Reflections on the Past Year, Personal, Cultural, Political and a Prayer for This Year

It’s fortunate this past year was mundane for me. Nothing terribly impactful, painful, or upsetting. Those things in the small circle that I directly influence or am influenced by was ordinary and comfortable for the most part.

An exception was at work. I really had no direct experience with Millennials as a group until this past year. Heard stuff on the peripheral but didn’t pay much attention.  I was given a new team. Part of my job as a team leader is to critique work and offer ways to improve. Most of this group were Millennials, and every bad thing I had heard about them proved true. This is the first time I disliked people as a group. Up to now there’s been dislike of certain individuals (and I’m sure vice versa), since I think it improper to lump people together for judgement or criticism. Millennials though, are so indoctrinated, so much a product of groupthink, they are essentially all of the same mold. With observing them, an individual must stand out and show there is something unique about them for me to see uniqueness. This just turned the way I relate to people on its head. They don’t take criticism at all, even when it’s worded, ‘this is what we can do to improve on this kind of situation’. They have zero respect for experience or authority. They are the smartest people in the room. Anything anyone has to say, other than praise (mostly unfounded) is rejected without consideration.

They expect to be only adored and praised, regardless. I send out motivational and life improving observations daily. I was providing feedback to a Representative and I said this issue ties right into a motivational observation I had sent out recently, and she said, “I don’t read them, I don’t need any motivation, maybe you do, but I don’t.' Here’s a woman in the middle of middle age, is on the edge of obese (for me a health issue), and does average work in an entry level job. She has shown no interest in improving her position or quality of work/life. This is what stunned me. All but a couple of people of about sixteen were like this.

Working with them, I’ve found they have no idea of history before the day they were born, no interest in anyone or anything beyond what directly impacts or influences them, have no interest in current events except maybe for the Kardashians or the Housewives of Wherever. Apparently there’s several Housewives of Wherever shows. They actually talk about these things, and importantly, as if there’s universal truths or insights into human behavior or something on these and similar “reality” shows.  When I’ve actually offered up a true universal truth, from thousands of years of observation of human behavior, it’s rejected as stupid or untrue. I’m stunned.  

I’m getting an inkling now of what the generation following them is like, and it’s even worse. There’s culture and social writers saying there’s a change, they’re more inclined to traditional modes of behavior or belief systems. Don’t know what those guys are looking at. College students getting University Presidents fired because they don’t like something allegedly said, “safe zones” where they don’t have to hear any alternative ideas to what their professors have indoctrinated them to believe. There’s a building at some university called “Lynch” which is the name of one of the founders of the university. They want the name of the building changed because “lynch” is, well, racist you know.  There are petitions of remove the 1^st Amendment, most specifically the freedom of speech part. Only they should be allowed to say what they want. The myth of white privilege. Universities are founded on the back of slavery and white privilege. It’s too stupid and crazy to continue. The “adults” should expel these knuckleheads. It costs a huge amount of money (the cost of Leftist greed, not an improvement of education) to go, and this is what the outcome is?

I’m so convinced this is the tipping point of Western Civilization in general and America specifically.

Part of the tipping point is a US President that has opened the borders, imports people from countries that are enemies of the US with no effective vetting process, illegally granted amnesty to millions that have invaded this country. He makes anti-Christian statements, but pro Muslim statements. He is an anti-Semite, and sides with terrorist groups against Israel. He has demonized Christians, Whites, Conservatives and Republicans, making race relations even worse that they were in the 1960’s. Hillary Clinton has violated dozens of laws, lied about them, been caught and still no trial, yet still getting massive support from the main stream media and her political party. Anyone else would be on trial or in prison by now. Bill, a serial abuser and exploiter of women, probable rapist, is given a pass. Black celebrity Bill Cosby did the same thing and is getting pounded, by the Leftist Jurassic Press and good Leftists everywhere. And there’s worse this president is doing, and in his last year of office it’ll be a full on blitz to destroy as much as he can that is good about America; its energy production, and the 1^st Amendment, race relations, foreign policy to name a few.  

