The Holographic Universe

       This is generally a topic I discuss only among close friends in clandestine locations.  It is sensitive information.  It is the stuff many do not want you to know about.  But, as there have been a few requests, I will attempt to bring a little clarity to the topic:  the universe is a hologram.  Wait...what?  Yes, the universe is a hologram.  Say it out loud to yourself and let it sink in.  This article I posted from spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com (http://www.spiritscienceandmetaphysics.com/new-study-confirms-universe-is-a-hologram/)  Sparked the initial discussion.  Tom Campbell's brief intro to the topic also serves as a good refresher.

       I must preface this by saying that what I'm going to share in the remainder of this post does not even scratch the surfaces to how deep down the rabbit hole this thing goes.  By no means am I trying to provide, nor do I have all the answers.  My hope through this writing is merely to spark others' personal exploration into this topic.  Through my own personal (many times unexplainable) experiences and study, I have been sorting out these questions for 10 years.  The further I go, the less I realize I know.

       The question is then:  If the universe is a hologram, then how does God fit into the picture?

       There is really no "good" way to tackle a question this huge, but I've stumbled across three blanket concepts that have really helped me put some pieces of the puzzle together.  For the remainder of this post, I will review the three concepts and then shift to focus more intensely upon the "God" part of the equation.

       Now it's time for the first key concept:

       1.There Are No Solid Objects

        

         If we look at reality at the quantum level, or, break it down into its tiniest components, we will find that everything we see and perceive is composed of vibrating energy.  But, the chair I'm sitting in is solid, it's holding me up, my flesh and bones are sturdy.  I can see these things, touch them, taste them and smell them.  How is all of this merely vibrating energy, if it appears so solid and substantial?  Well, these objects are made of molecules, which are made of atoms, and each atom itself is structured like a tiny solar system.  There's a nucleus, or sun, that electrons (planets) orbit around.  The point I'm trying to make is that there is space within different parts of the atoms themselves.  This being the case, the chair I'm sitting in is here because I believe it is here and am convinced the chair is supposed to be solid.  The laws at the subatomic level and I have agreed with and thus my belief in these laws has allowed them to operate in the physical space around me.  If the law is changed, the vibration is changed, which changes what comes forth into the physical space.  If I change my perception, the whole thing breaks down.  Remember the old verse, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are my ways your ways," Is. 55:8-9?  Food for thought.  If we change the way we think, we change what laws are active regarding the energy surrounding us, and thus what comes forth in the vibrational field.  This is possible, because at a real level, no object is solid.  It looks solid because of the manner in which its source energy is vibrating.

       Key Concept #2:

        2.Visible Light Only Comprises .005% of  All Energy

           This means what we perceive with our physical senses is less than 1% of everything else happening in the cosmos.  Even in the spectrum of visible light (solid, liquid, gas, plasma), 98% of this spectrum is comprised of plasma, though our schools aren't teaching this in science classrooms throughout the nation.  Plasma, is what we could normally call electricity, and it makes up the vast majority of visible light, BUT is still a miniscule amount of all energy in the universe.  All of this information begs the question(s):  WHY do we perceive what we perceive?  AND...How much are we not aware of?  I'm not going to attempt to answer these questions, but I think they are important to have turning in our awareness.  The important take-away from this key concept for me is:  You are not your body!   You are infinite consciousness expanding in every direction regardless of whether you realize it or not!  This is who you are.  So what?  By knowing this, it is much more difficult to get stuck in a mode of self-pity, to stagnate in a place where you feel insignificant and small.  You may be aware only your smallness, but this is not the truth, this is not reality.  By engaging in this manner, your awareness will open you how large and limitless you are.  You will tap into the origins of your thoughts, re-write old thinking patterns and bad habits and literally create the life you want.  If what you perceive physically is only .005% of the energy/all the different realms you inhabit and possess, then what you see is not always an accurate representation of what is really happening.  Circumstances are transitory because what is happening in realms beyond visible light effect the circumstances.  Again, change the vibration, change the circumstances, but by no means should we continue seeing ourselves as victims of circumstance because our circumstances are only a fraction of what happens in these other realms.  Thus, visible light can be programmed for manifestation through what happens in these frequencies beyond visible light.  

      Key Concept #3:

 3.Your Brain is a Transmitter, A Sender and Receiver of Vibrations

     Your brain is not merely the organ responsible for stabilizing the processes running throughout your body to keep you alive.  Then again, those processes have to originate from somewhere.  But your brain also is a generator and conductor of light (cf: the pineal gland), which transmits and receives signals from beyond the spectrum of visible light.  Generally, this transmission and reception can be called, "thinking".  Where do thoughts come from?  Thoughts are real substance that exists beyond the spectrum of visible light but can be transmuted (changed/converted) into real substance within the spectrum of visible light.  You are constantly receiving signals and choosing (whether you realize it or not) to either empower the transmissions you receive or to reject them.  At the same time you are receiving, you are also sending transmissions outward and these transmissions will eventually grab hold or attract other substances of similar vibration and bring them into your mental space.  In other words, what you put out comes back to you.  Call it Karma, call it sowing and reaping.  It doesn't necessarily have to do directly with what types of deeds you commit, but with what kinds of thoughts you are thinking.  Thoughts all have their own unique vibration and will attract other substances and manifest into circumstances that have a similar frequency and vibration.  The good news is that armed with knowledge, you are now aware that you can literally choose the thoughts you think.  You are not subject to any willy nilly thought desiring to seek expression in your life.  Another hot tip is thoughts can transmute negative emotions.  In other words, if you feel like dogcrap emotionally, thinking positively about something good, literally will change the vibrational field of those negative emotions, thereby swallowing the negativity entirely.  If you change the thought, you change the feeling.

      On God (Briefly):

       I hope the above has clarified a few things for you.  I know personally, those three revelations have been vital for me in my quest for truth, and they have altered drastically the manner in which I live my life (for the better!).  To revisit the question:

          If the universe is a hologram, then how does God fit into the picture?

