As I had previously written, I believe we are in a war to save and protect civilization. Eventually there will be a global understanding of the need for military force to be deployed in a long drawn out battle to overcome radical and militant Islamic terrorists.  But what replaces the failed ideologies and brutal rule of radical Islam?  I think that we have to help civilized peoples repopulate these terrorist areas.  However, what will be the alternative culture for these peoples?  The culture that is prevalent today has promoted an us-versus-them mentality that has been nurtured into a rule of fear and hatred.  An apocalyptic view of the world and bringing about the end of times has been instilled in people that then are willing to fight and sacrifice themselves for a belief in a God they cannot possibly correctly understand.  What is the anti-thesis ideology that is needed?  Military force, and political outcomes are not enough, there must also be a culture/ideology transformation that occurs in vast parts of societies pressured today by these anti-civilization forces.  Christianity too has gone thru its militant phases, where those that wanted to hang onto power created an us-vs-them fervor that resulted in the slaughter of millions, but that was a thousand years ago.  Christianity survived its madness to eventually rewrite its history, and present an improving face to the world.  Still there is room for improvement as we continue to evolve to be culturally accepting of all peoples as was Christ’s message.   We need to evolve to a theology and ideology that embraces the loving and inclusive message that the major religions spiritual texts espouse without the; our faith, our methods, our god is better than yours complexions that we allow others to tell us about.

Secular democratic principals that call for the separation of religion and state are the traditions of western philosophers and thinkers that resulted in the rise of our country and many other western nations.   The principals and thoughts that drove us to navigate away from dictatorships and monarchies apply here as well.  However, we did not arrive at the principals of governance and culture without much pain, warfare, and repeated failure to see the humanity in others along the way.  Look at our on-going struggle to overcome an appalling history of slave trade, ownership and then the incipient racism that persists in our culture a hundred and fifty years after we fought a civil war to address this issue.  So what can we learn from this history?  What makes sense as an alternative to the ultimately failed culture of religious militant zealotry that is radical Islam?

The Arab Spring was thought to be the sowing of secular democracy principals that would eventually lead to a bountiful harvest for civilization.  However, it has failed, or we let it fail in so many places. Instead the evil twin of ISIS born about the same time appears to be thriving.  Is there any life left in the Arab Spring, or can it be brought back to life?   I doubt that there is a religious alternative that has the moral foundation to be an effective solution.  Islam, Christianity and Judaism have all failed the Middle-East, and for that matter Africa.   Well that brings us back to secular democracy, to the Arab Spring… but this time we need to embrace it, support it with a vehemence that will shake the foundations of the dictatorships and monarchies, just as we did when the USA was young.  Our liberty and freedoms threatened the monarchies of Europe, and its right and good that they did.  Our system of laws and democracy may not be perfect, and is still evolving, but it was a basis that eventually allowed us to become a nation of many races, many heritages and many religions, living as a prosperous and civilized society.

We have an opportunity to turn refuge camps in Lebanon and Jordan into education centers.  Let us help refuges return to their countries with a sense of self-government, with an understanding and belief that civilized countries like the USA will protect and encourage the advancement of an Arab Spring and they will one day harvest a culture, ideology, and prosperity of secular democracy, while being inclusive of the many types of moderate Islam, Christianity, Judaism and other religions.  We should not squander an opportunity to encourage Arab Spring revitalization.

Each year at this time, its good to give thought to how blessed we are to live in this great country, to have the benefit of history, of freedom, and liberty from tyranny.  Thankful for all those that protect these freedoms and the institutions that assure we are a culture of laws and security.  Thankful for all the science, technology advancements that make our lives easier.  Thankful for education and experience and the benefits derived from those that came before us that we so often take for granted.  Thankful for the nourishment and blessings of bountiful resources.  And most of all thankful for all our friends and family that make our lives full and blessed.

