The Visitors

Do you have visitors? Not the people that come to your home, or office, or events. I mean spiritual visitors. I remember when my mother passed away I was speaking at her funeral. (To the effect of): "It is sad for all of us but Mom is now in a position that she had never been in before. She can keep track of all of us any time she wished. She could extend a hand in a dream, or in a passing remembrance.She had the ability through her spirit to follow our careers and our lives and contact us in ways we simply can not understand." That was 30 years ago. I am now older than she was when she passed away. Now I am that stage of life where I hear of old friends who also are passing away. They too are available in a different sphere. There are different triggers for each of them. Remembrances of events, numbers, favorite plants, things they liked and appreciated that made them unique. Then, once in a while you notice the plant, the number, the event, the hobby and a conversation develops. In a space beyond our grasping, you spend some time with the visitor. The conversation may calm a fear, encourage an activity, or put one at rest on a hectic day. DO you have visitors? Someday I may be able to visit also.

Change

Change is the order of living. Without change every day would be the same, without variety, or challenge or success or failure. We all learn by living through change. It makes some of us better, some of us worse, but all of us change somewhat. Jesus mentions that we must change, from our cultural beliefs, our parents beliefs, or friends or relatives to hopefully grow and mature. As change comes upon you, remember that change is often an instrument of God, to grow you, or to provide you the opportunity to help others. Embrace the day, and enjoy.

Distractions

It seems as though life is just chock full of distractions. One finds one returning to their literary roots too far between visits. The work, the home, the planning and the news seem to always throw a quick roadblock. One has to discipline one's life to learn how to work around the distractions and revisit the blogger pages and toss another tidbit into the world wide web. I hope you enjoy the moments when I return to these roots. I hope to make a better point of my returning in this new year of 2014.For a view into the past visit:

PastTense

Its seems sometimes as though the past is not so far away, As if the past has found a home inside your everyday. With power born of a tenacity that never seems to tire It stands its ground and won't let go And pulls you through its fire. And for what purpose it comes around to remind you of its presence, That what was once does come again to live within your essence. Past Tense is not simply left behind, it resides within your soul and adds itself to this life's living, as it did the one before.

Watching for a Sign

Over my years within Christianity I have learned to 'watch for the sign'. The sign that says that God is talking to you, that God has a plan, that the end is coming, that the signs of the times is imminent. Often we Christians come to rely on a sign from God to share with us the direction that God wishes to lead us in. The older and more experienced I have become I have been led to this caveat: Be careful. The truly wise man learns to discern the 'sign' from God from a temptation of Satan. I think once in awhile we justify our activities based on a sign from GOD which is truly merely a temptation of our human nature. The bottom line question becomes does this direction serve God or merely myself. Remember, you are the reflection of what you truly believe. To follow Christ remember that his lampstand was a cross and his light shown from a mountaintop called Calvary. It is more than just merely a group of people, it is your personal commitment to walk that path not always theirs.

Directions of Unorthodox Christianity

What is the role of unorthodox Christianity, as I view it, at this point in time? The mix of Buddhistic and Judaistic thought as envisioned by Jesus at this critical time in modern history, blends Jesus' teachings into the current mix of prophecy, relevation, revelation, and crisis. 11-28-13 I keep thinking of the coming day. Unorthodox Christianity has so many followers now, and I only know of me. I see the term now all over the internet. Perhaps people do pay attention, positively and negatively. Have a great day.

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving returns years of memories. Large plates of turkey and mashed potatoes and all the trimmings. Special dinners with friends, family, acquaintances. These memories and the events they represent are all things that I am Thankful for as I look forward to another Thanksgiving dinner and re-appreciate all of the ones that I have experienced before. A most warm Happy Thanksgiving to the friends, mentors, followers, and others. Have a great day. dennis

Independence Day

July 4,2013 It is Independence Day. Most of the people of the world cannot relate to it. They long for it, the wish for it, they try and achieve it, they have died to get it. And we, in America celebrate it. Let us be grateful and appreciate what it represents to our ability to enjoy our morning beverage, go about our daily activities, and retire in the evening. 'Count your many blessings and name them one by one.' Independence Day is at the top of my list today. Have a great day. dennis

6-14-13

Patience. Leave the victory to GOD. After a tough week with lots of challenges I feel worn out and beat up. By people, circumstance, and work. In these times I have learned to recoup by calling on the GOD that created me to be my champion and fight the good fight with me. Not for me, per say, but with me. Challenges can be faced more easily when we allow GOD to be the victor and we the vessel.