       I know much of this may sound like impersonal theorizing.  We live in this holographic universe.  I'm dishing out terms like energy, frequency and vibration we seem cold and impersonal.  But it's not!  You are, we are, I am, one with all of this energy, frequency, vibration!  We always have been, It's simply that our awareness has been programmed to see only a small portion of it.  The fact that we exist in a plane of visible light (only .005% of all energy) is an honor in privilege.  To me, this adds so much to our uniqueness.  Of all the parallel dimensions, of all the other space and energy in the universe (which we do inhabit), we are conscious, aware and inhabit a space that 99.995% of the rest of the universe cannot inhabit.  The only way this other energy can come to inhabit the plane of visible light is through our consent.  In other words, we call into being from these other realms what we choose.  John 14:2, Jesus states, "In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?"  The term "rooms" here or "mansions" in other translations can mean realms of reality.  Another way the verse could be read is, "From your point of origin, there are many realms of reality, and I have unlocked these for you."  We are one with our origin , our source, our Father, and thus these realities are open to us to shape, form and create whatever we like.  

       And so it goes.  I would like to elaborate more, but I feel too much at this point may begin to get convoluted and confusing.

      Please contact me if you would like to discuss, or post your comments on the page.  I hope this has been enlightening and opened a hunger within you.  

      Your perception and your belief are what calls forth everything that is.  Changing the world starts in your heart.  Thank you for sharing the journey.  We WILL do this.     

      

       

            

          

5 Tips that Will Help You Thrive in the NICU and Beyond

       Today is World Prematurity Day.  I'll be honest.  Until last year, I would have known nothing about it.  But things have changed.  What?  Over the past year, my wife and I have become the proud parents of a preemie and NICU survivor.  One of the things that amazes me about premature birth is it's prevalence.  It is more common than I previously realized, yet there is so little public exposure about it.

       In the following post I hope to spread a bit of awareness and give a quick survival guide to parents with children currently in the NICU or family and friends who have other friends and family with a child in the NICU.



1.  You CAN Do It.

       Over and over again this is what it came down to for my wife and I.  Without going into too much detail, our daughter was in the NICU for 149 days.  It is hardly the way you envision the first five months with your child.  You have to be prepared for changes, which happen almost daily.  You're lifestyle is going to be drastically different.  Things that seemed momentously important before will now seem as minor details.  You will laugh.  You will cry.  You will get frustrated.  You will be exhausted.  But at the end of it all, you will count it as joy.  You will emerge with a new appreciation for yourself, your family and your child.  It will be tough.  Please don't misunderstand me, I would not wish for anyone to go through what my wife, my daughter and I had to go through.  But for those who are in that situation now and for those who may go through it in the future:  YOU CAN DO IT.  YOU WILL DO IT.  You're tougher than you think and capable of much more than you believe.

2.  Ask Questions.

      If you are in the situation where your child has to have a NICU stay, this is imperative.  Your child will have a team of doctors assigned to him/her.  These doctors will ask you every day if you have any questions.  If you do, then ask, no matter how small you think the concern is.  One small thing could be key to the treatment of your child and your child's progress.  You will also learn that different doctors have different opinions on the methods and ways of administering treatment.  It is important for you to know where they are coming from, what their rationale for proceeding in a certain manner is and comparing that with the opinions of other doctors on your child's team.  You want the best for your kid.  Sometimes a doctor's decision may not be the best one, that's why it's important to know where they are coming from AND to talk to the other doctors.  All that being said, I would suggest refraining from doing independent research.  Trolling the internet for how to treat your child in the NICU is only going to make you anxious, and quite frankly most of will be of no use to you.  Most NICUs also have a resource nurse on duty for each shift.  This nurse is assigned (and paid to do research for the doctors and patients.  Make friends with the resource nurse and do not be afraid to have them look something up for you.

          
 3.  Spend as Much Time as You Can with Your Kid

       This should go without saying, but it is essential for so many reasons I possibly could not list them all.  It works hand in hand with #2 in terms of treatment because you will spend more time with your child than the doctors and knowing how your child has been acting and reacting to treatment is very powerful in getting your child exactly what he/she needs.  Your child has a unique personality.  Our daughter weighed 2 pounds, 2 ounces when she was born, but even with such tiny stature, even plugged into all the machines and monitors, she was fiercely her own person.  Getting to know your kid at this stage in life is a gift that most parents don't get.  Enjoy the privilege.  Your child is aware of and enjoys thoroughly your presence.  In fact, your presence alone may be the most powerful instrument in their healing, growth and development.  Our daughter met and has continued to meet many milestones much earlier than her medical team predicted.  We have experienced similar testimonies from other families who had children in the NICU.  Medicine and treatment is important, but do not underestimate how powerful your touch, your voice and your presence can be in the life of your child.  Spending time with your kid gives him/her this much needed experience and it gives you a more informed voice in advocating for your child when treatment progresses.


 4.  Take Care of Yourself

       This may seem to contradict #3, but it is essential and the two actually work together.  You want the time with your kid to be high-quality time.  If you aren't taking care of yourself, the time you spend with your child will decline in quality.  You may start to resent your child and begin down the spiral of self-pity.  This is not a good place to be in at any phase in your life, but especially when you have a kid in the NICU who has to get up and fight everyday just to stay alive.  It is imperative that you find time to relieve stress AND debrief with your spouse.  Go on dates together.  Do things you enjoy.  Take a little time to spend on a hobby.  Eat well.  Exercise.  Get rest.  All of these will make your child's NICU stay more manageable.  If you feel better, so will your child.  For me personally, I took up training for a 100 mile footrace during this time.  It had long been a bucketlist item for me.  The training forced me to focus on something other than my child's situation.  It distracted me from worrying about things I could not control and the physical exercise was a great stress reliever.  Take care of yourself too.  Do not feel guilty about going out and doing something you enjoy every once in a while.  You'll be happier.  The ride will be smoother and your child will notice.



