My Daily Prayer: 12 Steps to Freedom

My Daily Prayer: 12 Steps to Freedom

Hey Rush, some cheese with that whine?

Again the myopic right tries to defend the most bigoted racist individual on the air today with “we witnessed such palpable reverse discrimination (i.e. racism) instigated by leftist ideologues…[against Rush]” I sure know where to go when I need a good laugh! Never in the course of history has Republican Right Wing Rhetoric been so veiled with the “issues” as now. Time and time again they say, “We are not racists, it’s the issues we are fighting.” Yet, their demeanor and body language denotes an agenda that they will never admit. Whether it’s their words of individualism, their mannerisms of supposed caring or their proclamation of defending the “free” market (that’s controlled by their financial supporters), it’s the same old shell game. When we are looking in one direction, they are making their moves in another direction. Read my past article on “Sleight of Hand” to understand what they are doing.

If you believe their rhetoric then I suggest you do a serious inventory of your life. If you are so out of touch with reality that you ingest this foul smelling hooey and actually believe it, then you need to find a way to save yourself before you succumb to mediocrity. What is mediocrity? Achieving barely adequate results because of a poor and inferior attitude. Why are these spin merchants selling you their idea of America? Because they want to maintain the status quo where you are a worker bee and they are the beekeeper. It’s that simple. But, when you are distracted by being absorbed with getting the best for your family, having the latest and best “things” and enjoying your life, they are making beaucoup cash from you desires. Go ahead, make their day and believe their B.S. You will end up in debt and NOT have the access to affordable health care that you, and everyone, deserve.

If you don’t believe in their rhetoric, then make the time to call, email or write Rush and let him have it. Tell him to take a little cheese with that whine of his and temper his ratings lust. Call him out for the RACIST he is, and then do the best thing you can do and ignore him. Encourage thinking people to NOT listen to him and you will see that he will go by the way of all things that obscure reality; they will fade way into obscurity. Those who obscure will inevitably be obscured. The universe is NOT a vacuum as it was once described. It is a mechanism that moves with the precision of a fine tuned clock. Those who sow discord and derision will reap the fruits of their labors. It’s just a matter of time.

Do you think that Rush cares about you? If you do, you are fooling yourself. He only cares about one thing. RUSH! His ratings are of high import because they attract his advertisers, who pay dearly to be associated with him; in more ways than one. He only cares about the bottom line. How much money he makes on a daily basis. His only God is MONEY! As Paul said, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Not money is the root of all evil as has been misquoted over the years. It’s hard for the rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because he cannot give up all that he has made. It has become his God. Are you believing in a false God? Do you listen to and admire people who worship a false God? Then, as I said earlier, it’s time to take that life inventory. If God is truly at the center of your life then stop listening to hate mongers like Rush, Glenn, Bill and Sean. They are steering you down a path to destruction of your individual soul.

Follow the words and behaviors of Jesus and other teachers who pointed the way. A good teacher never tells you that they are the way, but points you to who, what, where, how, when and why you must follow a certain path to enlightenment and understanding. Buddha said “You are the enlightenment.” It is within each and every one of us to achieve unity with God. Take that path. The rewards are health, wealth prosperity and abundance. Isn’t that better than cheese with whine?

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. Please visit my Eschatology Refutation Blog. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." ©2009 Dean A. Banks. All Rights Reserved. Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

 

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The boy in the bubble (balloon, i.e.)

David Vetter, known as the boy in the plastic bubble, died in 1984 at the age of 12. He suffered from SCIDS (severe combined immune deficiency syndrome) and was forced to live in a sterile environment. Being cut off from the outside world he had to learn to live on his own terms. Can you imagine? Being cut off from physical contact with your family members and the rest of the world. The doctors said that David had a defective thymus gland, the gland responsible for producing immunological agents in the body that fight off disease and infections. Many new age holistic healers attribute the thymus gland to the figurative heart. When you feel and give love, symbolically from the heart, it is actually from the thymus gland, which is located near the heart. The thymus gland releases hormones that monitor the health condition of the body and generally remains active until puberty. As one gets older, it continues to shrink and atrophy. According to some schools of holistic healing, when you give and receive love actively, the thymus gland continues to produce hormones and immunological agents to keep your body healthy. Whether this is true or not, it was interesting to see the interaction of love between this boy and his family despite being separated by a plastic bubble.

