Unconditional

So, some people will take this post as a post on religion, but it's not.  It is however, a look on unconditional love, and I will use examples of teachings that have been around for millennia.  I have re-written this several times because, honestly I was afraid of offending anyone, but in reality, we should be able to listen to someone’s point (or counterpoint) without taking it as a personal attack.  No one is going to think exactly as you do on every subject imaginable, so you might as well just respect their opinion and realize just because someone believes one thing, it does not in any way represent a personal attack on you.  If I talk about something that makes you feel guilty, then, that is your own conscience telling you something. Listen to it.

Unconditional love, by definition is that, love without conditions.  No stipulations, no borders, no limits.  Jesus spent time with sinners as well as saints.  I use Jesus because no matter what your personal beliefs, He can be used as an example of how to live, but more importantly how to love.

He did not love those or interact with those who could only better His position, to the contrary, He was often looked down upon because of the company He kept.  I mean, one of His most trusted apostles was, before the fact, a murderer and persecutor of Christians.  He knew that people can change, and that no one has the right to judge anyone, other than their own self and their higher authority, whatever your belief may or may not be. 

The problem with modern religion is that it is in fact, not modern, at least for the most part.  Unconditional love should be the basis for all religions.  Acceptance is a lesson in humility and humanity.  Judging someone for their past actions or appearance is not something that is taught in most religions, but it is practiced routinely.  Take tattoos as a prime example.  They are mentioned a lot in the Bible, and only once has a negative connotation, and that's when you scar your body for unholy ceremonies for the dead.  Honestly, do you really think that no one had tattoos back then?  Given, it was more of a female thing, but it was very prominent and Isaiah had believers tattoo themselves as belonging to God.  Just saying, any arguments against tattoos are invalid and those arguing the counterpoint should read their texts a little closer and not pick and choose what to take from it.

Yes, I have tattoos, and yes, I plan on getting more, and no, I do not feel guilty for doing so.  The point of this post is truly that not everyone is alike, not 100%, there will always be things that you don’t agree upon, but that doesn’t mean it is an attack on you or your character.  Some people like mustard, if you don’t it doesn’t mean that they don’t like you, but hopefully it means they won’t put mustard on your hamburger at the next cookout.

We are all different.  We are all unique.  We all deserve a little kindness and respect, so be sure to realize that others deserve that too and give them those things, without expectations.  Unconditional humanity, if you will.  I know I’m not going to change the world with one simple blog post, but we as a species are capable of so much more than what we are currently.  Focusing on hate or anger is the most counterproductive thing we can do as sentient beings.  Now, I’m sure I’ll get some “hate” mail from this post, but if you are contemplating sending that argumentative email to me, please re-read this post, I haven’t attacked anyone (even if they like mustard), I’ve expressed my view point which you can take or leave, I am by no means telling you that you have to agree with me.  Part of being human is the disagreements, but it’s moreso about the conversations about those disagreements. Super simplified - Make love, not war.  

Until next time, dear readers...

On Death and Dying (Not the Book)

I find myself here thinking a lot about life and death lately. They are forever linked, but not one in the same.  Different religions have different ideas and teaching about life after death, and there are many similarities between some of said religions.  This is not that article though, I’m not getting into a debate on religion, and which one has it “right.”  Never talk about politics or religion on a blog.  Just kidding, about 40% of blogs are dedicated to just those topics alone, but for my purposes, I will try my best to refrain.

Last week, Cassie’s sister laid to rest her not yet three month old baby.  If you have read my blog in the past, you know I don’t handle death well, I’m not sure why.  For whatever reason, I avoid the topic and when death happens, I still try to avoid it unless it is just unavoidable.  I have been to funerals where the deceased passed unexpectedly and suddenly, but not someone so young.  I hope I never have to again.  Never again.

This isn’t a post about a specific death or death in general, actually to the contrary this post is about life.  More specifically, about living life.  Our time upon this globe is very brief (yes, quoting\paraphrasing Dickens), and it is too short to be anything other than happy.  Don’t spend your time trying to make others feel bad so that you feel better by comparison.  Lifting up your fellow man is far more rewarding than pushing them down.  I’m not saying you should be someone who is constantly helping anyone and everyone, no, I’m not saying that at all.  Being kind doesn’t mean you need to be gullible, if someone consistently acts a negative way or hurts you repeatedly, you should avoid a situation where you would be putting yourself in a position to be hurt.  Common sense does play a part in all this.

You never get a wasted day back.  Lazy days are mentally refreshing, but only on occasions.  Again, time is a resource that you can never get back.  An interesting parallel I will mention is that recently I read quite a few articles and a doctoral thesis on time travel.  It was very interesting that on paper, forward travel (faster than we currently go) is possible.  Ther are many variables that we currently don’t have the technology or comprehension on the subject, so we wait until we do.  The funny thing was that when traveling back in time was mentioned, it was stated to be much more difficult and the requirements for the theory were impossible to reproduce, i.e. we need a containable black hole. Yeah.  It was fun to read on the topic for a while and daydream about what I could go back and fix, but on the other hand, everything that has happened made me who I am, and I like who I am right now, so why would I change it?  It is an ethical\moral\mental challenge to try to grasp the possibility.

Enough of my rambling, for those who keep asking, yes, I will release another podcast, just hold on to your pants.

Until next time, dear readers...