some may not be word for word depending on the English Language Translation that you own.  By the way, there are at least 100 more of these sayings which have their source in the Bible.  Good luck.  Don't forget to explore Proverbs.

DEFINE AN HONEST ANSWER

There are a lot of definitions of "Honest Answer."  At least two of them come from the Bible.  The most succinct one is "Make your <yes>, yes and your <no>, no." [Matthew, 5,37 and James 5,12].  Straightforward.  No BS.  Saves every single bush in the vicinity from being beaten to death.
Somewhat earlier than Matthew and James, a wise person wrote in the Book of Proverbs this definition:
'An honest answer is like a kiss on the lips." [Proverbs 24, 26]  Now that one I like.  I like it because it is rooted in the heart and transmits the truth of the heart to the interrogator.  It is not a reality that has to be confected in the brain before being thrown on to the table in a take it or leave it attitude. It is made of pure, unalloyed ME wrapped around the truth being sought by the person who is seeking it from the responder.  It goes beyond historical fact and even goes beyond the amount of time that two people have known one another.  It is always a sign of assurance and of mutual trust.  It does have varying levels of significance, of course.  The level of trust invested in asking directions to the nearest drug store is not the same as that involved in seeking career advice.  Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that an honest answer does convey a level of intimacy that an evasive response does not.  An honest answer is a sign that the speaker is placing a deep level of comfort in the receiver of the statement.  It is a comfort that presumes a level of trust and intimacy that may or may not continue after the event, but existed before the rupture.  Presuming that the relationship continues, it can more than likely be also presumed that it will grow.  Honesty will become a mutual element of the relationship and the seed of love will flourish and more than likely the flower will never wilt.  We all have examples of this reality in our lives.  The examples do not break evenly at 50/50, for sure.  That's why they are so precious.  That's OK.  The examples of complete disaffection don't break at 50/50 neither.  That's why they are not the end of the world.  The good ones and the bad ones are not what drive me crazy.  It's the spectrum between the 25% here......and......the 25% here that I can't stand.  Don't you feel the same way?  Don't we all agree that a kiss on the lips (or the refusal of one)  is worth a day full of kissing your cousins?  [All due respect to my cousins!]  Should I really plan on going to Tahoe?  Heee.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, young and old and everyone in between, that's my $0.02 for today...and if you are not satisfied, I will refund you the amount between here..and..here.
Now you know why politicians never tell the truth.

PROVERBS, 3,000 YEARS OLD -- STILL YOUNG

SOLOMON TEACHING HIS PROVERBS

Yes, I am a Bible reader.  I read the Bible in many different ways.  I read it for the stories; I read it for the People in it.  Yeah, I'm an avid Bible-People, people watcher.  I also read the Bible for the humor that there is to be found there.  Like when David could have killed Saul when he found him obeying Mother
Nature's call in a cave.  David stole Saul's scarf, backed away out of the cave, went to a peak across the valley and waved the scarf in Saul's face from a safe distance.  A great "Gotcha" moment.  There are a lot of brave people in the Bible, like Moses and like Joshua, for instance.  Judith too. Now SHE is a favorite of mine.  God sends her to save the city where His people are being besieged.  She's newly widowed.  She doffs her mourning duds and puts on her make-up, goes to the besieging army's camp, finds the Captain, plies him with drink, seduces him to get herself invited to his tent.  He is so drunk that he falls asleep the minute he is in the warmth of the tent.  She unsheaths his sword and cuts off his head.  Score one for the brazen, saintly woman.  I am also an avid reader of old sayings.  I like them because the more I read them the more I realize that 3,000 years later, nothing has changed.  Here's a short favorite of mine: <Better open reproof than voiceless love.>  There are so many of these truth-filled sayings that I have been surfing them for years and I still get a kick out of them.  They are so true!  I am also a serious seeker of Bible poetry.  Not just in the Psalms.  Check out Kings and Chronicles.  You'll find great stuff.  There are so many REAL stories that bring the truth home to us today.  Read the story of Hagar and Sarah in Genesis and you will think either of yourself or of someone you know not too far away.  Think of the stage mother of the two apostles who walked up to Jesus and said, "I want that when my sons die, one will sit at your right and the other at your left."  Give me a break, lady!  I also enjoy the prayers of some of the psalms.  Gory stuff, and it's a prayer.  Go to psalm 137.  I read that and although I know it is wrong, I have to admit that I have similar thoughts.  Oh yeah, here's my point:
I often hear people say how good things were when they were younger.  How much simpler things were.  How much more pious and God fearing people were then.  I listen quietly and rarely do I contradict them although I know that it is not true.  I often think about the story of David.  He didn't have the Internet, movies, comic books and newspapers,  but he sure knew how to get around and ruin other people's lives.  He even had to run away from his own son. It's not for nothing that God forbade him from building a temple to house God.
The Bible is living proof that people have forever been super righteous, plain righteous, a little righteous, a little bad, bad, plain bad and downright EVIL.  As human beings, we will always be torn between good and evil, for as long as we live and as long as we exist as a race.  Get used to it.  It is our mission to make better everything that we can make better.  We can't do that by wishing for the past, becasuse the past doesn't hold the secret of good behavior.  The way we live the present in the hope of influencing the future is the secret of good behavior.  That's in the Bible too.  You don't even have to believe in God to find it there.  
As it happens, I believe in God.  I've been tested in my belief.  I'm still there.  I love the Bible so much, I fearlessly plug it as the most exciting collection of 73 books in such a small fraction of your home shelf space that you can find.  If you're Orthodox Christian, you have a few more books.  Lucky you.  Enjoy them.  Rest assured, the Bible is forever.  It is from God.  If it were from humans, it would have disappeared already.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

