Tag Archives: modern philosophy

Climb Aboard! We Will Show You the Way.

Once again, we are at that time when our lives are bombarded by politics. Every four years, we elect a president who is always preceded by a vicious campaign of personal attacks and name calling. Each candidate has a plan to “help” the nation’s citizens.

Is anyone else tired of the exhausting circus? I know that I am.

We become obsessed with our politicians, wanting them to make changes and improve our lives. We are so focused and dependent that we also look to them for moral direction. Don’t forget, they are humans like you and me. They have no authority to give moral direction. Human thinking is flawed and corrupted with power and control being a huge temptation.

There is the old saying; absolute power corrupts absolutely.  It seems almost cliche to the point that we state it like a punchline to a joke. Yet, I like to state that with more power comes more temptation to abuse that power.

Putting our faith and moral direction in the hands of our politicians is a huge risk; dare I say, an easy way to trick ourselves. The trick is that we let another flawed individual or group guide our ethics as we travel through the raging river of existence. Why risk trusting a navigator who may drive the boat into the rocks or even toss you over to make the boat lighter?

Don’t get into the doomed ship and be chained to an oar, hoping to see the light of day as you row the vessel to an unknown destination under the command of a control hungry monger.

Buy the kayak and direct your own way through life. Be an individual, not part of an enslaved collective rowing under the monotone beat of a drum.

One response to “Climb Aboard! We Will Show You the Way.”

  1. dutifullygrande0152c653d Avatar
    dutifullygrande0152c653d

    Yes I am tired of all the lies and bashing.Human thinking is flawed and for me I will not get on board the boat of destruction , I choose the kyak for the moral direction through this life. My faith is in the One who made me!

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Bigfoot in the Backyard

Many years ago, when my kids were not driving cars and working full time jobs, I decided to have a little fun. When I was growing up, for the longest time I believed that my grandfather fought in the French and Indian War and still had a piece of arrow stuck in this chest from that conflict. Many years later when I was older and wiser, I realized it was a part of his rib that was protruding not an arrow and that the war took place in the 1700’s, long before he was born.  Come to think about it, according to him, he fought in the British in the Revolutionary War, the trenches of World War One and sailed on battleships in the Second World War. The man always had a story, most of which were not true. He was just being a grandfather and telling tall tales to amaze me.

 So, what did this older and wiser me decide to do once I had kids? I decided to pay it forward.

At this time, my family and I lived in a townhouse apartment in Midwest. My wife and I made a challenging decision to homeschool our children, which was not an easy feat, but we feel it was the best decision and, as a result, our children have grown into amazing adults. While teaching, we would also record educational programs to help with their studies. On one of these programs, the mystery of Bigfoot was the topic. My boys were fascinated! An eight- or nine-foot hairy man playing hide and seek in the woods. It was absolutely astonishing to them especially when some of these “sightings” were reported in Kentucky, one state south of us!

A few days following this program, we had a day of rain which made everything muddy outside. This apartment had a small fenced-in patio out back with a sliding glass door. Suddenly, I was struck with a great idea. I went out back that evening after the kids were in bed and dipped my hand in the mud. Carefully pressing it on the outside glass of the sliding door, I slowly moved it around to create a large handprint. Bigfoot was making a visit to our townhouse here in the city. It was a masterpiece! I cleaned up and went to bed anticipating the following morning.            

The next day, the handprint was discovered, and the house was a bustle. Bigfoot must have come to Indiana and made it to our backyard! The kids analyzed the print with the wildest look of amazement in their eyes. Next came all the questions and I did my best to answer them in with as much ridiculous information as I could. When the dust settled, the question of what Bigfoot eats led to the next phase of this plan. I told them that he ate twigs, rocks and dirt. I know, ridiculous answer. That day, though, they gathered all these things up and placed them in a frisbee that was repurposed as a plate.

I tell this story to show that things are not always as they seem. Many of us still think with our minds like a child and trust that people in authority positions are telling us truth. We may be grown adults, but a lot of times we think like children. We look for answers and direction from others, but when we do that, we run the risk of being misled. Why is it we want someone to tell us how to behave and what to believe? We desire to have someone tell us that bigfoot is real and all the time telling ourselves that we are free thinkers. We want answers that are buried deep, but we don’t want to take a shovel and dig it up.

One needs to break out of this child-like mindset and realize that things may not be what they seem to be.

Pick things apart.

Question everything.

Years ago, when I went to college, I entered with a very weak mindset that had been shaped my entire life by those around me. Confidence shrouded me like a cloak of the finest material. Suddenly, I realized that I lacked a foundation to stand on. I only believed those things because others told me to. They left me the muddy handprints on the sliding glass door.

The process began as I cast everything aside and began building a new mindset by starting with a new, strong foundation and investigated where I stood in this world. It was a harrowing task, but I left behind of my child mindset and formed beliefs that have been weighted, vetted and tested.

This is the first step: Toss it all out and start with the clean slate. Don’t take anything as true and let yourself feel lost. This is the beginning, but one of the most challenging things you will ever do. Don’t take the child’s mind and rebuild it, instead break it down and replace it.

Don’t be a follower or a leader. Be the individual!

A Condition with a Bleak Prognosis?

Many people have written about what has been known as “the human condition.” Humanity is riddled with struggles and plenty of faults. It has become its own worst enemy and continues to tear itself apart with no hope in sight.

To deal with problems, we wage war both physical and verbal, enforcing our will upon others. Many conflicts cover the pages of human history, all to enforce one’s will onto another. People verbally attack (sometimes physically) others, never accepting a difference of opinion. Wars continue to rage today due to nations wanting to enforce their will upon another group or nation.

“If you don’t agree with me, then you are wrong and need to change your opinion or there will be consequences.”

We are definitely in a war here today in this country and honestly, in this world also. There is a strong divide, and both sides have “weaponized” morality and are constantly attacking, degrading, and festering a climate of hatred. Right and wrong has migrated into a hazy grey that leaves morality as an abstract concept.

We find ourselves lost in a forest with a broken moral compass; unsure of which direction to go. Do we look to our nation’s leaders for direction? Can we find morality within the walls of religion and the church? Maybe morality resides somewhere deep within our soul, and it looks different for each of us. It could be that there is no morality or ethics. Do we exist in anarchy and create this concept to maintain order in an otherwise chaotic world?

I know, I know… so many questions and but no answers. Yet, that is where we must start. One must recognize and properly address these questions before answers can be found. Society has locked us into a mindset and tell us how to think and to not question. Our minds are not free to think and explore as we believe them to be. Instead, our minds are trained and conditioned to think a particular way that is a form of control over the mind. Many who realize that we can be controlled this way, exploit it and take control of how we live our lives.

The time has come to rise up against this way of thinking and challenge the disease that creates this seemingly hopeless human condition. It is an insurrection of the mind, if you will. We must address the disease and then work to cure it, for it cannot be cured without fully understanding how it controls us.

The intent of this blog is to diagnose the human condition and find a “cure” in order to live our best life in this confusing, chaotic and controlling world. I am not asking you to agree with me or like what I have to say. All I ask is that you raise the questions to yourself and not accept everything you have been taught at face value. Explore deep within yourself! It is time for an insurrection, rising up against the fabricated principles that are enslaving our conditioned minds.

The insurrection of the mind.

CJH