Do It Anyway

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

Anyway, The Paradoxical Commandments - Do It Anyway - Kent M. Keith, Silent Revolution
© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001"

i don't believe in atheists, Pt 2

annoying reason #2:

"Evolution."

let us just assume that evolution occurs exactly as the Darwinians like to believe... so what?... that disproves nothing... all that shows is there are facts which were not included in the teachings of religion... that's like complaining that the Dr. Seuss books never discussed quantum mechanics... all they ever did was discuss the merits of verdant ova and fillet of sus domestica... the example i like to use is, if you have a child ask you, "Why is the sky blue?" do you tell the kid about light wavelength, Rayleigh scattering, and the relative particle size of our nitrogen atmosphere?... at the end of such a dissertation, you will have brought your child, if not to tears, to a state of confusion... so, to point at a Bible (or other religious text) and claim it is false because it does not encompass all of creation, that is an ad hominem argument and should be dismissed by any reasoning person... (not that many atheists are reasoning, but to their credit, they are often more reasoning than many theists.)

i'm not saying that ancient religious texts are equivalent to children's books... but consider the context... travel back 6,000 years and attempt to explain mitochondrial DNA... explain why some people are immune to "diseases" while others die by the thousands... find a dinosaur fossil and try to explain it to Noah... i think a lot will get lost in translation.

as for evolution, having micro and macro evolution take place does by no means negate the existence of a creator... as i see it, it actually tells how incredibly powerful God truly is... follow the "evolutionist" logic back to its origin...

men evolved from primates who evolved from mammals who evolved from reptiles who evolved from fish who evolved from vertebrates who evolved from invertebrates who evolved from algae who evolved from multi-cellular organisms who evolved from single-cell organisms who evolved from protein chains who evolved from amino sludge...

and evolutionists are okay with this... but let's look at their origins... non-living compounds gathered in such a way as to produce the effect of reproduction... reproduction is one of the fundamental qualities something has to have to represent "life"... otherwise, it falls into two categories: random happenstance or immortality... if random, when it ceases functioning (e.g. dies) only another random occurance will produce similar results... if immortal; well, the evolutionists will dismiss this immediately, as do i.

anyway, a non-living compound begins to reproduce... it "evolves" for no reason whatsoever, as it has no reason to... it is a jumble of compounds, but by evolutionists, it is life... through random selection, this super-amino produces enough other super-aminos that resources for reproduction begin to thin... randomly, better amino chains form which reproduce better and more efficiently than other amino chains... there is no reason for this, according to evolutionists... it just is... take it on faith, if you will.

eventually, these super-aminos have evolved to a point that they begin to make decisions... decisions like, where to travel, how to travel, what to "eat", and who to reproduce with... (sounds like the first single's bar)... now, evolutionist have no trouble with this, either... but some will begin to disagree on details... details like free-will... you see, either you have free will or you don't... and at some point, random amino jelly, with no free-will, magically becomes live organisms with free-will... there is no evolutionary step which grants free-will... to an evolutionist, it just happens... again; on faith.

the point is this:  evolution does not disprove anything... it only raises more questions.

The 22 Year Old Cop.

first... let me apologize in advance... this is someone else's post and they use profanity... maybe they think it's an article or conjunction or common adjective... i suggest reading it and forgiving the language...

The 22 Year Old Cop.

I’m utterly speechless right now. I don’t know where to start.

Just a couple minutes ago the words of 22 year old cop had been thrown at me for a long ass time. My Mother had called a cop in for some reason. Who knows why I don’t even care anymore. Screw it. I pretty much remember exactly what this dude said.

We sat down. Dude never met me but he understood me 100%. Lectured me just about everything about my life. He told me, “I know you think Highschool is shit. I know you just want to leave the place, but let me tell you. This right here is the best time of your life. You may just want to graduate out of Highschool and go to college but bro. You have no idea how much I envy you. I miss Highschool bro, I miss going through the Hallways and doing that hand shake thing with my friends, I miss doing all that crazy shit, that youth. All you kids just throw it away. If someone had told me that during my Highschool career that it was the best time of my entire life. I would have cherished it that much more. I regret not joking around in class, getting detentions. Man I regret not getting more detentions then I did. I miss screwing around.” He said.

