Steps to go out there like a lion Stand up, close your eyes, and go back in time until a point where you were absolutely confident. It can be any experience. Even shaving your beard perfectly, building a beautiful castle in the sand, or saving someone from drowning into water. It can be a perfect moment on the court as well. Anything. The only important thing is to feel the confidence… Go back there and relive the experience as detailed as possible. See in your mind’s eye what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Be extremely detailed. Take the time here, the more thoroughly you do this, the better your results will be. Keep drilling down to more details until you feel the same confidence you felt back then. Notice your body language, posture and the feeling inside you. Give it a shape, a place in your body, notice the color of the feeling if you want. Imagine a circle a couple of inches above the surrounding floor. Imagine yourself standing in that circle with full confidence. Feel the enormous power and the unbreakable belief in yourself. This is your circle of confidence! If you want, you can anchor it more by making a fist, for example. The key in anchoring is to do it right before the feeling reaches its peak. Take a step back, out of the circle and leave the feeling there. It may seem strange at first, but you can do it. Just leave it there. Look around, count the corners in the room. It means breaking the state. You shouldn’t feel the confidence at this point. It’s in the circle (and in your fist), where you left it. Imagine the next time you have a game. Make up the moment you enter the court, in your mind. Close your eyes and travel to that moment. Chose something that is before the game and is always there. I use the move when I put on my whistle and step onto the court. As soon as you start seeing what you will see, fire your anchor. See what you will see when you enter the court, hear what you will hear, and fire it by stepping into the circle and MAKE A FIST! Notice the difference. This step can be fast. Step in as soon as you see the scene and feel the absolute confidence for as long as it feels right. Iterate. You can repeat steps 6 and 7 a couple of times to anchor it more. The more you do it, the bigger footprint you leave in your nervous system, the better your end result will be. Break the state (open your eyes, count the corners) and try firing the anchor. Make a fist and notice how you feel. If you anchored it well, you should be able to feel the perfect confidence right there. Future pace. Imagine your next game and a game more further in the future. See the moment that fires the anchor. How do you feel? You have three anchors now; making a fist, stepping in the circle and your pregame moment. Fire any one of them to be in the confident state. Use the circle to strengthen your anchors, especially after bad games. Actually, it’s much faster to do it than to read and apprehend it for the first time. Feel free to try it for your next game and notice the difference. Remember firing the anchor when you need a confidence boost. Use it often to re-anchor it from time to time. It will last longer.
Positive Expectations Practicing the Law of Attraction is one of the most powerful techniques you can use to become a positive person and to ensure positive outcomes and better results in your life. Your expectations become your own self-fulfilling prophesies. Whatever you expect, with confidence, seems to come into your life. Since you can control your expectations, you should always expect the best.
Expect to be successful Expect to be popular when you meet new people. Expect to achieve great goals and create a wonderful life for yourself. When you constantly expect good things to happen, you will seldom be disappointed.
“There is no unmoving mover behind the movement. It is only movement. It is not correct to say that life is moving, but life is movement itself. Life and movement are not two different things. In other words, there is no thinker behind the thought. Thought itself is the thinker. If you remove the thought, there is no thinker to be found.” ― Walpola Rahula
“Stephen Hawking’s one year death notice is two days away! He passed last year on March 14, according to most accounts! I interviewed him this morning, and I am uncertain if he has ‘officially’ altered his position regarding the existence of God. However, whenever I did try to inject ‘God’ into the conversation, his immediate response was just something like: ‘That Bitch!’ Anyway, I showed him this little poem I wrote, and he said: ‘You suck!’ I thanked him for his sentiment and gave him a wet kiss before I returned to my studio!”* {footnote: As I turned from Mr. Hawking, I think I heard him say: “Lean on Me!” However, it could have been: “Lemme pee!”}
“SCIENCE EXPLAINS THAT THE EXISTENCE OF AN OMNIPOTENT, OMNISCIENT &/OR OMNIPRESENT GOD IS JUST NOT POSSIBLE!” a poem for Tuesday, March 12, 2019 , two days before and to celebrate the one year anniversary of Stephen Hawking’s death!
[1] (S)he wouldn’t have put up with us for this long; (S)he’s LOVING! NOT stupid!! Am I wrong?
[2] THE INVISIBLE THINGS AREN’T!! We can STILL spot germs, So, if The Emperor REALLY has new clothes, we’d-already-have-“come-to-terms!”
[3] NOBODY! is Everybody – or Everything – or – Everywhere at once, EXCEPT SANTA! So, take this hat and sit in The Corner, you _________!**
[4] “Absolute power corrupts ABSOLUTELY!” And-ONLY-women-have-that!! and-maybe-Trump-‘n’-Putin (but-NOT-“acutely!”)
[5] Minor Gods come; and Minor Gods go, But ONE Supreme One? – Well, you’ll never know, ‘Cause ONLY LOVE CAN TRULY RULE ALL! And LOVE loves HATE – and hates “Exhibition Football!” 🙂 – I am not convinced!