Thanksgiving Prayer

Family, friends, food and football

Thanks is to be given for these all

Tremendous is the table spread,

But better yet this breaking of bread,

Cause most of all the Love we share

Is a perfect compliment to this fare

Our Lord’s blessings are great

Celebrate, lest we give thanks to late

In this moment let us our heads bow

And pray to our Lord hear and now

Thank you Lord for all here today,

And thank you for each blessed and precious day

And thank you for all those not here

For in our hearts we still hold them dear

Amen

Do what you love… When I talk to successful people, and consider my own career path, I realized that success is not a destination, it’s a journey.  Success is doing what you love and making a living at it.  Success is doing the right thing for yourself, your family and for others along a long journey.  When we are very young and think about what we will do for a career or an occupation we sometimes have fantasies about who we are and what we can be. Some of those fantasy can become real, but only if we are honest and know ourselves.  Know not just what you are good at, but what you love.  If you love what you are doing, if you are passionate about what you will spend as much as 80,000 hours thinking about and doing over a 40 plus year career then you will be happy.  Sure money is a factor, who doesn’t want to make money!  But its my experience that sometimes making the shorter term decision to forgo money, to make sure others are paid before you even, that it will pay off in the long run.  Imagine that your career decision, is like planning then embarking on a long trek instead of short sprint.  Enjoy the scenery along the way, it’s the joy of the journey and the friends you make along the way that matter.  Money will come to people that are good at what they do; people that are good at what they do are that way because they enjoy all of it.   The journey will not always be easy, in fact it will be rocky and difficult along the way, but if it’s a labor, a toil of love then you can persevere, you may change route along the way.  That is not to be viewed as a failure, its to be understood, learned from, and maybe it was just part of the journey all along but you couldn’t see far enough up the trail.  When it does get hard, and there are difficult summits (decisions) to be reached, then its your journey partner that matters, it’s the person that will encourage you when no one else will, when you have to make a particularly difficult climb then you will look to the people around you, and I hope you have a life journey partner like I have had to make those decisions with.  My wife and family have supported some very risky decisions along this journey, many others may have lost faith in me, but I was fortunate to have someone that never stopped rooting for me to make it up the next hill, or kick me in the behind if I needed it :-), thank you Yvonne!

Along the way the friends and co-hikers also made a great difference in providing a multiplier of effort and productivity.  Taking care of each other along the way makes for camaraderie of a sort, that only those that have been in a fight can know.  When you are on your journey, and you look back at the progress you’ve made, you’ll find yourself counting the people you’ve helped, and the ones that helped you.  You’ll find yourself thinking of the monstrous hills you’ve climbed, you’ll find that you enjoy the greener pastures and the sunshine a little more, because of the desert and storms that you’ve overcome.  And yes, financial rewards will come, but they are only there because of all the help of so many others as you’ve enjoyed your journey.  Do what you love, all the rest will work out.

Mike

Civilization is threaten.  Terrorist have not just attacked Paris, they have waged war on civilization as we know it.  However this is not new.  Yes we should pray for Paris, but we should pray for 224 Russian civilians killed by ISIS  in the Sinai airline bombing last month, we should pray for 43 Lebanese citizens, yes most of them Muslim, that were killed by ISIS bombers in Beirut this week, we should pray for the millions of Syrians, Afghanis and Libyans fleeing ISIS, Taliban, and Al Quad-a terror as they migrate to Europe, and we should pray for the Kenyan students, 147 killed by Al Shabab in April of this year.  So many terrorist attacks by militant muslims, yet we shrug about until it hits Western Europe or the USA.

World War 3 started a while ago, now that it has come to Europe, maybe we’ll notice.  Its sad to me that so many others die, so many others have to flee, before we realize that we are at war.  If they are not Americans, or Western Europeans, we just don’t pay much attention.  We talk about our national interest, we talk about containment and security.  We worry about “boots-on-the-ground” as if we can somehow do the minimum we must and still provide security.  There is no security, and we bring it on ourselves when we don’t worry and care, and fight for all the innocents that represent civilization.  Our civilization is not just for Western Europeans and Americans.  Civilization and the right to live without fear of the brutality of terror should be the interest of all of us, and we should care and pray for every foothold of civilization everywhere.  We should protect the innocent and the tolerant everywhere.   Its time we realize that we cannot ignore this assault on civilization and hope to contain it to Africa and the Middle East.  We need to see this as a world war not against other nations, not against other religions or race, its a war against the brutal terrorists that seek to force at the edge of a sword all others to bow to their power, and their version of militant islam.

We in the United States must lead, we must show others that we value civilization and civilized people everywhere, and help them rise to beat back the terrorists and replace them with a revitalized civilization and civility.   If we don’t then we cannot win and we will watch many others suffer and we will suffer as well as civilization dies.  It will die not as one fell swoop, civilization will die by many million cuts if we fail to act.  We will not win in one fell swoop either, we will be fighting this war for generations.  Its sad but there are too many anti-civilization groups that would like to drive the world back to the middle-ages, all of them must be eradicated.  We cannot rest until they have no place left to hide.

