In Justice – Harbor Lights Ministries

Who am I today…?

Label: A word or phrase that describes someone or something.

One of the many definitions of the word ‘Label’. A word that is cast about in our society today with a variety of intent. People like labels, people hate labels, people feel the need to label, people want labels removed. This word has become the “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” trigger.

Any given day, at any given time, you can hear and see labels being tossed around with such complacency…yet as quickly as used, are being cause to charged emotional reactions.

There are simple labels cast upon people, individuals, such as ‘black’ or ‘white’ to denote skin color. The popular labels used to designate affiliations such as ‘democrat’ or ‘republican’. The newer generational labels to describe, such as ‘gay’ or ‘straight’. All these types are scrutinized to see if they are using the label as a means of identification to good or if it is a tool to castigate someone ‘different’.

The funny part about labels is how they show the hypocrisy of people. Humanity is so quick to charge themselves as this or thus, but when labeled by others, they anger at the thought of being pigeon-holed! Really? I’m confused! You want to be labeled, but get upset when you are? Huh?

So, that being said, our world has taken things to such an extreme of stupidity now regarding labels. People want to be labeled as non-labeled. The “I identify as…” generation has promoted the label of ‘ambiguous’.

am·big·u·ous

amˈbiɡyo͞oəs/

adjective: ambiguous

open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning.
unclear or inexact because a choice between alternatives has not been made.

Ok. I get that you don’t want to be labeled with a political affiliation or a particular religion or even an ethnic background. It doesn’t change who you are! With or without a label, you are who you are inside and out and people are going to identify you one way or another.

I’m gonna draw the line at a point though. Gender.

So, you are trying to push on me that you are neither male or female? This is where my Common-Sense-Meter is jumping off the scales! I don’t care how flaky and extreme you are, but, the facts are facts. You have a penis, you are a male. You have a vagina, you are a female. You can lop it off or add one on all you want, but the fact of the matter still remains: You ARE what you were born with!

I use this Bradley Manning person that is in the news as an example. Aside from him (yes, I am using the proper pronoun to describe this human) being a traitor to the country; aside from our government allowing him to be associated with our army; aside from him whining and demanding that he wants to play dress up in girls clothes…aside from all that, he is still MALE.

You pee standing up, you use the men’s room. Putting on a dress doesn’t make you any more a woman than putting lipstick on a pig changes the animal. The label doesn’t change who or what you are!

“But, I was born with the wrong parts.” “I’m a woman trapped in a man’s body.” “I identify as a….”

Sorry. Not gonna buy into that game. You want to play dress up and act a certain way because you have ‘feelings’ for the same-sex, go right ahead. But, don’t you drag me into accepting this. Not my circus, not my monkeys! I don’t have to accept you playing gender games anymore than you have to accept me as a good writer. We all play pretend from time to time, but I will not be forced into accepting every and any label people want to attach to themselves!

Today, I am this…tomorrow, I think I’ll be that!

The issue here, folks, is not that you have to believe the same way as everyone else, the issue comes down to how your beliefs or claims or labels are pushed on others. I believe in the Bible as the inerrant word of God…but that doesn’t mean you better make concessions for me in all ways because of this! Think about the common sense level we are talking about here! There has to be a point where the spiral is stopped! Everything is getting pushed so far to the extremes that the free-for-all of lunacy is a blurred and borderless line! Where does it stop?

I’m going to leave that to moral judgement. I have my line…and it is a pretty fair line at that. Considering all of the labels that people love/hate out there, I figure that common sense and a moral base need to be used to filter reality from the label-land of make-believe!

1 Cor 13:11 says “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.”

Good advice.

Looks like we got us a convoy…

Hello (insert name here)!

I want to first thank you for our time together this morning! It was absolutely wonderful of you to take the lead in our convoy of commuters, all heading to our places of employment. You really held a steady and sure pace!

I remember back in the day, driving in military convoys throughout the world! The commander’s words to “keep convoy integrity” tight. The constant checking in the rearview mirrors to assure that the person behind me was still in sight and close by. The speeds were always relegated to the last vehicle’s pace, so as to leave no one behind! Ah, yes…a tight-knit unit we were!

The only slight drawback to our convoy, though, is that WE ARE NOT A CONVOY! We are traffic on a freeway! We are pressing toward a goal, solo, without worry about the fellow behind us!

