Living a Legendary Life … October 18th, 2020

Sitting 1

Seen in Secret

It really doesn’t make any difference to me what name you use. Perhaps someday, when we cross over the vast chasm of misinformation, we will discover that there is an actual name above all other names.

But for the sake of discussion in this book, please understand I don’t really care what name or title you use.

What I’m talking about, of course, is the name we prefer for that Unseen Beyond Us That Sees All.

Call him God, Allah, Jesus, Vishnu, Mohammed, Jehovah, Enlightened One or even Larry. It makes no difference to me. Even atheism will receive no condemnation from this author.

Yet in the practical application of our everyday lives, and for the sake of pursuing the excellence of a legendary existence, it seems to me that we must acknowledge an Unseen That Sees All — even if this personage is of our own creation.

So if you will allow me in this book, I will use the name Larry.

Yes, Larry.

A Generic Deity

I know this may upset the religious soul, but my main problem with organized religion is that it worships a god who shows up for praise and worship and then disappears, leaving us, during the rest of our week, to our own devices.

The result is that some of the most avid followers occupying mosque, church, synagogue and monastery are also the greatest agnostics in the world. They have a form of godliness but deny the real power and message of a lifestyle. And here is how I describe that legendary lifestyle:

We believe in order to receive, becoming more generous to ourselves and more open to others.

Now, this should be the conclusion of a spiritual encounter. Alas (as they used to say) religion tends to be the disease infesting and infecting us.

So for the sake of this sitting, please allow me to call this unseen presence, Larry. I think it will prevent any disgruntled religious folk from feeling I expressed favoritism. And to those not inclined to any formal religion at all, it will introduce a friendly, neutral presence

Larry is of us. Larry knows how we work. He knows our drawbacks.

Our greatest weakness? Theory over substance. We prefer discussion to decision. We relish committees to commitment and favor argument to agreement. You see it in the church, in business, in politics and even in entertainment. Why is this?

Because laziness is our mooching second cousin and fussiness our adopted Jewish mother. Therefore, mulling over principle robs all the time for principled action. Political maneuvering eliminates policy change.

Larry knows our weakness. Maybe it’s a creative flaw — a design malfunction. Maybe it’s a symptom of general wear and tear. Or, more likely, it’s deterioration in our consciousness.

We have chosen repeating over repenting. Yes, repeat over repent.

After all, spirituality in theory is interesting. On the other hand, spirituality in practice is a festering reminder of our inadequacy. So it’s much easier to believe that Larry extends grace to us, cutting us slack for our shortcomings and allowing us to muddle on in our lives in some sort of bewildered dream cloud. But there is a shocker:

Larry Sees

Even in the moments when we feel like it doesn’t make any difference — those times we think that effort is anal — Larry sees.

It is important to know that we are not alone in our actions. Or perhaps better phrased, our inactions. Because most of the sins of humans are transgressions in omission instead of commission. In other words, we fail most often by delaying, not by prematurely jumping in.

We have trained ourselves to be spectators in our own lives, victims of chance and circumstance, adrift on the seas of fate. Larry disagrees.

The first step to leading a legendary life is realizing that Larry sees, Larry cares and Larry is prepared to reward those souls who dare to become intimately involved in their own lives by making quality choices.

For Larry sees in secret. And once we bring our secret life under our own review, we begin to set in motion true empowerment to garner success. And what is that success? Real success comes from deriving soul satisfaction at the end of a well-thought-out day.

Yes, Larry sees in secret. Not in order to punish, but rather, to alert and bestow benefit upon those folks who become caretakers of their own space.

But how do we override the sensation that some things just really don’t matter?

1. Slow your life down

Take the time to enjoy the time to redeem the time to have the time to create the time to make the time mean more.

And this isn’t just another “stop and smell the roses” speech. This is actively avoiding the horrendous practice of multi-tasking (which is just producing the possibility of multi-erroring) and finding out the unexplored value of the common. For instance, the grocery store is not only stocked with food, but with people, surprises, deals, samples, and conversation for those shoppers who will slow the pace down a bit and take in the whole experience.

The jobsite is not merely the joint where we pick up our paycheck, but rather, a place to rehearse excellence, interact with people who disagree and discover better use of time and energy.

Larry sees — not because he’s nosy, but because Larry knows we are better people when we do more than hit our marks but instead, pace ourselves and enjoy the journey.

