The Pain of Aging

So here I sit, reflecting on the lives of children grown... their issues, their challenges, and the pain of their time.

Our children are eternally our children, for better or worse. We do our best as parents, as elders of the clan, and hope that our influence has been positive and supportive, if not positively molding.

But the sadness in their eyes and the timber of their voices when they lose one of their own, is difficult to bear, and recursive questions come from within our own psyche.

Enough of this third person crap...

My boys have grown up to be incredible men and my daughters into amazing women! I've watched their friends grow too... And I've seen and felt, deep into the recesses of my soul, the pain of their challenges. From simple troubles with finances, jobs and love... To life changing challenges with their demons (alcohol, drugs, and deep emotional distress).

My children have survived their challenges and have grown to to be incredible adults, great parents, loving spouses, good role models. I am proud of them all!

But how I feel for them and the parents and families of those of my children's friends who have struggled with their paths and have lost their battles. Over the past two years, I've seen three young men leave us, as a result of their challenges and lost battles there. I've watched and listened to the voices of these kids, my children and their friends, now men and women, speak of their love for their fallen friends, through tearful eyes and trembling voices. I've seen them stand as confident men and women and bind together with their collective spirit to honor the challenges of their friends and soulfully raise their eyes toward the horizon of tomorrow.

I'm proud of them all. But my soul aches, as a parent, as an adult friend of yesterday's children, for the battles lost, and the pain and remorse carried forward in the living...

There's really nothing more to say, than "God bless them all... Keep them and watch over them and grant them peace"... ...my love is with them all...

Union Divided

I know, how about the next great rallying cry of the masses be something like, "why do we have to be so damned divided?". Or maybe "why can we not use our compassion and humility to bring our concerns together for the betterment of the whole?". And WHY can't we in our anger and passion ever drive with a solid communication of NEXT STEPS?

Geez! Our nation's desire to stand up and be heard through protest would make our founding fathers proud. But that pride dries up when we blindly strike out, when we carelessly manifest hate.

True protest comes with more than an angry voice. It comes with the responsibility to communicate and deliver the catalyst for solution, the vision for a better way, and the conviction to treat the whole with respect, with compassion, with dignity! It comes with the burden of responsibility to lead, if not through an in hand solution, then at least through behavior.

This country, this union was founded on the very premise that so many rally to today... Freedom to speak out, freedom to be represented, freedom and responsibility to drive change. But this country, this union, was based on the premise of the whole, that together, united, we are strong. And that such strength is best served through the values of compassion, humility, understanding, peace, and integrity. Our steadfast claim is born in the iron will committed to these values above all. To discard such in the name of protest without purpose, without meaningful end, without next steps, is to abandon the very fabric of the very union we raise our voices to preserve!

In these times of lost ideals, we truly need to remember the fabric of who we are and how we got here. We need to recall and protect the sacrifices of those along the way. We need to honor the truths of this union and remember that we are blessed with our inalienable rights and privileged by sacrifice to hold these self evident truths!

Does Time Really Exist?

I was posed with the question, "Does Time Really Exist?"...

Time is only a relative item in our existence. Time is only important for synchronization of activities such as meeting someone, getting to work, or executing a space shuttle liftoff ...

Beyond that, time really doesn't exist.

Think about it. When you're in your groove, doing the thing that you love, time has no relevance. You've probably noticed that when in such a state of mind, deeply involved in your "thing", that time seems to either pass very slowly, or very quickly. Your world, when in such a state, is only bound by your immediate experience.

How many times, when in such an engrossed state, so you look up to reference the clock and say "oh my God! It's mid-night! I got to get to bed!" ? Plenty, I'd guess. But did it matter that time seemed to jump to some later point beyond your own realization or relative point of view? Did it matter to you at all that sub-tasks within your activity took specific periods of clock time? Probably not.

The converse happens too. When you look up from your involved state of being to see that the clock has barely moved at all? Feels like a secret blessing, a personal gift given to you by the clock...

Time is relative, and is only a marker by which we involve ourselves with others.

