You are your brothers keeper! What the hell does that really mean?

The old story of Cain and Able back in the book called Genesis.  Here is the skinny on that story.  Able, being the humble, good little boy who helped others , took care of his body, and followed every instruction he was given without batting an eye as to the consequences of each instruction.  Cain on the other hand was the exact opposite, someone who had a spine, thought for himself, and did not take everything given to him.  He was a partier!  Enjoyed life to the fullest!  So, when the lord asked Cain, where is your brother?  

 

Hmmmmmmm.  Here is my take on that story.  The physical lesson?  Take care of our neighbor?  Or take care of your brother?  Let’s first decide that what I say in my blog is mine.  You have a choice to believe it or choose to believe it is bullshit.  Truth or bullshit?  Either way, it is interesting to hear.  

 

Let’s start by explaining who your real brother is!  Inn order to explain this, I must first state that this is not the only world you live in.  Let’s say their is an alternate universe where your brother lives.  He is your shadow self.  The part of you that you deny.  So if you feel you are an honest chap, then your brother is deceitful to maintain balance between your two worlds.  If you deny your sexuality in this world, then your brother is probably very sexual or is very secure in his sexuality.  Now in life, you and your brother cross paths.  During this time of crossing, you are actually confronting him in real life.  Ever meet someone who you really connected with, like you knew him?  The hope here is for the two of you to exchange certain characteristics of each other to maintain balance.  So that is why sometimes your challenged to gain a personality trait that you did not have before.  Here is where Jesus, and other great teachers come into play, except they are encouraging only certain characteristics that “they” see as “Good.”  How could you do that job without having some of your own experiences of characteristics come into play?  The problem is, this is happening in a world where everyone has an agenda, and they want you to develop certain characteristics to suit “their” world.  You see, you are living in your brothers world, and your brother is living in your world.  This is being your brothers keeper.  

Now, can you have a sister too?  Yep.  You might be a brother sister combination, or maybe a soul mate combination.  Either way, you are literally your brothers keeper.  

Now, when the lord said, Cain, where is your brother?  His blood cries out to me? In my personal opinion, this means that you killed off your brothers characteristics in you.  Can you do this?  At first I literally believed this, but actually, you may have killed his characteristics on the outside, but he is always in there, waiting to be released.  So you have not killed him, your just keeping him in the dark.  Thus, you keep hearing that phrase, shine your light.  Whats the goal here?  To be balanced.  See if you can be whole! Be both, so both can live.  

 

Do We See the Best in Our Children?

In my brief stint in the school system this year, I noticed much from our so-called school system.  I saw some teachers worked to death fearing for their jobs, and thus hating their jobs. In the particular school system I was in, I saw an administration that was too power hungry driven from their own fear of losing control of their school.  Why did this happen?  Why is this happening? 

I believe it stems from people’s inner fears of being judged, criticized, and caring too much what other people think about them. Fear usually drives behavior in humans.  Think about this, if a person loses his job, do you feel a level of fear is controlling their actions from that point on? Sure it is!  People file for unemployment, they look for other jobs, and change their behavior to cope with this change.  All because of the fear of losing their comfort zone.  Well, logically we need money to survive in this world, since it was set up that way.  Personally, I love money, and I am in the middle of losing this fear of not having any, but I think we can change this very easily if we start to look at the best in our kids.

Your probably asking why that has to do with people fearing their loss of control.  I believe that if administrators start looking at the best in their teachers then their teachers can relax.  They don’t have to feel “on edge” all the time.  They can settle in and do their best work.  Teachers can now see the best in their students as well.  If they are to do this, then the students can relax, they can settle in, and do their best work.  When this is established as a true culture, then everyone can start seeing the best in each other, and not be so afraid of the differences.  We all are different!  Students, teachers, and administrators are all different.  They learn differently, they teach differently, and they lead differently.  We must start to have tolerance of these differences, or we will start to self-destruct as a community. 

So by seeing the best in people, we minimize our fear, and everyone can start to enjoy our lives.  If you like what I have to say, please follow me!

 

Addictions are part of Life-Get over it!

Why are some of us obsessed with our addictions?  Or should I say, some of us are obsessed with other people’s addictions more than their own.  I find this hilarious.  I am hearing about these people who preach about what is right and what is wrong with this lifestyle or that lifestyle.  I hate to be a generalist here, but most of these people are calling themselves Christians.  Now, let’s get into this discussion, and if I piss you off, good. Here is some wisdom about this world.  What you see and have judgement over, you are ultimately denying a part of yourself, and thus God.  So if you choose not to drink, that’s okay.  But if you choose not to drink, and then try to change someone Else’s lifestyle by using the word of God as your weaponry, then you sir, are blasphemous.  You are the self-righteous man in that bible.  Just because you can use scripture to back up your judgements does not mean you are right.  The fact is, you don’t know what is right and what is wrong.  I can only go as far as ask if it is functional?  Is drinking functional?  Is having sex for pleasure functional?  Is smoking functional?  Is going to church functional?  You see, I can name just about anything in this world and make it an addiction.  Hell, drinking coffee is an addiction.  So why hard on ourselves?  Why be so judgemental people?  If you ask me, people who post scripture to back their arguments up don’t think for themselves.  they are basing their decisions and running their life on a book someone else wrote.  How do you know God is not speaking to you through my blog?  How do you know God is not speaking to you through the people he sends into your life? How do you know that God is not speaking to you at all? 