SO, GIVE IT UP! CALL ANYTHING YOU LIKE GOD,*** IF THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY! [Oh! – and Everything’s ODD!****]
fin ❤
* – I ate lots of garlic & onions with my buffalo burger and rancid coffee this morning! It was my pre-interview meal, and I didn’t brush very well! 🙂 – I suck! ** – Brilliant Theologian! *** – Just like people who live in India! **** – UNLESS IT’S EVEN, according to Stephen Hawking’s implanted alien being who moves his mouth and eyes!
“EMBRACE YOUR FEARS I N AND O U T!” a poem, March 12, 2019 (Tuesday)
In The Land of The Land of The Lost and The Found, Where the smiles can’t compensate! Then, WE HAVE SOUND! If you can’t stand the LOW, better-avoid the HEIGHT, But – what’s “wrong” ONE DAY – Tomorrow, will be “right!”
Even “THE BONUS ROUND,” Honey – has another round too, A “round” right between the eyes – and-I-can’t-tell-you-what-to-do!
But you sadomasochistic folks will feel right at home, When the pleasure you’ve enjoyed, from the best sounding poem, Comes back around – and asks you to pay, For you never, ever really with anything get AWAY!
Without compensation, in this “Land of Conditions, And Revelries and Symphonies and Dirges and Perditions!”
Just be-ware, and I’ve said it before, And I’ll say it again – now! and-evermore, “That which-now makes you squeal with love and delight, Will also come “hunting” you – and may come to fight! e.g.: The drug of joyfulness – eventually will degrade, And then come as consequences! At your door, it’ll-be-laid! When you least expect it, it’ll crawl into your home, And then you can suffer – and remember this poem!
[SAY: “Thank you, Mr. Poet! BUT-you-warned-me-during-the-day, And The Sun tends to obscure The Horror – and!-also-may, SET ME UP! for-a: NIGHT TIME OF MY TEARS!” Smile, GENTLE READER(S)! Even then, embrace The Fears!]
ALPINE AVALANCHE, Alpine, Texas, U. S. A.: “A ‘virulent’ influenza, designated ‘AY,’* or ‘The A -sh Wednesday Flu’ ‘gutted’ several local church choirs, coinciding with the celebration of Ash Wednesday [03/06/19]! Authorities think it might be linked to ‘tainted’ ashes! Many have speculated on the reasons & the plaque continues!” 3/12/2019
The choir resumed – their CHORAL RAPPORT! Yet each member wondered – if there would be more, Sickness and silencing of their eager voices, For theirs was to worship, above other choices, To sing – in excelsis! So, why all the silence?
Even the pastor’d-been – familiar with “ninhil-ence!”
{SHE entered!**}
“Well, IT-CAME – thus:” said-She, our pastor! “Last Night, The reason(s) – for-this turmoil, heartache – and fright: THE LORD WISHES TO FOSTER – OUR WILL – TO COMPOSE, OURSELVES IN EXUBERANCE! and Ash-Wednesday-did-pose, A ‘conjunction’ of sacred – and various things, Which-could-‘set our hearts right,’ so-when-we-sings, We’ll sing – of a Savior, risen in-deed, Just as our voices and bodies did-bleed, During these dark days! of Expel!-ation!”
This, from the Lord – was His explanation!***
We listened – with interest – with horror and pride! [but NOT pride-ful-ness – for, from this, song won’t hide!] So, we “struck up the chorus,” as-if ONE-re-newed!!
And our voices – were VIRGIN! and CHASTENED! and “nude!”
fin ❤
* – pronounced as a LONG “A!” ** – Jobeth McLeod, pastor for the local Presbyterian congregation *** – The Lord was unable to be reached for comment! It was, however, reported He was visiting Henry Winkler, and the two of them were walking around The Gates, doing “Fonzie” impersonation(s)! You-know: “AaaaaaY!” “AaaaaaY!
“The day had been spent in the expectation of these hours, and now they were crumbling away, becoming, in their turn, another period of expectancy…It was a journey without end, leading to an indefinite future, eternally shifting just as she was reaching the present.” ― Simone de Beauvoir
Michael McCormack MP Deputy Prime Minister Parliament House, Canberra
Dear Michael,
Thanks so much for standing up for the interests of country folk yet again. If these over-educated city slickers have their way, we’ll all be living in the dark & eating raw kale. How dare they impose solar & wind power on us? Taking away our night-time footy & one-day cricket is bad enough. Anyone who’s ever had to get up at three AM to milk the sheep knows the sun never shines then, and if you use all the breeze to push turbines around, there won’t be enough wind left to pump water up from the creek. It’s gone on beyond all reason!
These urban smarties with their fancy degrees should do a decent day’s work for a change. The lads at the RSL would like to see you take your campaign a bit further. Traditional country values are a thing of the past, it seems. Scientists are all very well to have on tap, as we like to say out here, but NEVER on top. Gough the anti-Christ started it all, letting all sorts of riff-raff including women go to uni, and it’s all been downhill since then.
