Miscellany

A smattering of thoughts today. Some from the Internet thanks to Rocky. Some from my own labyrinth of thought. Some items may appear related. Others not. So here they are in no particular order. 

• Anonymous (of course it is; why so many of these on the Internet?):

“Having a rough morning? Place your hand over your heart.

Feel that? That’s called purpose. You’re alive for a reason.

Don’t Give Up.” 

There are times in life that try me. Either there are too many negatives battering me, or too few positives. The question of  “why try” pops to mind in those cases. But each time the positives return and deter me from the negatives. To be of use. Again: To Be Of Use.

That short phrase sums up my purpose. Don’t know why. Can’t argue it. It just is.

• Again from the Internet:

“Reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.”

 

Cute. Just cute. Thought you might like it.

• Another Internet find:

       “Dear kid bullying the only openly gay boy in class,

  I dare you to lay a finger on him.

            Sincerely, the linebacker with two amazing dads.”

I love this one! Has just the right bite. A little justice here, a pinch of logic there. Yes. Just right, I think. Maybe a bit too forceful, but…justice is a hard thing to discern. 

• James Madison, in a speech to the Congress when introducing the Bill of Rights:

        “The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or
        worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and
        equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretext, infringed.”

Seems pretty clear to me. Our nation was founded on the principle of religious freedom. You can believe and worship as you see fit and believe. Your beliefs are not to be put on anyone else. Those others are to believe as they wish in freedom from your beliefs; even if your beliefs are not religious in any manner. We are all free to think and believe what we will. Placing on others the dictates of someone’s religious beliefs is simply not allowed. No laws. No legislation. Those are internal to the churches.

• Anonymous:

     “Oh, it says gay marriage is a sin in the Bible?

Wonderful, now show me where it says so in the constitution.”

This is merely putting into action the previous quote. Enough said. 

• From www.livelifehappy.com:

“There are two things you shouldn’t waste your time on:

 things that don’t matter and people that think you don’t matter.”

There are topics that grab our attention for some reason. They clamp onto our consciousness. They riddle our day with distractions. They pull us off our game. Most often they are of little consequence. If that’s true, then they don’t really matter. Now on the other hand, if a person thinks you don’t matter, that’s simple to note. Forget both and concentrate on what really matters. Seek people who matter to you.

• President Barack Obama:

“And even if we did have only Christians in our midst, if we expelled every non-Christian from the United States of America, whose Christianity would we teach in the schools? Would we go with James Dobson’s or Al Sharpton’s? Which passages of Scripture should guide our public policy? Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is okay and that eating shellfish is an abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount – a passage that is so radical that it’s doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let’s read our Bibles. Folks haven’t been reading their Bibles.”

I’ve been saving this one for quite a while. So much for the Rev. Wright controversy. Or anyone else’s imposition of their religious interpretation onto others.  Isn’t it hard enough knowing our own minds let alone minding someone else’s? Why does this bother people so? Are they so certain of their religious certainty? Wow. So many theologians. Who would have thought? 

• Charles Darwin:

       "It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that

       survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” 

So many views of right and wrong. So many judges. So little justice. When will we get these things right? 

May 23, 2012