I like God, but my God, not yours my Christian friend.  Sorry…..you are not God fearing.

The Simple Life

I have decided that the simple life ain’t so simple.  All I really want to do in life is to have a good time.  Does that sound weird?  I don’t have a desire to be a movie star, sports star, esteemed writer, or actor.  Now don’t get me wrong, I would love to travel the world and see many things and do many things with friends and a lover.  I love sailing, so my natural loves are near the water. I love money as well, and I want more of it because it allows me to do things I love, but I also enjoy relationships.  I have learned a lot about them this past year.  People are fickle, and so am I.  Or, at least I was.  I don’t think I am so much anymore.  What I mean by that statement is that people have their own agendas in relationships.  I think it’s natural to have these agendas because we are human, but I think we can learn to just enjoy a relationship for what it is.  Some people come into your life to help you, some come in to your life to show you something about yourself or others.  Some people are there to just be there for you.  I find it interesting that some people get really upset with you if you all of a sudden show some backbone.  It’s funny how they react.  I think they thought they were in control of the relationship, and so they just abuse it, or you.  This is always being done, but I think we can be a little more aware of this, so we can make choices based on that information.  I can see hidden agendas pretty good, and I still give them the benefit of the doubt.  I can still have a relationship with that person, but maybe at more of a distance.  My dad, for example, wants for me to be successful in his definition of success.  I get that, but it is my life, not his. I think communication is necessary to establish a relationship healthy enough to continue.  I have had my heart hurt over and again, so I know what it feels like to trust someone and have expectations only for them to be disappointed.  It teaches you to trust yourself more. I have also failed too many times going after my dreams that I began to “Just have a good time while I’m here” attitude.  So now I just try to enjoy what I can throughout the day.  All of my dreams are gone.  I hope whoever was the guilty culprit for producing this mindset has to deal with that.  And no, it was not me.  I made peace with that fact long ago.  The little kid who had dreams has turned into the kid who just wants to play.  I have no more desire to help this world.  Help yourselves.  If you think that selfish, then so be it.  I live for me and the people closest in my life.  If you want to be close to me, all you have to do show interest.

Fearing God

I recently have been listening to some religious radio shows, and a minister was on there talking about how the first step in knowing God is fear.  Now, he explained himself later on by stating that what is meant by that expression is to know God, or have knowledge on God.  I would like to add to this discussion here through my life experience. I personally believe we need to gain knowledge through observation and experience before we can start believing something wholeheartedly.  Now this is merely my own personal value system, so please have some tolerance here.

Stating that “Fearing God” is having knowledge about him is a powerful statement.  I mean, from my personal experience, knowing God is personal.  He works in your life, and knows you and your belief systems.  I believe he works on the development level of the person to get to know him.  For example, if your belief is based on the New Testament of Bible, then he might show you or get to know you through Jesus.  If your belief is more aligned with Buddhism, then he may use their teachings to guide you.  If your beliefs are more grouped with Islam, then he uses that value system.  Now, here is the important part of this discussion, we each get this valuable information about God, and we automatically feel that what we were given was truth, and that we should “convert” everyone else based on what was given to us.  The difference here is that what we were given “personally” by God was given only for us, and does not constitute converting everyone else in our paths to what our truth was.  The actual truth is that we each are given a small piece of what or who God is, and each of us must learn tolerance of each others’ truths. Does that mean we should not teach what wisdom we have been given?  No.  I believe getting your message out there is very important because people will be drawn to your message naturally.  Where we go overboard is when we begin to “force” others into conversion through manipulative tactics. This is also done through fear.  If you listen to a sermon, see if you can “hear” if the message is sent using love or fear?  Now if it is fear, don’t get upset at that person because most of the time, they are unaware they are doing it.  Again, tolerance.  Jesus taught this, but I think his teachings get confusing to some people. 

I originally have never been interested in spirituality or religion since I was a kid.  I went to church, and a private Christian school, but I really was bored with it.  I was always a little different, but I really had a negative experience with religion early on.  When I was about to turn 40, I started to get really interested in spirituality. It was exciting to learn about the “Law of Attraction” and see it work!  I think that law has been mist aught as well, but that is another discussion.

I believe that when we fear God, we are really learning about us.  It gives us an opportunity to learn about who we really are, and how many fears we have in us.  So literally, we are learning about our many fears that might be holding us back, or keeping us from this experience or that experience.  Faith is then developed through your relationship with God.  Blind faith is being able to trust God that he will deliver what we want, which might be some things that we really don’t want. God also delivers things that you want, but having a filter is a good thing. I think education is desperately needed here.  I can only share my knowledge through my experiences. 