I want to take a quick minute to just say that I completely support our traffic laws and do take into consideration that 70 means 70. Believe me, I know that many take 70 as a ‘suggestion’. And, on occasion, I have taken liberty to adjust my driving speeds a wee-bit faster than the posted signs. But, that is not to say that 80 is acceptable. And, neither is 60!

With all that said, my dear slow pace-car driver…I would like to offer you a suggestion; GET OFF OF THE ROADS!

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The string of cars that were bottlenecked behind you were not there to support your make-up applying, breakfast eating, cell phone texting, drive-at-your-leisure morning! They were there because you are traveling well under the posted speed limits, in the ‘passing lane’, with no one in front of you for well over a mile!

Road rage is all the rage these days! The unfortunate result from that rage is sometimes horrific violence. People have such selfish attitudes whilst driving that it can easily enrage others, simply because they have their own selfish attitudes. Once someone has entered into their vehicle, that metal wrapped around them becomes a cocoon of sorts. The world outside is of little relevance and that it’s all about “me” and whatever “I” want.

So, let’s have little or no regard for anyone else around! Who cares if your actions upset the balance of traffic! The balance of humanity!

Xtesb1r

So, feel free to pat yourself on the back, worry not about anyone else out there, because it’s all about you! Your freeway. Your hallway. You’re the king/queen/prince/princess! Just do as you please! Lead that convoy of unsuspecting travelers at your pace! We’ll wait! Stand in the middle of aisle while you’re playing on your phone! We’ll wait!

I mean, time is not important…it’s not like we are living in the last days, or anything like that!

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (ESV)

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ²For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

So, carry on!

See ya on the roads tomorrow!

trafficjam-ss

Missing: Common Sense

Xtesb1r It has been such a long time. So many things have happened that alter one’s thinking patterns toward new paths. This, in, and of itself, is a good thing. Continually traipsing wayward down roads leading to unfulfilled chaos is no way to live life! Remember, many moons ago, that I started this blog to root out the evil that worms its way into society, destroying the one semblance of necessity that we, as a people, need to survive: Common Sense!

What has happened between then and now is no small matter! It appears that the world has continued the downward spiral it was on…not slowing one iota! Hmmmmm…..what to do, what to do!

Fortunately, our moribund society is salvageable! Not because we have a new President. Not because morals have made a resurgence. And, not because a news/commentary talking head has said so! We are salvageable because we have believers! There are many of us still walking forward believing that we can do better! There are many sides to every issue, good and bad, that attempts to sway our grasp of solution. Unfortunately, the bad can often outweigh the good and implement a course that creates a bigger monster than before.

Take the example of my favorite monster of all…Godzilla! Now, before you start casting judgments my way, keep in mind that as a child of the…ummm…..era a while ago, Godzilla movies were fun, campy Japanese creations that pitted a man-made catastrophe against the society we cherished. That humanity was above all, including nature…even God, Himself, and could tamper with our life-existence was pointed out to be our arrogancy! So, I guess what I am saying is that, even though we still continue to exist as a society of arrogant, selfish, and indulgent fools, the monsters we create will not just go away because we say so!

Not everyone walks on the side of the monsters, though! We can still grasp at the true solution to many of societies problems. By embracing Common Sense, we have the weapons and shields needed to crush the monsters of stupidity!

One example of this, not to get too political, is Minnesota’s Governor and the “criteria” to conform to federal mandates of a “real ID”. I’m not completely sure what the whole fuss is about the real ID thing in respects to what I carry in my wallet: a valid Minnesota Driver’s License. The state issued that to me after showing that I can pass a written test and drive a car around a test track. It also acts to identify me to various agencies and such because it has my picture. Well, the argument continues with our state geniuses about passing this “real ID” thing so that we would then be able to fly using the special “real ID”. One hold up here in the great state of Minnesota is that our Governor thinks that people who are illegally in the country should be able to get a driver’s license as well.

I’ll let that soak in for a minute. Let the Common Sense flow within you. Look at the situation through the Common Sense Lenses!

Why, on God’s green earth, would you give someone who is in the country illegally a valid state identification? Well, according to our state ‘leader’, it will make them safer drivers and reduce accidents. (Shall I pause here and let that reasoning soak in as well, or just continue since we all can easily understand the dumbfounded thinking?)

Dear Gov;

Please explain to me how giving someone, who doesn’t obey the laws of the United States of America, a driver’s license is going to make them a better driver? Please explain how said person is going to suddenly become a conscientious member of society with a photo ID that, for all intents and purposes, cannot be verified…since they are probably not running around with other forms of legal identification to back up the driver’s license?