Grandmother's Blanket

Faith is the position that God watches out for the ignorant and uninformed. I am reminded of this fact daily. Just when I think that I am fully defeated, there is a warmth of peace that covers me as if a warm woolen blanket from the back of my grandmother's sofa. I am reminded that I am never alone, and all of those who have stood by me are forever with me. Love is great and GOD is love.

A Mentors Voice

We are all on a journey to our own future. Where it is, and what the journey will be like is not ours to know. Where we have been is often dim in our memory. The memories in the rooms we have created, away in that place of memories, show up periodically without our permission. And then we hear the voices of our forgotten mentors, still mentoring, still consoling, and still guiding our journey. The blessings are subtle, and yet as powerful to our psyche as the touch of the human being that wields that mentorship. A quiet gift in a time of need. Thank you.

Thoughts on Happiness 1-19-2013

A friend once proposed that it is possible to create happiness within whatever circumstance you are in. This power of positive thinking is held to be true by many that serve as a living example of its power. Within my own unorthodoxy I see a strong correlation between gratefulness and happiness. Where there is a struggle to find happiness, I also find a weakness in gratefulness.

Gratefulness should occur when we arise each day. Of course the pain and suffering that disease may bring has an impact, for the most part being grateful for another day should bring with it recognition for the blessings that get lost in negativism.

The simple Christian tune , Count your many blessings…name them one by one, may appear on the surface to be over simplistic, but it is a power of sustenance through life’s many challenges.

So what is on your list?

Between Facebook, and work, and so much, it has been a long time since I have visited this site. One of my resolutions is to get back to the posting and more into the wierd interpretations that follow my version of Unorthodox Christianity. A thought for today, relationships require patience, love and honesty. One must honestly recognize that love is the driver of happiness, patience the center of understanding, and honesty the reflection of your soul.

I was thinking yesterday about how political that our religions have become. They have always been politically oriented and that orientation is more than just taking sides in a political contest. The right one, the true one, the only one prevails as a core belief in most faiths (term used loosely). I reminded myself as to how poorly I am doing with all of this. Unorthodox Christianity has no building, no covenants, no tenants and no rituals. I collect no money, and encourage none. I toyed with the idea of license plate frames once. Go to the source, GOD is love, and when in doubt always fight back with love. When love is not accepted move on. One can not beat love into success. When strength is needed, and when help is needed love will provide if we are open to the help that loves extends.

Raise money for America

The politicos will raise enough money to get elected this year that they could use that money to pay down the debt that they've created to get elected the last time and really be productive for once. They are such great fundraisers one would think they could up with the money pretty easy.

New Year 2012

It is a new year, this 2012. Between the Mayans and the Aftershocks, it is supposed to be quite a challenging New Year. I have a new boss anda renewed focus on the Unorthodox franchise that includes the website, www.unorthodoxchristianity.com, this blog, and unorthodoxchristian on Facebook. I am reminded also that we are also in another election year. Watch for posts on all of these. Just a quick observation on the Republican debates last night. If the Republicans want my vote, one of these days they'll have to stop whining and start telling me what they intend to do get jobs back, pay off the deficit, and get America growing again. I am not interested with what their competitors have done, what Obama has done, what China has done, I want to do what specific programs they are going to cut, how they are going to build infrastructure through the private sector without government handouts. I want to see the magic money they are going to gain by cutting taxes on everyone, spending more on defense spending, and giving everything away to their Congressional buddies.
They'll have to do better than this. Obama increased troop strength in Iraq and Afghanistan, captured and killed Osama Ben Ladin, and invested trillions to bail out their rich buddies and their forlorn constituents. If they want to replace Obama they need to tell me how they are going to be different with specifics, not just vague BS.

He's Back

Well, maybe not HIM, but he could be. It would be nice, he may be disappointed. So many using His name for political advantage. He seemed to have quite a few comments about using His name in vain. In fact, I don't recall him as a great fan of the politicians. I believe the term "brood of vipers" should reenter our political language in this country.
I expect to return here more often to support my Facebook page, unorthodoxchristian.
Have a great day as always and be in touch.