If you grew up unaware that clocks existed, unaware of days, months, years - in a log-keeping aspect... how OLD would you claim to be? You would see yourself in the light of physical aging, and only from your perspective. Would you be 50? or would you be 11?

time...

We can fly to the moon and back how many times? And we cannot stop up a damn well.

The following was written by Jim Wallis -
A Time for Moral Reckoning

I am watching unbelievable pictures tonight of endless swaths of brown oil mixed with the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico, of dying wetlands and marshes, of miles of contaminated coastlines, of dead birds and animals, of helpless and hopeless Gulf Coast residents sadly witnessing their livelihoods and their lives slipping away. With the explosion and sinking of the BP oil rig six weeks ago, the immediate talk was about environmental threats and technical fixes, economic losses and political blaming, and debates about responsibility for the costs. But with the failure of the latest attempt to stop the spill, and with both BP and the federal government admitting they still really don’t know how much oil has already spilled or will spill, a national discussion is beginning about the fundamental moral issues at stake, and perhaps even a national reflection on our whole way of life based on oil dependence and addiction.

After the failure of “top kills” and “cut and cap” strategies, it now appears the gushing of oil into the sea could continue until at least August, or maybe even longer. This could be one of those moments when the nation’s attention all turns to the same thing, as in 9/11 and the days after Katrina. To use an over-used phrase, this could be a “teachable moment,” but as 9/11 and Katrina demonstrated, we don’t necessarily learn the right lessons from teachable moments. This time we had better do so.

First, we have to change our language. This isn’t a little “spill,” it is an environmental catastrophe -- the potential contamination of a whole gulf (already a third is now off limits for fishing) and hundreds of miles of coastline, and it threatens to expand to an ocean and more coastlines. It will bring the destruction of critical wetlands, endanger countless species, end human ways of life dependent upon the sea, and now, it will increase the danger of a hurricane season that could dump not just water, but waves of oil just miles inland from the coasts.

Theologically, we are witnessing a massive despoiling of God’s creation. We were meant to be stewards of the Gulf of Mexico, the wetlands that protect and spawn life, the islands and beaches, and all of God’s creatures who inhabit the marine world. But instead, we are watching the destruction of all that. Why? Because of the greed for profits; because of deception and lies; because of both private and public irresponsibility. And at the root, because of an ethic of endless economic growth, fueled by carbon-based fossil fuels, that is ultimately unsustainable and unstable.
It’s not just that BP has lied, even though they have -- over and over -- to cover up their behavior and avoid their obligations. It is that BP is a lie; what it stands for is a lie. It is a lie that we can continue to live this way, a lie that our style of life is stable and sustainable, a lie that these huge oil companies are really committed to a safe and renewable energy future. BP should indeed be made to pay for this crime against the creation -- likely with its very existence.

But I am also reminded of what G.K. Chesterton once said when asked what was most wrong with the world. He reportedly replied, “I am.” Already, we are hearing some deeper reflection on the meaning of this daily disaster. Almost everyone now apparently agrees with the new direction of a “clean energy economy.” And we know that will require a re-wiring of the energy grid (which many hope BP will have no part in). But it will also require a re-wiring of ourselves -- our demands, requirements, and insatiable desires. Our oil addiction has led us to environmental destruction, endless wars, and the sacrifice of young lives, and it has put our very souls in jeopardy. New York Times columnist Tom Freidman recently wondered about the deeper meaning of the Great Recession when he asked, “What if it’s telling us that the whole growth model we created over the last fifty years is simply unsustainable economically and ecologically and that 2008 was when we hit the wall -- when Mother Nature and the market both said, ‘No More.’” The Great Spill makes the point even more.

There is not one answer to this calamity; there are many: corporate responsibility, for a change; serious government regulation, for a change; public accountability, for a change; and real civic mobilization to protect the endangered waters, coasts, species, and people’s livelihoods. But at a deeper level, we literally need a conversion of our habits of the heart, our energy sources, and our lifestyle choices. And somebody will need to lead the way. Who will dare to say that an economy of endless growth must be confronted and converted to an economy of sustainability, to what the Bible calls stewardship. What about the community of faith?

