RELIGION or POLITICS - Can we talk??--A bit of politics today, O boy.

Good morning on this lovely TGIF day, from Paradise (Florida),

I hope you are a Glenn Beck listener,  because then you are getting all the inside poop that every person in America should know about and be listening to. If not, then you must not be a lover of America and Freedom, OR, you just don't give a damn one way or the other, which is worse.

WAKE UP, AMERICA IS ON FIRE. THE FAR LEFT IS CONTROLLING OUR GOVERNMENT, AND THEY WANT TO TRANSFORM OUR CONSTITUTION,  BIG GOVERNMENT - POWER - CONTROL.



The best way to do that? Tie up the voting power of illegals and the entitlement receivers, especially the illegals, unions, and Blacks and Latinos. If anyone apposes this goal, they are called racists, and it doesn't matter if they aren't racists. Split America. Why do you think the borders were never seriously addressed in the last few administratons? Politicians didn't want to stick there necks out and then cut off with being RACISTS.

They are now working on a plan to trick Puerta Rico into becoming a State, even though they voted THREE times NOOOOOO. If you speak against the plot you are a racist.

Then there is Cap and Trade. True disaster for America!!!!

How are they doing it.?

They have established the Chicago Climate Exchange on the Chicago Board of Trade. Who is in on that? Obama. Need I tell you what that is all about. How about C and T. Oh, hey, and there is an outfit called The Tides and who owns that, Why Mr. Soros. and then money also went to the Joyce Foundation, Mr. Soros???? and they funded Chicago Climate Exchange. Round and around she goes.

Then it goes around further to a company in England and who do you think is big there, why Mr. Al Gore, their 5th biggest investor, and they also own a piece of CCX. Obama sure fits well there, don't you think?

Then you can follow the money with a company called Enterprise, who is designed to form different groups to hide certain actions in the process and they are there to push money around to each other.

Just watch all this unfold, folks if you can, but you have to watch close, and keep score as you go so you can also follow the players. And Listen to Glenn Beck

For today., from Paradise.   CJ     email:    cjb.sgi@gmail.com

RELIGION or POLITICS - Can we talk??....Jesus' father???? continued.

Greetings on hump day, y'all,

I had an interesting response from a cousin of mine, who was a new looker of my blog, Bob Brehme, a Professor retired from Wake Forest University. As you might remember,  I posed a question "Who was Jesus' father?", and what led to such a question being asked.

Now, Bob goes into quite some detail explaining the legitimacy of WHO and WHY. You will find it pretty thought provoking, I think. So come on, weigh in on these subject matters. Your opinions yea or nay are welcome. So onward: 

One important point: The Immaculate Conception refers to the conception


of Mary, not of Jesus. The Catholic Church holds that in order to keep the

blood of Jesus free of the taint of Original Sin incurred by Adam and Eve,

Mary had to have blood that was free of this taint. The Church did know

until modern times that the blood of the mother does not pass through the

placenta to become the blood of the child. It did not know when the concept

of the IC was conceived that Jesus' blood did not arise from Mary's blood.

One other point: Semen was thought of as seed until modern times, when

it was realized that semen contained sperm that joined with the egg to form

a human. Before this time, semen was thought to be like a real seed which

contained all the hereditary information of the father This seed during

conception was planted in the woman's body which nourished it the way the

earth nourishes the plant. Thus the blood of the fetus was like the water

of the earth. A child was like its mother only from this connection.

Otherwise the child inherited all from the father. Hence, since God was

Jesus' father, Jesus was divine.

Modern science has shown all this to be false. As I noted in the

earlier email, God had to invent a human male parent for Jesus to make Jesus

human in all ways. The question then must be asked: Who was this male

parent?
 
Bob earlier said he thought the father was Joseph, but no proof.
 
Cheerio for today, see you soon.   CJ

RELIGION or POLITICS - Can we talk??....Jesus' father????

Good morning visitors, and looking for a great new week.....how about you?

To get started, I ran into this a few days ago, brought up by some radio commentator, he posed the unanswerable question: Who was Jesus' father????

