The Next Target

Beauty, symmetry and order surround us in nature. Everything natural proceeds in its measured pace, perfectly in rhythm with itself and its environment. In fact, nature teaches us to be orderly. From the smallest atomic particles to the movements of galaxies, the natural world moves in tune to strict patterns and invariable mathematical structures. It's like being part of a grand machine whose parts are all in sync one with another. People have bodies that function upon certain principles in a practically invariable manner until things are introduced into the body that do not belong in the system and so cause malfunction.

 Horse whisperers have taught us that working with and not against this natural order of things has the effect of empowering people to heal and help where there has been serious malfunction in a horse's behavior. There are people who are attempting to accomplish similar things with people using natural laws and understanding the principles of how the body and mind work. To me, this is a great advance in knowledge, if we can use it to benefit people and our world directly.

However, on the other side of this coin, there are those who would use these kinds of knowledge in order to control and destroy instead of to help. According to some, next to the desire for wealth, the desire for power is the most captivating human frailty. For some reason, people like to have the ability to manipulate people and circumstances for their own ends. For this reason, I think it is wise to beware, especially today, of those who have control over the things that provide ideas. This control (ie. Power) can be a dangerous thing.

The headlines say,  "The Jews are our Misfortune." Germany, 1936.

I recently saw an interview with a man who had been present at a speech given by Adolf Hitler at the beginning of his rise to power. He happened to be a man who was not a German and certainly not a follower of Hitler at any time. However, he confessed that after hearing Hitler speak, he was carried away by a sort of mesmerizing quality that leader seemed to possess and was surprised to find himself caught up in the feeling of it, to the extent that he began to believe in what was being said. The perspective of this man gives us an interesting insight into the use of certain little-known knowledge and practices which were only beginning to be used in the early twentieth century. Today, I believe we witness daily the full-scale, widespread use of those same techniques, perfected by long and diligent use on an unknowing population of avid listeners and viewers.

The question arises: Why would anyone want to control or influence the way people think? What possible end could it achieve? In my opinion, the only end that could be of any value would be to gain more wealth and more power.

To take a current example: The massive smear campaign against a certain race/culture, obviously promoting fear and hatred against these people. If someone is my enemy, I will find it out myself by what they do to me. But, when someone undertakes to try to persuade me to fear and hate someone, in the absence of my own evidence, I think it behooves me to find out the truth for myself. If all I have is hearsay, circumstantial evidence and vicious gossip I should be wary of the perpetrator of such misinformation and I should be very cautious of any judgment I make based on this obviously biased information. It is apparent to me that someone wants me to hate a group of people to accomplish some end for themselves while disguising their actions as “protecting” me. Interestingly, and coincidentally, these are the same tactics used by a certain leader over fifty years ago on a certain group of people within his country, to get his own people to hate them so that he could justify his mistreatment and finally annihilation of them.

So, I say again, beware of anyone who controls the things that can change the way people think. Instead of just being grateful that the target is not you, it makes sense to realize that the next target might be.

Getting Past the Past

Many people in this world believe in multiple 'lives'. Recently, I have been thinking about this most interesting viewpoint and some of its implications. I have come, at least for now, to the conclusion that we do indeed live more than one life. Not, perhaps, in the strict sense of reincarnation, but in the sense that each day that we go to sleep and re-awaken it is like a mini death with a mini resurrection behind it. Honestly, some mornings I feel like I'm coming 'back from the dead'. However, aside from being a necessary part of life, sleeping and waking can, I believe, be very instructive, to the end that we might live better lives if we see them as multiple chances instead of only one.

Each time we go to sleep, our consciousness becomes dormant and our sub-conscious mind takes over completely. We breathe, pump blood, regenerate, rebuild, dream, solve and regroup for the next day. Our bodies and minds do this automatically and we take for granted the fresh energy and outlook that become ours every morning. I have heard it said that if you have a perplexing problem, you should sleep on it. Perhaps this is because our sub-conscious mind has capabilities for problem-solving that we aren't aware of. But, regardless of how it is done, we each benefit from this wonderful phenomenon. 