I am told this morning that the smell of oil is already apparent in the parks and playgrounds near the Mississippi coast. Unless this crisis in the Gulf finally becomes the wake-up call that signals a new national commitment to end our dependence on oil, our children may now be smelling their future.

The first step forward is building awareness. Share this with your friends.

posted forward by -
Jay Blue

Too Long - where have I been?

It's been too long. Almost forgot how to type! Wow!

Enough of that - It's Wednesday the 12th of May. Colorado is under about 6 inches of spring snow. Beautiful, but I'm ready for summer.

So much has happened since last I wrote. We have a new path, as a nation. I personally see the horizon and can feel my self standing on the edge of tomorrow, basking there in the light of a new found societal understanding of nature, balance, compassion, and tolerance.

This energy has drawn me forward over the past year and a-half, and now I'm breaking down the barriers to my own happiness and success. I have chosen to follow my true purpose, whether it be what I understand it to be or what the universe knows it to be. I hold myself open to all possibilities that are wrapped in the fabric of doing right for the right reason, giving back, driving positive change that is balanced in nature, and so on.

My camera died last fall, but I will have a new one soon. Along with that, I will again immerse myself in nature and the fabric of life, and bring it all to bear for those who need to see, want to see.

I've began investigating changing careers, and hope to develop a business in renewable energy and self-sustaining living.

My music is alive again, and for the first time in a could of years, I feel like writing... Need to find the Moleskin notebook - it';s around here somewhere.

My purpose today - to let the universe know that I am back! To those of you who might happen to read this - please please please reach for your purpose! Pick yourself out of the muck and see your true spirit, alive and within you... Allow your soul to drive your desires and hold true to those good values that you believe in - those of honesty, truth, fairness, tolerance, compassion, love, kindness, integrity, humility....

Bless ya all!
Jay - (I'm back)

Financial Meltown

This morning, I see through the magic world-wide viewer that is this PC, that the world continues to unravel.

The world banks have bent over backwards trying to cut the financial crisis off at the pass, with reduced interest rates, frozen trading, etc. The United States has even played their hand on the world stage by trying to drive hopefulness through emotional trickery - yes, that'd be the $700B bailout. Funny how the Treasury and the Executive branch wanted to be sure that it was big enough to drive an emotional response, as well as potentially actually do some good. But that's another debate - not mine at this time.

The reason I write this morning is that I think the world financial and governmental leaders, as well as all the lemmings that follow, seem to be missing the real point here.

With all of the emergency fire-fighting effort that the the world banks have mustered, there still remains little to no confidence that our global, and/or local, economies are secure. Everyday folks see increased unemployment, as well as rising costs for standard infrastructure items such as food, gas, electricity, etc.

There seems to be nothing that comes across the Internet, or the morning news, that carries any fodder for burgeoning hope. We the people simply can't find anything to believe in, at least not in the historic systems of crooked financial markets and greedy corporate conglomerations.

I believe this is natural. Our collective lack of positive response to aggressive changes in lending rates, unprecedented bailout efforts, and governmental manipulation of our psyche seems normal - or as normal as a dog's behavior when he won't go near the grouchy owner who just kicked him.

We need hope, and I think there is a great opportunity that is being missed.

This opportunity of which I write is formed from several large and tangible elements that are inexplicably interconnected and dependent upon one another - however, our focus across such has historically seen these elements as diverse and individual problems. To enumerate - (1) the planet's environment is in peril; (2) our need for energy independence and alternative fuels and methods of manufacturing such is dire; (3) our need for solid job opportunities is desperate; and (4) our need to spawn positive economic growth is critical.

If you picture these four key elements as connected concentrically in space around a center focal point (that'd be us), it becomes fairly easy to see that our attention to any one individual element leaves the others faltering. However, if we acknowledge the dependent connections between these elements, we can see that their connective dependencies force lines of influence directly through the center - that'd be us again.

With that understanding, here's what I'd like to propose for generating substantive solutions to our issues, and subsequently drive the fabric of hope to spur it all on to a positive end.