God’s Poker Face

Have you ever played poker and started to notice patterns of play from others?  They might only bet when they have a decent hand.  I was playing online poker at Buffalo Wild Wings last night, and I noticed certain patterns in the players.  After a while, I could tell who was bluffing, who had 2 pair, and who was just desperate and needed a hand. Before you know it, I was up $14000 in a half an hour.  I also could tell who were playing the people instead of playing their hand. God is playing poker with all of us.  Is he playing his hands?Or is he playing the people?  Does God know when you have a good hand?  Does he know when you are bluffing?  Does he know you are just upping the ante?  Likewise, are we bluffing God?  Are calling his hand?  Are we checking?  Are we splashing the pot? 

 

I like writing metaphorically, but many don’t understand it much, so I will use more common terms to explain God…….Ohhhh, did I just say that?  Am I allowed to say such things?  Or is that blasphemy?  It’s just me…and my humble opinion.  You can laugh this wisdom off, or for those with ears can listen. God is playing this game we call life with us.  He is just too damn bored being by himself all the time.  He loves playing, and loves seeing joy in us.  I see him as another player at a poker table.  How good is his poker face?  Pretty damn good.  I saw it once.  I thought he was pissed off at me.  He looked pissed.  Maybe it’s because I am a pretty good poker player myself.  I like to use emotions to show hands. I am aggressive!  I love losing hands to see a pattern out of God.  I just want to see what he is capable of.  Now I know some of his hands, meaning, I know what he is capable of.  He can take things away from you just as quickly he can place them in your life.  When things are taken, he is watching to see how you will react.  He wants to see what your going to do.  This has been going on in my life for some time now, but I have been losing on purpose for some time to watch his hands.  I have seen some, and some I have not  I asked him this morning to look at his ratio.  Meaning, I wanted him to look at how many hands I won, and how many I lost.  I don’t know the exact count, but I am pretty sure I am down. This is not necesarily bad because I am getting used to his tactics, meaning I am seeing his bluffs better.  I will say, they are pretty real.  He uses emotion as well in his poker game.  You see, when something goes wrong in your life, he will add emotion to it to enhance the experience.  For example,he likes to use fear a lot to see if you will face it.  He uses love too, but only for a short time, then he lets it fade.  He wants to see if you will do the work in the relationship to regain that feeling.  With me, it’s been different.  I have been playing his game because I watch and learn.  I don’t necessarily listen to well.  I watch actions of people, and God, and I learn from that.  I believe to truly understand God, why not play a game of poker? Right now he is kicking my ass, but when I was kicking everyone else s ass last night in Buffalo Wild Wings, I lost interest.  I wanted to play the tougher players.  I wanted to lose every now and again because that was fun!  I lost $13000 in one hand to a really good player last night, but I regained it back!  That was exciting!  That is what we must do with God.  We need to watch and learn, bluff when we need to, raise when we have 2 pair, and bring him all the way to end with an ALL IN!

God lives through your kids!

How did our society come to the point that we value money over relationships?  I know all about this because I was brought up that way.  No, not directly, I watched.  I watched my mom and dad struggle with money all of their lives, and working so hard to pay bills, and sacrificed their own well-being and lives for their kids and providing a living.  I grew up in a normal American family.  I had a good childhood, and I was fairly happy, but that type of living just is not working anymore. I now value my time and relationships over money, but it is so damn difficult at times.  Living with that focus in a world that is filled with workaholics is tough.  Yes, people are working 3 or 4 jobs just to pay their bills, and losing time for fun things in their life. There seems to be this philosophy that nothing good comes easily.  well, my son came pretty easily to me, and he has been the best thing that has happened to me in my life.  Maybe we should rethink this philosophy?  We try to gain this feeling of accomplishment through hard work, and then we take pride in that.  I heard a christian radio show the other day talking about how God does not like pride,  and that we should purge our heart of pride in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven.  First of all, how does this minister know what God thinks?  Has he been to heaven?  Has he been to Hell?  Why are we believing in others opinions on how to “enter heaven”  First of all, if you have a relationship with God, don’t you think he would tell you if you are in or not?  I listen to these shows, and I will not criticize what they say as not truth because I know it might be for them.  I just would like a chance to speak my perspective to people who might need mine.  I believe in trusting yourself first, which is trusting God as he lives in us.  This is hard to do though.  Most people won’t let go of their control to do that.  I did several times, and got burned, so it becomes even harder for me.  Remember though that your actions are louder than your words when raising your kids.  If you are working all the time, you are teaching.  If you are arguing all the time, you are teaching.  If you are worrying all the time, you are teaching.  If you are depressed all the time, you are teaching.  If you are drinking in front of your kids, you are teaching.  If you child has gained a good sense of self, then he or she probably can overcome some of the programming, but if your kid was abused in some way, then it can be more difficult.  If your kid was shamed in some way early on, then you have a lot of work to do.  All I am saying is God lives through generations.  Treat your kids well……..love them no matter what because you never know how they will treat you.  I hope I teach my kid forgiveness because lord knows I made my share of mistakes.