Necessities of Living

O.K. so it has been a while and I've been busy thinking...or more precisely revising for exams. But that's cool we need exams to test the knowledge that has sunk into our brains to see if we can remember it at pivotal moments [like exams].

There is one point though that nearly everyone seems to come back to. "If we are going to get jobs where we can always check out our writings or statements, why can we not use revision notes in the exams? We will never have to undergo them again, so why the pain?" And I can completely understand where you are coming from, but if that happened the people who don't try very hard would be able to get higher results and, as bad as it sounds, that would hit employers very hard in the future.

Think about it, if they can't be bothered remembering a few facts now and undergoing a little pain, then in the future where the choice is clearer they just wouldn't bother.

Now i know i sound very pessimistic and harsh in most respects but for a society and economy to function EVERYONE has to pull their weight. if we don't then the worlds stagnates and global development and well as social and personal falls. Meaning that we end up with a planet full of wasters who try to live life with as much pleasure and as little pain as possible. But if you undergo, the necessary pains of life at the right times, in the end it will all be worth while.

Songs of the forest of men

I feel inclined to inform you of a recent development in my life. I have become a poet. Yet who can say if it is just a passing phase, or something i am committed to.

I find myself writing poems about things i have not quite experienced, but I know they are there. There was once a time when i was not inclined to poetry, though we did tend to do a lot of it is school. I think that perhaps my horizons have grown and i am expressing myself in different ways. However it could just be a deep seated yearning to return to those days when life felt the same, but now i look back it was different.

Your potential is unlimited, if you wish to apply yourself. Success is not how much money you have from a job, but how happy your job makes you, and then how that happiness makes other peoples lives better

Another One...Again?

Welcome to a new year, and what do we have to show for it? What developments have been made since this time last year? There have been a few good things, there have been a few bad things, but overall it's been a great year. So the question is "what are we going to do differently this year?" Hopefully it will be something life-building, like spend more time with family or just becoming a friendlier person. I however am going to concentrate on keeping up with old friends and strengthen the friendships I have already. I would hope that they would also be willing to spend more time with a crazed madman like me...even for a little while.

So here is to the new year and what to expect from it.
[Let's try not to break the Country again]

Broken world

Every generation is different from the last. Personally i wouldn't have it any other way, people need to express themselves and learn their own ways. But, I do believe some teenagers who are coming to understand the bigger picture may believe they have inherited a broken world.

Now this can sometimes be because the parents don't care. Other times its because the parents want to wait until a certain point before they tell you or show you some things. But teenagers are curious, they - or we rather - are going out into the big wide world and unearthing, so to speak the remnants of the world you [adults] left behind. Almost as if you didn't want us to find out.

Of course this may sound like I'm blaming or even using you as a scapegoat. But the number of times I've heard "You've never seen it!" "I'm sure we showed you that one" or anything else that translates as absolute shock from the parents, it seems to me like something else is going on.

To many parents their child is all that matters.To others they couldn't be less bothered. Harsh but true, cynical; but I'm talking straight. Too many parents have let emotions rule their lives. Forever stuck looking at the problems, rather than looking at The Answer. For those who can or want to understand, the Truth is in a couple of my blogs, somewhere. Just look and open your eyes.

A strange direction or just life?

What strange paths the journey of life takes us on. Yet we say strange in that context rather freely, as if we have had some pre-birth experience of life with which to compare our present life. Is any situation in life strange? Or are we to just expect or in fact, hope for everything that comes our way?

People, humanity has existed for a long time, and in that time it is safe to say that people have gone through all sorts of trouble. But none of them are inconceivable, as even now writers are coming up with some almost impossible stories, which capture the people’s imagination because of their likelihood.

So what can we say about the paths of life? These “strange” directions that our lives can follow? I would say this; there must be a finite number of paths, they may be as numerable as the stars, but I recon at least one human has traversed each path. Not saying that one man has travelled them all, but that in fact each path has had one traveller upon it.

And thus there will always be someone who has experienced what you have. Meaning that advice is always out there in one form or another, and people who care will try to help. How "strange" life is! Or just maybe, what an adventure today is!

Also it is important to realise that the world doesn't revolve around you. If you feel life is unfair and these "strange" twists are taking you into worse and worse situations. Perhaps your the one getting in the way. Maybe these directions are trying to show you the way forward while you're too busy concentrating on your job or looking behind you. Just follow them. But be careful not to follow all of them. Some will try to lead you off into worse places, it takes understanding, selflessness and faith to pick the right strange twists.