important message click here

This is about as taboo as it gets.  In fact it is so taboo that we're going to have to go to the Bible to try to exorcise it.  I rather like going to the Bible to talk about secular stuff.  Surprisingly there is a lot to be learned there.  Yes even about ------------->>>>

Sometimes it makes me think about the movies though.  You know, like James Bond, for instance.  How does he do it?  Never runs out of mo... resources.  Of course he is a government employee.  But, then there is the guy, the doctor who is running away to escape from the police so that he can catch the real killer.  I forget who that is.  I'll try to look it up.  
Kimble, that's who, Dr. Richard Kimble.  He was portrayed by Harrison Ford.  I could never figure out how he could do all that escaping and never do a lick of work.  Where did he get the mon...uh, wherewithall?
That never happens in real life.  In fact it is the other way around.  The Bible, oh yeah, I almost forgot.  I've noticed that Abraham never runs short.  I don't know how many stories you can read about him and he's always flush with the green.  My favorite is the story where he buys his burial ground from Ephron.  Amazing!  He doesn't bargain or anything, he just tells the guy, take the money. The guy says, in front of all his people, "OK, four hundred shekels of silver is not too much between friends."  Done.  They count it out and they're happy.  Sheeeesh!  That Abraham, first he gives seven of his best heads of livestock to Abimelech and then the silver to Ephron.  No wonder I never met this guy.  He's too far out of my league. 
But it does give you an idea of how much of a rat-fink weasel Judas was.  30 pieces of silver.  I wonder what that was worth on the open market back then.  Heck, it was only 9 centuries after Abraham.  [It was worth 1 day's wages.  Or you could buy a slave for that.  About 30 shekels.]  Sounds like serious devaluation to me.  Maybe the shekel had taken a nose-dive because of the competition with the Roman "denarius."  But wow, what a cheap *&^%))__#@!
Back to the green.  The thought I had the other day was not green or any other color.  I was thinking about electronic money.  For a long time now I have never had more than $5.00 in my pocket at any given time.  That is simply because I sit at my computer, type some numbers on the keyboard, hit "enter" and know that suddenly my gross worth has declined.  It is rather depressing to work hard, sweat until "payday" only to find that the only way to ascertain what happened is to go home and check your computer to see if it really happened.  I was wondering if there really is any real money out there or whether it is all just a hoax.  I am going to be out of town for some four weeks or so shortly.  In fact I will be in Europe for nigh on to three weeks.  My mortgage payment is going to come due, as well as other electronic obligations.  No sweat.  I will just sit there and do what I usually do.  Type in the numbers and hit "enter."  Done.  Better yet. Just like James Bond, all I will have to do is go to the nearest Banque Nationale de France, put my piece of plastic between miss ATM's lips and catch the bills that she spits out in return.  That's only if I have to deal with some retrograde traditionalist cobble stone street merchant somewhere.  I have made confirmed hotel reservations in the space of five minutes from ten thousand miles away.  Are they crazy?  No?  Then maybe I'm the crazy one.  10,000 miles away in an unincorporated mountain village 4,000 feet in the air and they trust a message saying that they are going to  get money after I sleep there.  I think that we are both nuts.  it sure gives a new meaning to the expression, "Got no money, got no time, ain't got nuthin', not a dime."
I have no idea who invented money.  If it was the Romans, they were smart not to have a "zero" in their life.  That way, they always had something.  If it was the Mayan, they were lucky too because they could keep adding zeros after the "1" and really sock to it the poor unsuspecting Roman.  Can you just imagine that?  Some Roman noble comes to the West, buys three panther tooth necklaces and gets socked for about 10,000 Mayan-a-macallums.  HHeeee... Such a deal.  See, that's what you get for not having a "zero", tin-shirt, square pants boob!  Hey, is that an Arab Horse you got there?  It is!  Whoa!  Hey, how about 000000000005 for that sweetheart?  Really?  You're good to go for that.  Yeah, just a minute.  Hey ya know what?  How about I give you a deal and give you 075 for your sturdy steed?   Yeah, good, I feel better for you too.  Besides I don't have anything smaller than that on me.
Now, try that on your trusty megabyte grinder, Sir Brin.


I never believed I could have such an inane, inconsequential thought.  My gray matter must be loosing its wrinkles.