First they tell us we have to wear seat-belts & can’t have more than three middies before driving. Do you have any idea how many panel-beaters & morticians this measure did out of a job? Next they make us put fluoride in our water,& the next thing you know all our teenagers are turning queer & listening to rap. They won’t let us grow rapeseed any more, in case it upsets the feminists, so we have to call it canola, which half the blokes I know can’t spell. Our buxom young country lasses don’t want to wear aprons & learn how to make a decent scone any more – oh no, they have to go to uni where they can learn how to smoke dope & rabbit on forever about empowerment & equality & glass bloody ceilings.
Good on you Michael! Keep up the sterling work. It must be hard to keep your eye on the ball sometimes, what with Barnaby drooling & muttering in the background, hanging over your head like the Pork Sword of Damocles. But you stick to your guns, laddie! Someone has to restore traditional Australian values to this blighted nation, things like selling our best farmland & rivers to traditional allies like the Chinese. If only these commo greenies would get out of the way!
We’re all looking forward to your next brilliant analysis. With the help of thinkers such as yourself, Australia should do very well as we power through the 20th century.
That year, in a Prussian lab, the physician and physicist Hermann von Helmholtz measured the speed of nerve conduction at eighty feet per second. How unfathomable that sentiments this intense and emotions this explosive, launched from a mind that seems to move at light-years per second, can be reduced to mere electrical impulses. And yet that is what we are — biomechanical creatures, all of our creative force, all of our mathematical figurings, all the wildness of our loves pulsating at eighty feet per second along neural infrastructure that evolved over millennia. Even the fathoming faculty that struggles to fathom this is a series of such electrical impulses.
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WHO’S GONNA SAVE SATAN? CHAPTER 1: SATAN, THE WRETCHED FIEND, SEEKS HELP FOR BEING HIM!
Satan emerged from The Primordial Slime. Always, Gentle Reader(s), this is from where Satan emerges, and He stunk like rotten eggs. It was not a pretty sight; those scorned by The Lord never are … a pretty sight!
Satan was tired, like the head mistress in “Blazing Saddles,” beaten to a pulp with no hope and no reason to continue to exist; however, the vile sod had no choice. It was His Fate to be, and He hated everything.
He hated the sky, the birds, any other creatures, but, most of all, Himself.
Satan was a MARKED MAN (yet, who knows what gender He really was), marked not only with His particular odor, but with scars, bleeding scabs and a host of creepy, crawly things that would cause the normal, sensitive, “clean” person to, not only blush with embarrassment, but also to retch violently.
He figured the reason so many despised Him, calling him a wretch, was because, after they got a good look at Him, they would begin vomiting projectile slime, making the familiar (w)retching sounds, as they ran away in disgust and terror.
Condemned “from the beginning of time and beyond,” it was, as Satan was apt to say, “Not easy being me!”
At the center of the Ninth Circle of Hell, which was His “usual haunt” (pun intended), about His “best” companion was Judas Iscariot, who was frozen in a sheet of ice. Iscariot talked very little. Actually Judas did not do much at all! Occasionally, the two played virtual pinochle.
Like a pile of rotting fruit, Satan was becoming more and more stinky. Just when it did not seem possible for Him to sink any lower in the wretchedness department, Satan would, of course … .sink, I mean, sink lower … . and would, in the expression made famous in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” fully embody the concept of “detestable putrescence!”
In this state of unbearable existence, Satan resolved to emerge into the realm of conditional existence and seek help for His wretched condition. What shred of hope “possessed” Him to do this (Yes, He could possess himself, just like another buddy of His – Beetlejuice – pronounced “Betelgeuse!”) we may never know, Gentle Reader(s). However, with forlorn determination, He “stormed” the familiar Gates of Hell.
Walking out of Hell was not actually too hard, you see, since He is, of course, in charge “Down Under” (No, probably not Australia; however, please notice I said PROBABLY NOT, which means it could well be!) … or, as lots of well intentioned women like to say, “DOWN THERE!”
With a confidence of success in His endeavors that smacks of someone possibly sent off to Devil’s Island (off the coast of Panama, well nigh impossible to ever “escape” from), Satan stumbled into Duality, a place where Angels fear to tread.
Angels dun fear nuthin’, Gentle Reader(s). Thus, if they fear to tread here, this is a significant fact! It means they must have some reason behind their fear! You see, this is a VERY precarious place … VERY PRECARIOUS … Do not think you are gonna get outta here in any kind of “good shape,” even if you exercise twice a day, six days and week, for your whole, miserable life.
The only way you might imagine getting out of this hell hole moderately unscathed is if you are JUST REALLY LUCKY … like if you JUST HAPPENED to bump into what I would refer to as “the right stuff!” And who in the heck has any idea who or what that might be?!
CHAPTER 2: CAN ANYONE SPARE A DIME FOR A CUP OF COFFEE OR A DOUBLE LATTE ESPRESSO PEPPERMINT MOCHA WITH ALMOND MILK AND CINNAMON … AND JUST A HINT OF POWDERED COCOA?