The world banks and governments need to stop the knee jerk reactions to bolster confidence by falsely manipulating lending rates, and playing on the emotions of troubled borrowers, etc. Instead, their energy needs to be put behind solid actions to identify and solve the issues associated with the common thread(s) of the four problems that form the concentric circle described above. As follows:
(a) only bolster us, we the people, with enough understanding and financial manipulation to keep us solvent. (b) put their money into subsidies and investments that have the potential to solve our energy crisis by way of new and alternative fuel generation; (c) work to attach the benefits from these investments into new technologies, new businesses, new jobs, and new infrastructure, and (d) show that they have the courage, vision and leadership to identify what the "end-state" might look like, should all of us succeed along this path for a few years.

Therein lies the fabric of hope that will feed the people's desire to move forward with confidence. Therein lies the solutions to the concentrically bound problems that ail us today.

If you do your research, you'll come to understand that the technology for alternative energy exists and simply needs some incentive. You'll also come to realize that the outcome of such will not only create tomorrow's technological and business success stories, but will create jobs as well as significantly reduce our polluting ways. The end result will drive a cleaner environment, better standards of living, and opportunities for so many facets of the "we".

It's not enough, however, to point there. Work must be done. First steps are critical, and in a time of crisis, such as what we see around the globe today, we must strive to shift the focus and interest of all to move the critical balance to the "success" side of the fulcrum. Once the critical balance has shifted, the rest will follow through, probably very strongly, to bring about that "future state" we all desire.

Herein lies our hope. Herein lies our future.

I hope this finds you all well.
Jay Blue

Holding out for Hope

Everyday it's a new set of gloom and doom from all corners of our American life.

Today, the Manufacturing News indicates that the US deficit is heading to the half-trillion mark. The story further went on to identify that the political rhetoric of both Sen Obama and Sen McCain are at odds with what seems to be the forthcoming reality of economic turmoil, or maybe disaster...

Hmm... So let's see. Sen McCain wants to renew the full roster of Bush tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003 and add many more for businesses and upper income people who pay the alternative minimum tax. The Bush tax cuts expire at the end of 2010 and renewing them would soon cost well over $200 billion a year. Sen Obama wants to repeal tax cuts on wealthier taxpayers and investors but would leave most of the Bush tax cuts in place while seeking additional cuts for senior citizens, the middle class and the working poor.

McCain - however, seems to believe that our societal infrastructure can run on fumes. "I have an unmatched record in fighting wasteful earmarks and unnecessary spending in the U.S. Senate, and I have the determination and experience to do the same as president," McCain said in a statement, as he again called for a full plate of tax cuts. Strange, tho', that he believes in war spending, believes in pouring out the tax coffers for illegitimate world wide posturing and control. Seems like more of the same crap!

Obama - seems to be in tune with the future, with change to drive a rigorous economy, and to take good care of our own, as well as our presence on the global stage. i.e - cut wasteful spending, close corporate loopholes and roll back the Bush tax cuts on upper brackets while still promising to make "health care affordable and putting a middle class tax cut in the pocket of 95 percent of workers and their families."

Obama has vision and courage. McCain seems to be the same old crap, without the nerve to stand up to do what's right for the right reason.

I'm holding out for hope. I firmly believe that Sen Obama will bring in an era of "HOPE". Regardless of the realities of our economy; regardless of the black eye that we Americans now wear on the international stage as a result of preemptive war and empirical desires left by the "W" regime; regardless of what the industry back news has to say; regardless of wall street analysts and their selfish and greedy ways of manipulating the balance of financial stability throughout the American work-a-day landscape -- Obama will bring hope. Hope that comes from honesty, integrity, courage and vision; Hope that stems from the desire to do the right thing for the right reason; hope to stand up to the overwhelming wave of corruption that has bred the international economic, environmental and social disasters we are on the brink of sinking into...

With Sen Obama and his courage, his vision - regardless of all of the nay-sayers - HOPE will prevail. Hope will bring a willingness to change; Hope will bring courage to all that a new morning will dawn and opportunities will again stem from American courage, American ingenuity; American vision --- HOPE.

I'm holding out for HOPE.