Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

I am currently reading Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. What a funny and entertaining read! It basically details the time between Jesus' birth and the start of this ministry at age 30. What did he do during that time? Nothing is really mentioned in the bible. Jesus, called Joshua in the novel, sets out on an adventure with his closest friend Biff to find the three magi that visited him at his birth. Joshua feels he has a job to do, but doesn't know what to do next. He needs to learn as much as he can, learning valuable ideas from the three magi; one an african alchemist, one a buddhist monk, one a hindu leader. Another interesting idea added to the story was that Joshua became friends with the local yeti in the Chinese mountains, who ended up being the last one left on the earth. I love that addition! Fun read for anyone with any or no religious beliefs.

Fear

Now more than ever I have realized that the people of the world are ruled by fear. It is the chief motivator in any situation. People are crippled, frozen in place, terrofied of any and everything. Fear is a survival mechanism, and usually occurs in response to a specific negative stimulus. And the sad truth is that the experts are the ones who are making us fearful, providing the perfect stimulus to make us afraid. Humans can become very intimidated by fear causing them to go along with another's wishes without caring about their own input. The government, with their so called experiements and such are telling us what to be afraid of, and no one says otherwise. You know, we really have to take their word for it.

For example, a few years back a story hit the news stands about the terrible cholesterol in eggs. Eggs are bad and you shouldn't eat them. Fear fear fear. The common person is not going to take an egg, go down to their laboratory in the basement and test the cholestrol or fat content of the egg. We just have to believe them because the experts, the government, or the news media told us so. The worst part of all of this is that I have a feeling that all of this fear is not even based on cold hard facts. I have a feeling that the truth told to people is bought by the highest bidder. You will remember that maybe a year ago or so, a new study came out that announced that eggs are indeed good for you, so people started eating them more. So which is it? They were bad, but now they are good? Perhaps the egg companies banded together, raised enough money, bribed the experts and the government, and all of a sudden eggs are healthy again! All I have to say to that is WTF!

Just to make my point, here are some things that we have been told to be afraid of.......do you believe these lies?

-trans fat
-terrorists
-airplanes
-liquids and gels
-going to school
-computer viruses
-being different
-losing your job
-not having healthcare
-Harry Potter
-alcohol, tobacco, various drugs
-burning in hell
And the list goes ON AND ON AND ON.....Everyone also has their own personal fears. But they are as unfounded as the fears listed above. Even if there was evidence, I am still going to do what I want with my life. And what I want is to live a life free from fear. That is what I want for everyone I love.

I found this great article about the culture of fear by Royce Carlson called Fear Rules. Please go check it out. He says, "People are inclined to give up a lot when driven by fear. The first thing that goes is logic and any semblance of objectivity. They are willing to give up freedom in exchange for protection. They will give up their respect for the rights of others and go against their deepest beliefs if they are afraid."

A perfect example of this is found in Michael Moore's movie Bowling for Columbine. I am attaching a clip of the movie here that really does a good job of explaining the roots of fear, especially in this country. Enjoy!

Choice is my one freedom

I have realized the importance of ones choices. It is my sovereign right as a human being, to make whatever choices I want for my own life. That is my peragative. I am the sole possessor of what happens to my physical, and whatever other parts of myself, seen or unseen, body. I will never accept the authority of any that tries to deny these sovereign rights for myself or any other human. If the use of my own body is ever legislated, that will be the day that I march for freedom.

In today's world, a person cannot even make the choice to kill themselves. It is legislated to them that people who try to kill themselves are criminals and require intervention. I believe it is any person's right to choose to die, in whatever way they want. It is really the ultimate choice. No one should deny it or criminalize people who make or try to make that choice. Do not ever legislate what people can put into their bodies. It is no ones business but my own. No authority has the right to tell me what is right for my body. I do not care if you say it is harmful or it may kill me, allow me to make the choice to use it on my own. Do no try to rule my life with law. There is no law that can stop me from doing what I want with my own body. If that is ever legislated that will be the day that I march for freedom. If a person chooses to hurt themselves or alter their bodies in any way, I feel that that is their right to. No one should look down on anyone for the outward appearance of the body. Do what you want, and give others the respect for doing what they want even if it is something you would not have chosen yourself. If more people would do this in the world, a revolution would take place.

D&D

Well, Greg, you did it. You got me into D&D. Looking back at the years we have been together, I would have never thought this day will come. But, alas it has come today.

Yes, we had some friends over today to play a rousing round of D&D. I got a jumpstart course in lots of interesting aspects of D&D including character generation, gear, weapons, roleplaying, and even got to see a little bit of combat. Fun times! There is a lot to remember and keep track of, but overall a fun experience. I think I am going to really enjoy the whole rolepaying aspect of it the most. It is really quite exciting. And seriously, if people think that this game has some kind of affect on eternal soul residence after death, I think they need to get out a little more. Living life is about experiencing the variations and this just happens to be an exciting one for me. I'm sure some people don't really care about playing games and pretending, but I think it is fun! And dammit, if I think it is fun, I'm gonna do it no matter what anyone or anything tells me.

Well, there you go. I'm sure the addiction will soon set in as with many other things I have been introduced to. There is just so much to life and I love every part!

Life is Beautiful!

Damn! Have you ever taken a moment just to take in all the wonder of the world? It is amazing, beyond words even. Every adjective that I think of does not do it justice. Life is so beautiful, precious, and wonderful. Sometimes we get to busy making plans for our futures and caring about stupid things that don't really matter that we forget to look and see what is right in front of us. This! What I have right now at this moment in life is so AWESOME! I don't have to have goals to improve or get better for me to be happy. I am happy right now where I am and that is a wonderful feeling. People get so wrapped up in self-improvement that they don't see how great things are right now. It is funny how it works that way. Just be content right now right here.



I'm also linking this video by Sixx AM Life is Beautiful because it really captures the frality, wonder, and beauty of simply bein alive.