I like to think of this awakening as a sort of birth. We are born to another day, even another life. It's true that we carry with us the trappings of yesterday: our families, friends, clothing, shelter, food, furniture, circumstances etc. But even with all of yesterday around us, we can still start each day taking a fresh look at who we are and what we would like to be. Consider a man with amnesia. He wakes up from a bump on the head and has no recollection of yesterday. He doesn't know who he is, or what he has done in his life. Perhaps he was a thief. He may get calls from his friends, wanting him to do a job for them. Someone may inform him of his chosen profession, the absence of his family, the loss of his freedom, etc. He might then find himself wishing that he were not a thief. At this point, he might say to himself: I don't really want to be a thief, I want to be a dentist. So, he picks up the phone and starts making arrangements to attend dental school. 

The wise man, I believe, takes yesterday with a grain of salt and charts a course for a tomorrow that is strictly in keeping with his inmost desires, hopes and dreams. If we do not do this, then we are like the thief who, after awakening from a bout of amnesia, decides it's too hard to change what everyone tells him is his past and he ultimately allows his friends, circumstances and accoutrements to tell him what he is, so he can continue to be what they expect him to be. 

Each day gives us the amazing opportunity to awake from the amnesia of sleep, a gift really, and decide what we want our lives to be. Whatever the past has been needn't determine anything. Certainly, we ought to learn from the past, make needed course corrections and move on, but enslavement to one's past is today's most common slavery. It is the direction of a ship that determines its destination, not where it has been. 

Now is the only time we really have. Yesterday does not exist. Every day that we wake up, we have infinite possibilities at our disposal. So, looking forward and not back, we can behave as though each day were another lifetime and set a course we can live with, instead of merely repeating the past out of habit.

Hey, Grandpa!

I met a man recently, who had a little ranch set-up that seemed ideal to me. He had a new home, custom-made with special stones from a certain river bed, beams from a special kind of wood, an interior design suited to every need and decor that looked like it came out of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. There was also a horse barn, with horses, nice fences, a great little garden spot, a volley ball pit, a pool table, basketball court, shop, play area, covered porch, barbeque pit, a grand piano and the list goes on. Everything seemed perfect and made-to-order, new and luxurious. I have to admit, I was envious.

As I began to imagine how it would feel to be able to own such a wonderful and seemingly perfect place, I realized that there was something wrong, or maybe something missing. As I was talking to the man who owned this little ranch, I asked him about his horses. He said that even though he cannot ride anymore, he keeps the horses around for his grandkids. I then asked about the beautiful grand piano and discovered that it was an electric, player piano. Neither of them knew how to play, but they didn't have to. It could play itself. So, I began to get the picture. These well-meaning grandparents have provided a sort of recreational second home for their children and grandchildren. A place where they can ride horse, play pool, shoot baskets, play volleyball, listen to a grand piano, watch movies or eat, all in the lap of luxury. Nice. So why was I feeling like something was missing?

I remember as a young child, going to visit my grandparents. They had a couple of hundred acres of dry-farm in North Dakota. Their farmland was rocky and unforgiving. Out here, in irrigation country, wheat farmers can plan on dozens of bushels per acre, but back there, Grandpa was lucky to get twenty. They made their meager living on their farm and fed themselves with the sweat of their own backs. They milked a cow, raised chickens, butchered their own meat, raised their own vegetables, took their wheat to town twice a year to be milled and stored and they ate their own flour. When we visited them, we played in the trees, in the pasture or on the old propane tank. We were not allowed to use the bathroom in the house when we were playing outside, but we always used the outhouse. Actually, we preferred the outhouse and considered it a special privilege, but I suppose that's kids for you. And, there was one small rope swing, with a wooden seat which Grandpa had made for his own children.

This wonderful, working farm was a natural delight to me and my brothers and sisters. We didn't feel like Grandma and Grandpa were there to 'entertain' us or to provide some sort of diversion for us. We just loved being in the midst of useful things and being a part of it all. Grandpa would often take us with him to do little jobs, like hauling water from the nearby spring or helping pick rocks in the field, and sometimes Grandma would take us with her to bring lunch out to Grandpa in the field. One of the most precious memories I hold in my mind was one day when Grandpa took me by the hand and led me to the barn. He put his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet as we walked in. As we peeked up over the horse's feed box, I saw, to my great delight and surprise, a mama kitty with her little kittens all gathered around her. What makes this so special to me is the feeling of almost reverence that I felt from Grandpa at the time. He loved his animals, every one. He treated those kittens like they were the most amazing miracle in the universe at that moment. So it felt that way to me too.