Change

Everyday is a new blessing. It is a day that holds more promise if one seeks for it. Too often we seek the negative news of the day. It is how we are conditioned. I believe that everyday the sun comes up to your eyes there is a new chance for positive change, or for a positive step forward. It may be in a chance meeting, a phone call, an e-mail, or simply the fact that you get through the day alive, free from car accidents, or untimely encounters.
We all have our dreams, of wealth, or subsistence. We may dream of the lottery, or of a freeing moment as retirement. Maybe it is simply a few moments when we can meditate on the day and discover the wealth that lies within serenity. Change happens everyday. The grass gets taller, the kids get older, you get older. Time marches on. My prayer for the day is that the change be positive, for me, for you, for all of us.
dw

The Blessings Bank

The Blessings Bank

I was awaken abruptly this morning out of deep dream sleep by my dogs. So many images that one normally forgets upon waking were right there at the surface. I sat and reflected for a time on where all those images and people and circumstances within the dream emanated. I started to reach back into my memory to sort out where this or that individual came from, or the setting or the building. The path one was walking along and whom the personality of each individual came from. As I reflected on my past to ferret out the basis of the dream I was left with an interesting realization. The dream came of out my Blessings Bank.

This is the gift I most often seem to overlook. I call it now the Blessings Bank.

We all have one of a sort.

These are the memories we have acquired over our years of living. In Ecclesiastes There is a time to throw stones (memories) and a time to gather stones (memories) together. To me this is the gift of the Bank of Blessings.

For sure within the bank of memories there are remembrances that cause pain, or embarrassment, or even shame. These memories are a part of who we are. They are not blessings for their circumstances, but main contain memories that blessed the moment.

When I leave for work and I thank GOD for the blessing of work, or I pray for continued blessings, or I merely reflect that my cup once again overflows with GOD's blessings, I am reminded not of a life that I may feel has been somewhat wasted, but I see a life that has been so chock full of the blessings of people, rich in the experiences of travel and the beauty I have seen in creation, that the balance sheet in my bank of blessings can never be foreclosed on, or laid off, or given away.

When times are tough, review your bank of blessings and I feel that you will find a very full bank indeed and you may see the gifts that we often take for granted, were granted for a lifetime not just a time.

Strength in Faith

Many of us, most in fact, practice some sort of belief system. It may be rooted in religious beliefs, or secular beliefs. It may manifest itself in the belief system of non belief (a system in and of itself). For me the system is Christianity as espoused by the Carpenter Jesus of 2000 years ago. I find my strength in the faith based system of an order in the universe that is beyond my ken and I pursue my life based on that belief. There is order. Faith is the attitude that there is order. Reality is that we do not understand nor comprehend it. We attempt to invoke it, yet this order manifests itself in its own time. It also works in its own way. I do not profess to understand how it works. I have theories, yet there is no proof system that we can employ (the Bible is nice, but hardly proof). If we could prove the existence of an active positive force scientifically that would negate the need for faith. Even Jesus praised and espoused the value and necessity of faith as a requirement to the adherents of his belief system. Without faith there is no need to have a Jesus, or anyone or anything else.
And so here we are. Difficult times. Economic uncertainty is the venue for all of us, no matter how well rooted in our jobs we may believe we are. Never moreso in the history of mankind of this era is the line between comfort and despair so finely and tightly drawn. Any of us is just one decision away from poverty and hopelessness. The need to discover strength to maintain ones stamina and and perseverance has manifested itself once again on a scale that mimics the great depression and the options seem even more limited now than then. So I look toward Jesus for my strength in faith in a power that is resilient to the present day. I pray daily, oftentimes many times during the day. Does this mean I have no faith that I have to be so persistent? Is this a sign of weakness? Perhaps. To me what it means is that even though I do not understand just what makes the sun work, let alone how it came to be, I am betting it will rise in the morning as long as I stay physically able to view it. As long as the morrow appears there is hope for positive change, or at least a maturing of my existence. To me this faith is hope, in hope there is a strength that 'comes from knowing'. What is there to know? That all that I do not comprehend is, and as long as it is I can share some sort of existence within it.
That is a fundamental belief behind my Unorthodox Christianess.