Then he went on to explain, that in those early days of humanity, they knew nothing about the human body as it pertains to conception, and all it's details etc., leading up to conception, though they certainly must have just naturally understood the act of conception, but not what it could ultimately lead to, like Sex as we know it today, and that it is the act that leads to conception and ultimate birth of a new citizen.

Now, as I rolled all this around in my mind, I found it a bit hard to accept the premise as to why they didn't understand the process, which if true, would explain why the story of Jesus' birth was the "Immaculate Conception" got started and spread around ever since.

However, as was explained, it is none the less true, that such a conception could not have happened without a real live man involved with Mary somewhere along the line, no matter their sex stupidity. It just could not have happened any other way, but it was because of this stupidity is why the Immaculate Con-ception story got started. BUT. there just HAD to be a human father involved.

So, Who was Jesus" father???

But then I got to thinking about Adam and Eve????? Where did they come from??? Hmmmm?

Gosh, I don't know. Anyone out there who can jump in on this?  Anybody???

Cheers.    CJ

Politics and some Eastern Wisdom for YOU

Greetings again, friends, and I sure hope I will have a bunch of you shortly. Good things Happen, you know!!!! AND RIGHT HERE, SO KEEP VISITING, HUH?

EASTERN WISDOM FOR TODAY!

                                                 IGNORANCE BREEDS FEAR

                                                  FEAR BREEDS HATE

                                                   HATE BREEDS VIOLENCE.

Now, if you are up on the incredible history and political information that Glenn Beck espouses five days a week, the maybe you need a wake up call, and hopefully smart enough to recognize that America is heading on a disastrous road to ruin, and at warp speed. If you don't believe this, then I'd hate to be in your shoes, especially if you believe in the real America as it was and as designed by our Constitution AND SOMEHOW NOT KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING. You must stand up and be counted especially come vote time.

For now though, join a fast growing list of those who are:

                                                            NOT RACIST

                                                             NOT VIOLENT

                                                               NO LONGER WILL WE BE SILENT!!!!

SO, SPEAK UP WITH THE TRUTH.................AND PASS THIS DECLARATION ON!

Cheers, y'all.    CJ

RELIGION or POLITICS - Can we talk??

Good morning on this glorious "hump" day, (from Florida (Paradise) where else?)

Years ago in my earlier life, there was a saying, ' A man is only as good as his word'. And actually, then, it was true, and widely depended on in dealing with each other.

Today, I bring you a thought provoking column written by Matthew Emerzian of McClatchy Newspapers.
The Headline was "NO MORE MEANINGLES WORDS, PLEASE".

It was a vent brought on by some of his day to day experiences dealing with people and their words.

He said quote;  I am sick and tired of people who have completely no regard for the importance of keeping their word. He questions, Why don't people care about honoring their word? Is integrity just not important any more in today's society? Then, are we so wrapped up in our own worlds that our narcissism always wins the day? I just don't get it!

Matthew went on to cite situations that occured in his day to day associations, that exemplifies his topical headline.

Like, he was supposed to have an important lunch meeting, the day before he wrote this column, which was planned two days earlier. On this lunch day, he emailed for confirmation - no response. So he sent a text messge - no response. He then called and left a message - no response. So no lunch. A couple days later he spoke to the person. There was no acknowledgement of this person being remiss or any attempt to apologize or taking responsibility.

Then, one  of Matthew's clients was long overdue in emailing him a new contract. He called the chap and felt good about their phone call. This was on a monday. Tuesday came and went. So did Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Nothing but questions by this time, of course. (He intimated that he'd keep the column reader posted) . He went on to share other such happenings, all in the same vein, and all in the same week, though he did explain that none had a negative impact on his life.

He then posed some serious questions in regard to this seemingly rampant conduct in our society today.

• What happened to self respect and respecting other people?
• What happened to integrity and meaning what you say?
• What happened to common courtesy and honoring your fellow man?

Why is this acceptable conduct? Is it because we are all stressed out and over worked? Or is it the economy getting us down? Or is flat-out lying just acceptable? Who knows?

Matthew thinks we (I agree) should get back to basics. (I inject here, that this idea of getting back to basics, applies to our government, as well).

Matthew observes that "basics" means things like emotion, integrity, truth, meaning, respect, friendship, honor, character,  which are human traits that keeps us separate from animals.