I guess that's what I felt was missing from the “ideal” setup I visited recently. The wonder and mystery of life; the living, breathing, working, useful part of life that means something. I remember sitting by my Grandpa while he played his old piano and sang: “Tra, la, la....tra, la, la. I didn't care that it was a hundred-year-old piano or that he didn't seem to know the words to the song. I was listening to the music of life and it sounded great to me. Today, if I could be a child again and choose which house to visit, I certainly know which one it would be.

What Are We Waiting For?

With a brain whose capacity is largely untapped, human beings have a potential to be and to create which far exceeds current expectations. Instead of seeing the unused portion of our brain as a sort of insult, perhaps we could see it as a challenge. Each of us has this potential and this 'challenge' within us and each of us has unique access to a brain of almost limitless capabilities. Unfortunately, our surroundings and traditions tend to encourage stagnation instead of growth. But what if we decided to change that? What if we started on a journey of discovery within ourselves to find the key to the potential within us?

According to the current scientific research, our brain functions on electrical impulses triggered both by stimulus from without and stimulus from within. The stimulus without consists of the people, events and circumstances of our lives. Things happen to us, and our mind is given messages through the various senses which it then processes and stores for future use. Stimulus from within might consist of messages of pain from an organ, automatic messages from various parts of the body to perform normal body functions, messages from hormones, messages from the food we eat, messages from the brain itself in the form of thoughts and those less understood but just as real messages and effects of emotions. Together, these make up some of the things with which the brain has to do. It is a vast and complex system of signals and impulses whose workings are only slightly understood by the most advanced scientists.

However, each of us is in a unique position. We each have a brain of our own whose capacity is barely touched. We live each day in a relatively mundane and repetitious life of working, playing, eating, and sleeping. It's like having a super-computer and only using it to play solitaire. But, what I am suggesting is that perhaps it is the mind itself that holds the key to understanding and using it's potential and that each of us could be the keeper and director of that key in the quest for a better life. With each passing day, I realize that there are many things I do not understand and cannot do. I look at my life and ask myself how I can make it better.

Much I have read lately has pointed to the fact that the mind is capable of much more than we give it credit for. And, although scientists are actively seeking the secret to harnessing that capacity, I believe that the ultimate discovery can only rest with the individual who has patiently sought to discover how his own mind works. No two people are alike, and even if science could tell us how everything works, we would still have to learn to practice it.

However, if we are only using our amazing minds for mundane tasks, how can we make the quantum leap to increased mental capacity and use? Well, I think that the mind is capable of even that, if we give it the opportunity; if we take the challenge. Experimentation and discovery lie within and with ourselves not without and with a scientist. As a musician, I was taught to 'allow' my mind to do what it knew how to do without my ego getting in the way. Education, like the ego of a musician, often seeks to 'make' the mind do what it already knows how to do. I think it's time we 'allowed' our minds to function in the way they were intended. I believe that the mind was intended to function at it's full capacity and to do things that we have not yet even considered.

Think of it! We do not even know what the mind of man is capable of. The possibilities could be endless! It is a frontier like no other and the door to it is within the grasp of every individual. So...what are we waiting for?

Locks and Laws

I have read and heard it said by some that in this thing called society, there are norms, standards, beliefs and traditions which define it, but which, in the regular course of time can and must change in order for the society to grow and improve. Along these lines, there are some who have assumed that this change or growth must include a change in moral values, especially where religion is concerned and they use this reasoning to attack religion in all it's forms. While not attempting to control anyone's thoughts or beliefs, I think it would be helpful to examine the idea that values can become outmoded and useless in a society where people agree on such a course and wish to freely follow it to it's end. 

 

So, let us take as an example the moral value of property rights. History is almost nothing but the chronicles of property rights disputes, whether personal or national. Everyone wants their own property, free from the oppressions of a neighbor, king or ruler of any kind. Thousands of years ago, from Mt. Sinai came the words, “Thou shalt not steal,” and ancient civilizations reserved their harshest punishments for those who felt inclined to violate the property rights of their neighbors by stealing or any other dishonest act. No one wanted to be taken advantage of.