 5.  Don't Expect People to Understand

       Sharing, being honest with your emotions and being proactive about your child's situation is important.  It will help you make sense of things and come to terms with NICU life.  It will be a roller coaster ride as you may be confronted, sometimes daily, with very hard decisions.  As you share with friends and family, it is good to build a support system, but do not expect them or anyone else to fully understand where you're at.  Don't expect them to "get it".  They won't.  That's okay.  People mean well, but they may say some pretty asinine things in their attempts to "help."  If I had a dollar for every time someone I wanted to throw someone out a window for saying something ignorant about my daughter's NICU stay, I would be a billionaire.  It is important to see their intention and not the effect.  People you thought were close to you may be scared of your situation and may make themselves unavailable.  Others, whom you may not have considered close, will step up to the plate big time.  It's just the way things you are.  Go with the flow.  Try not to be offended.  But ultimately, you are in control of how you feel and you are the only one who knows what it's like.  Talk to other families in the NICU.  They can be a big help.  Also the doctors, nurses and other staff, who work in this environment day in and day out have tons of encouraging stories when things seem hopeless.  All in all, do not let people's misguided attempts to help, or others non-attempts cause you to grow callous.  They don't understand.  and. that's. okay.  When you leave the NICU the emotional weight of your experience will go with you.  Letting go of any negativity related to your interactions with others during your time in the NICU is essential to transitioning to life back at home.


       Certainly there is much more that could be said.  I hope this was a helpful down and dirty guide for those going through a similar experience.  If you have questions or comments feel free to email me at mmonk23@gmail.com.  You can also see more about our journey in the NICU by checking out my wife, Stefanie's, blog.  Here's her latest article in regards to Prematurity Awareness month:
http://stefaniedreamswithjesus.blogspot.com/2014/11/olives-story.html



               





           

      

   

3 Reasons Why I Don't Vote (And Probably Never Will)

3 Reasons Why I Don't Vote (And Probably Never Will)

   
        Once again we are smack dab in the middle of election season.  Though not Presidential and Federal, local and many statewide elections have just taken place.  As usual I've seen friends and family divide themselves according to party lines, witnessed butt-tons of circular arguments, and even seen people end longstanding friendships over their political views.  For some reason, in our American culture this is deemed as noble, but in reality it is nothing but base, ridiculous childishness.
   
        In the midst of election seasons I always get asked who I'm going to vote for or what party I stand behind.  Inevitably when I tell people I don't vote and I don't plan on voting, I'm blasted with accusations of being "Un-American" "Not Patriotic" "The Problem with America" and "Uninformed".  I don't vote, not because I'm lazy or apathetic but because of the way I see the pieces of the puzzle fit together.  I and others like me have the right to not vote just as all you good patriots have your right to cast your vote.  In the following post, I hope to shed a bit of light on my decision not to vote.  Here are my top 3 reasons why I don't vote.


      1.  America is a Corporation

            Contrary to popular belief, we are not a "sovereign nation", but a corporation.  You can read all about it in the Federal Reserve Act.  http://nesara.org/files/fed_reserve_act_1913.pdf   (Click the link, there's a transcript to the entire act in black and white for your reading pleasure.)
As such our elected officials serve more as a board of directors for a corporation than they do men as and women selected and empowered by the people to represent and fight for the best interests of the people.  Hence, everything under the umbrella-ed jurisdiction of Federal America is considered an asset of the corporation.  This includes your home, your cars, your land, any $ you have in the bank, and even your children.  Ever wonder why you have a social security number?  Every wonder why you have to pay taxes?  Ever wonder why you need a license to drive, to open a business, to hunt, to grow crops, to get married?  That's because you and everything you own are all considered assets and belong to the corporation at large.  Because our "government" is structured this way, from the top down they are trained to do what is best for the corporation, which has nothing to do with your rights or status as a free human being.  Your right to vote, is nothing more than agreeing to give your personal freedom away to group of people who look as you as a non-sentient entity, merely an asset to their business.  When an asset becomes a liability, what happens?  Liabilities are liquidated of course...  I choose not to vote, because I choose not to be treated and represented as an asset to a corporation.  I'm a living, breathing man, and choose to be treated as such.


     2.   Our Representatives, Regardless of Party Affiliation, Work for the Same Handlers
         
           When President Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act, he levied all the power of banks into one centralized bank named The Federal Reserve.  The problem is that The Federal Reserve itself is a private bank owned by a handful of private investors.  Since the investors forked over the $ to buy our banks out of debt, our country is indebted to them and thus has become an asset.  Our governmental officials then are subject to the wants and whims of the investors.  While officials parade around under the guise of creating and fighting for legislation that will "promote the common good", the reality is that they have to answer to the investors who control the Reserve Banks.  So as we elect our officials, they may make many promises to gain our consent to have them make decisions for us, but the painful truth is that they have their hands tied when it comes to doing anything to promote a real change outside the wants and desires of the investors/owners of the Fed.  In a nutshell, America is indebted to a small group of men, who bought out our debt and our "government"our officials in turn pledged each person on American soil, along with all our natural resources, as collateral for the debt.  I choose not to vote, because my representatives can't really represent me at all, they choose only to bend to the will of a few faceless investors who hide behind a corporate veil.