You know, when it comes right down to it, nobody believes in Satan any more! Perhaps for good reason; yet, the idea of His popping into this World and announcing who He is, is about as preposterous as, well, “The Second Coming!” Of course, we all know Jesus Christ has returned innumerable times since His apparent departure into the clouds . . or was it …THE CLOUD! And now “The Cloud” is back … ooooohhhh weeeeeee … LOL!
Who is going to believe you if it turns out you are who you say you are?! “Gimme a break,” is a typical response relative to anyone declaring they are of any import, historical or otherwise …unless, of course, the person in question has appeared on talk shows or in the movies… and very recently! If these criteria are satisfied, then, there is a choir: “Can we have your autograph, oh famous person!” Not so with Satan … He doesn’t do television!
So, when our hero asked around for a little something to eat or drink, the reaction was: “Get a job; get a job, you bum … soup kitchen … that way! PERHAPS they might ‘accomodate’ you, you bum. Gosh, you stink.”
It is funny (NOT funny “ha, ha”) that, at least sometimes, the most “spiritual” people and organizations can seem to have the least concern for a person in Satan’s plight. “I just want to be saved; can you help me, sir …ma’am?” This plea was met, time and again, with, “Just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and, for God’s sake, man, take a bath; you stink wretchedly!” (There it is again …don’t folks ever get tired of playing the wretchedness card?)
The soup kitchens were not very helpful. Besides, they stunk worse than Satan. I guess you probably guessed that, right!
He sought refuge in numerous congregations, throughout our glorious land!
These religious bastions nearly always had strapping senior members who were perfectly willing to just throw Satan back on the street, like “bouncers” do to rowdy club guests (yet Satan, unlike what many might imagine, was VERY polite …almost painfully so …It was just His nature, you see – to treat others as He would have liked to have been treated …Is that so bad?)
When He did get ejected from a congregational setting, it inspired little ol’ ladies, who generally sat either in the very front or the very back of the congregation, to applaud with a kind of exuberance; they were just so glad He was leaving, so they would not have to share any of their covered dishes that they spent so much time preparing …for the potluck after the service … with HIM. They preferred to serve those wonderful senior members, to provide them with strength to protect them from the riff raff, like Satan … and Riff Raff, the rapper!
Satan had no real choice but to plant Himself on the street and sing songs a capella. These were endearing songs, like “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen,” sung in the style of the Princess Leia impersonator in the film “Spaceballs,” and “Imagine,” by the late, great John Lennon (No, I absolutely refuse to tell you which place John went to! However, do not worry about it… .John is really just fine; he reincarnated and joined one of those “new” Japanese religions! Yoko would doubtlessly be very proud!)
Even with all these efforts Satan was mustering, there was little to no “financial remuneration,” so to speak … only a few pennies, nickels and the spare dime …and “a ‘Come On’ from the whores on Seventh Avenue!”
It was All seemingly useless. Unlike the “good ol’ days,” when a person could really buy a nice cup of coffee for a dime at the local diner, now Satan’s total assets were not even enough to get Him a glass of warm water, from the tap, let alone a tasty beverage of His choice at the distinctive coffee shops which have sprung up throughout The Nation.
The state of financial affairs in The World today, Gentle Reader(s), is anything but what the business magnates call PROGRESS! This is just plain HELL, worse than anything Satan could have implemented “back home!” Basically, everyone who is not making “six figures,” or, as The Bible puts it, 666 Figures, and, perhaps, the day is approaching when you are not really “anyone” unless your income is 7 figures, is a worm and should be sent to writhe … in Hell! As the MORE PROGRESSIVE, politically correct among the elite gentry would say, “It is just good business !”
Satan was in a bind, so He decided to seek out help from those who have declared themselves staunchly religious: folks against killing, for instance … and devoted to the acceptance, or, at least, the toleration of divergent, “human views and values,” less ostentatious, more progressively oriented stuff, you know. These are sometimes called The New Age, Spiritual, Medium-istic, Meditation-Oriented, Yoga Experts … The Creme de La Creme, so to speak …The Light Givers … Those Who Frequently Cut Their Salaries in Half (of course, their income is initially, artificially over-inflated many times like a car tire about to blow) …you know, the “truly religious and enlightened!” Must be nice.
Go for it, Satan; whatever floats your boat …whatever rolls your socks!
CHAPTER 3: STANDARD RELIGIONS’ RELIGIOUS PURISTS: “DIDN’T WANT ME … DIDN’T WANT ME … DIDN’T WANT ME … ONE DAY!”
And NOW, in the Now, “There is only this moment of Now,” Satan, having tripped over all the regular religious forms or allowed Them to “trip Him up,” NOW sought out His salvation through the plethora of “religious hybrids,” various forms of activism, “strict, straight, and/or oriental” cultish experiences, and even “loosey-goosey” cult groups … you know, whatever these labels mean, they are simply all descriptive of belief systems that are unverifiable, so faith is the cornerstone of existence! “And that’s all I know about that, Forrest Gump!” … to which we can all, simultaneously, offer a big, juicy “raspberry,” in keeping with the most profound guru since Buddha, i.e.: Edith Ann!
