Philippians

For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

2

I share with Paul his methods and intensity to further the base knowledge of seekers and their desire to think critically. I see a level of devotion in the practice of Jainism that inspires me and reminds me of the tenacity of the Apostle Paul.

When living in hard conditions whether by choice or by circumstance, we can use the energy we get from the frustrations to propel ourselves farther into our ministry. It is hard giving up all the pleasures we see others engage in, but the satisfaction and fulfillment of working to further God's will and people's liberation is greater than any luxury sin could provide.

We see in Paul's letter that what we struggle with on the surface is the establishment, but the roots run much deeper. The source of this persecution is a spiritual one and in combating injustice, we must seek to engage the struggle on a spiritual level. We are not strong enough to battle the institutions of oppression economically or politically. But if we open our hearts to God's will we can be vessels of liberating change.

Our weapons are praying for God's divine intervention and His Word in both bible-based prophecy and directly in the Scriptures themselves. Like the Rastafari movement has understood we need to speak out against oppression in writing, speech, and song. We must live by Christ's example in a way that is set apart from the world whether in commune or in local networks.

1

I struggle daily

With crippling fear

Dark moods

Of doubt and negativity

My paranoia

Is all that seems real

For days at a time

What brings me through

Is the fellowship of my family

And God's grace

When I am filled with fear

I turn to Paul's letters

To cheer myself up

When the fear is spiritual

I turn to Ephesians

There are many things

We have no control of

Our job situation

Our family

And our health

The one thing we have control

Is our attitude

It is not always possible

To have complete control

Over your feelings

When you are mentally ill

But God always cares

Even if He doesn't stop everything

Our greatest comfort

Is that if we are born again

We can know for sure

That when we die

We will be with Christ

And while we are still here

We have God's word

And we have each other

And we have a gift

To help others with

2

It is easy to get distracted

From our purpose in life

But that is why we have

The Bible and other believers

To remind us

That we have a higher calling

Than our jobs and our health

We have a purpose

And a living God

That will bring us through

Some of the hardest things

Like mental and physical prison

Life long illnesses

And situations we cannot escape

We must look to Christ's example

To know how to handle

The tragedies of life

We can turn our focus

From the pain in life

And rejoice for what we have

To keep a thankful spirit

About us while enduring

The frustrations and turmoil

Of postmodern life

Romans

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of men who by their wickedness suppress the truth, for what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world his invisible nature, even his eternal power and deity, has been clearly seen, being understood by the things that have been made. So they are without excuse; for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools

3

When They Rejected God

As Europe refused to acknowledge

The moral authority of their God

They looked to the Greeks

For their ethical beliefs

They began to do

What we know is

Unnatural and demented

They believed that Man

Was more important

Than his fellow living creatures

While he made his own people

Live in filth and poverty

They worshipped the machines

They made and placed them

Higher than their fellow man

Men became enslaved to the

Pieces of dead trees and minerals

They found a new continent

Which they destroyed the native culture

Of a peaceful people

They got them addicted to their drugs

Which made them out of control

They sold them weapons

To kill living creatures more quickly

They killed off the native peoples

With biological weapons of mass destruction

They stole their land

And broke peace treaties they made

When the native people's land

Was found to have minerals

Which would make them more wealthy

They found people of a different color

Which they treated even worse

They treated them like they

Did the animals

They were owned and sold

They were used as property

They hacked down the vegetation

Centuries old trees were killed

So they could conquer more land

And settle it with outlaws

To make room for the machines

They killed defenseless little animals

And wore their skin

With the heads and feet still attached

They poisoned the water

Out of waste from their machines

All so a few of them

Could live in such wealth

That had never been acquired as much

By any other people in history

Evil Traits

When they stopped worshipping God

The Europeans began to

Make larger wars

Force captured people to fight their wars

Invent ways to kill more efficiently

Invent ways to make the poor even poorer

Take away land and jobs from the poor

Tax poor people into slavery

Send taxes to the wealthy few

Make people work without pay

Find chemicals to force others into slavery

Divide country against country

Steal entire races wealth

Invent more toxic chemicals

Poison the waters

Bring new diseases to destroy populations

Permanently deplete natural resources of others

Destroy the artistic resources of entire countries

Educate people to give up their religions

Use religion to persecute others

Force others to convert to their religions

Worship their machines

Destroy entire civilizations

Introduction

Thou shalt have no other gods before me...Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

4

When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. Let his days be few; and let another take his office. Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places. Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. Let his posterity be cut off; and in the generation following let their name be blotted out. Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. Let them be before the Lord continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart.

5

My culture and its ancestors were responsible for the exponentially increased suffering of the past 500 years. We have the audacity to blame the Scriptures for the things we knew we did wrong and knew the Bible spoke against. The real blame was our unbelief and our valuation of things more than sentient beings and all other life.

Forgive Us

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For our idolatry

Of our precious Science

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For giving up

On our beliefs

Because we found something

Newer and shinier

To play with

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For the destruction

Of Your creation

So that we might

Make ourselves fancier toys

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For treating our own species

Less because of the color

Of their skin

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For our devotion to money

And the compromises

We made for

The accumulation of wealth

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For valuing efficiency

Over justice and equality

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For sacrificing

Our children's future

For a fancier retirement

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For exterminating

Entire species

For our fashions

And our entertainment

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For compromising

What was right

For what was convenient

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For starting wars

To destroy peaceful neighbors

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For destroying

Whole cultures and peoples

When we found

Gold on their land

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For advancing technology

Only if it could be used

As a weapon

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For basing our entire

Way of life

On cultivating greed

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For making friends

With the powerful

As the expense

Of the weak

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For using

The resources of others

For our personal enjoyment

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For destroying the homes

Of other species

So we could be richer

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For giving up on justice

When we found a scapegoat

Our Father in Heaven

Forgive us our sins

For blaming our problems

On Your Scriptures

Revelations

I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance. I know that you cannot bear evil men, but you have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and have found them to be false; I know you have persevered and have endured for my name's sake, and you have not grown weary. But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember then from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.

6

Christians look to Heaven as their future home and the Earth as just a waiting station. We are comforted by the fact that we will no longer suffer or have to live in violence once Christ returns and defeats the devil once and for all.

Metaphor of Christ's Return

Millions of hooves

Beat the ground

In unison

The riders are angelic

With white fabric

Draped across their bodies

The Lord Jesus Christ

Leads the soldiers to battle

He is afraid of no one

His gaze sees through your soul

He has defeated the dinosaur

With a two-sided sword

All the red flesh is fallen

Into the rivers of blood below

The dragon's wings are clipped

Like a pet parakeet

The evil monsters

The crypto dinosaur fish

And the King Kong

Who have special powers

Beyond the laws of physics

Were thrown into

The molten lava lake

That flows for all eternity

The unfaithful corporations

Whose stocks are worthless

Their offices vacant

And their business looted

Are bankrupt for eternity

With their board of directors

Along with the investors

Locked in prison

For crimes against humanity

There are no technology privileges

Or any legal defense

For all eternity

Jesus Christ is our CEO

Our commander-in-chief

And our pastor

Sketch of Heaven

A singularity formed

There was a big bang

And the universe

Was created again

There is a celestial city

Where suffering is no more

The fountain of youth

Is open to everyone

The city is on a hill

It glows like a polished mirror

Fit for a giant telescope

And having the value

Of countless Hope diamonds

The wall is as high

As the tallest skyscraper

Angels like US Marines

Faithfully guard

Each of the dozen gates

The city plan

Is square in shape

The wall is of vivid green jade

And the city is

24 karat gold

The foundation is made

Of the Crown jewels

The gates are

Mother of Pearl

The street is clear

As drinking water

The lights are always on

And the energy source

Is God Himself

The roadways will

Always be open

Only good, ethical people

Will be there

A river of water

As pure as from a glacier

Flowed down the main street

There was a fruit

For every month

The leaves of the trees

Brought peace between

The races of people

Black Jesus

From Ur of the Chaldeans

Came Abraham

The Chaldeans were descended from Ham

And Jesus was of the line of Abraham

Therefore Jesus is black

Jesus loves those in need

He loves those without food

He wants to save those who suffer

He raises prophets amongst the oppressed

Therefore Jesus is African

Jesus loves people not corporations

He loves those who don't love Him

Jesus breaks laws of physics

To bring relief that glorifies God

Therefore Jesus is the Other

Jesus was born a member

Of a persecuted race

He started a new movement

To bring equality and justice

Therefore Jesus is color blind

Many Names

What is Mystery Babylon?

What one country does this much evil?

Is God picking on Iraq or America?

Babylon is an idea

Babylon is a an unfaithful believer

Babylon is materially rich

Babylon is obsessed with sex

Babylon controls the world

Babylon has many names

Babylon is consumerism

Babylon is imperialism

Babylon is capitalism

Babylon is Hollywood

Babylon is a corporation

Babylon is Wall Street

Power of Babylon

Babylon is the power that is

Babylon is about rebellion

Babylon feeds off conflict and violence

Babylon worships sex, power and money

Babylon is the enemy of the Church

Babylon targets the poor

And aims at the different

She loves the follower

She loves those with no mind of their own

She loves those afraid to make decisions

She hates individuals

She hates new ideas

She hates those who think differently

She hates those who refuse to conform

When you raise your hand against her in anger

She wins

When you protest her politically

She gains power

When you fight her economically

She grows stronger

Her weak point

Can be attacked only through prayer

White Church

The rich white men

Don't like anyone different

Than themselves

They don't like people who look different

Or act different

They have all the power

They are drawn to churches

They believe that God

Supports whatever they believe

They believe that God advocates

The status quo

They pick verses from the Bible

In a way that supports intolerance and ignorance

Which goes against all the main ideas

In all the books of the Bible

They are not afraid of just making things up

That are factually incorrect

Or taking things out of context

These people are often the leaders

Of churches worldwide

They are a very poor witness

And they exhibit no evidence

Of a genuine faith

They just keep driving around their SUVs

That are capable of towing another SUV

With pro-Bush bumper stickers

These are the same people

Who are anti-Arab and anti-Muslim

And are so pissed off about them

That the facts of the case

Don't factor into their plans of revenge

These are people who vote

For corporations robbing the poor

Without even being paid off

People who won't admit

The help they received

In getting their wealth

Both legal and otherwise

Who blame the poor

For problems the rich created

Hate and the Bible

White people have used the Bible

As a way to push their beliefs of hate

But what does the Bible really say?

Jesus was a Jew

Ham was not cursed

In the Church

There are to be no distinctions

Between races, sexes, social groups

Or any other artificial division

Why is the church organized along

Racial, gender, and social lines

If the Bible is so clear on the subject?

Because those in leadership

Don't really care what the Bible says

Justifying beliefs of hate on the Bible

Is only possible when you lie

About what the Bible says

Prayer and Reasoning

If we cannot fight politically or economically

Then how do we resist?

The war is a spiritual one

So we fight with reasoning

And with prayer

We sing, we write, we discuss

We speak words

Revealed to us by God

We pray prayers

Asking for revelation and discernment

We separate ourselves

From those who belong to Babylon

Violence is not the solution

Because Babylon feeds off conflicts

The root problem

Is spiritual rebellion

The way to kill the weed

Is to get at its roots

The problem with the church

Is that the supernatural

Is ignored and not dealt with

The Bible does deal with the supernatural

But the mainstream church

Doesn't want to believe it

The church is losing to earth religions

Because people know the spiritual is real

Red, Green, and Gold

My heart is red, green, and gold

I cannot live

With a white heart

My heart goes out

To all the third world

I believe that those

Different from myself

Understand God better

Than other European Americans

It is hard to take pride

In being Scottish or French

When the world has been

Destroyed by Western Europeans

Do not judge me

By the color of my skin

I am not a rich white man

I do not feel close

To people who look like me

I read as little as possible

Written by the rich white man

I reject his culture

And his belief system

I identify more with Asian culture

Than I do my European lineage

Generations

Like Abraham's call by God

So I believed I was called away

To another land

With my enlistment in the Army

Like Jacob's wrestle with God

I started to fight with God

About why He allows suffering

During college

Like Moses liberating his people

From the land of the Pharaohs

So I was liberating from paranoia

After my stay in a psychiatric ward

Like Joshua leading his people

Into the land of Canaan

So I fought to stay as independent

And rational as possible

Like Israel under Solomon

God blessed my work and I flourished

In my writing and artwork

Then I lived like a prophet

In the wilderness of the retirement home

Fighting for justice

And feeling I lived in the shadow

Of many old people's wrath

Now my desire for justice and freedom

Has been fulfilled with my return

To my own apartment

Like the Israelites came back to the land

After their years of captivity

Under the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, etc.

In my life I have lived many generations

Like being reincarnated

My situation changed each time

And my life was different at each stage

Naked Mind

Like a devout monk

My mind operates

In transparency and nakedness

As there are no obstructions

Between me and my feelings

For others they see life

Through filters

To keep their minds

From every emotion

That flies by

For me I am naked

And there is not

Even a thin white robe

Between me

And the thoughts

That race by

I feel deeply about injustice

And people hurting others

For any reason

I struggle to be balanced

And to keep my mind clear

Of the paranoid conclusions

My mind makes from

Reflection on the situation

I have to guard my mind consciously

As the normal controls and safeguards

Are not present

Leaving and Letting Go

It is as hard

For me to let go

Of things others said

That have hurt me

As it is to miss a chance

To spend time with my family

Like karma

Wrongs done against me

Take a long time to be forgiven

Letting go of frustrations

And large projects

I want to finish

I am so deeply invested in

I am like a king

Who cannot bear

Giving his fortune away to monks

Even if it brings better karma

And a better life later on

Growing as a person

Through the generations of reincarnations

Is what we do in life

Our lives take many different

Turns and paths

Along the way we learn or

Continue to get attacked by wild animals

Until we gain control of our emotions

Feelings are the hardest thing to give up

Because we hold them close to ourselves

And build our identity upon them

Value of Music

A movement without form

Far purer than poetry

A unified understanding

Of science and religion

We strive to go deeper

To remember before

We first heard any sound

This movement unites

Our heart and our spirits

It brings beauty unspoiled

By logic and reason

It is a method of learning

The highest form of religion

It is the same

In the east and the west

It is the essence of creation

It is our final hope

We reach out to it

As mere children

And respond to it

In meaning and in action

It is the language

Of our mind

It is the inspiration

That drives us to think

It is the vision

Of our imagination

It is the foundation

Of freedom and expression

Inspiration

When I close my eyes

There are countless patterns

When I fall asleep

Symbols come alive

There is a calmness

That our minds sometimes

Find by accident

A certain balance of chemistry

In the human brain

That drives us to action

There is a feeling

That we cannot ignore

There is a sound

That keeps company

With silence and emptiness

There is a magical experience

When our memories flow

In waves of water and wind

From thought to belief

From hearing and from smelling

Our laughter awakens

In each moment

We stop working

The joy of silence

Overwhelms the spirit

With each step

Through the garden

We create a path

And in each stride

We come together

We cannot count

Past our age

In the middle of the room

There is always space

To dance and sing

Vigor and Completion

I cannot remember

The note before

I write it down

I cannot stop

My mind from smiling

When I think

Of new words

The time for finishing

Has come and gone

Where is meaning

Without necessity?

What is a solution

Without a beginning?

When will we learn

The beat of the guitar

And the notes of a drum?

Why do we write music down?

Why do we stop listening

When the music is finished?

Why do we start songs

We can't finish?