     3.    If Our "Democracy" Really Worked, It Would Have Already

            "One of the ways you control what people think is by creating the illusion that there's a                        debate going on, but making sure that that debate stays within very narrow margins. Namely,               you have to make sure that both sides in the debate accept certain assumptions, and those                 assumptions turn out to be the propaganda system. As long as everyone accepts the                             propaganda system, then you can have a debate." --Noam Chomsky

       Chomsky's words represent one of the chief reasons why the "democracy" in America does not work and has not every really worked.  The reason is because the media has hypnotized the masses through the political propaganda machine to buy into the notion that there are only two operative choices available in the political spectrum.  You're either democrat or republican.  These are the only two choices.  It's a false dichotomy.  If you're an independent, then you're a kook and conspiracy theorist.   As I related in reason #2, it doesn't matter who you vote for, because at the top of the pyramid, they're all working for the same handlers.  The propaganda machine presents to us an illusion of choice by narrowing our perspective to what reality is.  It is much easier to control people through their consent when they are given the illusion of choice and freedom.  A rule by force is much less effective because when people are aware they are forced into a system of slavery, they naturally fight back.  By subtly influencing our thoughts through the presentation of a false reality, people become submissive because they feel like they are making the choices.  The election of our political representatives is one stark example of this mind manipulation in operation.
         Hence, we get so caught up in debating issues, we miss the bigger picture.  If this system was working, then it would have worked already.  The reason it doesn't work, is because it was designed not to.  It was designed to control you.  A people who is truly free, needs no governmental body to represent their interests.  
         I don't vote because I choose to think for myself, not give my personal power over to another who does not represent my best interests.  I don't vote because I don't want to be complicit in decisions that lead to the murder of millions of people the world over.

       I don't vote because I have a choice not to vote, just as you have a choice to vote.  

       So before anyone goes bashing anyone else, let's listen to what they have to say first.  All in all, we are people first, not mere numbers, not merely ideas, and I think living, breathing people are much more important that ideas.  What about you?          

 
           

3 Lessons I Learned From Picking Up Trash

     It was about a year ago that Stef (my wife) found out she was pregnant.  I remember the day well.  She had been sick for about a week.  We suspected she may be pregnant.  So we drove into town, (we were living/working out in the middle of nowhere at the time), we went to church.  We picked up a couple of tests on the way to our friends, with whom we were spending the afternoon.  It was positive.  We called our parents.  The rest of the day was spent in a celebratory daze of shock, awe and blessedness.
      The next day, I got laid off.  On top of that, we were told that we had six days to vacate the place where we were living.  So here's the scenario:  We go from a newly married with a stable income and the next two years comfortably planned out...to pregnant, unemployed and homeless in a 24-hour time period.  We had $180 in our bank account and $500 worth of bills due.  Needless to say, it was a lot to take in.
      Although I wanted to get into a cycle of feeling sorry for myself and being pissed off at how massive a failure the whole thing was, something in my spirit checked me into the boards.  I'd been asking for a transformation.  I'd been asking for the next great thing to "do" with my life.  Well, God, The Universe, The Source, The Flying Spaghetti Monster had given me exactly what I needed.  As that famous dude once said, "Ask and it will be given."  It was up to me to accept the gift and to see the situation with the right pair of eyes.
       Some friends of ours took us in, so we at least had a place to stay, in fact, it was a resort compared to where we had been living.  I couldn't draw unemployment so I took the first job I was offered.  Although generally, I would have considered the work "beneath me" because of my prior education and experience, I took the job because it met my needs.  It was quick money. There was opportunity for rapid advancement.  In the interview they didn't mind hiring me, even though I told them I would be looking for a teaching job in the meantime and was going to quit as soon as I landed one.  They also didn't mind hiring me even though I still had a resisting arrest charge pending dismissal on my record.  I spent the next month as a laborer, working 14 hour days in Texas, in the summer, picking up trash.
        Everything worked out.  Much more has happened over the course of the year.  It's a long story.  Maybe I'll share it with you all one day.  But here are a few lessons I learned and it all started at my job picking up trash:

        1.  The world doesn't owe you anything.  Nope.  Not one red cent.  God doesn't owe you anything either.  You've already been given the gift of life.  That is opportunity enough.  Thinking any differently will automatically turn you into a victim and make you powerless to every circumstance that comes your way.  My boss didn't care that I had a master's degree.  The garbage wasn't going to pick up itself just because of my education.  All my boss and the company cared about is that the job got done right and the client was happy.  It was eye-opening when this realization hit me, because for most of my life I had been walking around with a chip on my shoulder thinking the world owed me a great payout for how hard I'd worked up to that point.  Because that had been my attitude, most of my life had been spent as a victim.  Knowing that you're owed nothing, will show you that you already have everything.  Now you're in the driver's seat.  The world, and any circumstance that befalls you, are gifts and teachers, rather than "enemies" trying to steal from you.   

         2.    Who or what you blame will have power over you.  When picking up trash all day every day, I had a lot of time to think.  Usually, my first thought would be where does all this trash come from?  From there, it would be really easy for me to get mad at the people who didn't clean up after themselves.  After all, if they did, I wouldn't have to be out in the sun cleaning up.  When I began to think like that, blaming others, I immediately gave power over myself to 100s of strangers.  Again, blaming others or circumstances not only will make you a victim, but it will also make you a victim that has willingly been victimized.  I spent much of my life secretly blaming others for my "failures".  I blamed my parents for not sending me to a better college and causing me to go into debt.  I blamed religion for not going further with my career as a basketball player.  I opted out of playing in many high-profile tournaments because games were on Sundays and I felt guilty for playing on Sundays.  The list goes on.  Ultimately I had to learn that I was responsible for everything that had happened to me in my life up to that point.  You have made every decision and thought every thought that has culminated in you arriving exactly where you are right now.  It is no one else's responsibility.  You have unlimited power and energy by which to create, partner with and transform the world around you.  If you are constantly blaming other people or circumstances you are literally telling that person or circumstance that you would rather they hold onto your personal power because you are afraid to use it.

       3.     There's no such thing as failure.  For a guy with two college degrees, working as a laborer picking up trash could seem like a giant failure, before that, leading my family into unemployment and homelessness could also look like a big fat failure.  But failure indeed is in the eye of the beholder.  You only fail when you choose to see the results as a failure.  In my situation, although my circumstances did not look the way I thought they should look, I was learning valuable lessons and skills along the way.  I got promoted from general laborer (where I picked up trash all day) to crew leader.  I got a company car, and I learned how to use all kinds of machines I never knew how to use before.  Now, it is a bold-faced lie to say that getting what you want is going to be easy.  It isn't.  But even if your outcome is less desirable than you may have imagined, you still have become something in the process.  Your thoughts have changed.  You have changed.  Because in the midst of doing things, what you've learned through it can never be taken away from you.  Maybe that's one of the mysteries we're supposed to learn as humans.  Maybe that's one of the doors that can show us the eternal seed we all have burning within.            