However, just keep this in mind, Gentle Reader(s): when everything appears said and done, Satan has, at least, one last group to appeal to: “The Artists!”
Hail to The Artists … painters, poets, musicians, dancers … that which combines to hold “in tact” the last vestiges of so-called “human sanity.” We need in particular to investigate musicians; for MUSIC is the new and the old religion, The Ancient of Days, especially when, as Paramahansa Yogananda emphasized, we combine melody with the voice.
Within the last few paragraphs, Gentle Reader(s), we have a basic outline for the remainder of our story. Thus, that will “cut down” on any apparent necessity for a too descriptive prose, ‘cause you already know where this is going, and you always already did! You simply forgot … around the age of one or two, perhaps. LOL!
So, then, the folks Satan was IN THE PRESENT MOMENT with and going to “turn toward(s),” all had one thing in common: They were “cocksure” they were RIGHT (as to their preconceived notions of right and wrong, the proper worship procedure, et al …). OF COURSE, DOESN’T EVERYONE THINK THAT! Of course … else they would not be “practicing” what they preach …or believe in. WE ARE ALL SO FRAIL!
THEY, which, if you had not realized it, is US (”We have met the enemy, and they is US!”), Gentle Reader(s) because . .. as “Sting,” AKA Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, so fundamentally puts it, “We are one!” Perhaps there were occasional humans who offered the same basic premise over the years, ya think!
So, with such a variety of flavors, where was Satan to turn?
There were Revised Standard Religionists … and also The Sensible Interpretive Religionists … whatever the brand or variety or flavor of the schism, the schizmics always feel they have “rediscovered” THE TRUTH! They receive a calling, or inspiration … and are instructed by their particular “voice,” or insight to “start-a-fresh” and propose something “better.” (But TRY to realized that “better” is an illusion … all these “switches” are merely bringing up DIFFERENT things … Yes, you MIGHT initially consider the switch as better, but THAT ILLUSION is always fairly quickly dispelled! Too bad we seldom learn that lesson!)
According to the deluge of malcontents that have gone in the direction of these “better” religious “forms,” the changes had to be done because the status quo was obviously faulty! Unfortunately (or fortunately), the status quo has obviously always been faulty … always has, always will … and … so what!
Pursue what you will, Frodo! “All we have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given us!” Please, Gentle Reader(s), use your time well …NOT in some “better way than the person standing next to you,” … for that is arrogance and insanity …use your time, please, noble-y . . using what you personally perceive to be the finest qualities you can imagine. IMAGINE. Good luck!
“Come to the Garden in Springtime; there is wine & sweethearts in the pomegranate blossoms. If you do not come, these do not matter; if you come … these do not matter.” by Jalaluddin Rumi, Mystic Poet, Shalom, Amigo …
THEY (remember …US!?) had GREAT visions and often had recognized the inherent divinity in themselves (especially) and all others too … a little bit! … here and there! THEY were generally in one of two camps: CAMP ONE focused on “getting to the root of things,” i.e.: a VERY strict interpretation of “The Ancient Ways;” CAMP TWO seems always more concerned with being “open minded,” to the point of letting the brain gently slip out from between one’s ears! Still, these divergent notions had one GREAT goal in mind: To g(i)t you to that “happy place,” that mythological state of existence where contentment and certainty about the nature of all things was really going to put life into focus! Ain’t focus GREAT, Gentle Reader(s); unfortunately, religion easily can become a crutch (or, maybe, it NEVER BECOMES a crutch … it is just, inherently a crutch … like everything anyway, and it can take on the power of an all-knowing, too-much-trusted aide-de-camp; then it might become hard to tell who is making the decisions. That is a BIG 10-4 … LOL!
“There is a crack in everything; that’s how the Light gets in!” is from ANTHEM, a Leonard Cohen song; I tend to quote this lyric frequently these days! Thus, Gentle Reader, revel in your imperfections … they are what the angels in Heaven are truly jealous of … of our ability to apparently make mistakes. Yet are they … really … mistakes!?
The “stalwart” souls Satan found were, more often than not, so inspired by their NEW found TRUE RELIGION … that they just HAD to make numerous YouTube videos and independent films, so others would recognize the brilliance of TRUE, REAL and FINAL enlightenment! Now, although everyone might be The Buddha and might be … truly … INTEGRAL … all these “others” still needed constant supervision in their enlightened condition … and/or HOLY SPIRITUAL EXUBERANCE, even though, “The Good Book” makes it pretty clear that there is NO LONGER ANY NEED FOR OUTSIDE ASSISTANCE after you get “The Holy Spirit!” Thank-you very much! “Bye, Bye, Miss American Pie!”
