Just thinking

Friday, January 16, 2015

Born to fight!

From birth onward, our minds are a battleground. Laying claim to the territory of our thoughts are our family, our schools and churches, our culture, peers, and the media, all fighting for the upper hand in determining who we'll be and how we'll live. Some are wonderfully helpful, many are not.

How do we establish ourselves on the right path?

(Becoming Aware of The Mind – Andrew Gable, 2012.)

Simplistic religion doesn't help much with getting through life. Neither history nor the bible suggests we should expect a suddenly-good-and-wise change in ourselves. In the book, we do find the practical coaching we need, however. There's real heart-change available with help being provided as we need it. Among such practical teachings, we find 2nd Peter, chapter 1.

3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

His offer of help is practical,

not just talk. Take him up on it.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins.

¹⁰Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.

This is not pulpit stuff to hear and forget, it's instruction on how we do our part all day, every day, changing ourselves from harmful to useful. The progress check point to watch for? Increasing! If you possess these qualities in increasing measure ... The alternative is blind, forgetting how it all started.

It won't happen because we heard the sermon, it happens when we do it. It's a lifelong battle.

As a youngster, I was told with a smile ...
Things are not as they seem.

You were born into a world at war.

Everything you do counts.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

UnReligious Truth

I learn most from what I see ...

An abusive husband will cripple his children. They will be shaped by his behavior, and it will affect their lives, their relationships, and how they raise their own children.

Modern psychology and sociology understand how it works, and so do the rest of us. It passes from generation to generation unless it is dealt with and changed. The cycle has to be broken for the persistent harm to come to an end.

That's practical truth, not religion. Interestingly, that's a biblically valid truth as well.

"... forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

source

The way out: confession, change, restitution, reconciliation. That's the practical advice from the same book. Interestingly, professional help available (from psychology and sociology) or even Dr. Phil will offer the same path. All practical, all real-life useful.

Religious speakers, it seems, often expound what sounds like spiritual fairy tales from what's offered in the book. It helps to understand that there's practical truth being offered there.

More unreligious thinking here.

Just a note on the passage: His teaching to the nation of Israel is that if one passes their sin down from generation to generation, training their children in wrong thinking and disobedience, there's a price. Punishment will follow (as in 'you harvest what you've planted'). Those who teach what is against the good they've been given will have their children’s children acquire the practice from their parents and suffer for it. They were instructed about that: “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) There's a wealth of breadth to the subject, of course.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

A Pushy Telemarketer Ω

My young friend from the early years. He and his little sister

helped me find my way along the many trails

to their neighborhood.

If I speak with human eloquence or superhuman intellect but don't have a good heart for my hearers ...

I've become like a proud politician or a pushy telemarketer.

Photo courtesy of José Augusto Bastos Santos, one of many loving folks from
Casa Fiz do Mundo. That's him in the middle of the mob, pulling the fishermen's boat ashore.

Love is patient and kind, not proud or arrogant. Love will take the time to walk alongside like a brother, and to share the burden, to protect, to trust, to persevere.

Things will change, but love will last. It's bigger than we understand now, but we'll get to see it all. Soon, perhaps.

1 Co. 13

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Change My Life

We're formed and changed by our experiences. More than any other factor, the things we live through are the building blocks of personality, character, values, temperament ... good or bad, easy or hard, and the people we're with, we're formed by it all.

Much of what we experience, especially early in life, is not our choice. Where we're born, the family in which we're raised, the early schools we attend; all are formative, and much of who we are in our early youth is beyond our control.

Then, life choices add to the mix, and we have the opportunity to shape who we are and to be changed at the very foundation. Experiences we choose, opportunities we accept, they each contribute to who we are on the inside.

The video here from Brazil is a striking illustration of how it works.

For an out-of-the-box look at the impact of experience, take a look at these four college guys that went to Guatemala for a couple of months to live on a dollar a day...

(click on the picture for the Youtube video episodes, or you can see the movie on Netflix)

If you've watched the movie (or all the episodes), you'll note that the experience has changed you a bit, changed your perspective, and inspired you to adjust your life, perhaps. It's a good influence, but it will wear off in a couple of days ... unless you reinforce it in yourself by the things you do next.

Note the possibility of becoming different by choice of experience. We're not changed by words, ours or anyone else's. We're changed by doing. That's the way it works.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

E-War

Food aid is the only thing keeping tens of thousands of people alive in
South Sudan. Since the civil war broke out in December, 2013, around
10,000 people have died and almost two million have been displaced
by the violence. Frustrated, the U.S. may expand sanctions against
Sudanese officials who are dragging out the peace process.