So, dear friends, I join him in this thought too, that, if you can't keep your word, then what else might you be having problems with in communicating with others?

Let's get back to basics by, when giving your word, keep it. If you are going to call a friend, or a parent you haven't called lately, do make these calls while the thought is there. If you have a meeting, get there 5-10 minutes early. Don't make promises you can't keep!!!

Now, for today, words matter, integrity matters. Let's not forget.

If you are reading my blog for the first time, WELCOME. If more than once, you are appreciated, please come back and get in the game, I want your thoughts and ideas too, even if I don't agree with you. Dialogue is GOOD.   Cheers       CJ 

RELIGION or POLITICS - Can we talk??

Good morning, friends, and a great new week ahead for all. I have so ordained. Ta Da!

Eastern Wisdom :
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The True mission of religion is to help people manifest the POWER within themselves, to overcome their difficulties, and be HAPPY.

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I am picking up from my last blog where I explained my early life, with a tyrannical father, who was a Presbyterian Minister, and who died when I was 14 years of age.

Then, after continuing to attend a church for a couple years after his death, I decided I had too many questions regarding religion, and no answers, so I just quit going to any church for many years after that.

As is in my previous mentions, I have been married 5 times, and of course religion was sort of active or inactive in each. But collectively they led up to my being a Nichiren Buddhist today.

I am not particularly proud of the numbers of marriages, but as my life pursued itself, they just happened, and I can't give an easy explanation of why so many. 

 My first marriage of some 14 years, was to an RN, who I met while selling magazines, door to door, and traveling from city to city, with a group of guys, doing the same.  

I won't go into any details of this marriage, which happened in 1937, but each marriage has it's own story, or, as I have said, "I had five lives, as well as wives". Two sons, born 9 years apart. The only mention of religion in this marriage, was that this first wife thought after the first son was born that we should do some church going for the first son's sake. We did attend one church for awhile but with my lack of enthusiasm, it just sort of petered out.

In marriage #2, with also 2 sons, it was me that suggested going to a church, which we did, two of them. The last one I even wound up being ordained a Deacon. However, neither the marriage or the church going lasted, with a divorce after 14 years. 

My third marriage was to a Canadian lady, and church was never a topic of discussion. We spent some summers in Canada and winters in Florida. However, I, for some inner reason, desired some spiritual connection, and searched for a church or religion that was somewhat different. I found it in the Unity movement, suggested to me by a golfing friend.

At the time, the Unity beliefs and philosophy appealed to me greatly and I enjoyed attending. This wife attended with me for a time, but we ran out of reasons to stay married, so after some 13 years, I initiated a divorce. 

I continued to attend church, and being single, I also attended a number of singles gatherings. Since I did not prefer being single, I finally met wife # 4. 

Fortunately, having been a sort of Catholic, she liked attending Unity with me, and we became active, both serving as ushers, and I Head Usher for many years. I also served a 3 year term on the church Board.

Again, I won't go into marriage details, but this marriage too, burnt out after about 14 years. I initiated a divorce here too with #4. I cannot, nor will not. put all the blame of my wives. I do believe, much of the faults were mine. Oh yes, and the thread through all these marriages was that in none were there any normal family signs of affection.   

Wife #5 came about, by a sort of co-incident, though I don't really believe in them. But it happened and this wife turned out to be a treasure and we are in our 25th year as of May 3rd., next.

Now, I am very close to my first two sons, and we keep in constant contact with them and with all the hugging and kissing that goes with normal human relationships. Doris, my present wife has taken to them and they, she, and it has been good all around. Not perfect, but good.

This wife also took to Unity and we had some happy years there, until one day, I saw a picture of a home meeting of what was called a Nichiren Buddhist meeting, and invited inquiries. I called a number expressing my curiousity, and was invited to attend a meeting. We did.

Well, chanting is a big part of Buddhism, and I enjoyed it though I knew nothing about it etc. After the chanting, they discussed certain points on human relations within the Buddhist membership, along with anyone who might wish to relate a benefit received as a result of practice and study. Each meeting has a different venue, and are held in private homes, once a week. Their is also daily practice, with study or reading involved , twice a day, in the morning and evening, with chanting being the regular part of both.