Thank you in advance,

The Legal People of the United States of America/Minnesota Chapter

Just a wild thought…..but, Common Sense would indicate that they shouldn’t have a driver’s license, which is a given privilege to the citizens. And, here is your definition of citizens:

cit·i·zen

ˈsidizən,ˈsidisən/

noun

noun: citizen; plural noun: citizens; noun: cit.

a legally recognized subject or national of a state or commonwealth, either native or naturalized.

I’m just going to close with this: Because you stand in a yard, it doesn’t make you a resident. Because you travel down the road, it doesn’t make you a car. Because you swim in the water, it doesn’t make you a fish. And, because you are within the borders of a land, it doesn’t make you a legally recognized subject or national of that place.

This is only one example of our missing Common Sense….but, we still have many who view life through the lenses of it! People, we can alter the path, change the direction, and turn the ship around and make this a better world…..all with a little help from our friends, and Common Sense!

Correct Me Now!

Simply amazing. A 7-year-old child is being bullied at school to the point where he was choked by the assailant. The boy, in reactive fear, kicks at the other child and strikes him in the groin area. Now that child is accused of sexual harassment. A 9-year-old boy says to another student that his teacher is cute. The teaching assistant hears the comment, now he faces a sexual harassment complaint. A choir teacher at a school makes the kids sing the Christmas song “Deck The Halls” with the word “gay” replaced with “bright”. And so on, and so on, and so on…..

Actually, simply amazing isn’t the correct address to the recent news events. Let’s us simply ridiculous! Before I point out the obvious to you, I would like to take a moment to ask that anyone in the audience that takes offense at people being offended by America’s misdirection of political correcting, to please step outside. I am one of those that is currently being offended by politically correct being allowed to run rampant in society today. I can almost guarantee that you will be offended.

For many, obvious seems to be clear. The arguments against the rampant stupidity have already aired throughout the various media. What I don’t understand is why does this continue to happen? If we look back throughout our history, we see an ever-changing tide of mentality towards various subjects. That happens. Views change, people grow, things once important are no longer relevant. It’s called evolution. Society continues to evolve, thus the change in styles, music, politics, habits, and a host of other aspects to our existence. But the one continuous thread that is supposed to underlie our momentum forward into the future is common sense. Somewhere along the roadway, that thread was either cut or snapped. I know it didn’t wear out from overuse!

I find that the evil whiners that push this politically correct agenda today are the source of our downfall. That minority with loud voices have somehow swayed various government and business leaders in the U.S. to go along with their radically nonsense way of thinking and it really has me sad and scared for our future. To remove common sense in such a way as to think that an 11-year-old blue-eyed, blonde haired boy has been, and still is, on the TSA’s no-fly list, has my jaw on the ground is utter disbelief. His first pat down was at the age of 2! Hello? People? Because he shares a common name with an actual potential threat, he is stopped and checked thoroughly. Calling Captain Obvious?

We live in an age where news travels faster than it ever has in our history. You would almost think that the powers-that-be would be keenly aware of this fact and know that their every move is constantly scrutinized and studied. So, when the school decrees that an elementary student must be suspended because he falls under the definition of “sexual harassment”, you would think that someone would have stood up and pointed out the irrational thinking. But sadly, no one did. Has the “decision makers” sunk to such a level of paranoia that even a seemingly well-educated person cannot make a common sense call here because they fear backlash from a radical minority of idiots?

What are we afraid of here? Clear thinking? practicality? We really must be! From this recent kind of overt craziness to the extremists blowing up their own people, society has become scared to confront the flagrant disregard to common sense! Quit worrying about the handful of babies that fuss about “feelings” getting hurt or think that everyone should have a right to do anything they want! It’s not a right to bully someone! And, destroy a child’s life because he said a person is cute? When did “sticks and stones” leave the room?

Everyone talks about the over-sensitive events that are clearly ridiculous, but no one is “fixing” it. Let’s stop putting bandages on these wounds that bleed our sanity! I know that there are more than a couple of brain cells that can be rubbed together to create a spark of reality in this place. Enough is enough, as they say. At some point, simple thinking has to catch hold and begin to put some clear reason at the forefront of our decision-making. If it doesn’t, the stupidity is going to continue to spread like the infection it is and we will be restricted from all thought, word, and deed!