His radio went off. He told me to listen to the radio and the emergency that was being dispersed. It was something about a grandma on the floor with 3 children in the residence. Violence outbreaking in the household etc….  He then told me. “You have no idea how lucky you have it. Look behind you. Your mom brought you a widescreen plasma TV. You have this nice computer. This house.
…
I’m going to be honest with you bro. When I was around your age. No. Even now. Even I sometimes have tempers. In this world people will piss you off all over. That’s life. People will punk you now. They’ll even punk you later on when you are around 25. You have to become a man. Realize the initiative. Be aggressive with your goals. And one important thing. You have to respect your Mother. Respect her because she’s all you have. Wait do you have a Father?” He asked.

I told him no I had a step-father. Lol. He realized the reality without even asking that I didn’t like my step-father. He continued, “Respect your mother, she’s the only one who will love you this much. Put it like this. Even if my mother were to know you for 10 years. She wouldn’t love you as much as she loves me. That’s bloodline bro. You reflect off your Mother. She’s the only few things you’ll have in this world. Respect her, listen to her, and work hard. You get what I’m saying? Or is this coming out of your other ear?

I told him I was listening. Which I was. My eyes were wide open by that point.

“You see this black uniform? This badge. This gun. This radio. It identifies me as a Cop. Police. Po-po. Whatever you kids call us these days. But I’m going to honest with you man. Sometimes I just want go to my chief and tell him. Hey. I’ll be back when I’m 27. I just want to fullfill my college. Learn. Dorm. Fuck around. Live it up. And I don’t even think you get it. Do get it? It’s like how much you probably miss being 8. Free and careless. It’s like that for me bro. But I’m 22. A cop. You probably think going to college or getting a career is all great and shit after that. Nah bro. Trust me. It gets pretty bullshit. In the real world. You build a reputation. It’s like. People go to my chief and ask him, hey how’s David Ching as an officer. They say, ehhh he’s okay. He knows what to do here and there but he slacks off sometimes. And that’s it. They probably wouldn’t accept me into any other police department. That’s the reputation in the real world that actually effects the outcome of my life. The reputation you receive in middle school, highschool. Shit doesn’t compare to the reality we face now. It’s like comparing a tank to a toy car.”

He made me realize so much. It’s almost like. I hate to say it. Like fate. I fucking needed this talk. Nobody else could put it the way this guy does. And he wasn’t even done.

“Listen to me. This is the time. You have to build yourself from here. Join a sport, go to football games, fuck around, get detentions here and there. Just don’t do drugs and if it comes to it. Alcohol. Keep it to a limit. Bro. Fuck it just drink with your friends. Have a good time! Just don’t get busted by the cops. You need to live it up man. I fucking envy you. I’m already 22. I remember it just like yesterday when I walked through the hall ways. With books at my sides. Saying wassup to my friends. Playing water polo. Shit was the highlight of my highschool days. If only. If only someone had told me during that time. That it was the best time. Fuck. You have no idea. I would have cherished milliseconds…

What I’m saying is. No one else is probably going to tell you all that I just did. And nobody else would probably care. People in this world are selfish. Arrogant. Self-absorbed. I remember being just like you when I was as young as you. My partners will probably say, hey why are you spending time talking to that kid Thai Nguyen or whatever. Just clear it and leave and bust some real bad guys. Bro. I just happened sit down right now and tell you all these things. I believe this just had to come out to you. Are you listening? You hearing every word I say? You have to realize it. When it comes to it. It’s not the grades that get you the beloved career. It’s your head bro. Interacting socially, joking around, Highschool is what builds you. You probably thought highschool is shit and you just want to leave. You need to open your eyes. You’re passive. I knew that by the time I walked in.

Respect your Mother. Cherish your years. Realize the initiative. Have fun. Fuck around. I envy you bro. All the Police in the department envy you. We miss our youth. If I could go back. You have no idea. Kids spend too much time on the computer these days. You know what I had to do? Let me tell you. I used to have a facebook. I had to delete my Facebook. Everything on the internet that I used as a personal. You know why? Because apparently sometimes my supervisors and chief have nothing else better to do and search me up online and look into my personal life. I don’t want any of that shit. Bro one day you’ll realize all this shit on the internet. It’s a waste. Don’t spend too much time on it. Go out and do some real shit. Live it up. Cherish that youth. Cherish it better than I did. This is the life.”