Are you living in a figurative plastic bubble? Have you separated yourself from your family, friends or society because you have been hurt or rejected by someone? Have you been exposed to unusual circumstances such as the boy, supposedly in the balloon, that activate your imagination and personal agenda? Do you try to pass off your opinions about life as facts to other people? Take the balloon boy’s father for example. If you watched to interview he rarely looked at the camera with his eyes. His attention was focused on anything but looking directly into the camera. His body language was indicative of someone who was trying to divert attention from himself. On Larry King last night, his son Falcon said, “We did this for the show.” Wolf Blitzer, subbing for Larry, repeated this statement and the father got defensive. Do you get defensive when someone accuses you of some wrong doing? Why would anyone get defensive if they weren’t guilty of something? Perhaps they were trying to cover something up? Could it be that the father was emotionally distraught and his heart was hurting because, for a period of time during the balloon chase, he didn’t know if his son was OK or not? Or was it true that this was a publicity stunt? I guess we will never truly know unless they offer different testimony. Suffice it to say, that we can only base our opinion on the facts and not supposition.

Did you give the father the benefit of the doubt? Or did you distrust him because of his answers and body language? It’s a tough call. If we examine the circumstances surrounding this event, we could draw many different conclusions. It depends on whether we accept the father’s demeanor as being honest or opportunist. After the family being on Wife Swap twice, we could conclude that they like the publicity and notoriety of being on TV. Being storm chasers and UFO junkies we could conclude that they are just nut cases. But what are their true motivations? Are they seeking experience and adventure or are they purposefully addicted to attention?

Much like the boy in the plastic bubble the boy in the plastic balloon was separated from a normal existence. His parents fueled his imagination and provided experiences for him and his brothers that were different from most children. When your imagination is activated and highly developed it can be difficult to separate reality from fantasy, especially at the age of six years old. It’s no wonder he hid in the garage attic because his dad had yelled at him. The parents had taught their children to not be afraid of danger and adventure. They didn’t teach him how not to be afraid of dad yelling, and it cost the entire world the anticipation of not knowing whether he was safe or not and to slowly exercise their hearts from their throats when it was discovered that he was alright. Did this adventure activate the love within all of us for the safety of this boy? The pressure has been so intense for Falcon that he actually threw up on the interview with the Today Show this morning.

Are these parents thinking about the overall effects on the lives of their children? Can you imagine what is going through the minds of these kids as a result of all of this attention? Does anyone care? If you don’t, then it’s time to leave your bubble!

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. Please visit my Eschatology Refutation Blog. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." ©2009 Dean A. Banks. All Rights Reserved. Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

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Your emotional scale (part 1)

I started teaching a class last night in Multimedia Production and in this introductory class I spoke about the differences between analog and digital recording. I watched the look of bewilderment on some of the students faces as I explained how digital recording is simply capturing an analog signal and representing it with zeros and ones. I realized that the next phase of explaining how to research facts and not rely on opinions should be to discuss our emotional reactions. Nothing reveals more about the human condition and influence on the environment than a study of human emotions. This is a broad topic and will take several parts to discuss.

I continued to explain to the students that each hardware device in a computer needs a software program to manipulate the hardware. The software program is called a driver. Just like a car requires a human driver to manipulate the controls, a computer requires drivers to manipulate the hardware. A software driver is simply a coded script that lists commands in a sequential order that the hardware obeys. Much the same as our emotions are programmed and scripted as a result of our experiences in our minds and our environments to determine our behavior. In critical times we simply rerun these emotional scripts to react to events, circumstances and occurrences.

The human response occurs either moving toward (fight) or moving away from (flight) an event, circumstance or occurrence. The human body physically reacts to these events by releasing the adrenalin hormone from the adrenal glands located on top of your kidneys. Each emotional response has a physical reaction in your body. These physical reactions can either help or hurt your body if they are repeated and patterned in the memory of your nervous system.

Emotions are not just simple states. They are often layered on top of one another and combine to form other more complex emotional states. Some emotions have more intensity and subsequent physical reactions than others. Their correspondent energy levels are more or less intense dependent upon whether they are acted upon or not. A simple list of emotions and their definitions can be found here.