When there is a reason

There is still hope

When there is a new chorus

It is time to sing

I reach out to the sky

But I can only

Run so far

Help Farm Animals

Human laborers are not the only

Foundation of civilization

Farm animals were used

In the creation of modern civilization

For food and other products

They could be made into

As well as their labor on farms

Although most farmers

Now use machines

We would not have gotten to this point

Without the labor of farm animals

We still crave the products

That come from the farm animal

We crave the meat, milk, eggs

To enrich our diets

And we make leather and glue

Out of horses and cows

We also do cruel things

To farm animals

In the way we feed

And how we house them

We are also cruel

In using the smaller ones

Like rabbits and mice

As guinea pigs

For products too toxic

For humans anyway

With all the farm animals

Contribute to our culture

And for all they have suffered unfairly

Find a way to help improve the life

Of a farm animal today

The Land is a Gift

The land has given us

So much wealth

The earth gives us vegetation

For shelter, medicine, and food

The earth gives us minerals

For shelter, medicine, and art

The land gives us water

For energy, health, and hygiene

The earth gives us fuel

For transportation, warmth, and machinery

The land gives us space

For shelter, community gatherings, and monuments

The land has given us so much

And asks nothing of us

But to be good stewards

Of its forests and landscapes

Deserts and tundra

Mountains and hills

Valleys and lowlands

Oceans and rivers

Sky and clouds

To keep the earth alive

With vegetation and living creatures

Not only have we not appreciated

The resource we get

From the earth

We have poisoned and torn apart

The land and its creatures

We need to stop creating trash

And waste that isn't organic

We need to live within

The energy we have available

We need to keep at least some of the land

Free from any development

And where we do develop

We need to not disturb

Its living creations

Loving Pets

Our animal friends love us

No matter what we look like

No matter how smart we are

No matter how much money we have

The only thing

An animal cares about

Is how much you love them

How you take care of their needs

How you create joy in their lives

The time you spend with them

The quality of food

You provide for them

How clean you keep

Their living space

How gently you touch them

And pick them up

For the amount of effort

You put into caring for them

They create in enjoyment

10 times as much

When we think of helping

In poverty and injustice

We should think first

Of our animal friends

Who live without homes

And in unclean situations

Who are neglected and abused

Or who are in jail though innocent

21 Bombs

When I was in Middle School, I was threatened by other kids. They said they knew where I lived and would come after me. I was proactive. I made variants of Molotov cocktails out of gasoline, rubbing alcohol, turpentine, fire starters, batteries, or whatever else I could find around the house. I even made a crude protective mask out of baking soda and a rag and a protective vest out of tin cans, bricks, and steel wool. I spilled some gasoline on the floor and it stained when my parents were gone. They came back and smelled gasoline, so they checked my room and found my bombs. I had them stored in my room for over a year and the summer that year was especially hot. Much of the gasoline had evaporated. Good thing I never smoked.

Smoking Bed

When I was a freshman in high school, I had a book report due the next day, which I hadn't even read the book for yet. My parents wouldn't let me stay up late that night so that I could read the book, so I put an incandescent desk lamp under about five layers of thick blankets, but I fell asleep before I turned off the lamp. Luckily I woke up when I did, because my bed was smoldering. I unplugged the lamp and told my parents. My dad could hardly breathe in the room - there was so much smoke. I had to spend that spring break pulling out the char from the mattress, re-stuffing it, and sewing it back up.

Hypothermia

I was in Scouting for 11 years from Tiger Cubs all the way to Eagle Scout and when I was a sophomore in high school, I was in the Adventure Patrol. We did more extreme camping than the younger kids. One of the things that they decided to do was go snow camping. Unfortunately, I could not afford the right gear to keep me warm. The problems started when I got my skis and poles. They didn't give me long enough skis to hold up my weight and they gave me pulls that were too long. I had never skied before and we were walking through several feet of snow. I fell down and got soaked. I didn't have any shoes besides the ski boots. I started shivering when I made my snow cave and by the time I finished I was thinking irrationally. Luckily the leader checked on me. He said my home made stove would put just enough heat out to melt the snow around it and put the fire out. I went to a ski cabin and warmed up and then slept in one of the leaders' van that night.

Sparking Outlet

This happened just the other day (at 25). I have a worker that comes to walk with me and clean my house 3 times a week. He was pulling out the bed to make it and bumped the answering machine cord where it plugged into the outlet. Sparks flew as high as his hips. He tried to unplug it but sparks flew out again. I called the management and then turned off the power with the circuit breakers. The electrician came a half an hour later. He showed me a dime that was melted. Apparently, he said that the dime had some how fallen down onto the prongs and got wedged in there. This was a freak accident that would be hard to reproduce even if we did it on purpose. He said if I hadn't turned off the power when I did, I could have had a fire. He replaced the outlet. I no longer use a phone that requires being plugged in.

Less money but more fun

He who dreams of drinking wine may weep when morning comes; he who dreams of weeping may in the morning go off to hunt. While he is dreaming he does not know it is a dream, and in his dream he may even try to interpret a dream. Only after he wakes does he know it was a dream. And someday there will be a great awakening when we know that this is all a great dream.

7

Businesses often make money not by satisfying genuine needs but by appealing to a person's emotional insecurities. They create a market for their goods when there isn't an established market for their good or service. Advertising is the usual medium that is used to create this emotional need. Advertisers convince people that people need to buy their product to be happy, by convincing people that only things that cost money are fun. These are false distinctions that separate luxury from subsistence expenditures and that create inequality and suffering.

This kind of advertising is often common with a corporation because of the abstraction of the stockholders (owners) of the company from the management decisions that the company makes and the lack of the personal responsibility that this arrangement fosters. Most businesses are not corporations, have first hand insights into social justice issues, and often bear more personal responsibility than individuals, but most of the businesses that people are familiar with are the multi-national corporations that dodge personal responsibility and pursue profits blind of the consequences.

Save on public transportation

Not only is money saved when people use city buses, greyhound buses, and trains instead of cars, taxis, and airplanes; but it also saves time because the routes are organized better and they stop closer to the places where a person can find entertainment with less time spent questioning others and learning by trial and error. Cars cost a tremendous amount of money and some families have found that they save thousands of dollars a year even when they rent a car for vacation as compared to owning one.

Find joy in producing, rather than consuming

Entertainment that costs the most money is where there is the most service rendered and the most personalized attention. Entertainment requires both of these. When you are the one performing rather than being the spectator, you feel greater involvement and personalization and it can cost quite a bit less than consumption-focused entertainment.

Do things for others rather than yourself

A person will always be disappointed when they try to satisfy their own ever increasing desires for pleasure. There really is often more joy in helping others than in consuming for ourselves. It is free to volunteer and it is usually more fun than doing things for yourself because the attitude is more positive in volunteering.

Be spontaneous and absurd

Humor is just an incredible insight that hits at just the right moment in an understandable way. Absurdity is that which is human and defines our unique existence. It is the human that challenges our conception of what is human most that is the most human. When someone just goes and does something without being self-conscious they often have more fun than if they spent time planning it. There is no one to impress unless you are into politics or in high school. Business makes money by having a person engaging in activities that they can control and manipulate. Spontaneousness and absurdity are things that businesses cannot make sense of and those inclinations lead to less consumerism.

Motion = Stillness

When the body is still, then the mind races. When the body is moving, then the mind is still. People spend much of their lives sitting and talking or resting and planning to help alleviate stress and conflict, when just forgetting the whole thing would be much better. Non competitive sports are great for this but the same motion can be derived from spending time with animals or even reflecting on the wind, rain, and racing shadows. Getting where there is fresh air is important for this (for the ears and a sense of space, not for the lungs), so when there is reading of books, spending of time planning, or spending of any money the action becomes too purposeful and the uselessness is lost.

No Expectations

This is one of the reasons why humans experience so much more pain than animals: they have an expectation of what events should be like. This leads to drug use and a compulsive consumption of luxury items. Don't expect events to unfold like you have been told they should, and don't look for some set course of events or outcome that will make it a good story.

Holding onto the Moment

There can be an eternity in a moment. Camus said that a person only needed to live one day to survive a lifetime in prison. Society is very wasteful not just materially but with memories, time, and thought. When a person is at work, the time seems to last forever, but when they are having fun, it seems to go by so fast. Time cannot be changed but perspective can. It all works out the same for us, because we live our lives in our minds.

Understand the Ecology

There is no one set way of having more fun with less money. The key is understanding your entire ecology and the system that you live in. By working within it, and not against it, you will can learn to escape from the way the world works more with your mind and so you will need to expend less effort with your body.

Purpose

* a community for the open exchange of Plush friendly ideologies

* a central clearinghouse of information for Plush health

* a Plush cooperative distance recreation center

* a Plush way to create belonging and build relationships

* for those Plush animals with intellects far beyond those of humans

* founded in honor of Norm (a Plush cow)

Admissions

* There will be an equal ratio of Plush farm animals, sea creatures, and birds

* Plush animals must be surfaced washed regularly

* Plush souls must be in their original bodies

* Plush animals must be able to communicate through their human guardian

* Plush animal must be computer literate

* Plush animal must get enough rest time and play time each day

Programs of Study

Still Theory Core

* Taoist Perspective on Equality

* Gothic Perspective on Beauty

* Skeptical Perspective on Humanity

* Existential Perspective on Individuality

* Confucian Perspective on Respect

* Ecofeminist Perspective on Suffering

Electives

* Plush Anatomy and Physiology

* Plush Adaptations of Popular Sports

* Common Plush Emotional Issues

* Distribution of Plush Food Products

* Plush Musical Techniques

Faculty

* Professor Beary, School of Plush Agriculture, Music, Sports

* Professor Bow, School of Plush Medicine, Music, Sports

* Professor Patrick, School of Counseling

Amos

Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The Lord hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt.

9

Matthew

Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God

10

1 Corinthians

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

11

1 Timothy

But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

12

James

For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool: Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats?

13

Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire

14

Revelations

Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men

15

Genesis

And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones.

16

Psalms

Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep

17

Luke

Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

18

Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

19

2 Corinthians

As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.

20

Galatians

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not

21

Hard Work

My neighbor says

He wants a website

You do websites?

What is it for?

To sell things

I am not your man

I know how to write

How to design

How to think

How to create

How the technology works

I  have 9 years of experience

And am hard working

I can do it for free

By I don't know how

To convince people

To buy something

It is a common misconception

That people are poor

Because they are lazy

In America we equate

Hard work with money

But their are millions

Who would beg to differ

Proverbs says we should

Work hard

But God never promises

To make us rich

Even if we follow

All His commandments

If godliness equated money

Or money was to be valued

Then Jesus would have been rich

Paul was poor and in prison

And he was happier then

Than any time of his life

Solomon was rich but depressed

When he had the wealth

Of the entire world

He wrote the most

Nihilistic book of the Bible

American Philosophy

You thought philosophy

Was the love of knowledge

But why does it matter

If it can't make you rich?

If working 40 hours a week

Gives you enough money

To live on

Then working 80 hours a week

Will give you money to invest

If you invest all that money

You will be rich

And then you can start

Your own business

So you can be a proprietor

Then you can sell

Your business

To make more money

Don't worry about

Studying the classics

It only matters

If you have money

The more money you have

The more you can make

The more time you spend

The more money you make

This is all you need to know

The rest is luck and marketing

What else is there to life?

Faith and Work

You are a technical writer

Your job is to write

About new technology

Your audience is affluent

You publish for your advertisers

You publish facts

But they seem to always

Be in favor of whoever

Pays you the most money

When you are discovered

You lash out angrily

With weakly worded insults

You get angry comments

You lose more readers

Do you think

You did something wrong?

Was that you at church

On Sunday

In the front row?

Was it you who ranted on

About those liberal rascals

In the church parking lot?

Do you think you were

Acting Christian?

What has that

Got to do with it?

Bad Monk

He wears a coarse robe

Of brown burlap

His head is shaved

And he is silent

He works in the fields

In the heat of the day

He picks oranges

Atop high ladders

And makes marmalade

The following morning

To give to the

Orphans and widows

To bring a smile

To their little faces

He kneels down

For the midnight prayers

This is how he spends

Most of his days

What a waste

He could be pulling

A 6 figure salary

As a professional gambler

If he would just

Jump the border

And steal someone's identity

No questions would be asked

He would only be taking

A job Americans

Are unwilling to do

Religion of Isolation

God loves me

And my family

He doesn't like you

He chose to save me

No matter what I do

I am one of the few

Who get to go

To Heaven

God didn't choose you

So you got to Hell

I cannot explain

Why God makes

Those decisions

But we have no right

To contest it

I don't have to care

That all my friends

And coworkers

Are unbelievers

I believe they

Have been specifically

Chosen to suffer

For all eternity

It is all set in stone

And it doesn't matter

How you or I act

You are one of those

Who haven't been chosen

I will not associate with you

Because I am better

We have exclusive clubs

And we make more money

Our kids will be

Your kids bosses

God has blessed us

For His reasons

We have enough members

We are not interested

In your salvation

We will try to punish you

By creating laws

That are based on our

Odd view of life

We think everyone

Should follow our beliefs

No matter if they believe

Or not

Worldly

The whole world

Is Going to Hell

Except the members

Of my church

If you don't believe

Just like us

In our warped

View of Scripture

There is no hope

For you

Those who are

Not among us

Die their hair

Bright colors

They paint their fingernails

All solid black

They have piercing

And they have tattoos

They read Harry Potter

And listen to

Liberal radio broadcasts

And non Christian music

They have parties

And watch movies

They watch TV

And use the Internet

They drink alcohol

Outside of communion

No on like that

Would dare come to

Our church

Who Can Help Themselves

God will only help you

If you can help yourself

You are only saved

If you are rich

God always blesses you

In a purely financial way

Christian charity

Means having a job

That pays lot of money

If you can do this

By your own skills

Then God will help you

God looks down on

Those who are lazy

Who we can determine

By those who make

Only a little money

Money follows grace

The point of following

All of God's commands

Is to get rich

If you weren't gaining anything

Then why would you

Go to all the effort

Of going to church

And raising money

To send your kids

To camp in the summer?

Feast

A third of the world

Eats a bowl of rice a day

A third of the world

Is starving to death

All so we can

Live in luxury

We have enough food

To feed a city

In each of our

Grocery stores

On every street corner

We buy a meal

For $10

Without thinking twice

If we gave

To a food charity

A person could live

A week and a half

On the same money

Our disabled cows

Cost more to feed

Than third world children

Our cats eat more meat

Than the average person

In South America

Our government

Pays farmers

To not grow crops

And millions

Are starving

Overfed

People in the third world

Are dying

For lack of food

Americans are dying

From eating too much

Our top cause of death

Is heart disease

Which comes from

Eating too much

Fat, sugar, and salt

1-5 year old kids

Drink sugar water

As often as fruit juice

6-11 year old kids

Eat cookies

More often than fruit

12-17 year old kids

Eat potato chips

As often as salad

22% of those 18-24

Eat almost completely

Foods high in

Fat, sugar, and salt

Almost 50%

Of Americans' food money

Is spent at restaurants

Richest Poor

Americans are considered

Under the poverty line

If we make less than

$55 a day

The people making

Most of our clothing

Make $2 a day

To help them

We protest

By not buying

From them

Which drives down

Their wages

8% of people worldwide

Own a car

89% of Americans

Own a car

We say we can't

Afford gas prices

So we buy

Another car

Which is even bigger

American kids have a

Bigger allowance

Than the total income

Of 1 billion

Of the world's poorest

American 10 years olds

Average more money

Per week

Than the people

That produce

What they buy

And these facts

Are getting worse

Every day

Tones of Creation

The vibrations

Of stringed instruments

Is how the universe

Exists in time

For each frequency

There is a different

Realm of existence

When we create music

We harmonize with

The many worlds

Of divergent realities

We can experience

Higher planes of existence

In the music of the spirit

We can feel the state of time

Differently at each tone

Musical note patterns

Correspond to levels of existence

We invoke the attention of God

When we create pleasing tones

With a heart of humility

In each rhythm

We elevate our minds

To a different aspect of creation

To a parallel world

Of spiritual blessings

Law of Music

Music is behind

Our every joy

Our every action occurs

In the backdrop of sound

The harmony we experience

With our creator

Is musical in nature

How we see life

Is music incarnate

Everything we feel

Has a unique note

Every aspect of creation

Has a musical equivalent

In art and poetry

In sculpture and ceramics

Our hearts beat

To the pulse of a drum

With a sense of music

We are balanced

In health and in spirit

In every activity

Their is a splash of melody

With each breathe we take

We can hear a song

If we are attune

To the workings of the Spirit

Nature's Symphony

As we experience

The natural world

We perceive that ever aspect

Has a harmony

And a corresponding melody

The water plays a song

It flows to a specific beat

The sky is in tune

With the movements of the clouds

The trees wave to a frequency

At the rate of the wind

In each step we make

Into the realm of God's art

All of His creation

Reaches out to us

As a luxurious sound

A music without set notes

A kind of jazz of the heart

A way of seeing

That is more vivid than shouting

And at a tempo that is more regular

Than that of a marching band

We keep to ourselves

The joy of being an instrument

Of the orchestra of the Lord

When we do not express

The great music we live by

Plush Music

I can hear the tapping

Of a stuffed cow's hoof

To the beat of an

Imagined rhythm

With each step he takes

He lets out a sigh

Which I hear as

The strumming of a guitar

The whole herd

Moves in great concert

Of a living orchestra

Each note is timed

To the perfection of eternity

The joy contained within

Those little hearts

Of fabric and softness

Can shatter my pride

Into ten thousand pieces

The melody of their songs

Elevate me to a higher level

Of spiritual fruits

In every waking moment

And even in the depths of sleep

They create movements of music

Greater than the length

A runner completes in a marathon

Why Cows?