So, cutting to the chase … Satan thoroughly investigated all these folks and all their belief systems, and, as you might have guessed, they were ALL FOUND TO BE WANTING. Duh! All their perfect, divergent views … all their cocksured-ness … yes, they are as deluded as everyone else . . with the exception of God and a few physicists. Well, of course, I’m just kidding! EVERYONE is deluded … especially GOD!
It is exactly as the Romanian gardener presented it, as he conversed with his fellow worker in Bela Lugosi’s 1931 classic DRACULA movie. The gardener and butler look through the window of the mansion, where Dracula (played by Bela Lugosi) is smashing mirrors . . and sexy babes are walking around the rooms, dripping blood from the puncture wounds in their sexy necks …
Van Helsing, with crucifix in hand, is ripping away sheets, trying to get just one good reflection of The Prince of Darkness, so he can, of course, take a picture for The Shambhala Sun …
The Romanian gardener thus says, “They are all crazy, except you and me … and I am not too sure about you!” With very occasional exceptions, therein lies the attractiveness of THE NEW RELIGIONS, THE NEW WAYS! That attractiveness? CERTAINTY. Drop it, Gentle Reader(s) … there is none … never was … never will be … except POSSIBLY, just possibly, that there is no certainty … that there is, as The Buddha is supposedly quoted as saying “NO ABSOLUTE TRUTH.”
And “WHO knows if THE BUDDHA really even said that!” … Besides, if someone comes up to you on the street, announcing that there is no absolute truth in this illusory world, that is professing an absolute truth, isn’t it?
Please, don’t hurt yourselves . . . I have already done all that work for you!
So, Satan, finding no help from any source He could access … gave up His quest for salvation … or contentment … or any life style in which He could tolerate to look at himself in the mirror for even just one “aware” moment! As we know from the “spoiler” presented earlier … He turned to music!
Yes, Gentle Reader(s), Satan became A Rock Star … a popular musician type … and founded the cryptic genre of ROCK END ROLL … which, of course, if you play that backwards … is LLORDNEKCOR … or … Lord Necor … which, of course, is Lord Necro … “Lord of the Dead!” Does this all make any sense now!? Yea, right … just stare right into the face of God, Arjuna, but, again, try NOT to hurt yourself! Yea, good luck … yuck, yuck!
Satan, like Willie Nelson, took to “The Road,” singing before screaming crowds … and this actually became quickly boring, boredom being the opposite experience of the creative condition, according to Alan Watts (perhaps ol’ Alan has something there!) … So Satan left his band(s) behind and began compulsively/obsessively hitchhiking around the countryside, in search of something and nothing at all. In the words of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, “Where do we go from here?!” He did not know … never did … never could … know … the truth, since it is impossible to find The Truth until It apparently reaches out of The Mystery and hits you squarely “between the eyes!”
CHAPTER 4: REVENGE OF THE CIRCA 1970′S SONGSTER NERDS!
Satan was on His final tour, I think, Gentle Reader(s) … singing “road songs” and being constantly on the move … when, suddenly, the unexpected happened … it always does, you know, by the way! … eventually! Have your eyes really seen, Gentle Reader(s)? Well, let us open up those puppies, shall we? … (Here is where a little smiley angel glyph appears) …
“HAVE YOUR EYES REALLY SEEN?” said J, the writer, to the Gentle Reader(s) … which was, by the way, the theme of my August 9th (August 9, 2015) worship service at the Alpine, Texas, Unitarian Universalist Church over on North 5th Street at 11:00 A.M. {Kristofer Jorgenson and Marina Azar, by the way, were my fabulous guitarists … plus Kris is an equally fabulous singer and composer (Marina composes some outstanding music too) … Kris played guitar and sang with Yours Truly. It was “a hoot;” sorry if you missed it!} By the way, the topic for that service was NOT a reference to The Bible (as far as I know); it is just a great lyric from an Elton John song called “Love Song,” from his album “Tumbleweed Connection!” Kris and I sang it as our first hymn!
So, there’s OUR GUY, aka SATAN … isolated, walking down lonely country roads, living the story of American Americana, when, suddenly, His musical genius is sensed by a group of “progressive” Christian musicians, who respond to His “Guide to the Galaxy” hitchhiking aura by giving Him a lift to the next lonely town, which just happens to be saturated with evangelical Christian angst!
When the carload of Progressive Christian Rock Musicians arrived in San Antonio, Texas, Satan remarked, “I knew that fellow!” “Who?” they asked. “Antonio, the chap for which this ‘bergen’ is named; he was a ‘real piece of work! ‘ “
Despite that the “Antonio” or “Anthony” which Satan was referring to was Saint Anthony of Padua, so very popular in the Catholic Church, Satan explained to his fellow musicians that Antonio was a powerful public speaker, who had an equally powerful ego and loved being labeled “Daktari of the Church!” “The only thing that Antonio ever really found and kept, was his ego,” thought Satan, as they rolled up to this really modern-style concert hall of a building that His carpooling group called “Home.”