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!!!

Good day my fellows. Yes it has been a while since my last post, but i have no believable reason for that. Anyway, its December and it's almost that wonderful time of the year again...Yes Christmas. A time of family and holidays and presents and snow. But lets not forget while we are having our merry way. It is also a celebration of the birth of Jesus. Now of course he wasn't born exactly on Christmas day, but the important thing is that we remember and thank God for providing our freedom and salvation in him. God loves us all so much, and this time of year is when we can really show him our love and provide some charity to people we meet. Have a great Christmas and mind the snow.



Shall we have a laugh at some unusual codes of the British Highway?



The one that is circled. And your not allowed to remove the snow from your vehical in the street, as it is your snow, and must be deposited somewhere safe. e.g. your garden. How daft!

And it's a Merry Christmas from me, and a Merry Christmas from him. Merry Christmas!

Sidestepping the Point?

Can a man become a better man? Yes if he accepts himself completely. if he understands every defect in himself and how to make it better, like a mechanic knows which part of your car engine need a bit of repair. But how do we come to see these defects?
Like all things on this Earth it takes time (i may talk about why this is later on). Time to understand one's own abilities and areas of expertise. But you cannot simply look at your life from this independent place and vow to change this bit first then that bit next. If you do that you will most certainly ignore or even forget your better qualities or areas where you need work. As you are so set on 'being more patient' or 'being more charitable' you will forget 'offensive words that slip out' or 'showing that one person more love' because (and I knew it sounds unusual) you are being selfish.
You are spending all this time and effort trying to make yourself a better person when actually the people in your life need some of that time and effort too. So what can you do? Accept your bad points. Know your good points. Try to develop all your points together, not individually. While balancing all these delicate things inside you, see what your friends need and try to do bits for them. Understand what makes you angry/upset/not 100% and stop. Do things that make you feel good, that bring understanding to your life. Smile.
See becoming a better person is not something you should learn how to do. It is something you should always understand how to do, but also something that should happen naturally. And if you find yourself struggling to change, then your looking in the wrong direction.

Back to a 'Well Worn' Topic

Ah, well it looks like the Governments been getting every one's back up over this last month. Lets see; if your working, there is a chance you'll loose you job, or at the very least get a pay cut, if your unemployed, your benefits are being cut, and if your trying to further your own understanding (education), university prices are on the rise! So we're all having a jolly good time here in England. What with the conservatives believing anyone poorer than them is a second class citizen, and that they should always protect the rich and crush the poor.
Here's a question for anyone trying to get into England; whats the attraction? Seriously there is practically nothing here worth living for. You'd think it would be abandoned by now, under the fault of "Poor Governing"!

So what can we do? Politicians (also known as liars, thieves and murders) hold all the power. Protesting makes them a mite uncomfortable, but it shows them our numbers and power. Murder is just dirty play, (but if it works...), but you end up in jail. Standing up for the truth, usually means they can mark you and stop you getting a job. And even becoming their sort is bad because, even if you start for the right reasons their way slowly grows on you and one day you find yourself doing the same.

Now I understand that there is no easy way out, but we've had a government now for a good few hundred years, and they've never got it right yet! You would think all those years of experience to look back on they would learn something, but no! And in any normal situation if something dosent work, we get rid of it! Or at least try to make it work better, but we have seen no development in them. There has been no progress, so why exactly are they still sitting on their golden thrones?

Observe or Live? And Where God Comes In

A follow-up question then - Do you think it better to observe life, or to live it? In essence, is it better to be an observer on the periphery, or a participant with a purely subjective viewpoint of life? And which of these criteria does God fill (or does He come into a third category? (which I'd hope He does))?
I am sure the only way I can answer that, is to be completely sure of my answer, and here i want you to be completely sure of my response.

If I was brought before the Lord and given that question I would always choose to live life. I would never want to as you put it "be an observer on the periphery". Anyone who does I must say you are sadly deluded. yes it may seem interesting at first, but it gets lonely real quickly being on your own, watching others in friendship and love. And if I don't have friendships then I don't have love, because it requires two participants for love to exist.