But suppose there was a group of people who decided that property rights were old-fashioned and that they wanted to set up a society where this value was absent. Because they have decided that stealing is not wrong any more, they start taking whatever they want from whomever they want. The most bold and greedy among them would find themselves in possession of the greatest wealth, which in turn would make them prime targets for others. No one would want to work hard to produce or procure anything honestly because they would be afraid that someone bigger or stronger would take it away and murder would follow closely on the heels of this wanton theft as people would resent the removal of their property. 

 

Believe it or not, there have actually been many instances in history when this very thing has happened. People, in their zeal to find the 'perfect society' decided that old values, laws and standards were outmoded. They substituted 'common goods' for property rights, and found themselves in a vortex of shifting ground where no one was safe. Common property quickly evolved to include people, and soon the family was dissolved in favor of 'free love'. Unlike the bold predictions of glorious cities of wealth and peace, these societies always led to a terrible sort of economic and moral cannibalism. The strong preyed upon the weak until the weak were either dead or silenced. When there were only the strong and greedy who remained, they always ended by fighting to the death for what they wanted. History shows that when you take away a man's right to own property, you take away his outward motives for self-restraint and self-respect.

If a man will not control himself, I must either let him take what he wants from me, whether it be my property, my family or my life, or, I must find a way to either stop him or remove him from my society. Anciently, those who lacked self-restraint were not allowed to wantonly kill, steal or violate another's person but were either punished or banished for their crimes. Without property rights and the laws and punishments to protect them, there can be no peace or safety in any society. But if this is true for property rights, could it not also be true for other laws? For instance, if there is no moral code, then who is to stop a man from abusing a child? If moral codes can be outmoded then where does one draw the line between what is abuse and what is not? And If there is no line for restraint, then where will be the line for defense?

Most religions provide the best safeguards of a man's liberty. They teach that a man has a right to life, property and the pursuit of happiness, but not the right to destroy or take another's life, or property. They provide motivation and social pressure for restraint by reminding him of the eternal nature of law and justice. But, if people do not believe that there is a just retribution for their actions, then, no matter what we say, they will have no reason to keep to a moral or ethical code of any kind. If they do not believe in an eternal justice, then they naturally will desire to remove the restraints of physical justice. In other words, if I don't believe that stealing is wrong, why should you punish me for it? Such a person would desire to legalize everything he believes is not wrong. A group of such people could create a society where there was no such thing as wrongdoing, which, as has been observed numerous times throughout history, always ends in disaster. Throwing out religion, or the moral values espoused thereby, is like throwing out the locks on your safe. It isn't very safe.

Silver Screen Savvy

I'm a big fan of the silver screen. I love old movies. My children think it's strange when some of their friends have never heard of men like Cary Grant, Danny Kaye or Fred Astaire. In our house, it's standard fare to have an old movie playing at least once a week. And, every year as a family, we gather around the fireplace, pop some popcorn, snuggle up in blankets and watch White Christmas. When we watch it, we sing along with all the songs and laugh at all the bad jokes, again. Sometimes we even dance while they are dancing. It really is a lot of fun. I know it seems like an unorthodox family tradition, but we like it.

Some of my favorites are movies like Bringing Up Baby with Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. Their frolicsome antics and slapstick humor is unforgettable, and in this one, we even get to hear Cary Grant sing!

Speaking of Katherine Hepburn, who is perhaps the greatest actress of our time, we just recently watched Pat and Mike, the wonderfully funny and surprisingly heartwarming film with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey. It's hilarious how, with a little Jiujitsu, Pat takes out the thugs who are trying to hurt Mike. But the interplay between those two actors is never better than in the great film called, Without Love. Endlessly entertaining and interesting, these two actors should have been granted immortality. The world would be a better place now if they were still in Hollywood.

One of my quirky tastes is that I love old British films. Alec Guinness, in The Ladykillers is a British theater/ film mix that is absolutely unmatched for sheer cleverness. I also love him in The Swan, where he plays a crown prince with Grace Kelly as a princess. Funny, sad, thoughtful and unexpected, I loved every minute of it. Movies with Alec Guinness in them are sometimes hard to find, but with the help of Youtube, Netflix and Amazon, I am having a little better luck. One of my recent finds was an old, old one called Barnacle Bill, where Alec Guinness plays a sea captain who gets seasick but who finds his niche running a little pier carnival. Insightful and tender, funny and ridiculous, this movie is one I will keep around to show to my grandchildren!

