Be the Change no. 39

“Saying you mirror your actions on the way another person treats you is to give others power over your actions. Which is to say you are enslaved to the actions of others. Why not be free?”

Be the Change.

We are still talking about this idea because it needs to be retaught because men are saying hurtful things and other men are slapping them, or worse, over their words. This society has a problem in justifying violence and it is easy to see why that is so. We are surrounded by violence despite being taught that we should treat others the way we want to be treated. We are a society of victims that are made to believe our victimhood gives us power. We are a society that craves attention for all the reasons. And only you and I can change that fact.

We have to change for the world to be able to change. Politics is downstream of culture. Culture only changes through choice. And choice only rests within the control of the individual. We have to choose humanity. We have to choose peace. We have to choose compassion. We have to choose a better way. And we are not going to find it looking to the current folks in elevated states of worship. We aren’t going to find that better way following the same false prophets. We aren’t going to find that better way by clinging to the same systems that created this situation.

We need to change our mind to change our future. And we need that mind to focus on something greater than us. Because we will always be fallible. We will always fall short. We will always disappoint. And that is the problem with the temporal. That is the problem with looking to one another for leaders. We have to look inside ourselves and become the leader that transcends this time, this situation, this place. We aren’t going to get there through social media, through television media, through political systems, through anything that is made of man and temporal. We just can’t get there that way. It is impossible to rely on celebrity, on officials, on bureaucrats, on powers, on systems, to liberate us and make us change.

We have to choose the better way. There is no better way than aligning yourself with the only thing that can bring you change. The thing inside each of us that yearns for something more. The thing inside us that is not temporal BUT infinite. The thing inside us that knows our path and can get us there. It’s been said for countless years about the failings of each society throughout time. We need the Almighty. And not our entire society BUT individually. Because that is an individual choice that will transform each of us. It is not a group activity. It is an individual commitment to being in alignment with what the Almighty wants for our lives.

And as I have said before, God does not want you to suck at living. God is really all about you becoming the best version of you. The version that is compassionate to folks that act out violently at words and the version that is compassionate in your words to others. The version that is in alignment with living a life more abundantly. The version of you that wants to change because our change is transitory, temporal, fallible BUT the change from the Almighty is eternal, infinite, perfect. You don;t have to go searching for that change. You can find that change today.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you are looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange

Be the Change no. 38

"All beliefs are irrational and silly when you use logic to understand them."

Be the Change.

I am not winning any points this week on social media with patriots. Something about glorifying achievements made through war just never sits right with me. And it isn’t like I was not tempted to go down that path in my youth. Every high school boy is hounded by military recruiters to enlist after high school. They come to schools and peddle death. They are in the shopping malls to peddle death. Some of us even aspired to go to their elite academies of death. I know I did. I was enamored with joining the academy system. Thirteen years of government education and a lineage of enlistment does do that to a person. So, I get why this cycle is difficult to break.

BUT, I did break that cycle. I had my opportunity and I chose not to enlist. I also spent years as a government education employee believing by some ill-conceived notion that military enlistment might be the best solution for some folks to escape their situation. BUT, that is a fault in the system that we all need to fix. That children are choosing the opportunity to die in order to escape their situations is a major fault in the American system. That the only solution American society can offer is murder and violence as a solution only more deeply speaks to how much the system needs to go away and never return.

So, I get why I am not scoring any points with the patriots. They whole-heartedly buy into the system. The system that says if you work hard and follow the rules then you will make the American dream a reality. And frankly, that’s a bunch of bull shit to believe. That is the most preposterous thing to believe unless you are white. Then that makes perfect sense. No need to involve any more thought about government. Insert patriotic slogan, say your Magic Prayer, and salute your Sky Cloth. Thinking over.

BUT, if you aren’t white and the system is not set up for your success then you start to see some of the holes here. First, why is war still a thing? Second, why is the enlistment system targeting poor folks? Third, why are we bombing far away places to gain freedom? Fourth, how did freedoms get that far away from my home? Fifth, aren’t my freedoms more in jeopardy in Washington or any other state capital than in a desert or jungle across the sea? Sixth, why are schools promoting violence by allowing these folks in their doors? Seventh, would we let the mafia or drug cartels recruit in schools? And the list for me goes on and on . . . . Ad nauseam.

So, I get why I do not score points with patriots. They get so angry that I would deign to insinuate that enlistment is anything other than a dignified service, a benevolent spirit that bestows freedom upon the land the sun touches. Rather than it being an entitlement or welfare program that enlists the poor into fighting other poor people for the gain of private contractors that benefit off paying politicians overtly and covertly to advance their aims. How dare I insinuate that their child is off murdering brown people for corporate greed? How dare I ask that you not celebrate violence and murder? How dare I question the American dream? How dare I practice free speech that questions their narrative?

You see. Folks can melt and get angry despite the color of their snowflake. If your ideas don’t stand up to questioning and scrutiny, then are they really your ideas? Or did someone give those ideas to you? I don’t know. Believe what you like. Disagree or agree with me. Think what you think. BUT, at least think about why you believe what you believe? I have thought about it a lot. And I am pretty sure that a long time ago in a list the Most High gave a commandment not to murder. I tend to think that’s really a no brainer BUT the Almighty did have to spell it out to Israel and I think it still needs pointing out in America.

Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you are looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #BeTheChange