I must clear up an issue here though "a purely subjective viewpoint" sounds to me as if you are only looking at one part of life. But the very meaning of living cannot be grouped into one class, one area, as it is all-encompassing. Imagine a diamond. In it's rough form it has a certain attractive quality, but once the jeweller has worked his skill on it, it is beautiful. Each facet, each side are all part of the diamond, but when they are alone they do not emphasise the diamond as much as when they are united. In the same way life cannot have one subjective viewpoint. It can however be the development of one soul in three areas: life, love and eternity.
Only when these three develop together can we begin to really understand and enjoy life.

Some people say "there is a wasted mind", when they see someone going against the law or not achieving their potential. True, but to me a wasted mind is also someone who spends their entire life seeking knowledge, or fitness or spiritual enlightenment, but never seeks friendship or love. That is a wasted life, sure intelligence is great, but physical experiences and memories of great times are surely just as good.
Forgive me if I seemed to drift off topic, but here is the clinch and the answer to your question.

God created man, just as men can create statues. Jesus was begotten by God not created, just as children are begotten of men. Follow this through and we can see that while a statue is a very good representation of a man, it can never be a man. Thus as humanity is created in God's image (like the statue) it can never be God because it was made without something and with an expiry date (i may elaborate on this point later, but it is off topic here). God isn't. God exists in eternity, we don't; so God is able to look beyond time and situations because that's where he is. he is also not restricted by emotions or paths of thought, since he knows all things and thus is able to create them.

If you imagine a line on a paper to represent your life, God is the paper. He is all around but he is also what your life in written on, so not only does he observe from the periphery, but he is also deeply involved in the moments of life. This is because God is within all of us. He inhabits our bodies, like our souls do, but completely surrounding. So although God is able to view from the periphery, he is also intrinsically involved in our day to day lives, because a part of him is part of us. i can only help thinking that this sounds degrading to the infinity of God, but it is the best explanation i can convey.

And so the third category is created. Where God sees all of time, and where he understands every decision he makes and the effects, and the only reason he chooses to do them is because of his Love for us. He has seen every moment of your life and he ha heard every prayer. He has blessed us where he sees fit and has advised us where he knows best. Every deal he has entered he knows the outcome, and the only thing he seeks to gain is our love our praise, and that we can know him more.

The rest he leaves to us. That is why we have freewill, choice. So we can see God's Love and come to understand that what he gave is beyond our repayment. But he only wants our love in return, because he Loves us. This seems logical to me on the basis, if you spend time making something, you put effort into it, you put love into it, you come to cherish it. It becomes special. Like that table you made, or that picture you painted. It will always be special to you no matter what people think, because to you it is more than a table or a picture, it represents a success in your life, or it captures a feeling that you feel every time you look at it. We are the same to God. And that is why he is able to give everything for us to live in eternity with him. Because he loves us, and is delighted every time we choose to stand up and fight "the good fight". Because he believes in us, just as we believe in him.

I hope this answers your question at least in part. And i hope you can see where i am coming from in each part. I would delight in further questions, whenever you feel you need ask.

Planetary Support

Planet Earth, a truly remarkable place. I recall once being told a story about how, if we found a small sphere hovering in a field covered in water, grass, chasms, mountains and life. We would want to study it, want to understand it and want to above all, protect it.
But we didn't find planet Earth. We were born onto it, we have always been in touch with it and that is why some don't feel the need to protect the planet. It is fair to say that we have destroyed parts of the planet. We are making it worthless and treating it very badly. The planet can defend itself, and it may just do the same to us.
The population of the planet is huge, it is a perfect example of exponential growth. But the planet isn't infinite. It has an 'edge' so to speak, it has a limit to the number of people it can hold. And as we continue to destroy the forests, fish the oceans bare, pollute the atmosphere, for the benefit of the masses. So too do we slowly drive in the stake that will secure our own destruction.
Now i understand this may be a very sensitive topic, but if the population doesn't cease to grow, we will all suffer. There will be famine, there will be war, there will be enforced discrimination. That is a path I think none of us want to travel. But now what can i say without it sounding like I'm trying to oppress people? Simply this:
If you have a family living in a house, your main concern(as the head) is for the family. Then for the state of the house. We can apply this logic to Earth. Let us strive for equality, but let us also strive for the future of our planet. Do people really need all these 'gadgets' that 'make life easier'? I don't think so.
Let us try to establish a base line on which every country is the same; standard of living, power, food...and so on. But after that let the money that would be "wasted" on personal satisfaction, be given as charity to the planet. Let us protect that which protects us. It's good sense really.

But heck, from Plato to Jesus, the world has had plenty of good sense. What makes you think we'll start listening now?