Ghosts in Your Memory

I find myself trying to look forward, yet being haunted by the ghosts of days past. Trying to look 7 years ahead while remembering 7 years ago. Time changes so quickly and time moves so fast. What seems so far away today will be yesterday shortly. I wonder why it is that letting go of the past is so difficult. Why what if plays such a prominent part of the human psyche.
I am not stunted by the past, it just seems so difficult to break away from in the journey forward. There is always a place for reflection, but the rooms along the aisle of my memory can be haunting sometimes.
In our Christianity we see many examples of the spirits of Legion, what we often need is to take the time to expel them as much as possible and use those efforts best to move ahead rather than reflect on the what ifs.

Revelationary Hope

The news is getting bleaker it seems daily. Swine flu, wars and insurgencies all over the world. The economy continues in its downward spiral and stress continues its upward climb. From a writer who labels himslf an unorthodox Christian, what does it all mean, Christianwise. Somewhere in our Christianity we believe in hope. That hope is driven by a very unique concept Love One Another. The Unorthodox part of unorthodox Christianity is that we recognize the futility of Love One Another and yet we continue to pursue the ideal in spite of the negative consequences, because our mentor exampled the behavior to us. The Unorthodox Christian is not a ra ra ra Christian for the Unorthodox Christian takes his Christian fundamentals seriously. Sunday is not set aside to be a show day, the fundamental teaching of love one another has to happen everyday. There is no magic money to be made being unorthodox, the congregations non existent, and the compensation minimal at best.
These are the costs, no wonder there isn't a movement here. Actually taking the UNorthodox viewpoint and loving one another, and following the laws of the land, and turning the other cheek, changes your entire perception of mainline Christianity, and actually contributes to your desire to distance yourself from the mainline labeling.

On The Extravagant Living Churches

So my question is this, if the servants of the church drive Mercedes Benz and live an extravagant life far beyond that of the majority of their parishioners, how will we recognize the second coming of the leader of the movement, Jesus? Is Jesus' church about servanthood or profitability? Are we really paying homage to the concept of love one another or merely using it as an excuse to live well off the hard work of those who live less?
Couched in a picture of a take out dinner or a used coat fund drive, are disturbing images of pastors driving limousines, Mercedes and Lexus in congregations of Fords and Chevrolets. The CEO of a private business can be expected to flaunt the rewards of his business expertise, but the servants of the Lord? In many congregations "What Would Jesus Do" is a catchy little phrase to use with the Sunday School and the youth group, but don't interject it when it comes to compensation.
For sure the vast majority of pastors around the globe live hand to mouth. The circuit riders of our past and present lived on and survive on hand outs and endowments. The director of the Mission and the housekeeper of the local congregation will never see great economic success from the late night visits to the hospital or the consolation of a congregant. The local congregants running the food drive and the hospice program do not envision great wealth coming from the servanthood of Christ. What is unfortunate is that there are those who see congregational success as a path to personal fortune. The road of Jesus is a different road than the road of business. When one views the excess of the leaders, one becomes quite skeptical and cynical of the flock. That is most unfortunate, and it turns many away from the path of the mentor.
The basics draws the followers, back to the basics should always be the driving force of the leaders.

Attitude is a Choice

Each day we move forward toward the end of our journey here in this life.
Each day presents different challenges, rewards, and expenses, and scenery.
Each day the road has bumps, pot holes, soft shoulders, and smooth stretchs, but no matter what it holds it is different from the previous day in some way.
No matter what happens in a given day it melds into the next, seamlessly, but differently with new rewards, challenges, expenses and scenery.
This journey of "each days" usually has a descriptive word attached to it.
The word that we use to describe this journey encapsulates our attitude toward life.
For some that word is hope.
For some that word is despair.
I have heard "same old same old".
I choose the word hope for my journey.
It is easier to be positive toward the day's journey with an attitude of hope than with an attitude of despair.

Keep The Money Here

So $800 Billion, 647 some pages, and what do we know. We are going to give soemone gobs of money to do with as they please. Print a report in China for next to nothing and charge Uncle Sam (me) more money than I will make in 100 lifetimes. I think not.
What we need is an executive decree from President Obama stipulating as such: To qualify for funds under the economic stimulus program: All goods, services, products, products components, manufacture and supply chain equipment must be sourced on American soil, utilizing American resources, American citizen labor, manufactured in American plants (can be owned by anyone I don't care), or there will be no money allocated. Receipts must be presented notating all sourcing, W-2 statements for all employees as well as proof of citizenship.Nothing, I mean nothing, that the United States Government purchases can be sourced anywhere outside the borders of the United States of America.
Now the rest of us private types, or citizens, we can buy stuff made anywhere in the world if we so choose, but the government that we support must purchase American made, American sourced, and citizen labored. Believe me, to get a piece of an $800 Billion pie even the greediest of our corporations (no matter where headquartered) will open a mothballed plant rather than lose a government contract of this magnitude. Go ahead, give it a try, I'll bet the private business owners will put their hands back in their pockets rather than have to play by these kinds of rules.