Cows have been abused throughout history for labor, meat, milk, leather, and manure. The related words in Chinese are "jail" and "complain."

Discrimination of the Mentally Ill

I identify with cows because I am mentally ill. The mentally ill have been the most targeted group of people for persecution, discrimination, marginalization, segregation, isolation, and more. Even as late as the 50's people were locked up for being mentally ill and even today they still receive electroshock therapy against their will.

Personal Discrimination

I have been denied several volunteer jobs because they knew I was mentally ill although definitely qualified and have no criminal record nor have ever been institutionalized, I have not received federally mandated equal access to education which my only request that required effort from the instructor was oral test or test by paper, I have not been given a case worker because the county did not have any more available although I qualified, as a veteran I still have to travel hundreds of miles for dental treatment and have to pay for many medical expenses upfront, and to even get my disability I had to wait a year and a half which is not uncommon which if I worked in that time I would be disqualified, and I was not told about services available in my community and had to find them on my own.

Beary and Bow Campaign Issues

"No One's Toy"

We pledge to do all in our power as long as it is legal, ethical, and safe to

Environment

* Outlaw meat as it is the number one killer of American people and farm animals

* Come up with penalties worse than death for committing crimes worse than murder (like burning down forests or experimenting on animals)

* Legalize and market hemp as a safe, economical, and superior alternative to paper

Public Safety

* Put enough surveillance cameras and microphones to see and hear everyone who is committing crimes

* Make traffic violations that involve safety felonies

* Make tobacco illegal as it is one of the leading causes of death and kills many more people than banned drugs

Business

* Put 300% tariffs on all good and services not done entirely by Americans

* Disband all unions of white collar workers

* CEOs will be 100% accountable for anything illegal that anybody in their company or the company itself does

* Businesses that have more than 100 employees will not get any government funds

Government

* Make a quota that half of the government's ethnicity be Native American

* There will be a flat tax with no conditions and no way to not pay

* Give back all land in the US west of the Mississippi River to Native Americans

Leadership

Cow in my heart

My vision of life

Filling the void

My paranoia has left

There is something

About the way he lies on his back

The expression on his face

He is totally at peace

His relaxing is complete

With my mind to tap off of

And his own natural strength

There is nothing he cannot do

With stylus between his hoofs

He is at command in his house

With a plush blanket

He spreads out the bounty

Bow tie or shirt

Both cows share leadership

With a natural grace

With a genuine awkwardness

They make decisions

That further the interests of the herd

They take each day

With one hoof in front of the other

Sometimes I see in their eyes

The stress of their position

But they never complain

And ask for little

Although overflowing with presents

They prefer to spend time with me

Day after day they comfort me

Will they fade away to nothing

Or does God have plans for animals?

Is there a future for plush?

Kind fathers and concerned husbands

These are family cows

What will their line come to?

The adopted adopting others

Unwanted by a nation of ignorant

The fatherless becoming fathers

What strain it must be

To know just what to say

To make your little calf feel better

When my relatives won't accept him

Cow Slogans

* Don't eat us. We were your childhood friends.

* Don't segregate us. We are all multicolored.

* Zebras are just cows running really fast.

* Wooly mammoths are cows with poor metabolism.

* You don't still breast feed. Why do you drink our mother's milk?

* Eat grass. Look how strong we are!

* We leave no calf behind.

* We have herd mentality and we aren't violent.

* Our wives are not just vats to manufacture your chocolate.

* And the cows' eyes are not cloudy all day.

* Don't forget to shake our hooves in greeting.

* The cow bell sets our daily rhythm.

* You bring the cereal and we'll bring the milk.

* Cows with nose rings are not alternative cows.

* Look ma - no hands!

* There are cows in almost every continent.

* Cows are the victims of alien visitation

* Without cows, what would we moo?

* For every struggling lawn there is a cow solution.

* Eternity is a never ending pasture.

* Cows: the original cross country vehicle

Cow Myths throughout History

In the Icelandic Edda

Audumla came from melting ancient ice and she brought out the god Buri by licking salty ice. She gave rivers of milk to Ymir who was the father of giants who the earth was created from.

In the Hindu religion

A light shone from the creator and so the Vedas, the Fire, the Cow, and the Brahmin came to be. Cows live in the highest world and there are many hymns about them.

Dun Cow

The Dun Cow was owned by a giant that lived in Mitchell Ford. She had an endless supply of milk. A lady upset the cow because she asked for too much milk, so the cow barged out of the ford and into Dunsmore Heath, where she was killed. A mammoth tusk is kept there as the cow's horn.

In Scottish Proverbs

The Cow of Forfar came by and drank a tub of bear that a lady left outside to cool. In the Highlands a farewell drink is taken standing in honor of the cow. The lawyer Halkstern gave a sick ox to be company for another tenant's heifer and the heifer gored the ox to death. The tenant told the lawyer the opposite happened. This is the basis for a Scottish proverb about a person who changes an opinion when he examines the issue more closely.

Psalms

1

The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

23

2

Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me. Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be ashamed which transgress without cause. Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. Good and upright is the Lord: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great. What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant. Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for he shall pluck my feet out of the net. Turn thee unto me, and have mercy upon me; for I am desolate and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged: O bring thou me out of my distresses. Look upon mine affliction and my pain; and forgive all my sins. Consider mine enemies; for they are many; and they hate me with cruel hatred. O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for I put my trust in thee. Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee. Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.

24

3

Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah

25

4

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. The Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

26

Isaiah

1

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

27

2

I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

28

3

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

29

Jeremiah

Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.

30

Matthew

And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And, behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemeth. And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts? For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.

31

Ephesians

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

32

Hebrews

I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.

33

James

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much

34

I John

1

This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

35

2

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

36

Ruth

Our Lord Jesus Christ

Is not just of the line

Of King David

But descended from Ruth

A migrant laborer

Who was born

In another country

Stranded from her relatives

Because of a depression

And a poor harvest

She will not leave

Her mother's side

Though her mother

Begged her to

She came back

To the land

Of her fathers

Though now a foreigner

She worked on the land

Of a close relative

She only wished

To take what was left

After the harvest

The man who owned

The fields being harvested

Was pleased with her

He asked her for her hand

In marriage

And she is an ancestor

Of the Son of God

Aid

For only the cost

Of a cup of coffee

You can clear

Your conscience

From how those

You elect

Victimize those

Who are your

Fellow human beings

It is great

To feed the hungry

But keeping others

Equal to ourselves

Dependent on us

For their very lives

Does not solve

The situation

They were forced into

The aid worker

Sees a mass of famine

And a group of poor

They do not see

Individuals like themselves

Who are being kept

In a state of helplessness

By their very own

Government as well as

Our government

Reform

Brazil is now

An economic power

The third world

Is developing

At the expense

Of its poor

We create reforms

That allow more

Investment in agriculture

In education and

In health care

But without challenging

The powers that be

All that progress

Is received by

Those already rich

The only way

To break the cycle

Of devastating poverty

Is to transform

The government

And the social institutions

So that the wealth

May be spread

More evenly

And so that the poor

Can simply live

Liberation

The poor must come together

To advocate for themselves

To realize what holds them

Back from equal wealth

And causes their oppression

So that they may organize

And act in concert

To bring about change

In the social institutions

That hold back the poor

First they claim all that

The system currently offers

Better wages and working conditions

Healthcare and education

Housing and more

Then they struggle for the

Transformation of the society

For the broadest participation

In the decisions of power

A more balanced

Arrangement of power

Amongst the different classes

And a way of life

That brings inspiration to others

Liberation is spreading

In this generation of poor

Free trade unions

Peasant organizations

Action and study groups

Popular political parties

And Christian communities

Are all in on the struggle

Christian Community

The Gospel of Christ

Must inspire us

To break with

The instruments of oppression

To recognize the basic

Human dignity and rights

Of those beyond our borders

We must reach out in faith

With a social conscience

Christianity must be on the side

Of the least of these

We must join in the struggles

Of popular movements

Already committed to

Land rights and rebuilding of

The depressed parts of town

The rights of indigenous

And other marginalized people

The Gospel advocates

The advancement not of the average

But of those who are denied

Even the most basic of human rights

When Christians join in

In the liberation of the poor

We open ourselves up to

Ridicule, persecution, and martyrdom

Which reveals to us

The urgency of this movement

Levels of Liberation

From seminaries to bible studies

From the rationale to the confrontation

From the meetings of entire church bodies

To the local study groups

From lectures and papers to sermons

Talks and celebrations

From books and articles to notes and letters

Every member of the Christian community

Each has a role in the theology of liberation

This is where faith and history meet

We all act as one and share the roles

The pastor and professional

The lay leader and the church members

As well as sociologists, economists

Teachers and technicians

Each have a place in this system

It takes a variety of forms

From the theologians doctrines

To the confrontational aspects in

Research centers and Christian schools

And also in the spontaneity of

Local church members

Popular theology is expressed in symbols

As well as in the written and spoken word

The symbols of oppression from Scripture

Are equated with the political and social forces

Who are causing the specific problems

Conservative Estimates

500 million people are starving to death

1.6 billion people are happy to live to 45

1 billion people live in complete poverty

1.5 billion people have no access to

Any kind of medical care

500 million people have incomes

Of less than $150 a year

814 million people cannot read

2 billion people live without

A continual water supply

1

Being committed to liberation theology

Requires contact with the oppressed

First we try to find why people are oppressed

Then we try to decide God's plan for the poor

Finally we decide what action needs to be taken

2

The oppressed are young children and teenagers

Indigenous people and laborers

Unemployed and part time workers

The marginalized and the elderly

All of these groups are poor

And on the edges of cities and in the country

3

There are several explanations for poverty

One blames the poor

It says they are lazy or ignorant

The logical solution is aid

One blames underdevelopment

It says the country needs to industrialize more

The answer is to give loans and technology

This is also called reform

The final explanation recognizes

The cause of poverty for what it is

Poverty is caused by oppression

The economy is designed to exploit people

And excludes them from the wealth making process

The solution is a revolution of the society

Where the powers are replaced with other powers

4

The oppressed are not just poor

They are victimized socially as well

There is racial discrimination

Against people with darker skin

There is ethnic discrimination

Against indigenous groups and minorities

And their is gender discrimination

Against women

This discrimination is part of the basic structure

Of society and the establishment

These types of oppression

Makes the economic ones worse

5

The poor are representations of Jesus

Who was rejected and Who suffered

Who was poor and persecuted

And Who is on the side of the poor

Being poor means being dependent,

Indebted, anonymous, contempted, and humiliated

6

The poor see God's message as

God as the advocate of the oppressed

The Liberator from bondage

The Prophet of a new world

His kingdom given to the poor

And the church as a model of total sharing

These questions all tie in with 

The theology of conversion, grace, and resurrection

7

Exodus is an epic of the political

And religious liberation of a people in slavery

And through their contract

With God became God's people

The Prophets were uncompromising

In their denouncement of injustice

Proclaiming the rights of the poor

And their declaration of the salvation message

The Gospels present the centrality of Jesus

His declaration of a new kingdom

His liberation by action

And the final meaning of history

In His death and resurrection

Acts portrays the ideal Christian community

Which is one of freedom and liberation

And Revelations describes the immense war

Of God's people against

The monsters of history

In a symbolic narrative

8

We go about liberation theology

With the weapons of peace being

Dialogue, persuasion, moral pressure

Passive resistance, evangelical resolve,

Marches, strikes, and demonstrations

Animal not Plant

1

An animal is a living being

Created directly by God

Animals are not just objects

To be used how we see fit

They have feelings and souls

They are to be taken care of

Like we do our own children

2

There is no excuse for cruelty

Towards our weaker friends

We have all the power

In the human animal relationship

We should not abuse this power

3

Because animal are not always

Committed to just one spouse

For their entire lives

We think

That they are not worthy

Of our respect and compassion

4

Instead of looking at animals

As a degenerate form of humans

We should look to animals

Kindness and genuine affection

As the highest goals for expanding

Our own morality and godliness

5

The more we find out about animals

The more we realize their intelligence

And their range of possible emotions

The difference between an animal

And a human is a matter of degree

Their is nothing essentially specific

To humans about reasoning or emotions

6

The only thing that separates us

From the animals is our technology

And our power over them

We reach out our hand

In destruction in a way that no animal

Has ever dreamed of

7

Could you imagine an animal

Trying to wipe out an entire species

Or destroy an entire culture?

Could you imagine an animal

That would poison its own environment?

8

I challenge those who think they are moral

Or think they are smart

To study the behavior of our weaker friends

And try to find a way in which

They don't excel beyond us

Intellectually and morally

Jesus and Animals

1

We were given the Ten Commandments

To be a written record of our conscience

But the law was not limited to

Only 10 offenses

The Ten Commandments were a summary

Of that vast codification

Of what we know to be right and wrong

2

When Jesus came to earth

Representing the perfect man

He challenged us to not just refrain

From murder and stealing and adultery

We were to stop the thoughts in our heads

That were the beginning of a desire

That could eventually result in the breaking

Of one of the laws

3

Jesus expanded the law in one way

And contracted it in another

We are to love our neighbor as ourselves

This goes beyond just our actions

But into our feelings and our reasoning

We are to refrain from having

Even evil thoughts towards another

4

But Jesus never specified

That we only treat people with respect

We were to reach out to others

Beyond just refraining from sin

Or even the thought of it

But to work for the betterment of others

Which focused on what Jesus called

The least of these

Who are the victims of our society

5

The animals suffer for our food

They suffer for our entertainment

For our beauty products

For our "advances" in technology

We should think first

Of our weaker brothers and sisters

And improve the lives of animals first

Before we take on causes to help people

6

Our domination of nature was meant

As a responsibility and a challenge

It was not meant for us to exploit

The weak and powerless creatures

We should look for ways

To go beyond the literal words

Written in the law and expand

Our compassion to the limits of

Our imagination as the road that

Jesus has only started us on

7

Challenge yourself to go beyond

The letter of the law and recognize

That the spirit of the law

Is an ever expanding frontier

Don't be content to just do no harm

But reach out to those who are weaker

To make their lives the best they can be

Master of Humans

1

Does it scare you

When you think of a wild animal

And what they might do to you

If you come too close?

Try to think how the animal feels

To have its home taken away

And to have no food left

2

Is it right that for better scenery

We build our homes in their habitat?

It is no surprise that they venture

Into our cities for food and for shelter

3

What really scares a person

Is the idea of supernatural or alien

Enemies that have more power

And more technology than us

As we venture out into space

Or explore portals to other worlds

Through drugs or magic

We have something to fear

That is greater than ourselves

4

We become the animals

And we are hunted

By higher powers than ourselves

Is it wrong for aliens to victimize humans

When we hurt our fellow animals?