“Call the police, that person looked at me!” “Get me a lawyer, that person stood too close to me in the elevator!” In time, congress will create a law of all laws and everyone will be guilty of something! Let’s get off of the “be sensitive to every little thing” ride and get back to serious reality! This planet is a mess and we certainly have bigger problems out there that need our full attention. Let’s stop allowing these trivial, nonsensical, isolated incidents to take center-stage when the real issues are people starving, children without a place to live, and stupid folks affecting our Common Sense! Step up to the plate, put your foot down, and tell the world that Common Sense is back!

….and so we fight.

The plague had thus afflicted many with a stench of vile filth.

And the world keeps spinning. Round and round it goes. The stars still shine their light from billions of miles away and the sun still warms this planet. In nature, the order of events still moves on without regard to the chaos that humanity continues to bestow upon civilization. Therein is the effect of man on all that surrounds him. Kind of makes you want to throw up, some days!

I had the opportunity the other day to sit outside and listen. My mind filtered out as much as it could related to humans. I pushed out the sounds of cars and airplanes. Ignored the drone of lawnmowers and chain saws. Blanked out the chatter of children and their parents throughout the neighborhood. What I really did was to focus all my attention on the nature. As much as I could, that is. It was a tranquil moment! The visions of trees and the vastness of the blue skies. The feel of grass and soil below me. It was wonderful, and it all seemed…normal.

What I discovered was that there sure was a lot of nothing. Nothing, in the sense of peace and quiet. I found that, though nature was all around me, there was a sense of craving that was occurring, a craving to be in that ‘world’. As much as mankind has injected his will and way throughout planet Earth, the other inhabitants were still alive and well and doing just fine! I was really enjoying their company for the moment. It was a mini-vacation from the ‘plague’. The ‘plague’ is a sickness that has been spreading like a wildfire throughout humankind. It has been discovered that it destroys the brain by tearing out the common sensory lobe and then starts to dissolve the emotional cortex. All that remains is an uncaring, no-conscience, zombie-like thing that seeks to inflict misery on whoever and whatever is around.

What made me really dwell about this were some of the events in recent weeks. You see, I’m a news junkie. I find myself searching for updates to the happenings that go on, not only local, but nationally and internationally. A story breaks out here and I need to know. Not just what the media filters to us, but the whole picture. Don’t give me a nugget and tell me I’m content! Facts, figures, pictures, summaries….I want to know it all! Junkie! But recent reports of people pistol-whipping elderly women for their purses, thugs shooting at police indiscriminately, violent home invasion on a family with young children, and an elderly man shot by a thug as he walked into his own home, I’m finding that there is such a thing as ‘too much’.

With all of that coursing through my cranium, I’m finding there are some adverse physical and emotional effects from the worldly feed, as well. I’ve heard the phrase before: information overload. And it seems to be overloading with sadness, despondency, pain, suffering, violence, and destruction. The sickest part is that you don’t have to go international or even national to be filled with this negativity. It’s in your back yard. It’s down the street. It is permeating throughout what was once called civilization. Uncivilization. The plague.

So what’s the solution? Sorry to disappoint, but I don’t have one. Like a seeping cloud of vileness, this uncivilization is moving throughout the lands, decimating good things, tearing away the very fabric of decency that could, and should, be our humanity. You and I could sit for days upon days and point the finger at this and that and never really hit the source because there isn’t just one source. This is an evolution of allowances that have continued to bloom into the destruction of decent folk. In the past, when people would do nothing but commit horrible acts upon others without remorse, we called them a scourge upon society. But nowadays, there seems to be an acceptance to such violent behavior. Amazing how someone can commit such atrocities, but because we have to be concerned about their ‘feelings’, we have to go soft on them. Thus, the plague is back on the streets in no time, doing what it does best: destroying.

Uncivilization. It’s funny how we can look back at each generation in our little worlds and think that those before us were so “uncool”. Our parents thought our manners and actions were barbaric. Their parents thought they were out of control. Their parent’s parent’s thought their kids were the end of civilization itself. No one point to blame, because it’s been an evolution of degradation. I believe the term used in the past has been ‘the decline of western civilization’. But somewhere, somehow this has to come to a stop. And I sure hope that it hits the brakes before our blue earth looks like some postapocalyptic scene from a science fiction movie.

