2019: The Next Five Years

“God has given us many faiths but only one world in which to co-exist.  May your work help all of us to cherish our commonalities and feel enlarged by our differences.”

-- Jonathan Sacks, rabbi, philosopher, theologian, author

Someone once told me I shouldn't be so serious, and I'm not, usually.  I usually hear this critique when people run into my concrete barrier of baffling "bullshit" and dazzling "footwork" which is fortified with an unyielding faith in my beliefs that my bullshit and footwork are founded in some modicum of truth.  How is it, then, that I can simply walk away from a good fight?  It is a rare occasion when I don a "make my day" persona and dare all comers to enter the gates of my twisted kingdom.  Usually, my mind is a never-ending party of happiness, a party which tends to piss off folks who don't understand, or are offended by, how someone can be so damned happy all the time.  Well, I'd say this makes me sad because it truly sucks being them, in my humble opinion.  They could, after all, simply choose to be just as happy.

When I become serious is when I usually opt to walk away from whatever is causing it.  "It" is usually members of the League of the Perpetually Offended because no matter how right you are it will make no difference to their being offended by everything.  They are a sad, ever-growing, sociopathic segment of a society in which they would rather not belong.  They like to suck the life from the happiness of others while demanding we join them in their bottomless pit of misery and despair.  Sometimes I think the only way anyone can help them find happiness is to lead them to the edge of the abyss and convince them, and the lemmings following them, they'll find eternal happiness at the bottom.  Make it easy for them.  Push them close enough to the edge so all they need to is take the next step.  Now, dare them.  Happiness is the last thing they want.

For the past five years, I have endured the League, their ignorance, their attacks, the vitriol from those who will never find true happiness because they have no concept of tolerance and understanding unless it relates only to their own selfish agenda.  They arrange paper cups filled with the "tainted" fruit punch of their twisted philosophies and invite the ignorant masses to drink deeply and move closer to their sad reality.  For the past five years, I have tried, in my own way, to guide people away from this vitriolic rhetoric and onto their own kinder path, a path in which it is appropriate to question everything they don't understand.  Don't buy into bullshit just because it sounds good.  Don't simply drink the proffered fruit punch because you're thirsty.  Watch them make the punch, and then decide if you truly want it.  A bad decision can kill you.  A good decision can kill you too, but at least you see the consequence coming.

I have also spent the past five years questioning the usefulness of organized religion, and the validity of the judgmental and, therefore, non-inclusive tenets of, what many refer to as, Holy Scripture.  I have come to believe "Holy Scripture" is nothing but a sad shadow of what was intended to be passed down through eternity.  Its truth has been diluted and changed by multiple translations into languages which have no direct translation.  Poor interpretations and even worse explanations were tainted by man's own hidden agenda for greed and control.  Women, instead of being "joined" to man as "one flesh," is relegated to some lower status.  Women were not ordered, by God, to leave their parents to be joined to a husband, this was man's responsibility to search out a woman and "become one flesh." 

The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

-- Genesis 2:22-24  

So, what does this "new year" have in store? I mean, other than questioning everything?  Well, continued annoyingly obvious happiness is always fun. These are a "given" for me 24/7/365.  I try not to plan tomorrow, therefore, making promises to myself for happiness is a moot point.    If you want to be healthy, be healthy.  If you want to quit smoking, quit smoking.  For me, life is this easy.  Faith is that easy.  What God wants of us is, really, easier than most religions care to admit.  I try to live in the "now" because now is the one moment over which we have control. The past is gone and tomorrow has not arrived. Today is all we need to concern ourselves with. It is what we do with today that reflects the lessons we learned from the past and determines what will become of tomorrow. Focus your attention here and take each new day as it comes. The next five years? It is what it is, each moment of every day.

In the humble words of me:

Reality is what it is, and what it ain't... it ain't.

Sometimes, what it is it ain't, and what it ain't, well... it is.

Other times it is nothing, and then it ain't nothing.

But, if it is nothing, it ain't, and if it ain't nothing, it is.

Acknowledging nothing gives nothing existence; 

Therefore, whether it is or it ain't, it must be,

Because even nothing that ain't, already is.

Happy New Year!

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.