Do You Know the Times?

The world today is not what it once was. Globalization and the advancement of technology have miniaturized our world. What would have taken weeks and months a hundred years ago is possible in seconds. We can communicate across the globe, make trades and acquisitions, watch each other with satellites, have news relayed, type in a question and receive an answer all in an instant. Knowledge truly has increased.

But even though all this technology is available to us, we still find ourselves faced with the lingering problems of old. We continue to have ideological disagreements, we continue with our wars. We have the ability to traverse into space, yet still do not fully understand how to overcome our differences. We race to make new discoveries, develop new medicines, and seek to better ourselves without so much as a hesitation to contemplate on where these once hidden practices will take us.

The Divided States of America



The land of the free and the home of the brave was how this land was described by Francis Scott Key during our battle with Britain. It was a time that united us under a common cause. Our fathers fought to keep what was dear to them, namely, freedom. This freedom was bought with a heavy price and sacrifice. Many have given their lives, even to this day, to have the freedom to worship as they saw fit, the freedom to protect themselves, and the freedom to create a government by the people, for the people, and of the people.

I ask the question sometimes; just how would these men who gave their heart and soul to the building of this nation, react if they could see what we have become? Have their wisdom and insight been heard by us today? We were warned by George Washington to avoid foreign entanglements and alliances, yet today, we find ourselves fighting a seemingly endless war across the globe. We have become the world’s policeman and it is taking its toll on us.

We have become the Divided States of America. We don’t agree on much these days. We tip toe the line of political correctness and freedom of speech. The internet is being used for malicious intentions and our laws can’t keep pace with the growing technology. People propagate pedophilia and pornography. They quickly learn how to make a home made bomb. What was a great invention has been abused with little regulation. People hide behind the very laws that were meant to protect their rights, to get away with evil. Is their justice left in our courts? Are the very laws meant to protect us being used against us? Frivilous lawsuits are abound as our society is in moral decay.

The world is confronted with a movement that wishes everyone who does not subscribe to their agenda harm. Yet we cannot unite under this cause. Our government is growing larger and more powerful to battle this enemy, yet one wonders when we are going to sacrifice too many of our rights and our freedoms will forever leave us.

Our government of the people has been infected with a lust for power. When we send someone to Washington to represent us, we find it doesn’t take long to waiver from their original electoral goals. Leaving us to sit back and watch as the two powers collide, investigate each other for wrong doing, and distract themselves from doing what needs to be done. Or maybe they represent those who fund their campaigns so they can keep their power, a pay back for generous contributions perhaps...

The Judeo-Christian values that this nation was built upon are under assault. The Ten Commandments are ruled by courts to hinge upon the separation of church and state. It is no longer acceptable for companies to wish patrons a Merry Christmas because they might offend someone who is not of their faith. In a nation that previously held God up and prayed to Him openly in public, we are no longer able to do this, without an angry mob protesting. God is simply being removed from our country, so that the few are not offended.

There are many challenges that face us today: Terrorism, illegal immigration, energy, global warming, healthcare, violent crime, and natural disasters. We will not go on as a nation to overcome these issues if we cannot unite under a common banner. During great times of struggle such as these, the moment comes when we will stand united and continue to thrive or we will remain divided and the foundation of our nation will tumble to the ground.

Let The Quest Begin!

Pride Vs. Humility

Like everything else that lives in the realm of time, our adventure has a beginning and an end. We will begin our search into the truth by seeking to understand who we are and accept who we are not.

Before we start diving into concepts or theories that can otherwise be debated, lets start with what we know. We know we were created. We know that we are bound by the laws of time. We know there were others here before we came. We know we came into this world naked, bringing nothing but an insatiable apetite for knowledge and nourishment. We know that we have limits and cannot create something out of nothing, yet we look around us and see a limitless creation that certainly came from something. We witness things larger than us and more powerful such as an earthquake or the crackling lightning that strikes nearby. There are billions and billions of us yet we are all somehow different.

