And, the Questions Keep Coming!

"I prefer not to think before speaking.  I like being just as surprised as everyone else at what comes out of my mouth."

-- Anonymous

Politically, what specifically must be accomplished in a time of the essence scenario?

Quality communication between parties in order to mitigate whatever is happening. One party cannot dig in their heels and knowingly do nothing. This solves nothing and may cost lives due to their selfish agenda.

Does one have to live with his wife in heaven?

What if you married twice, and both died before you? What if both of them were married before and their husbands died. I think where we go is a “bus station” where we wait for our next assignment. We love many people in life, some more than others, but still love. We will all be together at the station, and we will all better understand the love we feel for each other.

What should I do when my high school teacher asked me to write about my aim in life?

You’ve been asked, not told, to write about it. This is not rocket science. Think about what your aim is, and then write about it. Or, is this question being made more difficult than I think it is?

“Effort within the mind further limits the mind, because effort implies struggle towards a goal and when you have a goal, a purpose, an end in view, you have placed a limit on the mind.”

-- Bruce Lee

Will New Year’s public celebrations be canceled due to COVID-19?

Probably, but people will gather and celebrate anyway. They will get sick and infect others, and we will keep on decreasing the surplus population of people with little sense and the innocent they murder simply because of contact. Has anyone checked the real estate prices overseas? Might be a good time to consider that villa overlooking the Mediterranean. I’ll bet there are quite a few estates on the market for cheap. Property in Mississippi is going like hotcakes. Refugees from all the burning cities up North and out West are converging on the South where everyone is welcomed, and all lives matter.

Someone once said, “With age comes wisdom.” Do you agree? What examples can you give to validate your view?

For the most part, I think this is true. The lessons we learn in this life provide most of us with the “wisdom of age” we see in most older people. I’ve also seen the stubborn dumbasses who refuse to budge in the face of “experience, knowledge, and good judgment; the quality of being wise.” As a chaplain, I have been in a couple of sad situations where the dying said they never truly understood life until they were at death’s door. Much too busy for wisdom? Did they simply ignore all of the experience and knowledge? Was their judgment always iffy?

What is your purpose to want that people approve of you?

I do not seek approval from anyone. I try to lead an ethical life. Accepting me or not is the decision they must make, not that I care. However, judgment should be the purview of those who have a clean house. I have yet to find anyone who is that perfect.

“What do you mean I have to wait for someone's approval? I'm someone. I approve. So I give myself permission to move forward with my full support!”

-- Richelle E. Goodrich

What did you assume, but were actually spot on?

I was in military intelligence for over 22 years. During this time I had the pleasure of disagreeing with the analysis of other government intelligence agencies concerning unfolding situations. I was usually spot on. When commanders asked how I came to my conclusions I asked them to put themselves in the shoes of the enemy, and then ask if the analysis of the other agencies makes any damn sense. If you’re analyzing the possible choices a rebel commander might make, you have to get down in his trenches, embrace his mindset, and ask what you would do in his place.

When did it all go downhill?

When I retired the third time. The uphill battles were over. It was now time for me to enjoy the ride downhill into the valley of retirement and fish the streams of relaxation.

How do you overcome the difference between perception and viewpoint?

Prove the perception is more valid than your viewpoint, or vice-versa. You can perceive something that isn’t necessarily true, like with a magic trick.

“My business is to paint what I see, not what I know is there.”

-- J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), painter, printmaker, watercolorist

I've never been satisfied with myself, even at all the capabilities that I have, I always want to be better no matter what. I've always compared myself to other people, but I want this to stop. How?

You can compare yourself with others all you want, but you are still going to be you. If you take on their traits, it will just be you with their traits. There is nothing wrong with being better, but whatever you strive for or strive to be, do it because you want it, not because others have done it. You must understand that you are okay, not that someone else thinks you’re okay. Take a breath. This life will end and another will take its place. maybe you should take a well-deserved break and learn something more fun, like how to be happy always.

What would be your definition of what getting led on is?

Believing what you’re being told, even though it isn’t valid. It is evidence of a person’s gullibility. Mass media and political parties lead people on all the time, again, evidencing the gullibility of people in our society to believe what they’re told in the face of facts. 

Can everyone share their personal opinions on how life started on Earth? It will help me a lot since I need it for a school project, especially since we are supposed to add other opinions.

I would research “panspermia” for this project: “the theory that life on the earth originated from microorganisms or chemical precursors of life present in outer space and able to initiate life on reaching a suitable environment.” This is an idea that is taking hold among scholars. Check out this link: Panspermia - Wikipedia

A thing is either alive or it isn’t; there is nothing that is almost alive. There is but the remotest possibility of the origin of life by spontaneous generation, and every likelihood that Arrhenius is right when he dares to claim that life is a cosmic phenomenon, something that drifts between the spheres, like light, and like light transiently descends upon those fit to receive it.

-- Donald Culross Peattie (1898-1964), botanist, "An Almanac for Moderns (1935), 393"

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 the 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 a chaplain at the regional medical center.