IN ONE DROP OF WATER ... ALL THE OCEANS OF THE WORLD

You all remember this.  Be honest.  You do.  So, just to keep you happy, I'm repeating it.  The subject is different, but in some ways, the same.  Besides, in some ways today almost follows yesterday in the line of thought that I dropped on you yesterday.  It is also related to the item on "Minimalism" which I am sure that you also remember.  Mostly because you never forget anything that I put in front of you.  
First, a little introduction.  Last weekend when I was preparing to sell the antique Edison phonograph cylinders, I stumbled across my collection of Kahlil Gibran booklets.  This man had a good run with me.  For some years, he was the trigger for my meditations and reflections.  His influence on me slowly diminished in favor of the collection commonly known as the Bible.  But he is still hanging around in my life.  Today, here is what happened after last weekend.  I tripped over a little book of his quotations entitled "Patterns of Happiness" published and distributed by Hallmark Editions.  Kahlil Gibran's work is in the public domain, but Hallmark's is not.  That's the reason for the quick nod of acknowledgement there.  Anyway, here's the sentence that hooked me: In one drop of water are found the secrets of all the oceans of the world.  

That is not a scientific statement.  It is a spiritual one.  It is related to the philosophy of Friar William of Okham and the answer to yesterday's Zen question.  It is an invitation to give the universality of Truth a chance in our lives.  We live in a world where the detail is the shell that contains the fullness of the reality from which the detail falls.  We must give faith to the certificate in order to discover the fullness of the value of the experience.  We are constrained to delve into the sincerity of the affiliation in order to discover the strength of the effort that it took to earn the intimate relationship with the sponsor.  We are conditioned to believe more in the throne than in the human effort that it takes to keep the throne meaningful.  We believe that in DNA we come to full knowledge of the person.  We even get to the point where we believe more in the color than in the quality of the human.  We do the same when we shop for an automobile.  The detail of the manufacturer and the color of the finished product are more important to us than the essential conglomerate of the finished product.  
I could go on and on, but I've got you into this deep enough for one thought.  if you want to have a little more practice with this kind of stuff, check out Khalil Gibran a little more.  Or, you could open your Bible and check out the book of Proverbs.  If that doesn't get you going, nothing will.  Not even Khalil Gibran.

XXX 4 ADULTS ONLY XXX

Hey, how ya doin'?  Whadja think of the Wedding Chapel ad in the Parish Bulletin?  Good stuff, right.  So then you open this an you get an "X" rated title.  I put that up there to get your attention, no more no less.  I'm back to childhood anyway, so I have to steer clear of certain things, like alcohol, tobacco, fire arms, sharp knives and slippery stairs.  Slippery slopes are OK though, so what with the funny stuff going on at church and all, I figured that I would take the opportunity to tell you that I am pro-choice.  Yup!  Pro-choice.  It's the only way to go, especially if, like me, you are driven to shivers to declare to the entire world that you are, indeed ANTI ABORTION.  
Over the years since surgical abortion was made legal in this country, it has amazed me how twisted the language can get around this issue.  Further, it amazes me how narrow minded pro-life people can actually be.  I was flabbergasted the past January during the Adult Faith Formation Week mini-congress that we held at our church when we had presentations by the professionals from Rachel's Vineyard during the week.  At least three "sidewalk warriors" came to me to denigrate me and the bishop for being "soft" on abortion because we backed these people who are in the ministry of rehabilitating people (women and the men) who had directly procured an abortion.  This is pro-life?  Nope.  What about taking care of the lives if those who procured the procedure?  HHHmmmm??
You know, of all the animals, and in fact of all the creatures, corporeal and spiritual, we are the only ones left with the grace of freedom.  It blows my mind that we can so blissfully throw that grace out the window and declare ourselves pro-life.  That's life, you got two choices, Abortion or Life.  Everything else is not important.  The interesting part of it all is that the three star general from the air base up the road declares himself to be pro-life.  The superior court judge does the same.  The guy who works at the slaughter house is pro-life too.  He has the vegetarians after his hynie.  Now, those same veggie people, they aren't pro life either, as far as I learned in biology class anyway.  Pro-life is a myth.  Pro-life is an oxymoron that is alive and well everywhere.  People have to stop strewing the path of life with such stercore taurorum.  Stop hiding behind the political correctness jargon and call an abortion an abortion and not a prophylactic medical procedure.  Stop hiding behind the stupid assertion that it is "my body."  It's not.  Because it's not, find out what your zipper is for.
Finally, God gave us one choice too.  It's all over the Bible, so I don't have to repeat it, you all know the first commandment.  We have a choice.  Choose God or go to hell. Period.  "Now, therefore, fear the LORD and serve him completely and sincerely. Cast out the gods your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.  15 If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24;15)  
Finally, if Jesus in the desert had opted to change the stones to bread to satisfy HIS BODY, where would we be today?  I thank Jesus every day for making the choices He made.  He made them so that we would learn to make them through the grace that we get from Him and the Spirit.  By the way, when we are making those choices, let's make them by "making our YES, YES..." (Let your 'Yes' mean 'Yes,' and your 'No' mean 'No. ...Matt. 34;24)  and forget the political correctness BS.  Call a spade a spade and an abortion an abortion and say openly to the world that we are anti-abortion.
Phew!  That was a high horse to ride.  I hope I calm down by tomorrow.