2. Notice

We are a visual people needing a vision. There are others trying.

Notice them.

For instance, every morning, Larry and Nature put together a fireworks extravaganza that we glibly call “dawn.” And every night they repeat the process — dusk. Notice.

Notice one thing today that you did not notice yesterday. Then you’ll have three hundred sixty-five things in your bank of discovery at the end of the year — not to mention the interest you have earned from other folks around you.

3. Acknowledge

There are people who are trying to be involved with others by being more attentive to their own life. Acknowledge when you see them already doing what you want to do. Acknowledge courtesy. Acknowledge excellence. Acknowledge tenderness. Acknowledge awareness. Acknowledge when someone has pursued something further than expected.

There are people who have figured out that Larry is watching.

The instant we contend that there are no caring people, someone will crop up in our midst and do something really delightfully human — human in the sense of how we were intended to be. Surprise!

What is the purpose of possessing the greatest brainpower on the planet and using it to stumble through a series of repetitive chores?

What is the value of having a capacity to love at a fevered intensity and yawn our way through a bunch of boring relationships?

To live a legendary existence means we must live as if we understand that we are seen — even in our secret moments.

Larry isn’t trying to condemn us, but rather, motivate us to become keepers of our own destiny.

Larry is watching because he gives a damn–and he hopes that we can learn to feel the same way.

1 Thing You Can Do to Assist in the Climate Crisis

Stop Announcing the End of the World

It just isn’t sexy.

Dead polar bears, melting ice caps and flooding cities may be what you believe we’re heading toward, but it is not the way to get the attention of a human being.

We should have learned that by now.

Don’t you just hate listening to a librarian who complains that no one wants to read books anymore? You want to say, “Shut up. Entice me. Seduce me. Give me a little foreplay before you insert the old Shakespeare.”

How about a corporation which is constantly threatening to go bankrupt? It’s so bad that the employees talk to you about it as you check out with your purchases. Here’s a clue: go bankrupt or go big.

Stop complaining.

I, for one, am disgusted with political parties telling me that if the other side wins, hell will not only break loose, but will spill all over my coffee table.

• Tell me what you want to do.
• Tell me who you are.
• Tell the truth.

Let the chips fall where they may.

And finally, I would certainly think we should have learned from religion, which constantly squawks, like Chicken Little, that the “sky is falling” and “the devil done did it agin.” I can’t see the devil, so give me something I can fight.

Don’t ask me if I “believe in climate change.”

Don’t judge me on the degree to which I affirm your findings.

Find two things. Then tell me what I can do.

Encourage me with a massive message of (a) do what you know; and (b) do what you hear.

For if I’m on my way to doing what I know and I hear something I can apply to do better, I’m already motivated and in the correct lane to make the turn.

But if you argue policies to convince me that no matter what, we are doomed by 2030, I would like you to take all your pamphlets and books, go off by yourself and masturbate.

You don’t win people over by telling them it’s “impossible.”

You don’t engage people by making them feel guilty about “why they haven’t joined up already.”

Find two things we can do.

Then allow the human race to do what we know and as we grow, to do what we hear.

Sit Down Comedy … September 20th, 2019

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If the premise is wrong

Then the promise is gone

It is hysterical how historical this is.

Although many claims have been made over the years, once it was established that the premise—the thought behind the claim—was either ridiculous or evil, then those who were waiting for the promise ended up looking like they just bought a used car at “Lucky Billy’s Auto Emporium.”

I realize that as a reader you may have sympathies toward political parties, regional axioms, religious affiliations, and racial or cultural differences. But the shocking fact is:

Truth doesn’t care if our feelings get hurt on the way to marching toward justice.

Matter of fact, no matter how adorable, meaningful, helpful or God-given we insist our premise may be, once it is revealed to be wrong, there will be no promise forthcoming.

For instance, immigration.

The premise is made that if we build a wall, we can protect our country from all the murderers and rapists who are trying to come in.

Another premise is that if we open our country to those who wish to come, we will acquire great thinkers and build up the nation’s foundation.

Here’s the problem—we already have plenty of murderers and rapists right here and now, whose families have been around for many generations. We must also realize that people escaping to come to America may actually prefer to live in their own countries.

So both premises are found to be wrong, and therefore the promise doesn’t bloom. The truth? People shouldn’t have to come to America because they’re fugitives from crime, or they’re being tortured and starved.