              
 

The Mastur(de)baters On Immigration.

    I've been thinking about ideas.  What is an idea?  What do ideas lead to?  Mainly, I've been pondering the concepts that thoughts (ideas) are things, and eventually thoughts or ideas are transformed into physical matter.  Most often, thoughts and ideas are transferred into their physical equivalent by their expression through human bodies.  In others words, thoughts become things through people's actions.

     Let that sink in.


     What do our ideas become?  The answer is as limitless as it is intriguing.  Ideas become:  Books.  Music.  Movies.  Governments.  Businesses.  Corporations.  Religions.  Countries.  Nations.  Collectives.  Systems of currency.  Wealth.  The list goes on.  A gathering of people that stand behind an idea, generally will breathe life into an idea, giving it the momentum to come into fuller fruition.  What happens when ideas (thoughts) compete against each other?  What happens if there is a disjunction?  Usually there is an argument, a conflict of sorts.  It may be resolved, it may not.  But the important question to ask is this:  What happens to the people in between?

      According to what I've been seeing on social media recently....nothing happens to the people in between.  Although this is not true, this is what is presented by the majority of people slandering one another in the name of opinions, then justifying their behavior under the guise of "having a civilized debate."  Sorry old chaps, there's no debate when the other parties don't even have a chance to respond.  I guess Facebook is the new Athens, and, real talk, if someone spoke like that to me in person I would punch them in the face.  Point being, I'm of the school that if someone isn't going to say it to my face, point-blank, man-to-man, then they ought to have the self-respect to hold their itchy keyboard fingers and keep it to themselves on social media.  It's ridiculous....

     I'll admit, though,  sometimes when I see this inane chatter go on for 200+ comments on someone's feed, I may slip in an underhanded remark or two just to get a reaction.  It's always the same-old-same-old, though: "My god is bigger than your god.  My religion is better than your religion.  My politics are better than your politics.  My penis is bigger than you penis", essentially.  I'm always left with the question:  If someone is so thoroughly grounded in what they think they believe, then why do they get so bent out of shape when someone else challenges that belief?  If I've learned two things during my adventures on this planet it is this:

1.          Your beliefs don't amount to a pile of flying monkey turds unless they can withstand scrutiny (or another's opinion, or the trials of day-to-day living.  Theory and application are two very different birds).  Light those turds on fire and see if they still smell like roses.
2.         You don't know what you don't know.   

    A belief is just that though....it's a belief.  An idea is an idea.  A thought is a thought.  A person, on the other hand, is a living, breathing, flesh and blood, body, soul and spirit with beliefs, ideas, and thoughts of their own and literally limitless potential to create beautiful things with their life.  I recently watched (with great amusement and consternation) as a group of Christian intellectuals beat each other senseless verbally over the Immigration issue in the United States.

     I'm not going to go into the issue itself, it goes much deeper than just a mere political solution.  I've lived on both sides of the border so I have a unique perspective on the matter.  People just really don't know how far the rabbit hole goes.  I'll leave it at that for now.   

     What got me riled up in observing the debate is how, not only did the arguers completely dehumanize the "illegal immigrants" and "illegal aliens", speaking of them as if they were insects or commodities that needed to be "controlled" (as if a legal/illegal status has anything to do with a person's humanity), but the arguers also engaged one another as if they themselves were merely the sum of a few ideas.

      A person is a person and not just an idea.  Your neighbor is flesh and blood human being, not just a pastiche of 1's and 0's encoded on a bitmapped screen.  We have been duped.  The mentality that deems an idea, a system, a government, a country, a religion more important than the living person standing in front of them, is the same mentality that sent millions to be slaughtered and cremated in charnel houses.        
   
       If I fail to recognize that the person behind the screen and stylish profile picture disagreeing with me is still a part of me, if I fail to realize that the young man sneaking across the border "illegally" to work towards a better life is also a part of me, then I have missed the point entirely.

       Enough divisions.  Enough ism and schism.  Enough separation.  No system is going to fix this.  So strap on your beards, boys.  It's time for the real fun to begin.   
    

What Are You Fighting Against?

System-a coordinated body of methods or a scheme or plan of procedure; organizational scheme; a system of government.  (Dictionary.com)


War-active hostility or contention; conflict; contest: (Dictionary.com)


 
      I used to pride myself upon wanting to kick the system.  I was rebellious, zealous, passionate.  I still have notebooks full of the anti-establishment poetry and music I wrote back in those days.  Oh, how I believed I was fighting the good fight!  But...

     By having myself positioned against what I deemed, "a system of oppression" I became increasingly wracked with the fear of being victimized.  The more I felt I was victimized, the more I felt the need to fight, until eventually all I did was fight.  Everything turned into an argument.  Everywhere I turned I saw the long arm of oppression.  Since oppression was all that I saw, I felt oppressed.  Anyone who supported "the system" I scoffed at.  Though I wouldn't tell them to their face, I found myself superior.  I thought that I was on a higher plane because I "saw through the cracks." On one hand, I pitied those who mindlessly supported "the system."  On the other hand, I envied their alleged lack of knowledge, because everyone seemed much happier than I was.  

      I wrote editorials that got published in the local papers about the corruption I saw.  I stirred the pot to get responses.  When leisurely hanging out with friends, I would bait people into the conversations I wanted to have, then beat them over the head with my opinion, with what I thought was my enlightened mental state.  In my free time, I researched conspiracy theories to add fuel to the fire.  The rabbit hole just got deeper.  The more I learned, the more miserable I became.  

     Then I got knocked on my ass.