If our criteria for sentience is

Intelligence and technology

Don't these other powers

Have the right to persecute us?

5

We are afraid of our machines

That one day we will design them

To be too smart to just serve us

When our machines become

More intelligent and sophisticated than us

According to our reasons for dominance

The machines have the rights

To use and exploit us

The Mystic

The mystic makes a choice

To follow his heart

In the face of the cravings

Of his stomach

And the projections of his mind

He reaches out for truth

Stretching his physical body

To the very limits

So that he may purify

His very average soul

Mysticism is not about

Supernatural powers

Or about an expanded mind

It is not about

Living in poverty

Either physical or spiritual

It is not based on

Hidden techniques

Or secret writings

Mystics do not wish

To see visions

Or witness the paranormal

Living as a mystic

Is a way of life

It is an ethics

That is all encompassing

It is not primarily

About self control

It is not shrouded in mystery

There are no rituals

And there is nothing hidden

Or reserved for those

With greater abilities

In discipline or intelligence

Mysticism is an attitude

It is the act of

Drawing closer to God

In many ways

There is no path

And there is no destination

There is just the person

And his Creator

A mystic does not withdraw

From human society

The mystic can have

A number of friends

A mystic should be sociable

And out going

But he does not need

To be a teacher

Mysticism is about action

As well as thoughts

Focusing on correct thoughts

Overflows into compassion

You start with humility

And you cary it out

Into helping those in need

The mystic lives the Gospel

According to Luke

The Mind

Our thoughts flash

Like lightening

Across our mind

In an instant

We leap from

Joy to frustration

From peace to anger

Our minds are

Our perception

And the basis

For our consciousness

Everything we think

Everything we know

Travels across

The frontiers of our brain

We live in the world

According to the whims

Of what our brain

Decides to reveal

There is no event

That we experience

Out of the world

Of our own minds

When we think

We are objective

We show our ignorance

Schizophrenia is a root-kit

In our brains

When the mind

Is compromised

We will never know

How it affects

What we know

To be true

What we feel

And the reality

We live in

The Heart

The icy wind cuts

Through my heart

The darkness is complete

When my heart aches most

It is in the last hours

Before the sun rises

That the night

Penetrates deepest

In each moment

Of the complete silence

The imagination grows

Impossible noises

Until they are deafening

When it is cold

Or when the sky

Is covered in dark clouds

There is room for magic

And the imagination

Comes by in full force

What we feel

In the distant places

Of our sleeping mind

Comes alive to dance

Through our waking reality

The times of darkness

Bring memories of familiarity

And the stillness

Reminds us of potential

Worlds of fantasy

My heart is forged

Out of cold metal

The fire melts

My harsh exterior

The freezing water

Strengthens my will

My heart grows

In intensity of tempo

I fan the flames

And breathe life

Into the white coals

I am continually beaten

Until my blade

Can survive the striking

Of my opponent

My heart is only ready

When my blood has warmed

And my lungs are fully

Expanding and retracting

The Stomach

Early morning hunger

Is invigorating and helpful

Late night hunger

Is depressing and sad

I stretch wide

My stomach walls

As I yawn and flex

With each sigh and step

My stomach moves in concert

With all my other organs

With each word and breathe

The stomach expands and contracts

We see our stomachs

As part of digestion

And little more

Feeling come from the bowels

And the stomach turns

With each thought of

Anticipation and reflection

Our stomachs are our center

Our pathway to sustenance

Both spiritual and physical

We feel bounty and plenty

With our stomachs

We praise God

From the bottom of our stomachs

We say no

To what our stomach desires

Theology includes Philosophy

Everyone has a perspective

Everyone has opinions

There is nothing theological

That is not influenced by philosophy

We do not live in a vacuum

And ideas come from somewhere

There are no new philosophies

Just restatements done with less eloquence

There is no way to only study the Bible

We are only fooling ourselves

And no one else

We cannot distance ourselves

From our own foolishness

We are corrupt to the core

It is not possible to read the Bible

Without prejudice and without feelings

The Bible is not meant to be

A list of rules or a systematic theology

Don't you think there is a reason

That there are so many views on

Every branch of theology?

The Bible is not meant to be interpreted

The same by the entire church

The Bible is not about a set theology

No one will ever uncover

The full philosophy of the Bible

The greatest theologians

Have only scratched the surface

And were wrong more times

Than they were right

Verses don't mean just one thing

The Bible should not

Be read in any set order

Verses should not stand alone

There are no hidden meanings

But few meanings have been found

There is more to a single phrase

Than can be understood

By the human mind in all eternity

And the Bible is only one small part

Of who God is

To say we were only influenced by the Bible

Or that we believe what the Bible says

Does not adequately explain our beliefs

We have presuppositions and experiences

But these aren't necessarily stumbling blocks

Feelings are great and mental exercises are of use

But we need to reflect on our background

Or we will be repeating the mistakes

Of even the greatest of theologians

It is ok to not be right on even the main points

To disagree creates a healthy diversity

The church does not need core beliefs

Our doctrines only hold us back

There is more to life than theology

And there is more to the Bible

Than your statements of faith

Honesty

When you make claims

Which you use Scripture

To support your position

It is not honest

When you don't state

Your intentions up front

And explain your background

We are not merely spiritual beings

We are not just vessels

Of God's will

We have our own

Hopes, desires, and dreams

We are not pure spirits

With empty minds

There is a psychology

To religious beliefs

Ideas don't come

Out of a vacuum

We cannot wall ourselves

Off from unbelievers

We cannot understand

Our culture expect by

Reading books

Besides the Bible

Our minds are sponges

And we absorb ideas

From places we are

Often unaware

This is the use of

The study of philosophy

We get impressions

From many venues

We just assume

They are all from the Bible

Just because we are Christians

What we come up with

Is not independent

Of our culture and history

Ideas influence us

In subtle and surprising ways

We do not need to read a book

To be influenced by capitalism

Or to evaluate atheism

We are part of a larger

Ecosystem of dialogue

Great thinkers build

On what others have said

Christian and otherwise

Great theologians study philosophy

Some of the greatest philosophers

Were trained as theologians first

The early church adopted

Many ideas from Greek paganism

There is no way to be purely Christian

Without affection and sympathies

Freedom of Choice

Scripture is not meant

To be understood intellectually

Nor by our feelings alone

Although Scripture ministers

To all areas of our person

We should keep our focus

On the heart and the will

It is good to have diversity

Especially in opinion and perspective

The Bible is not meant

To be interpreted in just one way

We don't need an entire denomination

To be in agreement on any doctrine

Don't you think there is a reason

Why no one can agree

Or that theologians were interested

In such different topics

Throughout divergent eras?

The more widespread the views

The harder it is to see a pattern

God deliberately designed the Bible

To be poetic instead of legalistic

God could have just written

A list of rules and left it at that

We could just turn off our brains entirely

But that is not God's nature

He wants us to make rational decisions

And for different people

To go into different directions

And to see the Bible from different views

We have to realize that God speaks

To our entire person

That God is spirit and flesh

Christianity is not meant to be an organization

Or to have a rigid structure

Even the Bible explains salvation

Differently every time

All believers will enter Heaven by grace

But each will do it in a different way

1

Most people work a 9 to 5 job

They put the required effort

In their jobs

And they are content

With the results

They don't commit themselves

Totally to anything

But there are situations

Some of us find ourselves in

Where there is no downtime

There are no breaks

Time to sleep is minimal

Safety is non existent

And there is no method

Of getting away from prime time

2

When you enlist in the Army

Your life is no longer your own

Joining is the last decision you make

Your intelligence is of no use

And your training a waste of time

There is no way you can get prepared

For a life without freedom

When you lived a life with

Choices for everything

There is only one way to march

One way to shoot a rifle

There is one way to make your bed

And there is only one way

To don your protective mask

There is one way to throw a grenade

And one way to dig a foxhole

There is no time to think about

Theories of war or the Geneva conventions

There is never a time when you

Can let your guard down

Your life is totally committed

You have your reasons for enlisting

But they matter less and less

Enlistment is a one way tunnel

And there are no stops or ways out

You can shoot yourself in the foot

But then your job will just be harder

You can follow your job to the letter

And yet be valued the same

As the biggest screw-up

You could follow directions exactly

And still get captured

The others fail you all the time

But if you ever fail them

The cost is enormous

If you fail to listen to instructions

You could be the next victim

Of the war on terror

You could pay attention to

Every last detail

And still end up needing to be

Identified by DNA

3

When you are committed

Even when voluntarily

There is no escape

From the terror

Your days pass by

With hours of no memory

The pain takes weeks

To lessen noticeably

You must stay in Hell

And there is no quick way out

You are not informed of your rights

But it would not matter

You still could never understand

You are not in your right mind

The doctor controls your fate

You can be sent to the state hospital

And never be released

Or get out in a couple weeks

You have no choice

What really scares you

Are others like yourself

You are all in the same boat

You cannot get out

Until you are scanned

You are crammed into

A small tunnel

And you cannot leave

Until they are done

You cannot see out

And they cannot give you

Enough tranquilizers to calm you

You want to return to normal

But you cannot work

For at least a year

Or you will never get

Your state pension

You have to wait another year

For low income housing

If you are lucky

You have family

Who can and will take you in

And who will do your paperwork

None of it starts until

You know about it and register

If you live on the street

You are stuck being homeless

And there is little hope

Of being able to get out

4

It is a real shock

The first time a person

Realizes that old people

Are rude and mean

This is the generation

Of entitlement

Social Security was designed

Not for the poor but for the rich

Senior citizens think

Everybody owes them

They think that because

They won World War II

That they are superior

To the following generations

They think we get off easy

Because inflation has raised

Our minimum wage

They think because we have

Less real money than them

That it is because we didn't

Work hard enough

They are out of touch

With current events

They think that Iraq

Was responsible for 9/11

They don't know the difference

Between Iran and Iraq

They still don't trust Germans

Or the Japanese

They are sensitive about

Communism even though

It was defeated over 15 years ago

They talk about their

Grotesque health problems

And never bathe

They are racist and prejudiced

They act like children

But think young people

Are immature

They are mostly uneducated

And they just sit around

All the time

They hate technology

Or any invention of the

Last 25 years

They don't like music

That was composed

In the 50s or later

They sing nursery rhymes

And can't remember who they are

This was my experience

Living in a retirement home

In my mid twenties

Isaiah

For thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shadow from the heat, when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.

37

And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.

38

But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend. Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant; I have chosen thee, and not cast thee away. Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed against thee shall be ashamed and confounded: they shall be as nothing; and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended with thee: they that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together: That they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it.

39

Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages; That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places. They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these shall come from far: and, lo, these from the north and from the west; and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.

40

The Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me; who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me; who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old as a garment; the moth shall eat them up. Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God.

41

For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. My righteousness is near; my salvation is gone forth, and mine arms shall judge the people; the isles shall wait upon me, and on mine arm shall they trust. Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation. Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the Lord; awake, as in the ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon?  Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?  Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass; And forgettest the Lord thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?

42

Fear not; for thou shalt not be ashamed: neither be thou confounded; for thou shalt not be put to shame: for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

43

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?  Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?  Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

44

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the Priests of the Lord: men shall call you the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double; and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion: therefore in their land they shall possess the double: everlasting joy shall be unto them. For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

45

I will mention the lovingkindnesses of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us, and the great goodness toward the house of Israel, which he hath bestowed on them according to his mercies, and according to the multitude of his lovingkindnesses. For he said, Surely they are my people, children that will not lie: so he was their Saviour. In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

46

Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.

47

After Isaiah

This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he hath borne it upon him. He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope. He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him: he is filled full with reproach. For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

48

The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him

49

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

50

But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid

51

And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not.

52

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

53

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

54

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

55

For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.

56

Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort; Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ

. 57

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

58

For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

59

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

60

Un American

Conservatives say that

It is un American

To challenge the power

Of multinational corporations

But how American

Are these companies?

They don't pay any taxes

To the American government

They don't employ US workers

They are invested in by

Unstable dictatorships

Countries in the Middle East

Their bank accounts are in

Offshore islands

Or Swiss banks

Democracy vs. Capitalism

Our enemy during the cold war

Was communism

And millions died for this cause

But what were we fighting for?

Democracy isn't the opposite of communism

Anymore than medicine

Is the opposite of sociology

How could people be against communism?

A more equitable distribution of wealth

Should fit in comfortably

In a country with a distribution of power

What we were really fighting was dictatorship

But we supported other dictators

The only thing that differentiated

Our "communist" enemies from

Our dictator friends

Was who would open their markets

Their raw materials and cheap labor

To multi-national corporations

To sap every drop of possible profit from

The reality is that no one has ever

Or would ever give up power willingly

The only reason why we can speak freely

In America is because our souls

Are bought and paid for in full

The only way the government would allow

Government that is voted in office

Is if they had absolute control over the media

We can say whatever we want in America

So long as no one hears it or doesn't act on it

Freedom and Terror

We are afraid of being attacked without warning

We lost 3,000 of our people

Those in the Middle East are tired of being victims

Of American violence

We have killed off hundreds of thousands of them

And we are fighting the wrong nation

It is just like how the police in America

Don't bother to solve crimes

But rather find the nearest person of color

To be a scapegoat to appease the grieving

Who is really a threat to who?

A few thousand poor people

With improvised weapons living in tents

Or the most wealthy nation in the world

Which has the capability to fight the entire

Rest of the world together and win

We spend more in a day on war

Than our entire annual budget for education

The president thinks it is a waste of money

To offer free medical care for the poor

But keeps on donating money to the rich

Who have drove their companies into the ground

We spend more on software

That we could get a better version for free

Than the annual salary of the person

Operating the computer

In a third world country

Our kids take drugs to escape from reality

And that finances the Middle Eastern terrorists

We invade their country but won't

Destroy the crops that it comes from

For fear of alienating ourselves from the locals

There is an easy solution

It is against the religious beliefs of those

Who are growing the drugs to continue with it

So all we need to do is guarantee them the same money

From selling something that is not a drug

But our government is really afraid of

Alienating the muti-national corporations

That got the government elected

More than Bread

Man does not live on bread alone

What is best for man

Is not limited to what is best

For his taste-buds

And for his sensual enjoyment

A person has more needs

Than food clothing and shelter

Man needs a good relationship

With God with other people

And with the animals and plants

And his entire ecosystem

Which is primarily spiritual

What we see is not all there is

What we can sense is not eternal

Satisfying our feelings

And maintaining physical health

Is not the entire picture

People have hearts and souls

They need to help others

They need to give of themselves

This may not be a balanced accounting

In the realm of money

But the heart and the soul

Have needs as well

What the body craves can actually

Destroy the mind

What the mind craves can

Destroy the heart

We need to know there is more

To life than eating and sleeping

What we need to be satisfied

Is in the giving of ourselves

To our Heavenly Father first

In humility and reverence

And to those who are in need

Who are physically, emotionally, or spiritually

Hungry and malnourished

We need to sacrifice our own needs

So that we both may live better lives

It is bad to be a slave to work

But it is worse to be a slave to your belly

This is the problem

With solutions to problems

That are only economic

This is why communism and capitalism

Both fail at improving lives

Like treating medical problems

Without awareness of the patients minds

Does not guarantee good health

It does not matter how much money

You have or how protected you are

If you cannot make the lives

Of anyone else better

Than how can you call yourself human?