Wacko Leftists and Islamist terrorists killing people, and it’s a gun restriction problem. I say wacko Leftists because reading the backgrounds of the mass killers, I don’t see any of them members of the TEA (taxed enough already) party, any church going Christians, no Conservatives, no Republicans, yet the Jurassic Press always starts out finding a way to blame one of these groups; often stating there are ties to those groups, then burying the retraction. Speaking of murder, Planned Parenthood is caught murdering babies and selling body parts and not only given a pass, but getting more government funding. Passed by Republicans no less. That and their supporting amnesty and open borders with the Democrats. And the Republican Establishment wonders why they don’t have the support of Republicans in flyover country? Good grief. Is there a measurement for how dumb those guys are? 

This is heading in a direction I hadn’t intended so I’m pulling it back.

Movies I saw this past year. It was a weak movie year. Zombies and vampires and teddy bears oh my. My fav observation about Zombie movies I make, (given how I think about the Millennials and the following generation) is they are so popular because they identify with the characters. (Brain dead except for motor movements.)  “American Sniper” was amazing, reverent and touching. The usual demented Leftists called it a movie praising murderers. The colossally fat, stupid one percenter Michael Moore leading the charge of insensitivity and stupidity. Saw the new “Star Wars”, and while it was fun, it was also overly PC. Small slender woman kicks ass on men that are trained in fighting and combat, that are bigger than her, flies spaceships for the first time better than trained pilots, knows more about the electronics and the engine of the Millennium Falcon than Hans Solo who’s ship it is and has been flying it for years and years…yeah yeah yeah. Had the same problem with the new “Mad Max”. Hardly anything to do with Max, most everything to do with the female character the story was actually about. “Bridge of Spies” with Tom Hanks I thought was good. I’ve read several reviews since by conservative reviewers that reviewed it as one of the worst of the year. Apparently I watched something different with the same title. “Man from U.N.C.L.E.” was splendid fun and I hope there are sequels, but for some reason I doubt it. My favorite movie was “Kingsmen: The Secret Service" which was stylish, clever, fun. Saw it when it came out and have streamed it twice since. Fun fun fun. “Unbroken” was heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. Highly recommended. Bond movie was fun, but it’s time to fire Daniel Craig. He bad mouthed the movie, the production, the character. He’s made $millions upon $millions then criticizes the US, our lifestyle and our politics. Time to go hypocritical ingrate. Saw the “Age of Ultron”, a mistake. Super tired of all the comic book characters brought to life.

It turns out the most creative film is TV series. “Justified”, “Major Crimes” Agatha Christie’s “Perot”, and I know I said I’m fed up with comic book stories, but like “Gotham”, “Arrow”, “Flash”. For “reality” shows, “Diners, Drive Ins and Dives”, “Fixer Upper” (love love love that couple!), and a few others. “Blue Bloods” is amazing, especially since the family lives up to Christian values and ethics, has a family meal every week, prays together, is smartly written, and just enjoyable. All that and it has survived several seasons.

Read a few books. Best among them “Christianity & Liberalism" published in 1923 about how Liberalism is becoming the new religion in many churches. Sound familiar? "Jesus - A Pilgrimage” by SJ James Martin…fabulous Journey in the Holy Land. If you haven’t read Martin, pick him up. "Ordinary: Sustainable Faith in a Radical, Restless World", we need to recognize God in the ordinary. Down to earth religious writing. Read some mysteries. Most fun book of the year was “Ready Player One”. Clever fiction, Dystopic future, with gamers, bad guys and the story is chock full of 1980’s references which is the most fun part. Easy read and highly recommend.

The list of what I read and saw at the movies is in the right column. Oh, by the way, if you want a good chuckle with classic rock ‘n’ roll, stream the “Minions”. A hoot!

For the upcoming year, I pray our church prospers and all get along, I don’t have to take any more grief from Millennials at work (I’m off that team, but we have many of that generation working here). I pray that the slaughter of Christians in Africa and the Middle East by IslamoNazis is stopped, that the imperialism of Putin/Russia is stopped, and Christians in this country stand up to the Secularists and the Democrat Party to protect freedom of religion. I pray Ted Cruz is elected President.

I pray for the health and happiness of all who desire it. Sadly there are many that find pleasure in misery. I pray these attitudes and beliefs that bring that on, is banished from their souls, and they find what is good in life, friends and liberty. 