      The system I had fought so hard against in an invisible ideological war was now benefiting me.  It helped me find a job when I got laid off and we found out my wife was pregnant.  It helped get us medical care when we had none.  It covered the expenses for our daughter's 149 day stay in the NICU after she was born (a bill we would have spent the remainder of our lives paying off).  The turn of events was ironic to say the least.  But ultimately, it was humbling and lead me to a most important question of self-analysis:  What was I fighting against?  If I'm such a pro-peace, anti-war guy, how could I be against anything?  Isn't being against something the same spirit that allows war to operate in the first place?   

      It couldn't be all bad because this big, bad, evil, oppressive system had suddenly worked in our favor and covered things financially when we had no other means, which lead me to another question.  What would we have done if there was no system in place?

      A couple of days ago we got a notification from our insurance provider that a very important aspect of our daughter's care was denied.  Momentarily, I was infuriated.  Without going into too much detail, suffice it to say the particular care our daughter needs is essential to her growth and development.  She's six months old and can't eat by mouth.  She needs speech therapy to begin learning how to feed.  The "doctor" a hired gun by the insurance company said, no, it's unnecessary, as if it's perfectly normal for someone to eat through a feeding tube their entire life.  Do not worry, friends.  The thing will be resolved.  Like I said, at first, I was infuriated.  I wanted to find the doctor and beat him with a garden hose.

       Then I asked myself an important question.  Why was I really mad?

       It hit me almost immediately.  I was mad because they dehumanized my daughter.  I was mad because some man with a bunch of letters behind his name treated my daughter like a stack of papers, like she wasn't human at all.  Papers and dollar signs.  I was mad because he couldn't see the 149 days we spent holding on, and the surgeries, the terror, the what ifs, the 1000 worst-case-scenarios we heard, and the phrase, "well, hopefully, if she makes it" always getting thrown around.  It lifted in a second and I felt suddenly empathetic towards the doctor.  What a sad state of mind he must be in.  What a very difficult decision to make day in and day out.  I realized I did not envy him, nor would the health of my family be determined by his signature on a piece of paper.  What does his signature on a piece of paper mean anyway?      

      The weight being lifted, I was elated, for I saw a brilliant opportunity.  When you flow with life you cannot lose!  The thing will be resolved, one way or another.  My excitement stemmed from the realization that even if my daughter is denied, my wife and I have a brilliant opportunity to be empowered.  Ultimately, the doctor's denial is our empowerment.  We are in control.  We can appeal, change insurance, etc. etc.  

      Then I thought, what if there were no system supporting us in this?  Scary, right?  Stepping into these waters, there is further elation.  I thought about how much more attention we would have to pay to our daughter.  How much more time we would have to spend with her.  How many things we would have to learn and research to provide the proper care she needs to eat by mouth.  I thought about how beautiful and enriching it all would be even if it was a lot more work.  System or no system, it's all going to be ok.   

     The overarching revelation I've had over the last couple of days in going through this rekindled and reconnected me with my former self.  I read over some of the old poems and rants I had written.  I gave that hungry young man a hug, told him that he was brave and it was okay for him to rest.  Within a system (oppressive or not) there is always someway to benefit.  Without a system there is also benefit.  There is no need to fight when you know that you're going to be fine either way.

     All in all, we know our systems are corrupt.  We know people are being used, abused and taken advantage of.  We know that those sitting upon billions of dollars are doing it by riding the backs, sweat and labor of those who have less.  So what?  What are we going to do about it?  

     That young man, so afraid of being boxed-in and victimized by an oppressive system was angry because he saw a world where people were being dehumanized.  A world where people became dependent on systems which treated them like cogs in a wheel, numbers on a printout, simple parts of a plan or procedure.  But that young man, obstinately setting himself against "the system" missed the point. 

     Do we really need "the system"?

     What would it look like if every man loved his neighbor as himself?  
    

                 
 

The "Friend" Zone

     In the culture of modern "dating" there's one horrendous place in which many find themselves trapped.  Much of modern "dating" resembles the push-button version of reality we are heavily entrenched in as a society.  Relationships, especially of the romantic sort, on a large scale take on the characteristics of consumerism and quick gratification.  Dating, that strange interplay between the single males and single females of our species, in many cases, is based upon a high-pressure sales situation.  Commitment on any level is not honored, and the parties seemingly sell themselves to the highest bidder.
      This is not meant to scare anyone.  Much of the above is an over-generalization.  I've witnessed many great relationships that have been born from a variety of scenarios.  I'm happily married.  I have a kid.  But I've been there.  In the wilds, amidst the savagery, blood and guts of modern "dating."  Maybe one day I'll tell some of you the sordid tale.  I've had my heart broken.  I grew cold.  I cultivated the lifestyle of a heartless playboy.  Then eventually, I gave up relationships altogether.  Four years ago, if someone would have told me that right now I would be happily married with a child, I would have told that person to go get their head checked.  My question to all those out there who are fed up with modern "dating" is this:  If you're so fed up with it, why not change the game?  Insanity is defined as repeating the same behavior and expecting a different result.  In the realm of modern "dating" culture, then most of us are clinically insane.  So...
         Getting back on point:  I must define what the "friend" zone is for my purposes in this article--The friend zone is an unequity of relationship where one party has a romantic interest in the other party, but the other party has no romantic interest and only sees the other as a friend.  Usually, a male of the species ends up pidgeonholed as the friend, but upon occasion this happens to the females of the species as well.
         But since I'm a guy.  My encouragement in this post is to you single dudes out there. 
         To all you lovely young chaps who have found yourself caught in the "friend" zone:
         Please refer to the following blanket statement:

         You only end up in the "friend" zone because you have put yourself there.

        Let me be clear.  I'm in no way saying that being friends with someone of the opposite sex should be avoided.  On the other side of the coin, being aloof, and purposefully toying with someone and not being open about the status of any relationship is childish.  Actually it's beyond childish.  It's mean, cruel and based on extreme insecurity.  Purposefully not being friends with someone so you can "hook up" without feeling guilty is murder.  Make a commitment.  Get married.  Be a man.  Then you can "hook up" all you like.   

     All in all, many of these "friendships" are based on the wrong foundation, often with ulterior motives other intentions.