He gave me a firm handshake. I told him thank you Sir. I actually meant that shit. I realized so much. My Mother heard everything. She was evesdropping behind the door. The 22 year old cop left.

This is something extremely personal I’d thought I’d share with you guys. Made me realize way too much.

Now. Please unfollow me. I’m not on as much as I was anymore anyway.

and, as usual, the advice which he wouldn't/couldn't hear from his mother had to come from the lips of a stranger... and this 22 year old cop had only begun life... barely out of high school, himself... think of the advice his mother had, if only he'd listen.

Venemous Wrath

"Oh, woe is me."

 i'm sick and tired of your whining and crying...

• "no one understands me"
• "everyone hates me"
• "the world is against me"
• "i'm all alone in this world"

oh, shut up... just shut up!... guess what, we do understand you... and even though we do, we still don't hate you... and the world; it's completely indifferent to you... as for being alone, yeah, just like the rest of us... deal with it; we do. (and look how well adjusted we are!)

you're a unique little snowflake... in a blizzard... get used to it... no one promised life was easy... and if all you're going to do is sit around and complain about it, it won't get any easier...

but, if you insist on feeling sorry for yourself, write it down in your diary... write little haiku's about yourself... how you feel... pull it out on rainy afternoons and read it, as if it were someone else's journal, so you can feel like someone understands the complexity of "you" and how "special" you really are... but just keep it yourself... we've got our own problems... and they probably don't involve you at all! (oh, the horror!)

and if, while you're reading this, and you for even one second think this might be about you, you're right... it is...

"Thank you for calling the psychiatric help line.
For megalomania, press #1.
For paranoia, our agents are already on their way to where you are.
For obsessive compulsive disorder, press 333333333333333333333333333333..."

Historic Rambling

[Note: This comes from an old journal of mine, about the year 2000-2001.]

Meaningless.

Perhaps those of you who are persistently depressed or consistently morbid believe in your hearts that your life, despite your efforts, or perhaps because of them, is ultimately meaningless. Without form or purpose. To this sentiment, I have but one thing to say:
You're probably right.

There may, in fact, be no God or Allah or celestial judgement. No creator. No divine plan. No puzzle for you to be a part in. Not even a minor piece 3/4 from the center of the puzzle. Life may not be a grand play where you are only a spectator. This consciousness may be a biochemical accident in a long string of accidents and chemical coincidences. If this life has no purpose, plan, or meaning, does it matter?

God or no god, does that - should that change what we do?

And why does "meaning" always have to come from an exterior source?
The fact of the matter is, meaning must come from an interior source. "Meaning" only comes from an interior definition of purpose and act. A "meaningful act" which is derived from a "meaningful purpose" can only have "meaning" or definition on a purely personal level.

Simply put, if it has no meaning to you, then it will have little meaning to anyone else. I have a hard time seeing someone showing up to Heaven (or Valhalla; whatever) after a life which contained much personal meaning only to hear from God, "You have led a trite and meaningless life."
Psychosis aside, meaning is meaning. Devotion to the collection of stamps may even border on psycho, but if it is for the purpose of preserving our postal heritage for your grandchildren, I say that has meaning. God may privately make jokes about it with the angels, but deep down I think any god would respect that purpose as meaningful.

Basically, I mean to say the following:
Get off your ass and do something meaningful! Don't ask your neighbor if they think it is the noble, meaningful thing to do. Just find a thing, anything, which provides you purpose and meaning. Examine the purpose and define for yourself the meaning. Don't get caught up with who will notice. Don't worry about being recognized for your postal-preserving efforts. Don't let anyone stop you from living at the bottom of a lake. Give it meaning! Give it purpose! Give it definition!
Your life can only be meaningless if you allow it.

If you have a purpose but die too soon, then your (shortened) life's meaning is the sad incompletion of a worthwhile goal. And with any luck, your (shortened) life may inspire those who knew your goal to take up that purpose. To make it their own. To give their own pathetic life meaning.

But it starts with you. It starts inside.