Even animals help other animals in need

Even plants provide for life

Giving of themselves

And returning the resources back

When they part with life

The point of a business is to make money

At least theoretically

And a corporation only has a responsibility

To its shareholders

There is nothing to be gained

By society as a whole

Even if the business advances technology

Or extends our lives

Because it is doing it at the cost

Of other people and animal's welfare

To live happy and fulfilling lives

We do not need cell phones

Or computer games

Having a more powerful military

Does not guarantee we will win wars

Having the best education system

Does not mean there will be no crime

Immunizing people against diseases

Does not guarantee a long life

Man does not live on bread alone

Conscience

Some people say we need

Objective standards to live by

So that we can all agree

On what is right and wrong

We make all these turns of logic

And people are then

Afraid to make choices

Or more likely turned off by

Ethics in particular

Or philosophy in general

We do not need to understand

The phenomenology of Hegel

To know what is right

Is it surprising that basic laws

Are similar across belief systems

And that people still find

The Bible is relevant to them?

Is it a wonder that atheists

Are much more likely

To be afraid of death?

There are absolutes

And this does not mean

That we can be objective

But rather that the Creator

Of the multi-verses

Actually exists

That we are responsible

For our own actions

Whether or not we claim

We didn't understand

Do businessman really

Believe if being honest

That killing off an entire species

Or leveling an entire forest

Or experimenting on animals

Or wiping out an entire civilization

Is not wrong?

People lie and rationalize

God doesn't

Logic and Religion

Why do we need rules?

Why can we just live

By doing what helps ourselves?

How do we define

What helps ourselves?

Is there no such thing as generosity?

Do we think that all our desires

Could be satisfied on our own?

Could we have a society

Where everyone did whatever

Gained him the most

And ignored the spiritual dimension?

Spiritual forces are at play

And are involved in every thought

And action we make

Denying that there is a God

Does not make it so

And getting rid of religion

Because some people abused it

Does not solve the real problem

The real problem is that

When we seek to satisfy

Our own desires

And do not keep our focus on God

And on those in need

Our desires escalate

First, we are fed with bread

Then, all we want is cake

Then all we want to have is a job

Then all we want is to be middle class

Then all we want is a car

Then all we want is a house

Then all we want is a wife

Then all we want is a family

But seeking all these

For the benefit of just yourself

Adds up to a very sad world

That no one would want to live in

Do you ever wonder what

Car companies would do

If wheel technology was patented?

How would we communicate

If the English language was copyrighted?

What if libraries were illegal?

How could people afford to do research?

What if we didn't have free education?

What if there were no scholarships?

The point is that even the universe

Did not come out of a vacuum

We are all interrelated to each other

And we all have had help

No one is a self made man

Businesses get more government money

Than those on welfare

We need to see to our whole

Community and its welfare

If we are to live in peace with each other

On Marx and Engels

Communism has failed

And yet it has never actually been tried

We associate freedom

With domination by monopolies

And morality with corruption

The whole world is oriented

Around how to make a few people

Even richer than they are now

The only developments we see

Are first applied to warfare

Or they receive no funds

We want to minimize our losses

But if they are not Americans

We don't care how many suffer

Even those who are our allies

Unless they are white

We are only limited in

The deployment of violence

By our fear of retaliation

But that is not great

In a world we dominate

In every sense of the word

We can afford to launch

Preventative wars against countries

Who are driven by morality

Just because we have no values

We think freedom is about money

And the only sin is enjoying sex

We think that people's behavior

In their bedrooms

Is more important than what

Others do in boardrooms

We think we are so different

Than our greatest enemies

But we really see life the same way

They only hate us because we are rich

And we only persecute them

Because we use different vocabulary

Giving money to those in need

Is considered corruption

And our only values

Are about saving money

Because their may be inefficiency

In the government running welfare

We get rid of it entirely

There is less and less of a middle class

And people only think they are

Because they keep changing

The meaning of the word

We are continuing to get poorer

More in spirit than money

But we keep on voting

For those who created our problems

The word liberal is so vilified

That the average American

Thinks the poor should be punished

We keep on taxing alcohol and tobacco

With no restraint

And no one speaks out for the poor

But even our poor

Are rich by the world's standards

But no one considers Africa

Or anywhere there isn't oil

We only treat those in the

Middle East as people

To the extent that we

Are addicted to oil

We know we are running out

But it is considered un-American

To use alternatives or to conserve

American values consumerism

Most our economy is based on spending

The only thing our government

Asks of us is to get ourselves into debt

For things we don't need

Or even care much about

The ideas of Marx and Engels

Are very much alive

Their solution would never work

But their statement of the problem

Is as relevant today as when

They first wrote it

The difference is that the proletariat

Is in the Third World

But anyone who isn't white

We really have no time for

Marxism is Defeated

We have long since defeated

What we call communism

And yet we still think it alive

And fear it alone

Basically we equate any idea

Of justice or peace

As a ruse to a dictatorship

The only people we trust

Are the cowards that send

Our children to war

And spend their time in office

Finding ways to make themselves richer

With no thought as to the consequences

We think that war means peace

And that evil is good

We claim to be a Christian nation

And yet our values

Are whatever makes the most money

We don't care if the corporations

Control the government

We call this democracy

And claim that is what we fight for

But the only people that win

Are those supplying the weapons

Our heads of state are capitalists

And the only thing that motivates them

Is the interests of those with

The most money

Because they never spend any of it

But on charities that get them more money

They are considered good and moral

We think that every rich man

Got his wealth by his work alone

And the only way God blesses us

Is by making us materially rich

Christ would be a liberal

And that makes Christians mad

Because that means they are in the wrong

They are too busy persecuting

Those who look Middle Eastern to them

Than to think about compassion or humility

They see Christ as a conqueror

Basically Rome is their God

They only pray to God

Because they think that will help them

Win more wars

Like a superstition they pick and choose

Obscure references and equate them

With invented meanings

They are right on every detail

Of every subtlety of cultural meaning

And yet miss the main ideas

The Prophets on Greed

How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. Therefore saith the Lord, the Lord of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

61

All ye beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant.

62

Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord. For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

63

Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?  Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush:

64

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not; so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days, and at his end shall be a fool.

65

Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?  He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the Lord. But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.

66

Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, prepare the ambushes: for the Lord hath both devised and done that which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in treasures, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

67

In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God. Behold, therefore I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it. And I will scatter thee among the heathen, and disperse thee in the countries, and will consume thy filthiness out of thee.

68

And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. And when this cometh to pass, (lo, it will come,) then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.

69

Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.

70

Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

71

The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

72

Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:

73

New Testament on Greed

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

74

No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

75

He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

76

If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

77

And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?  And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

78

Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?  But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?  Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?  They say unto him, Ceasar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Ceasar the things which are Ceasar's; and unto God the things that are God's.

79

And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word, And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

80

That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

81

And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?  And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?  And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

82

When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

83

Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

84

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

85

But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat.

86

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient: but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

87

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him

88

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample. (For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

89

For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ.

90

A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? )

91

He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself. But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.

92

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

93

Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

94

From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members?  Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?  But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

95

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

96

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

97

Computers by Generation

Computers are more than products

We use for their utility

Computers are a method

Of showing where you fit

In society as a whole

People like to flock

To certain technologies

According to their generation

My parents' generation

And older

Do not like computers at all

My generation uses computers

For research primarily

The next generation is interested

In virtual communities

And the sharing of their

Digital creations

My generation still reads books

To get information

But read the Internet

For current news

My parents generation

Still watches TV

Their parents read the newspaper

My generation plays

Computer games to socialize

And stay current

Computer have affected

All areas of life

But culture has been influenced

To the highest degree

Websites are becoming mainstream

For every kind of business

And people just assume

Everyone has email

Internet chat is mainstream

And so is interactivity

Web pages both visually

With animation and motion

And the ability to customize

And take ownership

In the web sites they frequent

Some do this simply with comments

While most major companies

Host blogs for employees

The campaigning for elections

Is focused on the Internet

More and more

Anyone can be a journalist now

Without any official office

And the independents

Publish more accurate information

Everything is going the route

Of paid for by advertisements

Some entire movies are an ad

And many times it is hard to tell

How much of the story

Is based around advertisements

Mobility and Cell Phones

Everyone now has a cell phone

Parents even buy ones

For small children

People send messages

And get email on tiny screens

They even view the web

In a screen of only

A few inches wide

Kids spend most their time

Sending text messages

To their friends

They have invented a

Whole new language

An abbreviated English

People usually spend

More money on their cell phones

Than on their computers

There are even games

For these tiny screens

The next generation

Is not content to wait

Until they get home

To work on their computers

They want to be in touch

At any time of the day

No matter what they are doing

It is common for people

To use cell phones

While driving in cars

They even take cell phone

On family vacations

And use them as babysitters

Musical Addictions

People now buy computers

Just for music

They spend as much

On their computer

As on their iPods

These devices hold

Tens of thousand of songs

They hold so many songs

That they can be listened to

For years without hearing

Any song twice

Kids can't imagine

What they would do

Without access to music

Even while at school

Or adults while

They are at work

People are now buying

All their music online

They no longer

Buy entire albums

Or even put them

On audio CDs

They float around

On the Internet for free

But you can be

Sent to prison or fined

Big money for stealing

People even want to exercise

While listening to music

They expect to be able to

Run down the street

Without being able to

Hear cars coming

Originality and Conformity

Our ticket to success

Is by how well we fit in

No one likes an

Independent thinker

Or someone who is creative

In what clothing they wear

People will pay more

For someone's name

On their clothing

We wear the brand names

As a symbol of pride

To get a famous athlete

Or clothing they wear

With their name on it

Is much better than

The same shirt with

No brand name written on it

Our conformity to fashion

Is a way to appear

More wealthy than others

We live in trashy

Homes or apartments

But won't be caught dead

With a knock off

Shoes are more expensive

Than an entire outfit

It does not matter

Anymore what you can do

But rather how you look

Women spend big money

To paint their faces

And color their hair

You would think they

Looked like zombies

Without all this makeup

Even models wear

Big money on their faces

Jewelry is considered better

If the stones are flawed

Lives are destroyed

So that fiancees

Can all have real diamonds

When you could produce

A more perfect one in a lab

Independence and Conformity

The younger generation

Always wants to stand out

And express their individuality

But they express this

All in the same way

Kids paint their finger nails

Black and die their hair

Bright artificial colors and even

Put holes in their bodies

And ink on their skin

All so they can show

Their parents that they stand out

They crave independence

From their elders

But give in to peer pressure

They will do anything to

Prove their parents wrong

But at the cost of real freedom

There is always a new drug

That seems to offer a perfect high

But then kids get killed

Or addicted and their minds destroyed

Escaping reality is so important

That they rather die many years sooner

Than live a healthy life

Young women smoke cigarettes

To lose weight when they would lose

Just as much by walking only a mile

Perfect Man - Perfect Wedding

Every women is indoctrinated

From as early as childhood

That they are a princess

And they will marry a prince

They plan their weddings

Before they go on their first date

Women are so obsessed

With the popularity and status

Of who they date

That they end up with someone

Who only want to watch football

And has no time for them

They look for the fixer upper

And the guy who acts cool

Over the sweet one

Who would really be dedicated

My generation has given up

On even the idea of marriage

It is this idea that

Just because I have never met

A man worth marrying

There must be no good men

The way to find a spouse

Is to keep high standards

On being willing to be alone

Rather than enter a failed marriage

To find the perfect date

Be the perfect date

Don't be obsessed with impressing

Each other but be genuinely kind

Really think about the other person

And try to make their lives better

Give of yourself and give it time

You will not be disappointed

Competition

In a capitalist society

We are all rich

When we live in the

Colonial power's homeland

The old rich

And the new rich

Love to try to outdo each other

But the same struggle work its way

Down to every class

Kids have their own status symbols

Women have different one's than men

Men compete by speaking the

Common language of American football

And women compete

In shopping and clothing

Kids are like little versions

Of their parents

The rich girls like the jocks

No one really outgrows high school

People don't mature much

Past when they come of age

Men live their struggles

Through loyalty to different teams

And women try to outdo each other

In whatever the stars are wearing

If we spent our money

On those in need

Rather than on luxuries

The money would be used

Much more efficiently

Hollywood

Hollywood is corporate culture

They are our idols

And they are our symbols

They are known worldwide

People love to complain

About how rich they are

But we keep wanting

To see them in movies

And to hear about them

In the media

They push the limits

On sexuality and violence

A real fantasy world

Invented by the corporations

To sell more products

They are not any different

Than us except for the cash

The young people

Get their lives destroyed

By drug addiction

And party away their youth

They want to be mothers

But they don't let their kids

See their movies

The men get older and older

And the women like them

More and more

But the women are thrown

Out at middle age

Maybe if we had movies

With actual stories

They wouldn't need the women

To be so young

From Psalms

Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee; But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight. Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips. The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot. The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope. For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

98

The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.

99

Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart. For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked. I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord: That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works. Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth. Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men: In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes. But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me. My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord.

100

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.

101

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?  My tears have been my meat day and night, while they continually say unto me, Where is thy God?  When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

102

O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from thee. Let not them that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake: let not those that seek thee be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children. For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. When I wept, and chastened my soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth also my garment; and I became a proverb to them.

103

For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore his people return hither: and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High?  Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning. If I say, I will speak thus; behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. For, lo, they that are far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.

104

Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee; in whose heart are the ways of them. Who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth the pools. They go from strength to strength, every one of them in Zion appeareth before God. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. Selah. Behold, O God our shield, and look upon the face of thine anointed. For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

105

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

106

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

107

Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times. Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments. Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies. Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

108

O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!  Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.

109

Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgments. Thy testimonies that thou hast commanded are righteous and very faithful. My zeal hath consumed me, because mine enemies have forgotten thy words. Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it. I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts. Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. Trouble and anguish have taken hold on me: yet thy commandments are my delights. The righteousness of thy testimonies is everlasting: give me understanding, and I shall live.

110

Other Verses

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

111

Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of my God, I have of mine own proper good, of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the holy house,

112

And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

113

The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

114

Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;

115

Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.

116

And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?  They zealously affect you, but not well; yea, they would exclude you, that ye might affect them. But it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you.

117

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

118

For our exhortation was not of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile: But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. For neither at any time used we flattering words, as ye know, nor a cloke of covetousness; God is witness: Nor of men sought we glory, neither of you, nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome, as the apostles of Christ. But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

119

Negativity

How can I be happy

When so many suffer?

How can I be content

When so many

Don't have enough to eat?

How can I be optimistic

When the world is heading

In such a dangerous direction?

There is so much material

To draw from about

Bad things going on

There is so little

To get inspired about

I believe in Heaven

And that God will

Make things right in the end

I believe God is at work

And constantly intervenes

To make things better

We live in a world

Where we hear no positive news

Although we have been

On the edge of a holocaust

For over 50 years

God has held that back

We keep on hearing about

The problems we cause

For the rest of the world

It seems bourgeois

To have a good time

When we know our wealth

Comes at the expense

Of others lives

Only One Man

How can we have peace

When we are so depressed?

How can we be motivated

To make a difference

When there is no time

To enjoy life?

If we can't have peace

That we have done

All that we can

Then how can we keep

Trying to make the world better?

If we blame ourselves

For all the world's problems

How are we going to

Have the energy to

Make the needed changes?

What is a white man to do?

Where is the place for us?