My 2013 Year in Review

I haven't posted or written much in 2013. Much of it I think, is that I look at the social, religious, economic, political, cultural, foreign policy morass and have been in despair. How many times and how many ways can it be said that everything that works, that is good, that's beneficial, that benefits the most amount of people with liberty, wealth, goodness, has been rejected for things that demean, steal, hurt, impoverishes, insults, and diminishes liberty, is accepted.

I was talking to a friend at our choir Christmas party, and as often happens, when things are vocalized fresh thoughts, ideas, come to the fore. I think the process had already begun to make some changes in approach to what I think and write about, and that conversation shed some light on the direction.

I had, back before the personal computer age, pretty much ignored newspapers and the nightly news, because it was surface stuff, of the moment, and the stories had to be constantly changed and updated as new information came out.

With the internet, I've found myself reading news sites and news blogs that are like newspapers and news shows. Good for headlines, but nothing of depth. I was an avid magazine reader pre-internet, for awhile getting maybe nine or ten magazines, and reading most of them cover to cover. This year I've gone back to that. On a Kindle though. It's less expensive, more environmentally friendly (printing, paper, shipping all gone), and I don't have stacks of mags piled up behind my recliner. It gives easy access to magazines already read, 'saved' in the "Newsstand" section. I've been reading "National Review" for decades. Even when I was a Marxist. I strived (and still do) to be informed of all points of view. My magazine list, in addition to "National Review" now include "Commentary", "First Things" and "World". I subscribe to those, and get an occasional issue of "Science News", the only science magazine that doesn't have a Leftist political agenda that I could find. A little leaks in, but it's just the zeitgeist now.

I was stunned to find out, while searching for a science magazine, that all of them directly, or infer, a political agenda that matches the political Left and tailor not only editorials but even "science" articles to fit the agenda. Part of the view is that science should be the result of "consensus", not facts. The magazines I listed above that I subscribe to now are all conservative and Christian/Jewish essays, editorials, and news. All the other stuff is the meme of what's defined as "news" is Leftist, so we are immersed in it, that no additional reading is needed to know that viewpoint. In my paper magazine reading days, I read the Leftist "New Republic" and "Utne", "Atlantic Monthly", and "Harpers". There may be more, but that's all I can remember right now. The Left "news" outlets have been saying that same things on the same issues in pretty much the same way since I started paying attention to them in the 1970's. I was one of them. Now though, they're all screechy and preachy. Dull, boring, lying, insipid.   

Anyway, all that is to the purpose of changing how I view, think and write of things. Going forward by going back I guess.

Continuing on with reading, read a lot of books this year. List in the right column will stay up a few days. Standouts: A Traveler's Guide to the Kingdom:  Journeying Through the Christian Life by James Emery White, Exposing Myths About Christianity by Jeffrey Burton Russell, Introduction to the Devout Life by St Francis de Sales, Socrates in the City: Conversations on Life, God, and Other Small Topics by Eric Metaxas (Editor),  The Searcher by Joseph Loconte (This book a revelation about what happened on the road to Emmaus, the story of the two men that met Jesus after His crucifixion.) and Rebuilding the Real You by Jack Hayford. For fiction I enjoyed the Great North Road by Peter Hamilton, Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, The Bartender's Tale by Ivan Doig (Doig one of my all time fav writers for many years), The Corpse Reader by Antonio Garrido, and lastly, I think my fav of the year, In Sunlight and in Shadow by Mark Helprin. Helprin's book got panned by a lot of snobby critics. It was poetic and romantic, not Helprin's usual steady on crafted novel. If you're looking for good fiction these days, look to the Spanish. Great stuff there.

Staying with the culture, movies, despite high sales this year, have pretty much sucked. Cartoons played by actors in front of blue and green screens. Great special effects, some decent story lines. Enjoyable but not challenging or fulfilling. Best movie may have been "Silver Linings Playbook", best cartoon movie "Superman". "Beasts Of The Southern Wild" was really good, but I have no idea why I liked it so much. Lots of worst movies ever this year including "Pain and Gain" with Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne Johnson, and "The Great Gatsby", arguably the worst movie ever made; ranks way down there with a couple movies in years gone by whose names I've forgotten. "Gatsby" was so bad I walked out, couldn't stand it any more. Bleh.

