Sunday, October 10, 2010

Storytime for Dragons or just anybody with a minute...


One of my two friends sent me an email, said he had gone low on blood sugar while at church and fell out of it during the Sermon. When your brain isn't working and you can't process information you do fall out of reality, hopefully, you won't also fall off the pew or the motorcycle going down the highway. I often wonder why anyone would use drugs or alcohol to fall out of it, turning off the television should get you away from a lot of pain without the fog in the mind. Buddhists understand that relief from desire eliminates most pain, but you don't have to be religious to be without fear and free from pain or painful situations.

In Bowling for Columbine, Mister Moore found that America has a lot of fear, and for some reason he associated the American irrational love of guns with our fears. I didn't get the connection, but I think he thinks he is smarter than I and he knows best. I am of the opinion that if I believe that no one loves me, that I am alone and that I am weak and inept - I have reason to fear. Earlier I mentioned that I knew I was loved as a child because I was fearless, not afraid to try and fail, for my parents loved me and would set it right. After you grow and burn all those bridges between over-protective parents and super-self, then you get to find out how much there really is to fear out there. And you learn about working for a living, then saving and investing in a future, and learning more so you can be more productive and be paid according to your worth to the group's efforts. Or you just party until the joy and the money run out - normally happens about the same time.

The Youth Pastor was giving the message today, based on Luke 15 vs 11-32 (and I still remember those numbers). Stories for the transfer of failure and successful adaptations. I do believe that elephants transfer knowledge of many things, but Man has a real ability to teach something, to reason for a better way of doing things, and prevent failure -- but we can be talked out of it by (used car salesmen, bankers with derivatives they think you should share, clothes that make one cool, stuff to make one sexy, politicians?). So I guess you should temper your quest for entertainment and knowledge - which books to read, movies to see, people to listen to and discuss things. But I don't watch real Horror films - too scary, too ugly, too much waste of my time. No, I seem to spend a lot of time reliving old wars and long dead warriors' best efforts - I am broken, and what is really sad - no Horror film ever captures the real ugly of combat, the complete doing the best I can and still it isn't going to save any of those people I love. So, you are always told to get on with your life, put it behind you -- but the real ghosts never leave, they are always waiting, you lived with them and they are part of you. Experience - the wrinkles on the faces of the aged.... there for a reason botox can't cure.

Been laughing with children lately? gone out and weeded the garden and sucked up the flowers' powers? Watched the birds? Barked at by dogs that wag their tail so joyfully if you give them a minute and a pet? Isn't having a choice a great thing? Grab the apple (or fruit of forbidden knowledge) and take a bite -- and share. So we can all be.... what was the reason we didn't want to trust God to care for us? How do we get the idea we are alone, for God is always with us, we just don't trust Him and hardly listen when he speaks. So every generation must start over, finding Him, and following... how does life get so hard? Part of the plan? Or we are still blind and cannot see, deaf and cannot hear. Building walls for protecting ourSELF, instead of highways to Heaven. Reach out in Love, and find beauty all around you, just be there and don't fall out of reality because you don't love enough....

4 comments:

Old NFO said...

Earl, I think today many are afraid to reach out for fear of rejection; all they do is retreat further and further into themselves and their fantasy world (TV, Gaming, or whatever).

Tam said...

You know you're a bookworm if the first thing you did after reading the post is expand the photo, examine the books on the shelf in the background, and get all excited when you saw copies of books you own too... ;)

Earl said...

And you don't dare share those books very far from your haunts and hands - since they get harder to find every year. The libraries keep weeding and the bookstores seem to cater to other folks' tastes and pocketbooks.

threecollie said...

Great post Earl...you are so right about reality..and about taking time for the beauty