People that look like me

Have caused immense suffering

And are more wealthy

Than millions of others combined

I am sorry for what

The white man has done

But I am doing all that I can

To undo these things

I do not have the resources

Or the money and influence

To change these things

I am mentally ill

And this takes a lot out of me

I put most of my time

Into finding ways to

Reduce suffering

But I am only one man

And I have little control

Even over my own mind

Surprises

Most people look forward

To a warm sunny day

But I enjoy the rain

And the clouds

The heat is unbearable

And there is no relief

It stays hot now

For half the year

I always get excited

About the fall season

Finally activities start again

And the year starts anew

The weather turns cool

And we have darker skies

I even like the rain

The coolness is refreshing

And there is more magic

In the cloudy skies

Than in the heat of summer

I look forward to Wednesdays

Because that is when

I get my spending money

Most people look forward

To the weekends

But the buses only come

Once every hour or less

On the weekends

And it is hard to

Get out anywhere

I think complex things

Unfold in unexpected ways

People were so afraid of

A nuclear holocaust

That there were many years

Of no world wars

We have an economy

Based on greed

And yet the altruist experiment

Communism was more repressive

No one thought people

Would use computers or the Internet

Outside of science and business

And now everything is available

On the world wide web

No body thought we would

Still be using cars

Or that we wouldn't be

On Mars by now

Or that Apple would

Outsell IBM

After it shrunk to

2% market-share

Or that an idea

Without an organization

Or a company behind it

That gave away

The software for free

Could be a challenge

To the largest software corporation

In these ways

What we fear today

Or what we mearly

Fail to see the importance of

May be our hope for tomorrow

Because everything is more complex

Than we fully realize

Buddhists Missionaries

Coming off ships

Brimming with canons

Loaded with gold

And human slaves

Along the Swahili coast

We have a new religion

Coming to Africa

From the Chinese

Buddhism is spreading

Westward into the jungles

Of central Africa

Buddhism wasn't very popular

At first until we were

Allowed to keep

Our old religions

We said we were happy

With our own gods

And didn't need theirs

But they told us

If we didn't follow them

We would come back again

As a monkey

Or end up this life

In a crate headed for China

To work the rice fields

We were told how compassionate

This guy called Buddha was

We asked why they didn't

Feed the hungry locals

They said we had to give up

Everything and be a monk

Most of us signed up

As we had nothing

Until we found out

We had to beg for food

Buddhism didn't sound like

Much of an improvement

Buddhism sounded like

A religion for the wealthy

The Chinese government

Said they were just here

For trade and to make us

More civilized

We thought that meant

We would get rich

But it seemed the longer

The Chinese were here

The poorer we became

The continued to make

Improvements in infrastructure

So the Buddhists could

Spread their religion

We have trains all over Africa

They get our natural resources

On ships headed to China

Faster that way

We found out that most

Of the officials weren't Buddhists

And that Buddhism wasn't

Really Chinese anyway

We were told that Buddhists

Were pacifists

Although we saw many

Chinese soldiers who were Buddhist

European Backwaters

No one cares about Europe

Why would they?

They are few in number

And they don't have any money

The Buddhists were active here

But the Christians outlawed them

As heretics and put them in prison

They were not a European religion

There are no empires in Europe

And the countries are all really small

The whole land mass

Is smaller than China

They don't have anything of worth

To trade or to sell

They don't make good slaves

They look like ghosts

They are the color of death

And they are dressed in rags

They don't have any navies of any size

We could conquer them easily

But they have nothing worth taking

They believe in one God

And most can't read

They have no common language

We still are not sure

Whether to classify them

As humans or not

They have no culture like ours

The few people who can read

Spend most of their days praying

They are obsessed with their classics

Some stuff written down

1, 000-2,000 years ago

By a small empire called Rome

And an even smaller one called Greece

What if we found another world that worshipped Jesus and was much more technologically advanced than us?

Christian World

People from another world

Who look a lot like us

And can speak our languages

Appear in a museum

Of ancient artifacts

They tell us about their God

And His name is Jesus Christ

And they came to our world

As missionaries because

Their world is all Christian

They have been traveling

From world to world

For hundreds of years

To spread the Gospel

Through inventions of

Their own designs

They live in a world

That is a thousand years

More advanced than ours

They can also travel

Through time and space

They have never seen

A world as corrupt

And as evil as ours

That hasn't destroyed itself

They live communally

And they have no crime

Their society has lasted

For thousands of years

Without conflicts

They want to help us

But they say the problem

Is not that we haven't

Advanced in technology enough

But that we need to

Improve ourselves morally

They have no environmental problems

And have never had any in their history

They treat animals as equals

And eat entirely vegetarian

They have hundreds of billions of people

On their world

And they are self-sufficient energy wise

Even though they their technology

Uses a lot of energy

Because they limit their use

What if Jesus came today?

Contemporary Jesus

If Jesus came today

He would be homeless

And hang out with

Strippers and escorts

He would be at the clubs

And at the political rallies

With anarchists and goths

He would be the son

Of a computer programmer

Who worked in a small business

Based on open source

His mother would be

An artist or designer

He would listen to reggae

And be vegetarian

He would live in a

Community house

With all possessions

Held in common

He would hand out flyers

For environmental causes

He would hang out

At poetry readings

And at Internet cafes

He would be a member

Of His local

Linux Users Group

And would use only

Open Source software

He would have served in Iraq

And in the Peace Corps

He would have

Started a new religion

And criticized the political elite

He would start a reform

Of the religious wrong

He would be a liberal

And speak out against

The conservative powers

People would follow Him

But not be able to explain why

The news would not film Him

And people would

Make fun of His followers

Pastors would say that

He was a heretic

They would ban Him

From church on Sunday

And the police would

Call Him an agitator

Bush would call Him

A terrorist leader

And He would be

Imprisoned without trial

He would be interrogated

And released to a mental hospital

He would form His own band

And He would have a blog

Where He would write poetry

With millions of monthly visitors

What if stuffed toys ran the world?

Toy Society

Children are prized above all

They are the friends

Of the powerful elite

The president's dump truck

Is pushed by a toddler

And the famous actors

Sign the diapers of their fans

The toy entrepreneurs

Load up the toy boxes

In their factories

And the children

Drive around the boxes

In battery operated

And joystick controlled

All terrain vehicles

The children go to play

At the toy research centers

To see what toys

Are the most popular

And for quality control

They are played with

Under supervision

Of the toy managers

To make sure they

Are safe for play

Day care for the toys

Is provided by toddlers

And teams of seamstresses

Are trained to be

The top surgeons

Of the toy leaders

Each toy is treasured

For its entire life

The toy gets a new

Assigned kid to look after

When the previous kid

Begins to grow up

No toys are ever given

To animals to martyr

There is always

A loving home

For every toy

They will always be warm

And kept clean and dry

There are always activities

To keep the toys busy

They have a great Christmas party

Where they meet new kids

And a holiday parade

Where all the toy stars

Are dressed up and honored

There are award ceremonies

For the kid's favorite

Toys of the year

When the kids grow up

They are used as heaters

What if farm animals ran the world?

Farm Society

The cows roam free

All over the midwest

Milk, cheese, and ice cream

Are free for every child

No animals are in prison

And they all have

Their own barns

With heated blankets

And human employees

To clean away the cow pies

Half the nation's wealth

Is in grain, crackers, and alfalfa

The currency is sugar

And no one eats meat

The pigs are the police

And everyone caught

Eating an animal's flesh

Is sent across the border

The sheep clear the

Wildflowers and weeds

So the human workers

Can plant the corn and wheat

For their cow leaders

All the extra paper

From all the books

Not recorded in farm animal

Languages are recycled

With the help of the goats

There is plenty of power

To run the mills

From all the cow pies

Cows are assigned

To each residential block

To keep the grass cut

There is no more

Need for cars

Nothing too small

To carry a cow

Is licensed to drive

There are new uses

For all the SUVs

They are all powered

By sugar cane

Left over from cow deserts

Painter

Most people paint on canvas

Instead of on the computer

But for many like myself

We cannot tolerate

Being around turpentine

Or other harsh chemicals

And so we would never be

Able to do oil painting

If there were not a program

That helped in this feat

Painter not only allows

A person to paint

In many different styles

But it also has

Hundreds of brushes

The pigments interact

With each other naturally

You can use a digital pen

To draw with

And you can even

Turn photos into

Painting with natural

Looking strokes

There is no other program

That is like it

LaTeX

LaTeX is based on the idea

Of structured documents

Document structure is an

Abstract concept

That people are familiar with

Although not with the name

How do you know

When a chapter begins

Or what is an index?

There is no set form

For any of these

Structural elements

You know in part

What it is based on intuition

The other aspect of

Understanding structure

Is consistent style

While there may be

Limitless variety in how

New chapters are marked

Or how we display an index

We can recognize it in part

Due to consistent design

Of every individual

Occurrence of each element

LaTeX allows you to

Mark where a chapter begins

Or what the title is

And it does the actual layout

For you by itself

You can modify any aspect

But no matter what style you use

Each chapter will look the same

You can easily transform

The document into

Many different uses

Like e-books, web pages,

And for printing on the press

Print on Demand

Print on demand

Is a very recent advance

In printing technology

That has revolutionized

How books are produced

Before print on demand

When you wanted to

Publish a book

Or put your logo

On a t-shirt or mug

You had to specify the

Quantity before it was printed

As it would cost too much

To print out individually

In fact, your price went

Down per item

The more you ordered

And then you had to

Have somewhere to store

The finished products

Print on demand is

Entirely different

Each book is printed

Or your logo stamped

Onto a t-shirt

One at a time

And there is no

Minimum order or

Any fees for warehousing

And as a side effect

You get to keep

Your copyright

Even after being published

Social Networking

Social networking

Allows different people

To form communities

On the Internet

And share their creations

Or their ideas

With each other

In a common environment

With ground rules

And most are supported

Entirely by ads

Basically, the advantage

To the host is that

They get free content

And the advantage to

The individual poster

Is their content is

Hosted for free

These communities

Are a collection of web pages

That are easily designable

Because they are based

On common templates

That are customizable

So they work the same

And the content producers

Don't have to design from scratch

There are social networks

For kids, college students,

Authors, book lists, music, videos

And even bookmarks

They are also great ways

To advertise products

And meet new people

Or keep in touch with friends

Vision

I was discouraged

For a long time

About working through the system

To affect the

Betterment of humanity

So little had been done

Through law and science

That I had believed

That the only route

For substantial change

And the method for

Making a dent in

Human and animal suffering

Was by God's direct intervention

That science was

Part of the problem

And the legal system

Was corrupt beyond repair

But then I saw a movie

About a man I voted for

And admired him

For the party he ran under

I was blown away by all

This one man has affected

And how many others

Were affected by his vision

Part one man crusader

But with an army

Of foot soldier activists

He got passed almost

Every consumer safety,

Environmental and humanitarian

Law that has helped curb

The tide against the

Excesses of corporate America

Occupational Safety and Health Administration

Thank God for Nader

We have a safer workplace

Because of him

We have protection

From being caught in machinery

There are limits on

What concentration of toxic chemicals

We are exposed to

We have protective equipment

Like goggles, face shields, and ear plugs

Power is cut off

Before making adjustments or repairs

To moving machinery

When working in enclosed areas

Like tanks, manholes, pits, and bins

There is enough air

And workers are checked on

Now we know what chemicals

And what infectious diseases

We are being exposed to

Miners are protected

From cave ins

Clean up of accidental releases

Of chemicals that are

Toxic, reactive or flammable

Are managed safely

He helped prevent

Repetitive stress injuries

He brought justice

For those who died

Because of manager negligence

All this happened

Because of him

Consumer Product Safety Commission

Alcohol, tobacco, and firearms

Automobiles, and food and drugs

Are regulated by the government

But what about everything else?

That is what the

Consumer Product Safety Commission does

Thank God for Ralph Nader

Its mission is to protect

Against unreasonable risk of injury

Its weapons are developing standards

Banning unsafe products

Recalling products already purchased

Researching possible problems with

Various consumer products

There is a phone number and website

For consumers to report problems

And they collect statistics

On injuries suffered by

Emergency room patients

Related to consumer products

All this happened

Because of him

Freedom of Information Act

Thank God for Ralph Nader

Did you know that you

Could ask the federal

Government for information

And that they are required

By law to send it to you?

As long as it is not classified

Or is part of our defense

Or national security

Or confidential information

Which would violate someone's

Personal privacy like medical records

And you have to be a US citizen

You can check the FBI web pages

And they release information all the time

Most of the information on UFOs

Came from this law

This law helps keep information

That doesn't need to be kept secret

For our safety from giving the feds

Too much power over us

It is just another way to limit

The power of government

And make it more accountable

To its tax payers

All this happened

Because of him

Environmental Protection Agency

We take the fact

That the government

Helps protect the environment

As something that we can depend on

But it was not always that way

Thank God for Ralph Nader

The government has an

Agency of 17, 000 people

Composed of engineers, scientists,

And environmental protection specialists

Lawyers, PR people, accountants,

And computer experts

The main areas of work done

Are assessment, research, and education

It sets and enforces many

Environmental laws along with

State and federal agencies

It also lets some of the responsibilities

For permits, monitoring and enforcement

Fall on the shoulders of other

State and federal agencies

Some of the things the EPA has helped with

Include a Energy Star,

A voluntary program for

Reducing the energy consumption

Of appliances and computers

They rate the fuel economy of cars

Based on how much they pollute

They test the concentration of air pollution

They outlawed the chemical DDT

Which killed off wildlife

They regulate the release of the

Toxic heavy metal mercury

All this happened

Because of him

Safe Drinking Water Act

The Safe Drinking Water Act

Ensures that all Americans

Have access to water that is

Safe to drink

Thank God for Ralph Nader

They limit the amount

Of toxic chemicals

That can be present in our

Drinking water

And even tougher goals

Which allow money to

Be taken from abusers

To clean up pollution with

None of the toxic heavy metal

Lead is allowed in water pipes

People who report violations

Are protected from retaliation

All communities must

Publish reports of water quality

Every year

New drinking water standards

Must be evaluated by how

Much they cost in relation to

Their expected benefits

States are given federal money

To clean up or monitor

Their local water sources

Drinking water is to be free

Of both infectious diseases

As well as toxic cleaning agents

Used to kill off harmful

Micro organisms

Water system operators

Must be certified to make sure

They keep the water safe

Information is released to the public

About what chemicals are in the water

Where their water originates

How it is cleaned

And how a private citizen

Can help keep it clean

Small water systems

Are given extra federal funds

To comply with the drinking water act

All this happened

Because of him

Old Testament

The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

121

And I have filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, To devise cunning works, to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, And in cutting of stones, to set them, and in carving of timber, to work in all manner of workmanship.

122

And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.

123

And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the Lord, mine horn is exalted in the Lord: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God. Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the Lord is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength. They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. The Lord killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

124

This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, Hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them.

125

Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat, and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock and of the herd: and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, both young men and old together: for I will turn their mourning into joy, and will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith the Lord.

126

Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.

127

I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.

128

Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places. To the chief singer on my stringed instruments.

129

New Testament

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

130

I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

131

For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.

132

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

133

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

134

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.

135

Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven

136

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

137

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

138

Genesis

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

139

And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee. Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him: Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark. And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

140

And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

141

And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.

142

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.

143

Deuteronomy

For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

144

But as for thee, stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee all the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which thou shalt teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it. Ye shall observe to do therefore as the Lord your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess.

145

That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.

146

Thou shalt therefore keep the commandments, and the statutes, and the judgments, which I command thee this day, to do them. Wherefore it shall come to pass, if ye hearken to these judgments, and keep, and do them, that the Lord thy God shall keep unto thee the covenant and the mercy which he sware unto thy fathers: And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee. Thou shalt be blessed above all people: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee. And thou shalt consume all the people which the Lord thy God shall deliver thee; thine eye shall have no pity upon them: neither shalt thou serve their gods; for that will be a snare unto thee.

147

And that ye may prolong your days in the land, which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give unto them and to their seed, a land that floweth with milk and honey. For the land, whither thou goest in to possess it, is not as the land of Egypt, from whence ye came out, where thou sowedst thy seed, and wateredst it with thy foot, as a garden of herbs: But the land, whither ye go to possess it, is a land of hills and valleys, and drinketh water of the rain of heaven: A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; And then the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you. Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates:  That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, in the land which the Lord sware unto your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth. For if ye shall diligently keep all these commandments which I command you, to do them, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, and to cleave unto him; Then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and ye shall possess greater nations and mightier than yourselves. Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread shall be yours: from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the river, the river Euphrates, even unto the uttermost sea shall your coast be. There shall no man be able to stand before you: for the Lord your God shall lay the fear of you and the dread of you upon all the land that ye shall tread upon, as he hath said unto you. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

148

At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the Lord's release. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; Save when there shall be no poor among you; for the Lord shall greatly bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it: Only if thou carefully hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all these commandments which I command thee this day. For the Lord thy God blesseth thee, as he promised thee: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, but thou shalt not borrow; and thou shalt reign over many nations, but they shall not reign over thee. If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.