America wants people to come because they want to.

These visitors are therefore willing to answer the needful questions and go through the procedures available. Then the promise is real—a country of immigrants who have found their home.

Based on that, our goal should be to go to the source, where the immigrants live, and assist them to make their country as pleasant as humanly possible—so they don’t have to relocate unless they truly wish to come.

Why don’t we try another one?

Let’s talk about poverty.

One premise is that if you give extra money to the rich and industrious, they can provide more jobs for people who don’t have the funds to begin their own businesses but will gladly step forward and receiving the work.

The other premise is that industrious and wealthy corporations, which should help, won’t. So we will tax them and force them to pour out their finances to people who live in poverty—whether these unfortunates are willing to work or not.

As you can see, neither premise will deliver the promise of assisting our fellow-human beings to be fruitful.

So what do we need to do? Obviously, we need to unveil a plan which taxes every American according to his or her prosperity—a sliding scale with the finance from such a collection being divided to fund those who want to work, assist the few that are disabled, and stimulate those who are impoverished due to their own lack of motivation.

Abortion.

The premise is that if we stop aborting babies, children can be born and grow into happy human beings.

Or the premise is that women who are already born and alive should have the only controlling decision on whether a baby will be born or aborted.

In both cases, the premise does not deliver a promise.

The real goal is to eliminate unwanted pregnancies.

We must do this by honoring the free will of the women and the babies. In order to achieve this, we must abandon archaic positions against birth control, sex education and allowing those who wish to adopt to include lifestyles that we may not favor.

As you can see, I could go on and on, but I will leave that to you.

Just remember, as you listen to these individuals running for President, who bought fifteen different suits of clothes, outfitted a bus and purchased buttons and flyers from the Cheapskate Publishing Company—yes, as you listen to them offer their premise, follow through to the promise.

Question whether the premise is faithful to what the Earth has already discovered to be true.

And always remember this:

If the premise is wrong, the promise is gone.

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3 Things … August 15th, 2019

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You Should Stop Saying If You Want Your Life to Be Effective

 1.  I am so stressed out.

 

2.  I am really, really busy.

 

3.  I am sure I’m right.

 

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Salient…August 6th, 2018

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There are matters that are too important to ignore or leave to chance. These are salient moments.

The stall.

The pause.

The stammer.

Tentative moments that rob us of the opportunity to see a goal achieved–a dream accomplished.

We have foolishly portrayed inaction as humility.

The stall is when there’s something to be.

Fear sets in. How will I be perceived? Will I be left out there all alone? Maybe I should wait.

The pause is when there’s something to do.

Opportunity knocks but never promises to wait around until we get our robe on, to answer the door. That extra few moments of carefulness often costs us the great blessing of participating.

The stammer.

Yes, there are moments in life when there’s something to say.

It needs to be uttered. It should be shouted from the housetops, but at least whispered in the ear.

But instead of being, doing and saying, the human race trembles with a stall, a pause and a stammer.

This might not even be a problem–except each of us expects more out of life than we’re willing to give. As a result, three nasty spirits inhabit the human heart:

1. “I feel cheated.”

2. “I’m angry.”

3. “No one understands.”

From that defeated position, we attempt to wage a campaign for our common good. It is doomed.

And then, when we realize that the little we have is insufficient, we suddenly discover that even our tiny portion is taken away.

Most people don’t understand life because they only believe in either God or science. But there is a science to God, and there is a Godliness in science. This balance tells us that when you remove the motivation and energy from a creature, it recluses and dies.

Beware the stall, the pause and the stammer. They will make you feel cheated, angry and misunderstood.

So here is your salient moment:

When there is something to be, step into it.

When there is something to do, perform to the best of your ability.

And when there’s something to say, speak up.

 

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Salient…June 25th, 2018

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There are matters that are too important to ignore or leave to chance. These are salient moments.

Shall we take a look at a fascinating window of time that occurs in all human beings, from birth to about five years of age? Each one of us is so vulnerable, so needy, so inquisitive and so desperate that we are prepared to be taught to be Earth-dwellers by our parents. Sometimes this extends all the way up to age ten.

Three very intricate systems are introduced: manners, morals and motivation.

This is the period when we develop our ethics–perhaps a work ethic or a social one, but certainly a mental gear we adopt to deal with life and with others.

