Sunday, September 18, 2005

A matter of Perspective



Mother Nature, though she be a harsh mistress, has but one goal: to nurture growth and new life in a state of harmony and balance.

World human population hovered at about ten million for many centuries. In recent decades, our numbers have shot up to a mind boggling six billion people! Scientists predict that we could reach numbers of up to 14 billion before the end of the next century.

This rate of over population is out of balance with nature. She will correct the problem for us, of that there is no doubt. She will use all forms of natural disasters, and most likely will gift us with a pandemic virus, in order to bring our species back into a state of harmony.

It sounds cruel, I know, but in truth, it is a form of kindness, that will not only ensure the survival of our species, but of all other life on earth as well.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Cold Remedy




In the west, our doctors refer to the "common cold".

In Asia, the practicioners of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) have discovered five different types of colds.

A common home remedy for colds that the Chinese people have used for hundreds of years is a recipe of Asian pears cooked in rock candy.

Slice the pears
add water and rock candy
cook on the stove till syrup thickens

Eat the pears and sip the warm syrup.

It breaks up the flem and alleviates symptoms.

Its the Asian version of Chicken soup.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Cough gag sneeeeze hack

I felt sick enough this morning
that I could barely drag my haggard carcass out of bed
Sick enough that making coffee seemed like an exhausting chore
but
not sick enough to allow myself to stay in bed.

So I muddled through
wishing I could just pour yesterdays Joe into an iv bag

I was late, sluggish, worthless and lackadaisical.

If I cant be well, I would rather be really sick
instead of living in the guilt ridden sludge of in between.

Sunday, September 11, 2005

Theology

Because theology is a topic of interest for me, people often attempt to label me as a follower of some specific religion.

So, I will clarify:

I am not a follower of ANY religion. However, I do study ALL of them.

All religion can be defined as a form of cultural mythology.
Lots of folks have trouble with this idea. They are willing to look at the stories from other cultures as mythology, but they can not bring themselves to use that term for their own belief system.

When they define other beliefs as mythology, and define their own beliefs as Theology, it implies that one is false, and the other is true.

Webster dictionary defines mythology as:

1 : an allegorical narrative
2 : a body of myths : as a : the myths dealing with the gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular people
3 : a branch of knowledge that deals with myth
4 : a popular belief or assumption that has grown up around someone or something

So it is clear that all religion does in fact fall under that definition of Mythology.

What I find fascinating is that each and every teaching from the major religions can be traced back to other myths and beliefs from other cultures.

For instance, did you know that there are over a dozen different myths of a crucified savior?

These myths came from many different cultures, and each tell their own story, but also share many common threads.

Common elements between these myths are:


-the saviors birth is usually related to a miracle or mother with special powers (Virgin, Goddess etc.)
-Savior has healing magic
-Savior is killed by his own people
-Savior is flanked in death by two others, one representing good, one representing evil
- Savior comes back to life

What really blows my mind though, is the fact that most people choose a religion without ever looking at religion. I mean, you would not buy a car or a DVD player without due diligence and careful research, right?

Why is it that people choose a worldview without an equal sense of critical analysis?

Faith is so important. It DESERVES careful thought...Doesn't it?