A few years ago, I also discovered a terrific singer who was famous in the 1930's and 40's. The first time I heard her sing, I just couldn't believe it. What a voice! She had an amazing career as a young singer/actress and then, after ten years of tremendous success, she left the movies and never went back. She disappeared from public life altogether. But, cinematography has kept an archive of her films which are a real treasure for any music lover. Starting with Mad About Music, her debut film, then First Love, which is a sort of Cinderella story and going on to It's a Date, His Butler's Sister and Lady on a Train among about a dozen others currently available, Deanna Durbin is one of the best singer/actresses of all time. She rivals Julie Andrews for singing and has a youth and bubbliness that became her charming trademark.

And where would musical theater be without dancing? Gene Kelly, with his captivating smile and amazing dancing skill, is a favorite at our house. In Summer Stock, a movie with Judy Garland, Gene Kelly shows the scope of his talent for singing, dancing and acting. He and Judy make a terrific couple and they literally sweep you off your feet.

Today, we've got a lot of computer graphics and I'm told that you don't even have to be able to act to be successful. You just have to have the right company doing your special effects. I don't know; It's just not the same. My idea of good special effects is Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling in the movie Royal Wedding. I think my problem is that I was born an old fogie. I'm always saying things like: They just don't make movies like they used to. So, when I'm tired of the glitz and glamor, shock and awe, death and gore, I turn to the black and white, song and dance, clever and friendly. Can you blame me?

This Blank Page

As I sit staring at this blank page, wondering what to write, I am thinking about this beautiful new day and how it is a little like this blank page. Everything I do, everything I say has yet to be determined. I am the master of my choices and the possibilities are endless. I can take this day and this page and make of it whatever I choose.

In spite of the 'blank page' effect, however, human beings are often bound by their past. Habits formed over years' time make strong fetters for our lives that can be nearly impossible to break. I say nearly because they are not impossible to break, just almost impossible. But if you think of your day, or even your life as a blank page, with the key of choice in your own hand, it does not seem so impossible.

There is something in my life that I have wanted to do for a long time. I have known of it's value for many years and yet, I have not actually done it. Why? Well, I suppose it might be habit or fear of failure or just laziness. But whatever the reason, I realized only this very minute that the only thing between me and the accomplishment of my goals is me. My habits of thought and behavior, perhaps begun in childhood, color my blank page every day and I stand by and let it happen.

If you like what your page looks like every day, then I suppose there is no need to change it. But if, at the end of the day your page is not what you had hoped, then there may be a need. Some people are oddly indifferent towards their blank page, as if they expect someone else to fill it up and then sit around complaining about all the things they don't like about it. It's like some people I have read about who will go into a doctor's office and expect him to 'fix' what is wrong with them. But when the doctor asks the person about his lifestyle and finds out that the cause of the 'illness' is poor habits and deliberate self-destruction, the person becomes defensive and angry saying that the doctor's job is to 'fix' the problem, not tell him how to live.

A blank page can also be intimidating. Some people are not comfortable with taking responsibility for their choices and their lives. They want to allow life to happen to them, while they complain, worry or just don't care. On top of that, blank pages and empty days can be filled so easily with wasted hours and mindless entertainment that many now spend their whole lives in this manner. I guess the real question is: Why should anyone try to do something besides waste their days?

Even in a very narrow view, life is spectacular. Speaking in terms of humanity, there have been thousands of generations of human beings inhabit this planet. Billions now inhabit it, and if we can assume anything from that, billions more will yet be born. If that is true, then there is nothing more we need to know in order to have a reason for improving our lives. With my limited perspective, I can see some of the choices which my Great-Grandparents, Grandparents and parents have made and their attendant effects on me and my life. I now have the opportunity to live and choose. All people, not just my own posterity, could potentially be impacted by my life and decisions (take Thomas Jefferson, for instance).

It may not be the only reason, but it certainly is a reason for spending my days in the anxious pursuit of a worthwhile dream. My dreams today will largely determine the reality of my children tomorrow, just as the dreams of a few good men determined the destiny of this great country.

So, with the blank page of a new day in front of me, I feel like shouting: “Hooray!” because I have the power to shape the future, both for my children and for humanity. It sounds a little like magic beans from a peddler. OK. Anybody want to buy a cow?