        Gentlemen:  Take responsibility for your status in the relationship.  Stop blaming women for the position YOU HAVE CHOSEN to put yourself in.  She's not having you as a "friend" to torture you.  This happened because you haven't been honest with yourself.  Victims are only victims because they allow themselves to be victimized by giving their authority to somebody else.  You weren't clear with your intentions from the get go.  You didn't lead in the interaction, are thus being lead and are thus stuck as a "friend".  If you really were okay with being "just friends", you wouldn't spend all this time complaining about how bad it sucks, or how you "want something more."  Tell her that.  If she's not on the same page, then move on.  The relationship as "friends" or otherwise is not worth your time and energy.  Grow a pair.

      Gentlemen:  Keep your personal authority for yourself.  Real relationships (friendly, familial, romantic) can only function, survive and thrive if you are being authentic.  Authenticity comes from authority, which means you being who you really are.  Being "friends" with a woman because you secretly hope there's a chance of you becoming romantically involved is not honest.  It's not powerful.  And...you are not being authentic, because you are not being real.  Do not be brainwashed by the Hollywood chick-flick market where the loveable screw-up, the doofy friend who's really more like a little brother ends up getting the girl.  Be yourself.  Be yourself and whatever that looks like.  The rest will sort itself out.

      Relationships, like anything worth having in life, take commitment and courage.  Be courageous enough to be yourself.  Set standards and boundaries for yourself in all of your relationships (friendly, familial and romantic) and do not be afraid to let the others know what the boundaries are.  You will be happier and so will everyone else.              

     

Can I Get A Fitness?

     I often have people ask me about fitness.  The questions vary from training tips for weight loss, endurance training, and goal (sport) specific training, to those who have been out of the loop for a while and just want a place to start.  While the specifics of what your fitness goals may be will vary, there are a few general practices that are essential to success and improving your quality of life across the board.

     As a disclaimer:  I am not a licensed personal trainer or nutritionist of any sort.  The tips listed below have been tried and tested repeatedly and have yielded consistent, positive long and short term results for myself and those who have taken the plunge with me.  Though I do a lot of my own research, much of this has been discovered through a large amount of trial and error.  As with anything, take this advice with a grain of salt and read with a critical eye.

     1.  STOP OVERFEEDING:  Generally, the Western diet has us as a species eating way too much and it is making us sick.  While counting calories is one thing, the NUMBER of calories are of less importance than than the SOURCE of your calories.  The majority of calorie intake in the Western diet comes from high-processed, nutrient deficient oils.  In essence, you can get a day's worth of calories, but your stomach is only 1/4 of the way full. So the stomach sends impulse signals to your brain demanding more food because your stomach feels empty.   Adding more fresh fruits and veggies will increase your nutrient intake, fill your stomach up and you'll consume less calories.      Certainly on days where you are more active, you will need more calories, but consider the source of your calories.  Natural foods are structured at the molecular level to be perfectly broken down and nourishing to your body.  Processed, refined "foods", although more calorie dense, have different molecular structures that your g-i tract identifies as illness.  Your body has to go through an intense amount of unneeded stress to balance itself.  In actuality, an overload of too much processed, refined "food" puts the body under a temporary illness.  Always consider the source of your calories.  Add more fresh fruits and veggies, eliminate as many highly refined, processed foods as you can.  And on days where you don't exercise, don't eat as much.  Calorie restriction on rest days allows the g-i tract to rest and re-program itself.  This will help keep your metabolism constant, boost your immune system and flush out any lingering inflammation and metabolic waste.  In summary:  -More fruits and veggies.  -On rest days lower your total calorie intake.
    

     2.     WORK YOUR EXERCISE INTO YOUR DAILY ROUTINE:  The key for many, whether training for something specific, or just trying to get started is finding the time to exercise and continue at it regularly.  The best way to solve this dilemma is to build exercise into your schedule.  One of the best practices for this if you live close to where you work is...run/bike to work.  You will save on gas and get your exercise in, plus you won't have to worry about finding time during the day to get to the gym, or sneaking out after dinner to go for a run or ride.  If this isn't an option find another way to work it in.  When I was a gym rat, I would keep a set of workout clothes in the car with me.  On my way home from work I would get my workout in before I went to my house because I knew if I went home first, the odds of me going back out to get to the gym were very slim.  I treated my gym time as another part of my workday, an errand that had to be finished before I was allowed to go home.  What I do now is that I park my car, I take my keys with me and I run.  If I'm doing 10 miles that day, I run five miles from my car.  Since I need my car to get home, I HAVE to run the next 5 miles to make it back to my car.  The necessity helps push me through the workout if it's a tough day AND it raises the stakes because now I'm in a position where I can't get home unless I finish.  If you have an hour for lunch, use 30 minutes to go for a jog, use your other 30 to towel off and eat a nice salad.  There are tons of ways to incorporate your exercise into your daily routine.  Get creative and have fun with it.

3.     SET GOALS FOR YOURSELF AND ACCOMPLISH THOSE GOALS:  Exercise should be fun.  I'll say that again.  Exercise should be fun.  Your body actually craves it and is perfectly designed to engage in the physical stress of exercise.  As I stated earlier, the types of foods you eat play a huge role in how you FEEL as you exercise and recover.  Setting goals is important because some days, even the best of us, "just don't have it."  As much fun as the primal exuberance of having your body in motion can be, on those "just don't have it" days, goals serve as important mental and spiritual fuel to keep you going.  There is strategy in planning your fitness goals.  You want to find what I call the "sweet spot" when it comes to a fitness goal.  By this I mean, your goal needs to be something you have the faith to go after, but not something so minimal that it's not going to force you to leave your comfort zone.  At the same time, you don't want to aim for a goal that's so out of your league that you never feel like you're going to get there and every day feels like a drain because the goal seems so far away.  A good fitness goal should fall somewhere in the middle.  You leave your comfort zone and have to push yourself, but the goal is not so far over the top that it destroys your faith and self-confidence.  Reaching the goal should boost your confidence and provide a stepping stone towards another goal.  But...please, always remember to have fun on your way to the goal.  Laugh at yourself constantly.