Mike

Some 80 years ago during the great depression, our Federal government came forward and created welfare programs to help an impoverished nation feed its masses. Work was scarce and seismic shifts in the form of migrations from the dustbowls of Oklahoma to farm lands of California were underway. Read the Grapes of Wrath for dramatic representation of how people suffered, struggled and survived… Whole industries were collapsing and millions struggled. Today it would be unimaginable in our country, but due to war in the Middle East we can get a glimpse of what it was like.  In the 1930’s the idea of government hand out was strange and abhorrent to many fiercely proud americans. We were a culture of work, effort and reward. Handouts were difficult to accept. Our government created posters and marketed the welfare programs. Some had to be convinced that it was good and acceptable to take handouts. Today, we are a culture that is looking for handouts everywhere. We seek discounted loans, we seek food assistance, housing assistance, discounts on any number of expenses, and numerous means to avoid taxes. This is beyond being prudent shoppers, we now want healthcare free, or substantially subsidized, we seek to sue our local grocery for a slip and a fall because the floor is wet, we want our employer to give us more time off because we work too hard. We expect to be paid something for doing little to no work, for taking no risk. We are a culture looking for that bargain, that free ride.
Three generations removed from a people that would be appalled at our thinking. The more we have the more we want. The more we get for doing nothing, the more we’ll brag about it. Our great grandparents would have been amazed by the technology, but embarrassed by this society and the direction it is headed and how government regulations and overreach has become acceptable to all of us. Maybe Atlas really has shrugged. Maybe we are becoming those imagined peoples that are dependent on government and continue to ask what can our government do for us as we stifle further innovation and we no longer value hard and smart work.

Mike

Morning sky is yellow, the pool is green

Sure to be reminded it should really be clean

Its fall here, air and water should be cool and clear

As we lounge nearby with our cigars and beer

Working hard sweat rolls down my nose

Attacking mold with bleach and water hose

Green, black oh so stubborn clinging mold

Clean deck, clean pool, will it ever release its hold

Best times of the year are near: fall, winter, spring

If only El Nino would give up her stubborn cling

Oh well… maybe forget all this and go golfing instead

Out there I don’t mind green nor sweat rolling off my head!

Mike

A Little More

Taste is so enticing

A little more of course

With extra chocolate icing

A great feeling a great time

A little more of course

It makes for a fun rhyme

Beautiful music, terrific score

A little more of course

Please come back for that encore

Your thoughts, ideas so neat

A little more of course

Share your mind without repeat

A hug from you so sweet

A little more of course

It makes me feel complete

Mike

I was thinking how innocent and precious children are, how as we get older we can let the fun run out of our lives, while we focus on demands of our day.  Each year we may be a little wiser, a little more sure of our way, however to enjoy and celebrate life with wonder and excite we must stay in touch with the child within our souls… Let others see that little boy, that little girl in you, stay in touch with them, they are inspiring and amazing!

The Little Boy in Me

Hold me on your knee

Play with me in your mind

The little boy inside of me

Teach me of sun and moon

Roll with me rock and stone

Sing to me a pretty tune

I want to be your little boy

I promise I will be good

Give me some time and toy

Protect me and hold my hand

I am but a little boy and unsure

Help me walk today in the sand

By the ocean of white and blue

Walk with me, splash and play

Young, pretty we are all new

I’ve really enjoyed an extra hour this morning, that I know I have to give back in the spring, but for the moment it felt great to sleep just a little more 🙂

Stone Walls

I’ve written about wisdom and how to seek it with the advantage of curiosity, perspective and honest self-assessment and I’ve written about time and generations, and about how love lasts. How it is passed down from generation to generation. But it occurred to me yesterday that it’s the hardened heart of those we love that is most challenging, more so than our own challenges to find love, truth and wisdom.   Because those that we love and cherish the most hurt themselves and all near them when they find themselves withdrawn with a heart ensconced within the stonewall house they’ve built.   Time will not change them as they continue to build their protective walls, and lay traps for those that get too close. Wisdom cannot be heard through these walls that grow thicker over time. Only through consistent pattern of loving, of providing pressure on that wall, warming the stone slowly so that the heart begins to warm, then they may take down their own walls, remove the traps and allow themselves to be loved.

When confronted with conflict we so often revert to what happened when we first build our own walls, what our parents, caregivers did. If it was love that warmed our heart through the stone we hid behind then its love that we give, if  we felt a sledge hammer against our walls we will use a sledge hammer with the same lack of progress that we know. If we were left alone, in time we learned that this is a way to live, a way to be protected without knowing love.  We may do the same and it carries from generation to generation unless we break the cycle.

A heart warmed with love can then listen to wisdom, a heart warmed with love can in time love back and this lasts forever. Love changes us, not time, not wisdom… It’s love and it lasts!

Mike