New Beginnings

The deficit that our government faces is quite overwhelming, but not an excuse to throw our hands up and surrender. Hopefully with the new beginning of Congress there will be a sober heads and realistic elected officials who will for once in a very long time chose for America instead of for their re-electability. Here is a start, the New York Times has a Deficit Calculator called the Budget Puzzle. Here is an interactive look at decisions you could make to reduce our deficit if you were in charge of Congress. Very interesting and you have to make tough choices to balance the budget. Enlightening to say the least.

Is there a deficit of Truth? As Luke Skywalker is given his father's Lightsaber by Obi-Wan Kenobi in the original Star Wars movie (Episode IV), a decision, a way of life must be made by Luke constantly: Use the Lightsaber for Good or use it for Evil. If Luke fights for Good his Lightsaber will be identified as such. Drawing from this symbolism, we must fight for Good while acknowledging that the Dark Side will always be enticing us to convert. We must not give into the apparent pleasures of the power provided by the Dark Side.

Truth requires a lifestyle of decisions for Good and a discipline to battle the Dark Side that attempts to creep into one's life.

Ephesians 6:10-17 describes the fortress of Truth and the use of the Lightsaber of Truth - Scripture:

¹⁰ "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, ¹⁵ and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. ¹⁶ In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. ¹⁷ Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6

Hate Sells

Half the year is over and we are that much closer to 2012, where the world will end as we know it (I know because I saw the movie). I find it very interesting how many people really hate this or that. Those who are of the "tolerant" camp hate those who are intolerant and are not like them - intolerant of the intolerant (as Mr. Spock of Star Trek would say, "Illogical."). There are those who are intolerant of the tolerant (again Mr. Spock, "Fascinating."). Seems to me everyone is simply intolerant and employing their view as the "Only Correct" position (again by definition - intolerant).

So I propose that everyone stop with the "tolerant/intolerant" facade and acknowledge the hate that is spewed. Will someone explain to me how the current rants of hate (from the tolerant and intolerant camps) solve anything? Has it ever solved anything in history? This current rant of "tolerance" is simply disguised Hate! Once again we are guilty of not learning from the past and now we are destined to repeat it with the Hatfields and McCoys, the North and the South of our past Civil War.

We are (or use to be) a nation of ideas not ideologies. I guess Hate Sells - wasn't it a simpler time when it advertisers said that sex sells? Disagreeing without being disagreeable is a mark of civilized behavior within a society. Spewing hate from the Right to the Left and from the Left to the Right accomplishes the Hatfields and McCoys ideology.

I am free to believe; however, I am not free to harm. Freedom is not free and carries significant responsibility. The question we must ask ourselves (as opposed to demand from others) should be something to the effect of, "Are my actions generated from my beliefs physically harming others or the society at large?" The key words are My Actions and Harmful.

Hate, disguised in any form, is unequivocally harmful! Are our actions/words spewed with hate?

On page 246 of Power vs Force - The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior (Carlsbad, Calif., Bay House, Inc., 2002), Dr. David R. Hawkins writes:

"Frequently, the only way one can reach this willingness to change [from hate] is when one "hits bottom," that is, by running out a course of action to its end in the defeat of a futile belief system. Light can't enter a closed box; the upside of catastrophe can be an opening to a higher level of awareness."

If the pen is mightier than the sword (along with our words) and actions speak louder than words, then where does our hate-filled language take us? Or as Mr. Spock said in the TV series Star Trek from the episode titled "Errand of Mercy":

"It is curious how often you humans manage to obtain that which you do not want."

C'ya
Eagle Driver
check 6