Day One

Day one. I remember how day one was a defining argument during the primary campaign.
Day one: a call to personal action.
Day One: A call to personal sacrifice.
Day One: A call to responsibility.
Day One: A call to each of us.
Jesus calls each of us to sacrifice, responsibility and action. America has always called us to responsibility and action. Just like with Jesus, lip service is easy, but not too effective. In the same way as the call to live our faith, we must answer the call to be a responsible, active citizen of our country by the way we live our citizenship. When I grew up "citizenship" was a class in my school. It would be a good time to bring it back and mandate its teaching. We will not prosper by being a nation of takers, we will prosper to the same degree as we help each other to prosper.
Day One is today, and everyday.
dennis

On Being Unorthodox

I was reading today, on the web, and wasn't at all surprised to see that the movement toward Unorthodox Christianity is taking a firmer hold of the Christian Community. As religion becomes the center of more and more conflict, more of us are looking skeptically at religion and asking where is the love? The most fundamental teaching of Christianity is Love One Another and daily we see the religious justification for breaking this fundamental rule. If this tenant is so flexible, then its existence becomes unnecessary.
The hypocrisy has overshadowed the text and rendered it basically moot. For the Unorthodox the tenant is a goal to aspire to, not a precept to judgement.

Thanksgiving

Thanks is almost inadequate for all the gifts that I have been given. I am not a man wealthy in dollars, but I have been made wealthy in special friends, business associates, and relatives.
It is more than food, it is the security that comes in America, even though that security is sometimes threatened, not by America's detractors, but too often by its own residents.
I have food for my table and shelter for my body.
I have conversation and companionship beyond my station and joy beyond the news of the day.
I have faith in my prayers, and a listener in my friend and my GOD.
The future is as bright as the day's sunrise, and even lights shine within the darkness of any given day.
I could not ask for more.
Thank you.

Democracy Changing Us All

Democracy is Changing Us All

There has been a lot of writing that I have done over the last many months as this last presidential campaign has matriculated. It is only reasonable and expected that I should comment on the result.
Tuesday November 4,2008 has changed America, the world, and most of all, each one of us. The examples that have come out of this campaign extend far beyond the obvious. From a former POW’s whose race has run over 50 years, to women who were now empowered to imagine and achieve the political pinnacle of success, to a Lincolnesque story written by an African-American, the dream is now in stone. The minority member who feels that they have no say in America has now fallen by the wayside. All of the excuses and justifications for behavior have now been nullified. The idea that sports was the only venue for success has been buried. Obviously our country has created opportunity for millions of successful minorities, whether African-American or Hispanic or Asian or Native-American but the top job seemed an unattainable fantasy that served to justify why so much couldn’t be accomplished so that many simply chose not to try. That logic is no longer valid. NOT FOR ME will not work for anyone. The excuses will not work for me (and I am white), and not for anyone. America is now home to the entire dream, the sky is the limit and ’circumstantial logic’ is no longer the safe haven for those who merely choose not to strive for that level of achievement.
The choice not to extend the parameters of ones existence has become just that, a personal choice. One cannot use the idea that because someone did something to me or to my people that I was limited to what I have become. I am the captain of my own ship and Barack Obama’s example is irrefutable. John McCain’s example of being held captive as a POW and his slow but methodical rise through the political ranks to being the oldest candidate for the Presidency and viable one is just as compelling. Hillary Clinton and Sarah Palin’s work in the trenches of politics has robbed the tower of its glass ceiling. This has been an historic race that truly has centered as much around the American dream as it has been rooted in political realities and economic necessity.
No matter what your religious affiliation, if any, some power has determined that the American Dream must become the American reality.
Today, that is so.
Human nature always casts a shadow over circumstance as justifying grace for whatever decisions we make or do not make. This event will write a new chapter, not just in American history, but in world history. The world will not be able to point at the American dream with skepticism and say “but look there, what about the……”, that argument is dashed forever in the sea of voters that proved that democracy can always have a finest hour.