149

And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways. And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them: And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

150

When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lord alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.

151

Job

Call now, if there be any that will answer thee; and to which of the saints wilt thou turn?  For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. I have seen the foolish taking root: but suddenly I cursed his habitation. His children are far from safety, and they are crushed in the gate, neither is there any to deliver them. Whose harvest the hungry eateth up, and taketh it even out of the thorns, and the robber swalloweth up their substance. Although affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground; Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward. I would seek unto God, and unto God would I commit my cause: Which doeth great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number: Who giveth rain upon the earth, and sendeth waters upon the fields: To set up on high those that be low; that those which mourn may be exalted to safety. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands cannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong. They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noonday as in the night. But he saveth the poor from the sword, from their mouth, and from the hand of the mighty. So the poor hath hope, and iniquity stoppeth her mouth. Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty: For he maketh sore, and bindeth up: he woundeth, and his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles: yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee. In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword. Thou shalt be hid from the scourge of the tongue: neither shalt thou be afraid of destruction when it cometh. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: neither shalt thou be afraid of the beasts of the earth. For thou shalt be in league with the stones of the field: and the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle shall be in peace; and thou shalt visit thy habitation, and shalt not sin. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be great, and thine offspring as the grass of the earth. Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age, like as a shock of corn cometh in in his season. Lo this, we have searched it, so it is; hear it, and know thou it for thy good.

152

Which said unto God, Depart from us: and what can the Almighty do for them? Yet he filled their houses with good things: but the counsel of the wicked is far from me. The righteous see it, and are glad: and the innocent laugh them to scorn. Whereas our substance is not cut down, but the remnant of them the fire consumeth. Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee. Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart. If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacles. Then shalt thou lay up gold as dust, and the gold of Ophir as the stones of the brooks. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways. When men are cast down, then thou shalt say, There is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person. He shall deliver the island of the innocent: and it is delivered by the pureness of thine hands.

153

God thundereth marvellously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend. For he saith to the snow, Be thou on the earth; likewise to the small rain, and to the great rain of his strength. He sealeth up the hand of every man; that all men may know his work. Then the beasts go into dens, and remain in their places. Out of the south cometh the whirlwind: and cold out of the north. By the breath of God frost is given: and the breadth of the waters is straitened. Also by watering he wearieth the thick cloud: he scattereth his bright cloud: And it is turned round about by his counsels: that they may do whatsoever he commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy. Hearken unto this, O Job: stand still, and consider the wondrous works of God. Dost thou know when God disposed them, and caused the light of his cloud to shine?  Dost thou know the balancings of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?  How thy garments are warm, when he quieteth the earth by the south wind? Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass? Teach us what we shall say unto him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness. Shall it be told him that I speak? if a man speak, surely he shall be swallowed up. And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them. Fair weather cometh out of the north: with God is terrible majesty. Touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out: he is excellent in power, and in judgment, and in plenty of justice: he will not afflict. Men do therefore fear him: he respecteth not any that are wise of heart.

154

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?  Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?  Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?  When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, And brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, And said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?  Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days; and caused the dayspring to know his place; That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, that the wicked might be shaken out of it?  It is turned as clay to the seal; and they stand as a garment. And from the wicked their light is withholden, and the high arm shall be broken. Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth?  Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?  Hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth? declare if thou knowest it all. Where is the way where light dwelleth? and as for darkness, where is the place thereof, That thou shouldest take it to the bound thereof, and that thou shouldest know the paths to the house thereof?  Knowest thou it, because thou wast then born? or because the number of thy days is great?  Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow? or hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war?  By what way is the light parted, which scattereth the east wind upon the earth?  Who hath divided a watercourse for the overflowing of waters, or a way for the lightning of thunder; To cause it to rain on the earth, where no man is; on the wilderness, wherein there is no man; To satisfy the desolate and waste ground; and to cause the bud of the tender herb to spring forth?  Hath the rain a father? or who hath begotten the drops of dew?  Out of whose womb came the ice? and the hoary frost of heaven, who hath gendered it?  The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?  Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?  Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?  Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto thee, Here we are?  Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart?  Who can number the clouds in wisdom? or who can stay the bottles of heaven, When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?  Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions, When they couch in their dens, and abide in the covert to lie in wait? Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.

155

Other Old Testament

And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

156

Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am the Lord. If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield her increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time: and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. And I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid: and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land. And ye shall chase your enemies, and they shall fall before you by the sword. And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, and establish my covenant with you.

157

Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast. There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

158

And Solomon went up thither to the brasen altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it. In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast shewed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead. Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great?  And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.

159

What is Rational?

What is the definition of rational?

Believing that man is the highest good

Or that his intellect can grasp everything

Do you think you can disprove God

By quoting a famous atheist?

You win an argument

But just show your own limitations

And your own weak intellect

Not everything is meant to be

Analyzed in the Scientific method

What cannot be disproved

Is greater than that which can be proven

Guess and check can only go so far

And scientists are as bigoted

And resistant to change and new ideas

Than as are any other bureaucrats

The ideas of Science may have

At one time been an area for non-comformists

But it is no longer

Everyone believes in Science

And that is a great weakness

The masses can be convinced of anything

Scientists fail to realize

That it was their community that

Made a fool of Galileo

The first scientist was a smart ass

When your belief system

Can only understand matter-energy

Aren't you smart enough

To realize that it cannot explain

Anything important

It is not wrong to have a theory

To explain something

But when you use it as an excuse

To hide from spiritual realities

Who is the greater fool?

It doesn't matter how good you are at debate

Or how many facts you have on your side

Some things just don't make sense

Just because the entire Scientific establishment

Believes in one thing, the masses think it is true

No matter how many times

Society confuses facts with truth

The number of believers is growing worldwide

It is interesting that those who think

They are so enlightened

As to be better informed than God

And think that they are the enemy of the establishment

That their ideas resonate best with

The people who create the problems

They are trying to fix

If the same system that said the world is flat

Now even admits they cannot observe

95% of the mass of the universe

Why should I believe them about evolution?

For a community that shuns innovators

And anything unusual or different

And is mainly motivated by prestige

Why would I believe anything

They print in numbers

And collect evidence for?

If scientists would study other philosophies

They would start to realize that the world

Is much bigger than Science

And that the real problems in life

Are not going to be solved by more technology

That we are never going to resolve

The true cause of suffering through education

That the innovation that will bring solutions

Is something that was written down 2,000 years ago

That the most unusual ideas were some of the oldest

That we are just re-inventing what China

Designed thousands of years ago

Without the Scientific method

If the Chinese were not smart enough

To keep the empire going

How are we going to be able to survive

A few more generations of Science?

One of the big problems with Science

Is it has no ethical foundation

Just as you cannot add security onto technology

Not designed with a firm foundation

Ethics are not just an add on

People do not become ethical by

Attending a one semester course

Or even after earning a Ph.D. in philosophy

It is not that we do not know enough

To do find a solution to our problems

But that we need a way to stop

Ourselves from creating more problems

Self control is the key to our survival

But the solution is not an invention

But supernatural intervention

Where Blame is Due

If Christianity is to blame for everything

People claim it is

Then why is there so much more evil

Done by countries which are primarily atheist?

Before jumping on the bandwagon

And blaming every problem on Christianity

People should actually read what the Bible says

The Bible never says it is ok to mistreat animals

Augustine and Thomas Aquinas hated animals

But their theology is based more on Greek paganism

Than it is on any possible interpretation

Of the Bible come up with by the biggest idiot

The Bible holds humans responsible for taking care

Of the entire ecosystem

Not only are we responsible for what we have done

But we must correct any problems no matter

How they were caused

Unlike what the religious wrong say

The Bible states very clearly in several places

That there is no distinction between man and woman

Or peoples of any race or any other background

Contrary to popular belief, the Bible noes not say

That corporations should control the government

Or that the wealthy got that way because

They were following God's laws

The Bible says over and over and gives many examples

Of moral people who loved God and suffered terribly

Many times exactly because of it

Contrary to popular belief, claiming to be born again

Does not get you to Heaven according to the Bible

You have to humble yourself before God

And believe you are equal to your fellow man

Before you can be saved

According to the Bible, environmental destruction

And stealing from people's retirements are sins

And are greater than that of committing adultery one time

Unlike what many people think

The Bible does not tell you everything to do

And is designed for there to be different interpretations

Of many ideas in theology

Similar to Taoism, the theology of the Bible is no-dualistic

Even though many Christians treat Paul's letters

Like analytical arguments, they are really mystical

Unlike what many Christians believe

The Bible encourages study of other religions and

Being intellectual by Paul's example alone

The religious ideas the Bible disparages come from

Occult religions like Greek Paganism

Which has been synchronized with Christianity

By Augustine and Thomas Aquinas

God and Country

The religious wrong have long believed

That America was a Christian nation

What America really was and this includes

The religious wrong

Is founded on the idea of

Not wanting to pay taxes

The founding fathers were anarchists

So to follow in their foot steps

Would be to overthrow the current government

The United States has always been

An aggressive and violent nation

Something we inherited from the English

We thought we were better than

The rest of the world

It was our duty to spread our power

No matter what the cost

Following in the footsteps of the English

We held people as slaves even though

We claimed to be a democracy

We used biological weapons on the

Native Americans and dishonored treaties

These are not things a Christian nation would do

They do not honor God

And they do not promote human dignity

Now the religious wrong want us to protect

Humans that are not even born

But thinks it is ok to torture baby animals

In their use for food and experiments

Both of which are unnecessary

They believe that monopolies/dictatorships are good

And that our bill of rights is unimportant

They are against giving to charities

They instead want to tax the poor

And give it to the rich to make bigger weapons with

They are using a couple of attacks worldwide

As an excuse to invade another nation

When it had no intention of attacking anyone

So our dictator could settle an old score

The American House of Bush

Loves to redefine worlds until they have no meaning

They have over written every law against pollution

So a couple rich white men can get even richer

He has held teachers responsible for how

Prepared the kids are for school without

Factoring in different socioeconomic conditions

Which will ultimately destroy the school system

After doing all this our dictator has the audacity

To claim he is a born again Christian

There is absolutely nothing Christian

About the way this creep acts

Medieval Morality

Enlightenment writers love to denigrate

The European Medieval period

By referring to it as the Dark Ages

Because they hated God so much

And they were enamored by material wealth

And advanced technology used in warfare

They blamed all their problems on God

Modern authors refer to the time

As being backwards and violent

What they really hate is that it was

A relative time of material poverty for Europe

After the fall of the Roman Empire

The entirety of Europe struggled to survive

But people don't see the bright side

Without the wealth to destroy others

And depending on the harvest for their food

People began to rely upon God

And had respect for God and nature

People still had evil in their hearts

But the scale of destruction was

Exponentially less than in "enlightened times"

In fact, although historians love to blame

Christianity for the big wars of the next 500 years

The Church was losing more and more power

As things began to be more and more violent

People saw Science as a way they could

One up God and avoid those inconvenient

Sexual and financial morals

See the main problem with Science is

That it has no formal ethics as part

Of its system of discovery

The superiority of philosophy

Is that it has an ethics

The superiority of religion

Is that is also has a reason

The superiority of Christianity

Is that is also gives a way

A Matter of Faith

Many people believe

That evolution should be

Accepted because

Most scientists believe it

They say it should just be

A matter of evidence

I believe it as a matter of faith

First of all, Science did not

Just arrive out of nowhere

And was not always

The way everything was decided

Neither are we more advanced

For relying on it for everything

Science was invented and came out

Of a particular western philosophical

School called the Enlightenment

Contrary to popular belief

Most technologies of the modern world

Were not invented by Europeans or

By their precious Science

They were dreamed up and produced

First by the Chinese

In fact, the Industrial Revolution

Came about from our discovery

Of Chinese technologies

Invented hundreds or even thousands

Of years earlier

There are many other methods

Of discovery and verification

Jainism has a number all by itself

The five senses, testimony, ESP,

telepathy, and an all knowing ascended being

Mystics have a number as well

Faith, intuition, and prophetic visions

Most schools of Hinduism

Verify knowledge by

Perception, inference, comparison, and testimony

So we see that Science is only

One school out of many

In the panorama of philosophy

Even if I would be convinced

If provided the evidence

In the Scientific form

It would not be possible

For me to accept evolution

Except by blind faith

Because it requires a Ph.D.

In Science to have the background

To make an informed position

Otherwise it is just oversimplified

And I have seen this done

In philosophy and religion

So I would only trust my own

Research into the theory of evolution

Circular Argument

Most people believe anything

Someone with a Scientific education says

How do they prove things?

By facts, of course

How have they proven

That facts are truth?

Because that is Scientific

Facts determine details about

Specific events and measurements

But how does one prove Love?

How does one disprove it?

Many people believe if there

Are no facts for proving something

Than it must not be true

But facts are less important

Than things determined by faith

Things determined by experience

Things determined by reflection

Things determined by immersion

In a particular field of work

Things determined by scripture

Things determined by miraculous

Answers to prayer

If there is nothing to prove

That facts are true

Other than a circular argument

Then why do we base our society

On this shaky ground

And why do we force

This viewpoint on young children?

Our world is getting worse and worse

The more we use facts

To determine policy and direction

Shouldn't we base our ideas

By what works and what doesn't

In the real world

With cold, hard truth

Not by just flimsy facts

After all, it's not like it's hard

To present lies as facts

Only One Answer

There are few things in life

That only have one answer

This is one of the things

People like so much about Science

But this a false premise

As Science is only one way

Of discovery

And is only applicable

To one way of thinking

Coming from the culture of

One part of the world

Having multiple answers

Is the great thing about art,

Philosophy, and religion

The humanities are the only

Fields that treat other cultures

With dignity and respect

They are the only ones

That explain what being

Sentient is like

They answer the most

Important questions

Better because they can

Have multiple answers

Most things in life are paradoxes

Which aren't very compatible

With Science and math

How can you reduce

Most fundamental problems

Down to one solution?

How can you explain

Feelings in numbers and attributes?

How do you express mystery

With a system that is designed

To explain everything?

Ever wonder why economists

Can't predict the future

With mathematical models

Or why it is so hard to

Communicate with psychologists?

Ever wonder why scientists

Are surprised when they

Discover animals are sentient

Or can have mental disorders?

We have an ancient heritage

Of wisdom and understanding

That is aware of things

Science can only dream of

To rely on a system that

Ignores questions of the spirit

Or things that cannot be tested

Under controlled conditions

To guide society into a better world

Shows that our world no longer

Values the truth and is only looking

For easy solutions and doesn't care

About how bad the consequences are

White Current Events

Our country is so obsessed

With the barely 200 years

Of current events that

From what is often called

American History

The big focus is on whites

Both women and men

And there is a tiny bit

About slavery and civil rights

As if these are the only things

Relevant to people of color

The back is especially padded

How virtuose were the white settlers

Escaping religious persecution

You mean the same ones

Who massacred the indigenous population

Because they thought they were

Gods people and it was His divine plan?