Television on the other hand is better and better. Cable shows mostly, that I binge view on Netflix. I'll just list a few here; "Burn Notice", "Justified" (my fav), "Glades", "Foyer's War", "Continuum", "Borgia", "Doc Martin", "Heat of the Sun", "Hell on Wheels", "Damages", "Doctor Who", "White Collar", any of the "Mystery Theater" stuff mostly presented by the BBC. Then there's some documentaries and of course the "Ted Talks" series. Of the live series "Blue Bloods" (astonishing it's lasting because it's revolves around a practicing Christian family, with traditional family values, service and sacrifice, and they pray together!). Then there's "Person of Interest", and of course both "NICIS" shows. I was a big fan of "The Voice" and "Singoff", but think these have run the course for me. Not lacking in talented singers, but the song selection is starting to sound the same and the audience instead of actually listening to the music, seem to think these are audience participation shows, and clapping, whistling, screaming and yelling are appropriate. Well, it's not.

Last but certainly not least, Church and Religion. I love my church with all my heart. Just amazing people, with amazing talents. Love and charity abounds. The conversations, the music, are all beyond extraordinary. I'm going to be rude here; if you "dis" Christianity and people that go to church, that serve, love, are charitable, then you're stupid and a bigot. You guys have to go back hundreds of years to find something to bitch about and use that to try and kill Christianity and replace it with the State. I don't have much truck with the anti-Semitism linked to the hatred of Christianity either. Scripture, Old and New Testaments are the most proven and effective guides to good living ever. Churches are the best organizations and institutions to benefit humanity, ever. Period.

There's my year in review. This much longer than intended, and I have more to say. But days, years, months to follow. We wish all a wonderful New Year, full of Faith, Hope, Love, Charity. 

Medieval Prayer, Reading, and Modern Times

Densitometer

We’re focused on ourselves and have been since the dawn of people. This is both a political and religious observation. The religious part of this is shown by an analysis of medieval books. Most books then were religious, and a device called a densitometer measures dirt density on pages; more dirt, more usage. The process was designed and developed by Scotland’s School of Art History at St Andrews, Professor Dr Kathryn Rudy.

The process shows people were terrified of illness, and prayers for protection and healing were used a lot. Prayers for salvation for others were used much less than prayers for self. Full article here.

I wonder if the same is happening now. Have we improved on that? I look at all the work Christians do helping others. The hundreds of $millions tithed and charities contributed to every year; shelters, food banks, missionary outreach that takes care of material as well as spiritual needs of people. Our prayers, though, still focus primarily on our own needs. Usually when we pray, it’s to meet our own needs. We need to train ourselves to pray to include others. Jesus knew this, which is why he gave us His prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, to guide us. This leads to the ACTS prayer formula - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. Adoration, we praise God. Confession, we acknowledge our sins. Thanksgiving, we show gratitude. Supplication, we ask for ourselves. I had to train and discipline myself to go beyond even that, because there’s so much more to prayer.  

Our Father, which art in heaven,

Hallowed be Thy Name.  [Adoration]

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. [Confession]

And lead us not into temptation,

But deliver us from evil. [Supplication]

For thine is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. [Thanksgiving]

A brief note on the political and self. No matter how many rules, regulations and laws governments pass, people look to their own needs first. Democracy and capitalism allows for this idea, knowing that by taking care of self, family, friends, and community, the greater good for all people are served. Marxism, socialism, communism, fascism, Nazism, all demand, upon penalty of death and imprisonment, that the government is first, beyond self, and it will decide what needs are to be met, and in what quantity. All must be done for the State. Of course the people at the top of government and those that choose to be subservient to them make sure their selfish needs are met first before addressing the needs of the citizens.

They deny citizens the ability of acting for Self, so they can meet their own needs. This runs against human nature, natural law, and is why centralized governments always fail, and have to murder and imprison people to survive and stay in power.

We pray for less selfish prayer, less selfish, self serving government, politicians that believe in the Scripturally based Constitution. We pray that we look to ourselves to determine how we, regular people, can serve each other, and not a centralized government. By serving each other we serve God, and that is what our government needs to be about.  

Books on Pages, or Books on Machines?

Like the way we access music and movies now, how we access books is changing. Sales of e-Books are steadily increasing. Do you prefer paper in your hands or a machine when reading a book? This is a good discussion or our options and the consequences.