Well, when our first meeting was over, along with the after meeting chatting, my wife and I were about to leave when the husband host, said to me "CJ, if you chant 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening, your life will do a 180 degree change". As it so happened my wife were having severe financial problems, and me at 83, so I did what the man said and indeed, I chanted, and lo and behold, my life and our lives did change completely. In truth, the practice proved itself. I got a job within that 30 days, and it has been better and better ever since for us.

I will say in closing today's blog, that my wife did not take to the practice as I did, and being basically a serious Christian, she decided to stay with Christianity. She tried it, more to her credit, but in our differences we support each other.

Now, the basis for this blog was supposed to be on affection in families. Showing affection is part of this Buddhist practice and now, we and they, have lots of it. My wife will agree that I have changed much for the better because of my turning to Nichiren Buddhism, and good things continue.

If anyone in my future blogs, whether it be in religion or politics, has any desire to have dialogue on differences in religions, and get into why I love and enjoy this Buddhism, then I will be happy to share thoughts and ideas.     Cheers.  Back soon.     CJ 

Greetings friends--TGIF huh?


1. Well, today I am going to repeat some background of my life from a religious perspective, so when we get active within the blog dialogue, you will know why I chose the subject matter, and what it has meant to my life, which has been a long one.

As I mentioned in my first blog, I was born a Presbyterian Minister's son. He was crippled when he was young, from Infantile Paralysis, and as an adult, had a badly shriveled left leg and walked with a cane.

I recall that he was considered a very good Preacher, and he patterned his sermons and delivery after the well know Billy Sunday, an Evangelist of his day, and a pulpit pounder.

He was, in my mind, not a particulatly good father. Very strict, and there was no display of affection by either parent. He also never spared the rod and his favorite punishment tool as a razor strop. Men in those days used a straight razor and needed the strop for sharpening. Let me say, the use and the threat of use of the strop was a sure method to create fear in a kid.

I had one sister, 2 years younger, a red head, and I doubt we ever got along very well. You know, Dad liked her best, thing.?

Mom was a sort of passive mother, though she had her moments of discipline, which most kids need, one time or another. I was no exception, but really, I don't remember ever being, what could be called, a bad kid. A ministers son, you know. I was born a sensitive person of the Cancer sign. My sister was born under the more aggressive Leo sign. My parents were both Geminis. Not a good mixture for a laid back Cancerite.

Mom, though, was an excellent pianist, and fitted very well with the ministry, playing for all church functions. Dad had a great tenor voice, and very good for leading the singing, always vigorous with his voice leadership.

Right here, I make note that Dad died when I was 14. Truth be told, I never felt the least sadness. I sort of faked crying when I was told about his passing. I know that is not a good thing the way I felt, but in defense, if you grow up in a home without affection and hard discipline, you tend not to worry about how you feel about such things. Especially at an immature age as I was at 14, and not aware yet of the fact that kids need affection and uderstanding, plus, Mom and Dad used to have some pretty hot arguments. Altogether, this home atmosphere affected my relationships later, in other marriages, (five, phew!!).

To close this family page, Mom passed at 73 and my sister passed at 68. I have outlived them all.

Now, to get back to the religous impact and my interest in it. After Dad died, I attended church out of habit and the fact that at the time I played violin at a different church I then attended. This lasted about 2 years when I just decided to quit church altogether. I had so many unanswered questions regarding religion, with no answers. Plus mom had very little control over my sister and me. Yes, even so, we were pretty good kids, and she was busy trying to survive as a widow. We both got into trouble later, however, but that is for another time.
 
Geez, I think I could write a book on my life, as memories keep popping up, you know, growing up in the worst depression in memory, And, oh yes, I just recalled that in 1918 I got caught in the flu epidemic that killed millions around the world. I was one of the rare ones who survived, so maybe I was destined to live a long life for a reason, not yet determined. Do you think my dad being a Minister made the difference???
(In a future blog, perhaps we can put that sort of thought on the table for discussion, huh?)
 
This is getting long and don't want to take up more of your time today, so I am going to close for now and continue the first of the week next.    Cheers for a great weekend.      CJ