They passionately played their little Sacred Hearts, leaning on a limited variety of Christian Contemporary music, which Satan found occasionally inspiring, but fairly dull overall, so, when He suggested that they rock on with some “Shambhala,” immortalized by Three Dog Night (woof, woof) or some John Denver or Peter, Paul & Mary … the response was mostly, “Who ya talking ‘bout, Dude?”
The Christian Contemporaries had been practicing their favorites and everyone was familiar with them, so they did not really want “their flow” disrupted, don’t cha know! Kind of like their religious perceptions/projections!
Thus, it was natural that Satan would “split,” which just means He walked away … and was then considered extremely rude … which (rudeness, that is), of course, in the modern era of the so-called Christian Church, which, if Jesus Christ were around, He would NEVER attend because of the rigidity and pompous crapola attitudes of MOSTLY (notice, I did NOT say everybody) all the parishioners {Who the Heck ever even came up with that term anyway? … like NO ONE can even spell it! WHO THE HECK INDEED!?} is considered THE SIN AGAINST THE HOLY SPIRIT!
How, I ask you, Gentle Reader(s), can someone else’s perceived notion of whether another person is rude or not impact on their soul? How? Well, let us all just be reminded … since nobody seems to be doing much reminding these days … . that Jesus was, arguably, killed for one reason: rudeness! Period; end of discussion!
So, Satan, feeling bored, hungry and disgusted … left, unaccepted, despite that His native religion is groovy tunes! “What now?” thought The Prince of Darkness, as He wandered away from The Most Tabernacle of Joy and Love, the concert hall of modern Christian song and politically correct attitudes, to which He had been kidnapped!
Now was His escape! I guess!
Hungry, thirsty, alone and destitute to the “nth” degree, with NO public fountains to bathe or pee in … and no merchant camel drivers to offer Him a single crust of unleavened bread, Satan was suddenly startled by a determined looking, Jewish American Princess, who was followed by a bleary-eyed, long-haired lap dog of a fellow, who looked as if he had only seen the inside lining of some lonely package of Zig Zag papers for many days!
“Wanna flower, Mister?” asked the girl. “Oh, sure … whatever,” responded Satan. He delivered His line there with as much politeness as He could muster … He really did. However, Satan was hopeless and hungry, as we all know at this juncture in our story. The girl gave Satan a daisy and asked Him if He was depressed! Heck yea He was depressed!
“Well, we can help you ‘tap’ your way to Happiness, in the style of David Childerley, our savior, as demonstrated in his Genie.com TV videos,” the girl said.
“What … are you talking about?” asked Satan.
“Acupuncture Points!”
It seemed there was this procedure, whereby a person simply did percussion massage on themselves, sufficiently, hitting some “key” acupuncture points to bring up repressed emotional feelings … with an affirmation or two thrown in for good measure. “Well, anyway,” thought Satan, “at least its free … I do wish it might help to supply me with a little much-needed Peace of Mind!”
The Prince of Peace of Mind has arrived!
“Here,” said the girl, “lemme show you how its done.”
With that … the girl actually … despite the filth, wretchedness, stench, the whole works … actually … took Satan by the hand (”I am, suddenly, A Stranger in Paradise,” thought Satan. I just love when that happens!) and showed Him where to “tap” himself to hit those key acupuncture points.
“Now, repeat after me,” she said. “I deeply and completely love and accept myself just because I can; In the NOW, I deeply and completely love and accept myself just the way I AM!” “WOW,” responded Satan … “That REALLY feels great!”
Of course, Satan did NOT share with her that, very possibly, even probably, the main reason for His sudden “uplifting” in Spirit might have been due to the fact that this little, spry deva daisy was actually making some effort to genuinely help Him. Even her companion, one Raul Julio, smiled occasionally with a pleasant countenance. Satan was just so glad that someone was showing Him some kindness and acceptance. ACCEPTANCE IS GOLDEN … WHEREVER IT MIGHT COME FROM!
The unlikely trio moved in the direction of an encampment in a nearby urban forest, where, these unlikely hero-archetypes gave Satan a ham and humus sandwich … something to eat … actually! How exciting! It was phenomenal in His mind that someone would actually feed Him. Satan’s new-found, potential Facebook Friends, He found out … were none other than Hippies!
Hippies are loosely defined as relics of a by-gone era of peace, love and joy … and FLOWER POWER, not too dissimilar from the typical “nerds” of today!
With a full stomach, a song in His Potentially Sacred Heart and a tear in His rotting eye, THEY were suddenly THERE!
At the “site” they found a great variety of (also) fairly stinky folk, including a fair number of recognizable vocal ensembles, including, none other than, the U.K. rock group formerly known as “THE WHO:” Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, Keith Moon and John Entwistle. With one voice, unquenchably exuberant, they addressed their Master: “What took you so long, Boss?” SATAN WAS HOME! Yippee!
Satan was not only accepted … He was EXPECTED! and He then had this BIG CHANGE OF HEART. It was a “Grinch Moment” on steroids, in time, space and patience; Satan’s “Heart” grew many, many times, to overflowing … His Spirit leaped with JOY … and this motley crew of Hippies, relics of a by-gone era, witnessed a staggering, startling transformation!