4.    LISTEN TO YOUR BODY:  This may be the most important of all.  Part of the joy in creating fitness in your life, is coming to know your body, redefining the relationship you have with fitness and becoming ever more aware of the signs and signals your body is constantly communicating to you.  It truly is a beautiful thing, and the more you practice the better you get!  Your body is always talking to you, you just have to learn how to listen and translate.  Injury and pain are very different entities.  Pain can be a symptom of injury, but isn't always the case.  The more your exercise and learn how to listen to your body, (this is especially true for endurance athletes) your pain threshold will increase tremendously.  Injury, on the other hand, is when something will not function, or if further exercise will cause damage.  Listen to your body, the difference is fairly easy to tell.  Pushing through a little bit of pain can be a great confidence booster.  Pushing through an injury is foolish.    Learn the difference.  Fitness is about increasing your quality of life, not putting yourself in the hospital.  All that being said, rest if you need to.  Take days off when they are required.  You will quickly learn the difference between being lazy and needing a rest day.  Although, if you get more serious about your diet, you will find your rest and recovery times will dramatically improve.  A poor diet will lead to more needed rest and recovery time and a higher risk of injury.  Also, if you get busy and miss workouts for a day or two, don't freak out about it.  As always, have fun!               

     When followed, these general tips will greatly help you develop fitness into your life or aid in the accomplishment of further fitness goals.  In my own life, by having the above general practices at work, I feel better and my general quality of life has continued to improve.

Cheers everyone. 

Thoughts and Fruit

  A few things I've been pondering lately: 

   “The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,” (Genesis 1:9).   Both the brain of the newborn and the brain of the fully grown adult human are chocked full of wrinkles which contain massive amounts of dendrites.  The funny thing about dendrites is that they literally serve as the root system to the entire nervous system of the human body, drinking in all of the electrochemical signals from axons and other parts of the nervous system.  Just as a tree planted in a well-watered valley or near a river (Psalms 1) has the capacity and the resources to grow and form deep roots that effect the layout of the surrounding landscape and the composition of the soil, the pathways carved into our thinking patterns also deeply effect the way in which electrochemical signals are transmitted throughout the rest of the human body.  Your brain is a tree that that changes the atmosphere surrounding you.  From which tree are you eating?             

    When mommy shot you out of her belly, what was going through your head?  We know that the newborn is not some blank slate with the inability to process or think.  Just the mere physical evidence of wrinkled brain matter proves the contrary.  But without any frame of reference or prior knowledge of the world we have just emerged into, what foundational experiences do we have to compare the place in which we find ourselves, probably in a hospital with our mommy hooked up to a bunch of machines and these weird looking humans in masks and green suits with scalpels and others tools designed to cut and sew flesh, and some man or woman named doctor picking you up by the feet and slapping you on the rump until you let forth a nice cry?  Sounds more like an alien abduction than the joyous advent of new life being transmitted and delivered onto this terrestrial plane.  What experience do we have?  We floated around in a liquid world, warm, safe and we grew.  Before that we were some gametes from mom and some gametes from dad.  Before that we were thoughts in the minds of our parents.  How did these thoughts get into our parents minds? 

     Some would argue that it’s simply the natural progression of things for life on this planet.  Boy meets girl.  The two think about getting married.  The two get married.  The two think about having a child.  The two have a child (or several).  What is important about the previous example is that thoughts produce things.  This is why the renewing of the mind is so important.   Thoughts are the apparatus through which spirit life finds expression and can be released into the world.  There is likely to be any number of results.  I’ll guarantee you, the man who murders someone does not have his brain full of happy thoughts.  He is tormented, begins to relate to his torment, the torment being anchored to his identity, then the torment eventually becomes a normal state of existence, the dark world and tormenting thoughts form the frame of reference that the murderer uses to define the exterior world he sees around him.  The inner world always influences the outer world.  To put it simply bad thoughts produce bad fruit.  Good thoughts produce good fruit.  The man who pulls his friend out of a burning building, risking life and limb just for the mere possibility of seeing his buddy come out alive, this man is not wracked with the tormenting thoughts such as the murderer.  This man has good thoughts which lead to good outcomes, in this case, the saving of his friend.  It is in this mode of operation that the exercise of the renewed mind is exemplified.  Consider Romans 12:2:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (NLT)

     It is in the changing of thoughts, the literal awakening of consciousness, that changes the expressions we produce as human beings.  In relating to the above scenario, it is easy to see that if the murderer had a few different thoughts, then the mode of his expression in the world around him would have been quite different.  If the construction of his inner world were different, so too would his experience with the world outside of him be different.  The same goes for the man who just rescued his friend, tweak a few of his thoughts, let him encounter a few difficult situations and the possibility of him being in the same place as the murderer—being tormented and giving expression to that torment—is not too far away. 

            The man in the ivory tower with his billions is only a couple of bad moves away from becoming the homeless man under the bridge.  With this knowledge, it should be hard for us to ever look down upon anyone.  You are much closer to everyone past, present and future than you think, AND you always have been.

            Taking it back to the man who rescues his friend from the burning building, what propels him forward?  What produces the thought-life that would have him not get discouraged when fighting off smoke inhalation, giant flames and walls falling down around him?  The Hebrew writer describes some key revelation in the propelling force that drives humanity to have its thoughts steeled against insurmountable odds:  “...Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne” (Heb. 12:2).  As the verse relates, it is the harvest of joy that the man’s deeds will produce that propels him forward through what appears to be insurmountable circumstances.  He still has an operative choice not to go.  Allowing his thoughts to be tuned in to the frequencies of fear could cause him moments of hesitation, which may stall him just enough not to reach his friend in time, but also send the brain into a massive spiral of attaching to possible negative outcomes. 

     He can choose love or indifference. 

     He can choose fear or action. 

---

.