This self acceptance is my definition of humility. It is simply accepting who you are. The truth is that you are one among billons who have found yourself in a world you didn't make and don't fully understand. We search for answers but most are not found as quickly or easily as we would like. Therefore we are willing to trust something bigger than ourselves. Something we can't fully understand with our limited resources. If you are of this mind, you are ready to begin the search.

However, like most things in our world, humility has it's nemisis. It is pride. It is regarded as one of the seven deadly sins...and for good reason. Pride is the poison that seeps into the deepest part of our heart and tells us that we know more than we really do. Pride leaks into our imaginative minds and plants seeds of lies that grow into a web, imprisioning us in confusion.

If the truth is to be found, pride must be left at the door. Only the humbled can make this journey, and if you haven't been humbled yet, you will be...

Faith is a choice, Truth is not

There are literally thousands of religions, cults, and groups that claim to have a foothold on what is the truth about this life. Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Scientologists, Atheists, Satanists, and the sects that have spawned from these groups all believe that they have the answers. With all these choices, the question must be asked...is there more than one way? Some would tell you that it is not so much what you believe, but that you believe in something greater than yourself. Well, lets take a slow, deep breath and look at the universe that surrounds us.

We live in a world of order (I am speaking to nature) that has laws and rules to keep everything in line. Because of these laws, such as gravity, magnetism, and physics, the universe stays in a meaningful condition. We know that the sun will rise and fall with clockwork precision because these rules are in place. Planets rotate around the sun in a stable and constant manner. The earth and moon orbit the sun creating a gravitational pull that causes the tide, keeping the vast body of water in check. Sunlight and rain pour on the earth, nourishing trees and plants which then create oxygen for us to breathe. The point is that everything seemingly has a purpose, a function that is regulated by these laws of nature. We can see them, touch them, and prove them scientifically. They were created to do a task and being perfectly obedient to these laws, they fulfill the role they were designed to play. So we can clearly see that nature has a fundamental purpose in sustaining life.

In these instances, there is one absolute truth. The sun is what the sun is. There is no grey area. We cannot debate the existence or purpose of a tree because we can acknowledge it with our senses and can study its affects. We can not, however, prove the existence of God with indisputable evidence. It is a matter of one's personal journey to come to their own conclusion. We may weigh evidence and theories and use our own logic to deduce what is the truth, but this is where faith comes in. I believe that just like the physical world has laws and order to it, so does a parallel world. This other world we cannot see with our eyes, but we can feel its affects. Just like the wind or electricity, you cannot see the current or see the wind, but you can see the result. The electricity creates an affect, such as a light bulb coming on. The wind creates an affect of making a tree sway. Both of these results can be seen with our eyes and they can both certainly be felt with our touch. This other world, the world of the spiritual, is as certain to me as the sun I can see and feel. It is certain because I have felt its affects. I did not imagine them, because the result of it's affects has caused a reaction within me (more on this topic to come).
The Electricity Effect

Now, if the conclusion can be drawn that a spiritual world is present and is ruled by a set of laws like our materialistic universe, then one is lead to believe that there is one, absolute truth. An absolute truth that, as sure as the sun will rise in the east, will always reign and never be compromised. But while there is one truth, faith remains a choice. There are many choices in our world today. How will you decide which one is true?

Introduction

We have found ourselves in a most dangerous setting. The world is full of famine, natural disasters, diseases, deception, and worst of all, hate. We didn't ask to be here as far as we can tell. So, we ask why? Why the pain, why the suffering, why the confusion and uncertainty, why the hate, and inevitably...why are we here? What is the real purpose of all this? What are we to be striving for? And from the eternal words of Pontious Pilate, What is truth?

This blog is meant to spark these thoughts that always seem to have answers that are beyond our grasp. My intention is to share my life with you, in hopes of creating a dialogue that brings, maybe, a little more clarity to the mysteries of all this. Understand that I too, am searching for answers. I don't claim to know more than any other. We are all in this thing called life together. We all have joy at times, while pain at others. We all think we know the answer at times, while we all have been confused at others. We come from different origins and have different journeys, but one common destination. We are all bound by time, so lets make the most of it.