Maybe they should send those

People to the moon without life support

We were told how bad it was that

They had to pay taxes

So they decided to revolt

Today we would call them anarchists

We talk about how awful slavery was

And it sure was - too bad there

Weren't any photographs in our text books

But Irish immigrants were treated

Just as bad in the North

We talk about the Civil War

As if it was about slavery

But Lincoln didn't talk about that

Until half way during the war

What he did was start the war

By reinforcing Fort Sumter

Because he didn't believe

People had the right to choose

Which nation they wanted

To be part of

He wanted to destroy the South

If I was fighting,

I would fight the first half for the South

For state's rights and the second half

For the North, to end slavery

The main focus being on the first half of

American current events

Is clearly a matter of we only care

About rich white men

White Pagan Role Models

Europe and America are still

Falling over themselves about

How wonderful the

Greeks and Romans were

In fact, most Christian theology

Is based more on Greek Paganism

Than on the Bible

The Church respected Rome so much

That they made their capital there

They made their cathedrals like

Roman palaces in design

They made their songs patterned

After Roman songs

They used the language of the Romans

And they helped preserve the pagan

Philosophies and literatures

We don't need more ideas

On how to destroy other nations

Have more sex and violence in our

Entertainment and popular culture

We don't need our children

Memorizing the names of pagan gods

And the deeds of the evil spirits

We would never even think of

Letting the Bible into our classrooms

Because that would cause

A conflict between Church and State

Even though it affected

English literature more than Greek writings

But it is ok to promote the religions

Of pagans because we basically

Hate God and Christians

Because we want to live lives

Of hedonism and have no limits placed

On how much deviant sex and violence

We can dream up

White Stories

Instead of picking from the hundreds

Of texts of classical literature from

Any of the major civilizations of the world

Mostly not white

And in easy to read modern translations

Out of the at least thousands of years

Of recorded history

We confine ourselves to 200 years

Of rich white male writers

We are a nation of immigrants

Except for the Native Americans

But the only culture we think worth

Preserving is 19th century America

From the point of view of

Rich white men

We are making a value judgement

That we don't value non-white cultures

We say we care so much about

Multiculturalism but when it actually

Comes to the work part, we all bail out

And really, you can't say

Hemingway is a better writer than Chuang Tzu

Or that Emerson knew more about Hinduism

Than the writer of the Ramayana

Don't teachers get bored by narrowing

Themselves to such absurd and ridiculous

Conditions on what they teach?

Don't they enjoy learning?

They are after all in the profession of education

Which they supposedly got trained in

And chose instead of careers in higher paying fields

Because they actually care

I guess not 

Maybe it was just for the summers off

Technology of False Gods

There seems to be an endless

Fascination with the monuments

Of the ancient world

Especially how people could

Construct on such a large scale

Without the technology

We have today

We are learning that the

History of technology

Is not linear and progressive

What is interesting is the

Cultural similarities of

All the different ancient cultures

Most of them worshipped

A snake god and were experts in

Mathematics and astronomy

From Stonehenge to Angkor Wat

From the Easter Islands

To the Valley of the Kings

From Machu Picchu

To the Seven Wonders

It seems we value the same things

As these pagan cultures do

We are slaves to technology and violence

And we would do anything

To preserve this way of life

We really are a pagan culture

Here in America

Enlightened Literature

It would be better for us

To be fascinated with literature

From the major cultural centers

Of the Asian continent

Instead of digging up

Places the ancient cultures

Worshipped false gods in

And slaughtered in their names

We seem to think ancient

Greece was civilized

But no culture can compare

To the humanity of China

Their entire system of government

Was based on a subsistence economy

They didn't try to make

The rest of the world into subjects

Like the Europeans did

Leaders were encouraged

To study ethics, poetry, and history

People were promoted

Based on their character

And their education

Rather than by force or fraud

China's weakness is that it

Wasn't violent enough

To stand against the Europeans

What if that were the worst thing

They could say about America?

What a wonderful culture

Art Museum

I approach the museum

From the front

Walking across sidewalks

In an open grassy area

Flanked on 2 sides by

Old brick buildings

With moss planted on the walls

The carvings on the front

Are ornate and abstract

The building is well kept up

I walk up several cement stairs

And I go into the lobby

There is a series of stairs

Behind swinging glass doors

I pay and get my badge

I assume this is some way

Of tracking me by radio waves

I go up the marble staircase

Most the exhibits are on the second floor

In the front, there are exhibitions

Where the museum rents art

And has to return it after a few months

Then you pass by

Their collection are in back

An icons of Russia collection

Of original gold painted illustrations

Of various saints and the Trinity

In the foyay there are small items

From India and Southeast Asia

There is a fairly big Siva stone carving

As well as smaller carvings in stone

Of various gods

There is always a large Chinese

Throne room, jade pagoda,

And imperial clothing and artifacts

On the left side are the Japanese rooms

There is a suit of Samurai armor

And traditional Japanese swords

In the far room

In the nearer room, there are

Small paintings or woodblock carvings

The Korean section is on the right

It has giant watercolors of landscapes

And there are several calligraphy exhibits

They also have a painting of a

Traditional design of a tiger

Downstairs they have a store

Where sometimes you can find prints or books

Of exhibits and a fancy French cafe

American Literature

American Literature has little depth

To it compared to Asian Literature

But I have good memories

Of when used to study it

Maybe it was because it was just

That I enjoyed writing or it was

Just preferable to math class

I remember mostly how I felt

It opened up ideas that were new to me

And new ways of looking at the world

It was something I felt very safe with

I guess I felt like Hemingway's

Short story - A Clean, Well Lighted Place

The naturalism writings were new to me

And I enjoyed their cynicism

I remember reading Ken Follet

And James Clavell about other countries

They are obviously overly simplistic

But at the time were exciting

I always enjoy just learning new things

And books even if I don't like

Their subjects

I was also very good at writing

I won a national peace essay contest

For the State of Oregon

Running

I didn't like running at first

But as I got more endurance

I began to enjoy it

It is true that it is difficult

And often painful

But it makes you feel

Like nothing else

You often feel like you

Are out of your body

And that your legs are moving

By their own will

Running really takes commitment

To really get better

And to stay in shape

It is best to run every day

Even on the weekends

When you first start running

You get slower and slower

For about 3 weeks

Then, starting from there

You start to get better

The key to training to run fast

Over a long distance

Is to train over short distances

Repeatedly after short breaks

But keep increasing the length

Of the distances and shortening

The amount of rest time

That Feeling

It is a certain feeling of jubilation

It exists in memories and dreams

It is how I felt in high school

I cannot locate the source

Was it the anticipation of the holidays?

Was it the cold silence and darkness

Of a winter night?

Was it the freezing rain of winter?

Was it the smell that accompanies the rain?

Was it a memory of a park the church met at

And played frisbee golf?

Was it the memory of the pain in my side

And the cramped up leg muscles

I felt in Cross Country and Long Distance Track?

Was it the memory of waking up

When it was still dark out

For Speech tournaments?

Was it the colleges I toured?

Was it the feeling I get when we go to

Downtown Portland?

Was it the joy I felt using Mac OS 7.5

And using Photoshop for the first time?

Was it the exhilaration I felt

When graduating from high school?

Was it the feeling when I ran

In Basic Training?

Or our long march home

From Field Training Exercises?

Or when I shipped off to duty station?

Or when I woke up in Hawaii

And we went to the beach

On a warm sunny day in February?

Or when I went to a new church?

Maybe it is a feeling of great accomplishment

Or satisfaction with where I am now

Or an excitement about the future

I have felt this way in and off

For half a year

The trouble is that I do not know

What to do with it

Colors

I paint with the colors

That live in my mind

I paint with the hot pink

Of a picturesque sunset

I don't stop to see

Often enough

I paint with shades of green

Of avocados in burritos

And kiwi shakes

When I have enough money

I paint with the bright yellow

Of the penetrating heat

Of the summer sun

That keeps my inside

In the air conditioning

I paint with the deep brown

Of a intimate local cafe

I frequent when I am

Out too early for lunch

I paint with the bright blue

Of the brilliant summer skies

I paint with the orange red

Of numerous pizzas ordered

When I don't have the energy

To walk to the store

I paint with the dark blue

Of the pen I mark the date on

My backup CD-ROMs

Plush Ideas

I don't know how it happens

But my stuffed cows

Talk to me continually

They are as close to me

As a regular person's

Child or pet animal

I hear them with

Separate and distinct voices

They keep me company

Even when I leave them

They enjoy watching me work

On the computer

Watching TV with me

And listening to me read

They really like animated cartoons

I don't take them with me

Except to my parents' house

In order to keep them

From getting lost or dirty

My big fear is that they

Will get taken by some kid

Or left outside to grow mold

They get new outfits and DVDs

For their birthdays and Christmas

They started out with shirts

Then they got onesies for preemies

And then khaki pants and shirts

Then they got job uniforms

Now they have artist clothes

They got a bale of hay this year

They want to learn to read

But I am not sure they

Will still be interested

Several years from now

They seem to like most

Small children, so they like

To watch programs small children like

They say they like them

Because they learn from them

I think stuffed toys

Have many attributes of non-dualism

They also have more Fruits of the Spirit

Than even regular pets do

They are great examples of patience

And they would make great monks

They say God gives them magic

Which they store for emergencies

This is how they move

My cows are born again Christians

But they are very well behaved

The lead cow runs the herd

Like a constitutional monarchy

He collects taxes on magic

For when someone needs more

They like it when I give them

Money to hold for a while

I am afraid if they wander off

They will ask for grass and

Someone might give them drugs

I tell them to be very careful of fire

Because I could back up files easy

But not their plush souls

Elementary School

I remember living as if in a dream

All throughout elementary school

The teacher would keep on repeating

What is a verb? What is a noun?

We would cover every possible factor

Of the American Revolution and

Of the American Civil War

Over and over again

Our text books were so dry

They literally put me to sleep

I talked constantly in class

As I was so bored

They put my name with a

Check mark by it in permanent ink

I stayed after school for detention

Almost every day

The only thing I remember being enjoyable

Was reading for book reports

And doing art projects

For some reason I began learning

Viola in the orchestra class

But we never got to play anything

That sounded like anything on the radio

Most of the pieces were all numbered names

I hardly ever practiced and I was terrible at it

On my tests I placed at 12th grade comprehension

But only 3rd grade reading level

I was too bored taking tests

So I didn't get into advanced classes

Until later on

Middle School

In middle school the other kids

Picked on me so much

That I dreaded going to school

Especially on the buses

They wouldn't let me

Sit down on the buses

And kicked and hit me

On the buses

And in shop class

We spent the first several months

Learning safety procedures

Before we could touch any of the tools

In our shop class

One kid put the welding flux

Chemical cleaner in his eyes

Deliberately to prove he was tough

I remember one kid putting my

Math book in another desk

So I had to buy a new one

And I found out about it months later

I also had these very large warts

That we had burned with acid

Which would burn for 8 hours

And we had to use finger nail polish

Remover to neutralize it

I then had my warts freeze burned

Which was excruciatingly painful

As they were on the end of my fingers

And under the nails

I finally had them cut out

As much as putting Novocain in the

End of your nails hurts, it was much

Better than the freezing

I also dreaded wrestling as I had to do it

When my warts were being removed

The other person would touch my hand

And I would give up just so

The pain would stop

As they were very sensitive as they healed

High School

High school was much better

I enjoyed my literature class the most

What kept me going was

All the activities I was involved in

If I hadn't been in so many clubs

I would have dropped out long before graduation

I was involved in 12 different activities

My Junior year

I enjoyed most of all Model United Nations

Where each school represented a different nation

I was the President my senior year

And also ran a committee

I enjoyed going on Speech tournaments

Because we got to go see most of the colleges

Around Portland, the nearest big city

I didn't practice much and lost every time

I enjoyed the Future Business Leaders of America

Because we got to stay at the Hilton

I wanted to do acting, but I didn't get selected

For the part I auditioned for, so I thought

That I wasn't good enough although later

I was told I was very good

I also enjoyed Cross Country

As we were able to go to the coast

Or other places in the area on invitational meets

We got to eat out there too

I also enjoyed cheerleading which

Was a total surprise to me when I made it

As I could not remember dance moves or cheers

And I still don't know what first in ten means

I was asked to do it the next year too

I got people more excited about the games

But I needed to focus on getting in shape

For the military my senior year

I also designed the military section of my

High school's orientation CD-ROM

With Sony Disc Manufacturing

I also got some invitations to some cool colleges

One was Bennington which I think

Was one of those colleges that you can

Make up your own degree

And another one in Pennsylvania which was

A private Christian college but much cheaper

The Recruiter

I took a long time deciding

Whether or not to join the military

One of my interests in it

Was that I could do something

Interesting just out of high school

And go to a much better college

And not be in debt from student loans

I was also stressed out with all the reading

We did my senior year and I was looking

Forward to have some time away

From a rigorous academic program

I chose to go enlisted because I wanted

To get my military service out of the way

Before I went to college

Because even then I didn't

Think it would be very enjoyable

I found out later that there is little

A person can do to prepare for Basic Training

Except getting into good over all physical shape

I had run most years of high school in

Cross Country and Long Distance Track

And my senior year I worked out all summer

And took an intensive conditioning course

The last half of my senior year

I signed up a whole year in advance

So I got an interesting job in the Army

Working with computers

I remember asking my recruiter directly

About the NBC training

And whether or not our enemies would be

Using chemical weapons in combat

He directly denied it

I wasn't afraid of being killed

But I didn't want to be burned alive

The brochures painted one side of

Someone's imagination of military life

But being in the Army is very different

The only thing I had really known

That was correct was that it didn't

Require much brain power even for

The most advanced engineering job

Basic Training

The first thing that shocked me

Was how much easier the physical training

And how more friendly my fellow soldiers were

Than I had expected

The downside was that I didn't

Rise to the occasion as much as I had hoped

The first 2 weeks of Basic Training

You get yelled at a lot from the Drill Sergeants

And you learn to march

As well as watch films on all sorts of things

Like the military judicial system (UCMJ)

And a scare film about STDs

You also get issued gear during this period

It is really easy to get out then

But there is nothing very stressful yet

Next you learn the Manual of Arms

How to move the rifle in ceremony and safely

I had to drop and do push-ups

Each time any procedure was explained

As I seemed to keep on getting it wrong

Then we had a confidence building course

That we had to repel and climb through

Various towers somewhat like an obstacle course

Then they do pictures and no one is allowed to smile

Of course that wasn't hard as we were to go

To the gas chamber in a few days

I was told the gas chamber didn't cause any pain

And that you only had to

Hold your breath for a few seconds

You go in this small dark room

With your mask on and you feel

Your hands are burning painfully

Then you are told to take off the mask

Not only can you barely breathe

But it feels like your

Lungs and eyes are on fire

We were kept in there for at least 5 minutes

And we were the last platoon in

So we had much more of the CS gas

In the room at the time

As they put another stick in each time

Another platoon went in

This is when I realized the

Risks I was taking by enlisting

After that, we spent 2 weeks

Learning how to shoot the M-16 (BRM)

I thought I would never pass

But the drill sergeant gave me a lane

Where the 300m target jumped up

And down and counted for me

No matter if I hit it or not

We then trained with a live grenade

I freaked out about this

Until I got the live grenade and then

It just felt like throwing a baseball

Except after you throw it you dive

Down in your foxhole and put

Your head between your legs

For training we didn't have a foxhole

But we had a cement wall

We stood behind, we wore a kevlar

Helmet and vest and the sergeant

Jumped on us to make sure we were down

These grenades are safe as long as you aren't

Standing up as they explode at a high angle 

Then we went to field training exercises (FTX)

I didn't do very good at digging a foxhole

But my battle buddy slept while I

Watched for the Drill Sergeant

One time, the Drill Sergeant pulled my rifle

Out of my hands, so I had to low crawl

In the dirt, but later I gathered

That she was saving me from the

Other Drill Sergeant who was going to throw

CS gas into my foxhole

I slept with my protective mask on that night

Then we did a big test on everything

We learned for combat survival

I failed the clearing a rifle from a jam test (SPORTS)

And I left the test button connected when

I set off my claymore mine and yelled "claymore"

I was supposed to be punished for that

But it didn't happen for some reason

During the last week, the head Drill Sergeant

For the platoon announced in front of everyone

That if I wasn't already promoted as high

As she could promote, then she would have

Chosen my above all the other soldiers

The only thing that happened the same every day

Was that we woke up once the lights were turned on

We jumped out of bed and ran into formation

When we finished training under the football lights

We went to breakfast as it was getting light

And this was in the middle of the summer

On Sundays we got a few hours off to write letters

And we could go to church or we could do chores

We were also allowed a little time to call home