Satan glowed ember-ishly … for just a bit … then, burst into flames, in typical FIRE IN THE BELLY fashion, and He was, “in the twinkling of an eye,” none other than JESUS CHRIST! Savior of the World, and a genuinely pretty nice fellow, for a not terribly young, Caucasian fellow, that is!
So, now it has become obvious, Gentle Reader(s), that THE WHO, actually, “saved” Satan; I knew they were going to, of course, because I AM the SCRIBE … and I know the ending pretty much from the moment I started writing the story. I caught some of you off-guard, didn’t I! Ha!
The Hippie Encampment was also transformed into Paradiso del Magnifico Regno, and all His new-found Friends, many of them He suddenly recognized, having participated in other Stories with them since time immemorial, if there really is such a thing, were filled with Indescribable Light, as if in a Wagnerian Opera setting of magnificent proportions.
As all this stuff was happening, somehow the story line became clear to everyone else in this Story … i.e.: EVERYONE IN “THE WORLD.” They all suddenly KNEW (or intuited) that it was happening.
THEY (and, of course, try to remember, “They” are “Us!”) recognized their “blindness” and foolish attachments to things of the conditional variety (like religion and Dunkin’ Donuts … not meaning, of course, to demean donuts by comparing them to religious groups … since a good donut can really be a beautiful thing) and, like The Who, they spoke with a singular voice, querying, “HOW WERE WE TO KNOW … that a wretched, destitute BIG BUM might possibly be “The Savior of the World?” No answer was forthcoming and none was necessary!
“What now?”
Nothing much, it appeared!
The STATUS QUO remained, apparently, as usual … IF you like it (”As You Like It!”) … if you like the Status Quo, however you view it, more power to you! You can have it … Any or All of IT!
If you are not happy with the Status Quo, then try something different! Like, you could become a Hippie … “A Tree Hugger!”
“Whatever you wish to do,” declared Jesus Christ, Savior of the World/ Satan, Prince of Darkness, “Is really just fine with me! Really! Whatever!”
“Cool! Yay!” The World did say.
Everyone, I guess, was just very happy. “Live and let live … or something like that” echoed throughout THE LAND.
Birds sang, frogs croaked and, upon being kissed, turned into princes, and little girls continued to beat up on little boys until the little boys cry with embarrassment! LOL! In the words of Maurice Chevalier, “ … for without them (little girls, that is), what would little boys do?”
Q.E.D.
W.T… . “And To All A Good Night!”
MORAL OF THE STORY: It is good not to think too highly of yourself; it is also good not to denigrate yourself too much! (Q: Why would you want to? A: Some people really do dig self-abuse … and the abuse of everything in sight!)
ALTERNATE MORAL OF THE STORY (in case you did not like the first one): Real success or salvation, is really more about accepting who and/or what you are … and less of something else!
YET ANOTHER MORAL: IF you are going to have an organized anything, you had better insure that “Your Group” is basically, “just about hanging out.” Otherwise, well …you know. And stop taking your organized, holier-than-thou group(s) so seriously, for God’s sake!
AND A FINAL MORAL OF THE STORY: It is better to have laughed and lost, than never to have laughed at all! For, HE WHO LAUGHS, LASTS!
FOOLED YOU (and me) … YET ANOTHER MORAL OF THE STORY (actually, probably I KNEW I was gonna write this because, remember, I AM the SCRIBE … remember?): Gentle Reader(s), consider this admonition … one which has been echoed through countless generations by almost all religions and, supposedly, spiritual and/or service groups:
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for, by this, some have entertained angels unawares!” Hebrews 13:2. “God Bless Us, Everyone!” is a quote by Tiny Tim, a “wretched” little boy who offers us a blessed little conditional ending in our Conditional Little Realm! The End. Really!
Step outside the comfort zone Ask yourself the question what it is that prevents you from developing the character traits you always wanted to have. What is it that stands between the person you want to be and the person that you are at the moment? Let’s say you would like to become more adventurous and outgoing. Would it really help you to accomplish your goal by remaining in the coziness of your comfort zone? I guess not! Therefore, try to identify those limitations that preclude you from being the person you really want to be. Once you identified those limits, try to push them – gradually but firmly. If you want more action in your life, get out and seek that action. Undertake something with your friends or meet some new people during your adventures alone.
Be the best you can 🤗
Read listen to others that are successful in business Ask questions Take three ideas and try it Ask yourself are you living up to your potential
Animal beings are not objects to be owned or used. Animal beings do not exist to serve human beings. Animals should have the right to their own lives, to their own families, and to be free in the natural world the way nature intended.
It's all about life and it's glory. No negativity in it though it always remains in everyone's life.It is our duty to make sure that negativity doesn't stop us from living a life of King Size.
Oh, thank YOU, beautiful, KINDNESS lady – for being so nice to me!