South Sudan had existed as a country for just two years before it
succumbed to civil war. The fight is between President Salva
Kiir and his biggest political rival and former deputy Riek
Machar, but civilians have taken most of the damage.
According to the UN, both sides have engaged in
extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances,
rape, other forms of sexual violence, and
attacks on hospitals.

From helpful history sites, here's a chronological listing of people trying to subjugate others. Each conflict was occasioned by a powerful few manipulating the many with a consequential flow of wealth to those who hold the the upper hand. It's economic warfare ... E-War.

Warfare needs a redefinition perhaps, it we're going to understand the causes and the goals of war initiators.

Despite claims of ideological motivation, the structural elements of such large-scale conflict appears to be built exclusively on the bottom line, on wealth to be gained by conquest. In many, there is an ethically justifiable position for defenders in the conflict even though all sides emphatically claim the moral high ground. For the people involved, they generally believe what they are told by their leaders, that their cause is noble, just, and necessary.

Empires rise or fall, territory is gained or lost, maps are redrawn.

Much like Wall Street and the financial industry today, such conflicts have historically been based on power, wealth, and the taking of resources at the expense of others.

Three Centuries of War (and Economics)
Each a conquest for wealth and power

2000

2003: Sudanese Genocide
2013: South Sudan Civil War
2015: Wall Street War Against the World (continuous since the 19th century) Although publicly traded securities appeared around 1790, the predatory practices like we see today emerged later, around 1845. Following the establishment of the telegraph, the brokerage industry took the place of fair practice in the marketplace. Deregulation of the finance sector beginning in the 70's unleashed market practices and mega-corporations. Banks are now bigger than countries, and the wealth of the world flows to the richest, only. Economic warfare gives us the accelerating GAP between the rich and everyone else. In the world.

If you're curious, trace the historical flow of wealth and the continually widening gap between the rich and poor. The best visible indicator, it persists across countries, centuries, and empires. It is the very heart of warfare and oppression. And it's the centerpiece of today's business culture.

Figured out which side you're on yet?

Recommended resource for a human

perspective: http://livingonone.org/

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Wasted words? Why?

See the NIH article Unconscious Knowledge: A Survey
See the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft Institute article from Nature Neuroscience

Words are often wasted. 'Why' is a bit of a biological surprise.

Shaping a teenager's mind is done by lecturing; true? No. Well, maybe, but perhaps not the way we might hope.

The decisions a teen makes about their own life are not made based on words and arguments. True? Yes.

Note in the illustration where decisions are made and note where language is processed; not as closely connected as you'd expect, right? When are decisions made? Compared to the tedious deliberations of the neocortex that move slowly through mountains of information, decisions can arrive quickly; in some cases, almost instantaneously, from the non-verbal multipath analysis of the limbic arena. The science is imprecise, but the basic concept is generally agreed and validated.

Decisions most often follow the gut response based on the individual's current set of values and evaluations. Discussions, arguments, and lectures may contribute; words can explain and perhaps clarify values, but that's not how the values themselves are formed.

Curious where a kid gets their values? They learn by the examples they're given, by what they see and experience. Words may explain and clarify what it all means, but the values themselves are learned. And, as we grow older, we can refine our values by choice of experience.

From recent studies, we find that the brain is

continually being formed throughout our lives,

not just during the early years.

How does the brain work?

Neocortex (the outer dome) - all the rational and analytical thought, and language.

Limbic brain (the core) - all of our feelings like trust and loyalty, and no language ... and it is where most of our decisions are made. Right there, in a realm without words, our decisions are made.

Decisions are the centerpiece of progress or the lack of it, of course. Interestingly, all of us are being similarly formed, and it is a continuous process until our life's end.

While the neocortex might be the repository of language and information, the components of the limbic system are where memories are established and retrieved for reference. Faces and first impressions are handled here as well. Trust and evaluation of trustworthiness occur here triggering decisions about making or avoiding relationships.

Words offered along the way are evaluated and judged for consistency with the non-verbal cues. If they match up, they may clarify things. If it's a power play and the gut response doesn't concur, the response is an increased tension and eventual conflict, the non-productive kind.

Words can inspire us. They can provoke us to appreciate something good, particularly if the speaker includes stories to illustrate. The stories give the hearer opportunity to envision themselves in the context offered. It's an appeal to existing values, perhaps.

So the next time you find yourself lecturing your teen, don't bother. You might try relating by coming alongside and negotiating on the basis of values (principles held, good conscience choices, and virtue). You'll perhaps have a better chance of making the connection needed.

Thinking about it, we can see why just listening to sermons isn't likely to change anyone's heart and soul and mind. Encountering God himself, on the other hand, is a life-changing, and value-forming experience. ... fearfully and wonderfully made.

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