America has proven once again that democracy is still a blank page waiting to be written in America’s history book.

Pitching or Catching, The Bailout

Pitching or Catching

One's opinions and preferences, whether political, religious, or social, depend upon the circumstances of their viewpoint at the time of the circumstance. This viewpoint, in turn, is influenced by the level of control that one has over that circumstance.

At its most simple definition, as espoused by a distant mentor:

"It all depends on whether you are pitching or catching."

This simple definition says that if you are in charge of the circumstance you make one sort of decision.
If you are on the receiving end as a beneficiary you make one sort of decision.
If you have to pay or provide at your own expense you make a different decision.
If you are being taken advantage of, you make one decision.
If you are in danger you make a different decision.
If you are a victim you make a different decision.
The circumstance remains the same, just where one's place is in the circumstance. Our personal opinion on any issue can change dramatically when our role in the dynamic changes to our benefit or our detriment.
We all want small government, but we want to benefit from a big government decision. We all profess wanting less regulation when less regulation makes us money, when it is our money making someone else benefit to our detriment, we want more regulation.
We all want cheap goods even if our neighbor loses their job to provide it. When it is our job that is lost in the name of cheap goods we want government to mandate change.
We all want a big fat 401K until the lost jobs and that attendant loss of income causes our 401K to plummet.

Now we want the government to bail us out.

I guess "It all depends on whether you are pitching or catching".

dw

No Vote Left Behind

So anyway, now all the promises start. $175 billion for this, $15 Billions for that, no tax increases, tax cuts for everyone, a chicken in every pot. I know that it can't happen. We are $9.5 trillion in debt and another trillion expected by next year. Who to vote for? What is making me sick, campaign after campaign is the emphasis, not on substance, but which "target states" are important. Those electoral college powerhouses that will leave the small guys outside the system. So I decided that I will vote for the candidate that promises NO VOTE LEFT BEHIND. The candidate who would promise that if they win the electoral vote, and lose the poplar vote, they will refuse to take office and acquise the election to the candidate that recieves the popular vote. Now THAT would be RADICAL change, as oppossed to the rhetoric for change that has permeated every election I have been seen.
dennis

Freedom of Choice

Never in my life have I seen America confronted with such a choice concerning President of the United States. No matter who wins in November, America has to choose what direction they are going to go in and the choice is dramatic. For a nation whose entire southern economy was built on slavery, one choice is for a black gentleman who has worked his way to the Presidential nominee of the Democratic Party. For a nation who steadfastly fought a womans right to vote and their rights to equal pay and opportunity, the alternate choice is for a woman from Alaska who could become President by ascension, only separated from office by and at least within an illness of a 72 year old Vietnam war veteran.
Whether either is truly qualified is irrelevant at this stage for the choice is markedly between one of the two. In an unashamedly polarized 2 party majority it is unlikely a third party candidate will break through the barrier of a well defined and polarized press to mount an alternative campaign that would sway voters away from their party affiliations. The gridlock between Republicans and Democrats now places America at the forefront of an historic choice. It will be interesting just which way the country chooses to go.

Rays of Hope

I watched the Democratic Convention last night and was reminded of the way the sun scratched through the clouds as a thunderstorm breaks up and the clouds dissipate. The people there, and I am sure, watching, could feel the rays of hope shining through the clouds of the past 7 years. Hope is the theme of all religions. Hope is the instinct of the morrow and the day. Hope is the music of the morning and the setting of the sun on the days challenges.
I pray the hope captures our imaginations and sets our course for the future and is not extinguished.
dennis

Random Patterns of Life

I think about lots. One of the things that crosses my mind every now and then is how my life has been like a quilt under construction. It is a quilt that consists of random patterns of squares, sewn together into one complete quilt by the end of my life. The quilt has now so presented itself that the randomness develops into its own uniqueness, each square dependent and yet independent from the others.

Each segment is lived within its own parameters, and yet each segment segues into the other like the scenes from a movie, dependent upon the scene before it. The breaks are neither clean, nor painless.

The players of the next act are unusually independent from the scene before it yet the main character cannot move forward until the current scene runs its course. Then, in a shadow on the back wall, resides the past, moving right along from scene to scene.

Of course, all of our lives play like this, I am no exception to the general rule. Sometimes the characters from scenes before filter through. In some ways vanishing memories carry their own rewards, but even those memories are weaved throughout the quilt, such are the stitchings that tie the quilt together.