Demographics aside, it has become a global thing. People groups aside, it has become a social stain. Religious groups aside, it has become the bias. Ethnicity aside, it has become separation. It doesn’t matter who or what anymore, what matters is that it is. It is a violation inherent in the system. Can we tune out? Are we allowed to turn our back on the seemingly senseless disregard for people and property? No! We cannot! Just because it is all around, we can still pick up the pieces and continue the good fight. We may not impact the whole world, but we can impact our little world. There is too much at stake here and anarchy running rampant is not an option. We fight at the local levels. We fight against the liars and cheats. We fight against evil that is now accepted. We fight against the all these things that are rotting our moral flesh. We fight against the plague. We fight!

And so I listen all around and try to isolate the tranquility of nature. I try to focus on serenity that will sooth a weary soul, worn out from the information overload. I know that it is out there. If, but for a moment in time, we can find some peace. Because we cannot bury our head in the sand, we seek some solace from the uncivilization that surrounds. Just a moment of refuge. I know the plague is spreading. I’ll be there in a minute…have to re-energize for the next round.

...and desolation remained, lest man stand to push back

Arrested Development

My son is a hardened criminal. Arrested in the commission of a heinous crime just the other morning. Another vile perpetrator off our city streets. We can rest easy tonight.

In the bustling city of St. Paul, Minnesota, the crowds of people are rushing to and fro, starting the day early in the morning. Sidewalks fill with commuters coming into the city, destined for their places of employment, others are merely on one of many stops en route through the city via buses. On this ordinary day, during a typical morning, one young man had exited his first bus and was walking the one city block to catch his next bus to get to his final destination. But during the course of that short walk, he was approached by another young man who had asked him for a cigarette. Without breaking stride, he reached into his pocket and produced one and handed it over. Then, without deeper thought, continued on his way until…..

A police officer that witnessed the transaction summoned him back to the scene of the crime.

The officer and the other half of the criminal duo stood waiting. Unbeknownst to my son was the fact that this cigarette requester was a minor! He gave a minor a regulated substance. Provided this underage person with tobacco products! Now, under the circumstances, I could understand the law is the law and justice must be dealt swiftly. How else can the perpetrators learn their lesson, if not by showing them the error of their ways and stop their wayward path to becoming a boil on the buttocks of society? Issue that ticket, give a stern warning, and move on. Simple, but not.

We don’t know if this is part of a major crime ring. This could be the tip of the iceberg in something bigger. Sure, from the outside it appears that some passerby bummed a cigarette from an unsuspecting commuter in the big city, but let’s not draw any conclusions. This just may be the fringes of a large crime family operation! Maybe the beginnings of a drug cartel!

But who are we kidding. As I said before, it was a passerby asking for a smoke from one of thousands of commuters. Yes, a ticketing offense. The part that has me wondering is why this small act warranted an actual trip to the jail house for the two ‘actors’ in the event. Are you really going to pull an officer off the streets during the morning rush hour in down town just to haul in these two collaborators of crime? Two, who got nothing more than the ticket that could have been written right there on the street! I sure hope they did a full and proper investigation here. Maybe run the fingerprints through the system, have CSI analyze the clothing, recreate the crime with multi-dimensional computer imaging, and have the district attorney interview everyone on the streets.

Come on common sense! There isn’t more to this act that needs pointing out.

I think about how various government levels are under deep scrutiny to tighten the budget belts, cut spending, and operate with less. In fact, the police chief of St. Paul stated, not too long ago, that they are trimming 2.2 million dollars from their budget.

Okay. Good to know that they are eliminating waste. But common sense would show you that writing a ticket and getting back to fighting drugs, gangs, robbers, and prostitution is a much better use of the tax funds your department receives. Trim the waste, not the sense. Don’t get me wrong, now. I am a huge supporter of our peace officers and all involved in fighting crime. I actually wish they had more investigators, officers, and better equipment so they can do their jobs more efficiently and safely. I understand what they face out on the streets everyday and think that the criminal justice system needs to get tougher. But, let’s measure some reality in with our system here. The officer wasn’t dealing with punk gang members. In fact, my son was texting while riding in the back of the squad car on his way to jail! He had his phone and pocket contents still with him! Even in the holding cell, he still had his phone.

Now he wasn’t in for very long. Took his ticket and left the jail a free man. Even more fortunate for him was that he still got to work on time, he just had to find a ride. The overall event has a touch of comedy to it.

But, as I told my wayward son…keep up that perceived criminal mindset and activities, and before you know it, you are on America’s Most Wanted! Don’t worry, folks….I’ll keep my eye on him.