Most generally this instruction is completed by age eleven, because here comes puberty. For the average parent puberty can be best defined as this: “My children have lost their hearing in favor of their genitals.”

It is difficult to provide additional instruction during this period. Sometimes after a serious error, there will be a brief season of curiosity from the adolescent, but then the trio of temptation, taunting and teasing pulls them right back into the melee of mayhem.

This lasts until about age twenty-five. (Of course, it could be twenty-two, or thirty, depending on the person. But for the sake of this brief essay, I shall characterize it as twenty-five.)

At twenty-five young folks wake up–sometimes after a hangover or after getting their first threatening letter from a bill collector for their student loans, or perhaps realizing they might be in love.

A realization strikes: “Maybe me, an individual, could become us, a family.”

So three new friends show up to invigorate manners, morals and motivation. They are concern, confidence and clever.

We, as humans, develop a legitimate concern for others while building confidence and finding clever ways to use what we have more expansively.

It is a massive transition–a needful one. Without it, many young persons never become actual adults at all, but linger around their families, particularly their parents, coming back for another schooling in morals, manners and motivation.

This concern, confidence and clever births some children, buys a house, acquires job promotions and takes us, as people, to about the age of fifty. (Once again, this could be younger or a little older.)

At fifty, having tapped the fruit of concern, confidence and clever, people want more. There is a wrinkle in the spirit of human beings which causes them to wistfully wish to make a difference and leave behind a legacy.

It is at this point that we pursue wit, words and wisdom. It carries us through to our dying breath.

Yet we certainly know individuals in their seventies who have never escaped concern, confidence and clever–or maybe never even learned morals, manners and motivation.

This is a passage. All human passages are entered only through the power of repentance.

So here is your salient moment:

Gather up all your manners, morals and motivation, and stir in your concern, confidence and cleverness. And if you have reached the age, add on your wit, words and wisdom.

Finish the job.

Of course, if you’re led of the Spirit and you’re a creature who knows how to use faith, you don’t have to wait for birthdays to dictate your future.

As the Good Book says, “today is the day of salvation.”

 

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Jesonian… February 25th, 2017

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Completely inundated by a traffic jam of divergent opinions, many of which are directly or indirectly attributed to the thinking of Jesus of Nazareth, I decided to sit down one afternoon this week and spend some time with my good old buddies, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John–reading all the “red stuff.”

Yes, I still have one of those Bibles where all the things Jesus said are highlighted in red, granting them the significance of being the thoughts of God.

The purpose for my quest was simple–I wanted to narrow down the three basic topics of Jesus’ mindset. Because when you finish perusing all this material, you realize that he said a lot–and you also quickly conclude that he intended his words to be honored, to the point that he measured the love of his followers by how much they held his teachings in regard.

I finally came up with three. You might have different suggestions. Honestly, there were a lot of great runner-ups.

My three statements of Jesus that punctuate his ministry are as follows:

1. Love your neighbor as yourself.

Just about a third of what Jesus talked about has to do with human relationships.

Candidly, Jesus was not terribly concerned about our relationship with God. Instead, he paralleled and intertwined it with our interactions with our fellow humans. So even though “turn the other cheek” was nearly a winner, it fell under “love your neighbor as yourself.”

And “loving the Lord God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength…” was included because Jesus closed it out by saying “… and your neighbor as yourself.”

2. Count the cost.

This is about human common sense.

Anyone who believes they can live a life to honor Father God by spitting in the eye of Mother Nature is in for a sorry conclusion. Jesus never suggested that we ignore the signs of the times or even the color of the sky, if it might give us wisdom on whether to bring an umbrella.

In other words, get saved but don’t lose your brain. You’ll need it.

3. Go the second mile.

This is human motivation.

Try as I will to find teachings of Jesus where he advocates languishing in grace or getting sleepy in our salvation, I fell short. He believed that “by our fruits” we will be known. He also said, “if somebody takes your coat, give them your cloak also.”

He contended that the power we have is our ability to continue the race when others have fallen out.

So a third of the Gospel is about human relationships. Another chunk is about human common sense, and the final piece is human motivation.

If we simply return to that glorious format laid out for us in the writings in red, the people around us who desire relationships, common sense and motivation will find the BEST FRIEND they ever had in the world.

Until Jesus is honored as a life coach instead of merely a baby born to die for our sins, we will hemorrhage people from the church.

 

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