Random patterns.

The term strikes me as an oxymoron, of course sometimes so do the words 'life' and 'death'.

On Politics and Jesse Jackson

So let me get this straight, as a general observer.
Jesse Jackson,high profile Black preacher is on a national Republican focused television interview program, seated with another Black man. He is wired for sound, with a camera focused on him, in the midst of an interview. He turns to his co-interviewee and bad mouths a person of his own race which is:
1. derogatory to a Black man, the race of whom he has utilized to further his own personal agenda all of his life
2. and by this act he is a traitor to the tenants of his own faith that he touts around the country like some minority saint.
So why would he do this in this forum and in this setting? After all of the times in his life that his comments have made headlines and been taken out of context, why would he choose this public forum to extend a personal opinion that common sense would reserve for the privacy of his own home? Forget that he was on camera with a microphone attached to his collar, duh.
You think maybe, just maybe, it could be designed to convince Black voters to vote Republican instead of the Black man who seems to be carrying Jacksons Rainbow coalition to the forefront of American society? Money perhaps? No, couldn't be. Could it? You think?

On Politics

Politics and religion seem to be running hand in hand in this years election quorums. Many ficticious facts, and lots of idle speculation about pastors, beliefs, concurrence, debates, etc. I am often times amused when the "true" Christians debate the fact that Jesus was a Jew, celebrated the Jewish holidays, resembled all those whose heritage stems from the Middle East, and otherwise can not concieve of a non Christian Jesus. Fact of the matter is, were Jesus running for President of the United States the debate would not be whether or not he would be a good candidate, whether or not he is a good man, whether or not he has enough experience in human and international relations (one would think the theoretical son of GOD may have a handle on such things), but the debate would center around his Jewish birth and whether or not He still clings to his cultural upbringing and beliefs. Being that there were no Christians in Jesus time, and no Christ for that matter, until after Jesus' death, it would difficult to categorize Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, as anything but Jewish stem to stern. The Christian right would therefore dismiss Jesus as a qualified candidate without debate. They would also strive to slure his character and fight to be sure he did not get elected to a position from which he could drag the country into perdition.
The most recent debate seems to center on whether Obama is a true Christian and whether McCain is conservative enough (whatever a conservative enough Christian consists of). So lets see, if Obama was Muslim as many contend, then certainly he must have succummed to the ultimate goal of the evangelical movement and converted to Christianity when he had seen the light and been saved and thereby fulfills the greatest goal and objective of all evangelical Christians which is to save the world through the Christian belief and acceptance of Jesus as the Lord and Saviour (whatever that means) and therefore He is the ultimate victory for all evangelicals and his election should be fought for and suppoorted whole heartedly with sermons from the pulpit as to the great victory of Christianity that his election would represent.
McCain, on the other hand, is not conservative enough, does not seem to be saved enough for his ideals are not conservative enough, even though most conservatives can not espouse just what conservative is.
It is so confusing when we go out into the political marketplace searching for a faith system and not for a good man. Perhaps the difficulty comes when we search for Jesus in a man, for when we do that even the Christians come up short. I don't see Jesus as being political enough, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours enough, wouldn't hand out enough perks, money or benefits, and otherwise would espouse love not war and throw our whole economy into the toilet to save the planet and help each other. Your right, a true Christian would make things worse, not better.

touching base

Just touching base with todays thoughts:
The past is filled with what we had hoped for,
The future is filled with what we wish for,
Today is the only thing we can hang on to for sure.

dennis

Tuesday 4-22-08

Success is watching your children grow up from where you are. We become so distracted from what we have to where we want to be, that the roses are too far to smell and dry out by the time we get there.
If you put your faith in the money of life, you may wake up some day and find that what wasn't deemed important once, is now the most important that WAS. Concentrate less on what you want and be thankful and grateful for what you have.

Have a great day.
d

GOOD NEWS

There is a reason we call the gospel GOOD news. That is because it is new news to even most traditional and orthodox Christians. What truly makes the message of Jesus of Nazareth special is that it is still NEW and it is still GOOD. Unorthodox Christianity is about the red print, the words ascribed to Jesus in a concordance Bible where the words of Jesus appear in red. For a much more exhaustive posting of ideas visit www.unorthodoxchristianity.com and view to your hearts content. Come back and comment or question here. Thanks and have a GOOD NEWS day.
dennis