Many psychologists, psychiatrists and scientific researchers have come up with emotional layering models that allow us to scale their combinations and intensity. Robert Plutchik devised a wheel of eight basic and 8 advanced emotions (each composed of two basic emotions) in 1980. It is the graphic that appears with this article. For a more detailed explanation, click here. Plutchik believed that emotions evolved for the sake of human survival and reproduction, much like Charles Darwin. But why should we be concerned about the layering and intensity of our emotions? Because if we can identify and categorize an emotion, we can better understand not only where it is coming from, but what effect it has on us. The author of Changing Minds said, “Learn to recognize emotions at increasing levels of detail. If you can see the emotion, then you can respond appropriately to it.” A comprehensive but not exhaustive list of emotions can be found here.

Emotions can be described through the meanings of words, phrases and idioms. The science of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) connects these meanings to programmed responses within our neurological systems. Our sympathetic (inputting) nervous system senses our environment. Our central (outputting) nervous system reacts to our emotional states based on our emotional scale (intensity of emotions). Some psychologists believe that there are six main types of basic emotions; happiness, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, and surprise. We will discuss these more in Part 2.

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. Please visit my Eschatology Refutation Blog. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." ©2009 Dean A. Banks. All Rights Reserved. Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

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Are you delusional?

Are you sure about some of the conclusions you make? Do you feel that you have garnered all the facts before you have made an important decision? Decision comes from the Latin word decisio, which means to cut off all other options. When is it good to cut off all other options? Only when you have based your decision on the facts and NOT others’ opinions. In order to evaluate the facts, one must have a handle on the gathering of information. First, you must have the freedom to collect that information. Next, you must have the desire to dig as deep as is needed to find the facts while being aware that you need to ignore any pre-conceived notions that you might have about a topic. Finally, you need to realize that knowledge is dependent on a correct understanding of any information you evaluate. The only way to gain an understanding is to utilize your mind in an imaginative manner. Delusion means that you maintain a false belief that resists reason or is revealed when confronted with an actual fact. Reason means an ability to use your mind to make judgments and evaluations based on observance, correlation and logic. Do you believe in things that resist reason? If so, you are delusional.

How does one escape being deluded? The first step is to be thankful for the freedom you possess to gather information. In this country there are libraries, internet resources and eyewitnesses available to source information on any topic. Knowing how to research facts that are not tainted by opinions is of prime import. Learn how to read body language and techniques of reading between the lines. Become a master of research before you make conclusions and discuss your opinions about any topic. One of my favorite sayings is “Wise is the fool who knows enough to keep his mouth shut.” Epictetus said, “No man is free who is not a master of himself.”

Next, you need to develop the desire to ferret out the facts. Just because your hero or some radio or TV talks show host says something doesn’t mean it is correct. Everyone has an agenda, whether they realize it or not. From the time you get up in the morning until the time you go to bed you are manifesting an individual agenda. Our daily interactions with others influence our emotional states and affect us whether we realize it or not. In order to be a fact seeker one must put aside the emotive result to judge facts and embrace the mental result of evaluating the facts. Evaluation is based on a logical correlation of observed facts. Judgment is based on an evaluation in relation to yourself.  There is a difference! Each time you research the facts about any topic do more than you did the last time to discover the motivations of those involved in presenting the facts. Mia Hamm said, “Celebrate what you’ve accomplished, but raise the bar a little higher each time you succeed.”

Pre-conceived notions have a significant effect on whether or not someone thoroughly researches the facts. If you view the world through rose colored glasses you see only the good. If you are suspicious and paranoid about how people are influencing your life, then you will see the bad in everything or everybody that opposes your position (Beck, Hannity, O’Reilly, Limbaugh). Try to approach the research on any topic with an open mind and NOT a desire to find facts that back up what you feel is happening. Only then do you minimize the tendency to taint information to reinforce your pre-conceived notions. Merry Browne said, “Preconceived notions are the locks on the door to wisdom.”

Information is the characteristics or assets of facts, events or occurrences. When you understand how this information is applied, it becomes knowledge. When you understand how to apply knowledge to an event, situation or occurrence, it becomes wisdom. The key to getting from raw facts to an effective and accurate judgment is understanding. Understanding is a comprehension or personal interpretation of the facts that are observed. It is a cooperative and mutually tolerant frame of mind that allows different perspectives to be taken into account before a conclusion is made. It stems from an individual’s ability to have imagination. Imagination is the ability to form mental images or concepts without having information present to the senses. It is the ability to take what facts you concentrate on and contemplate their possible outcomes. A highly developed imagination is the hallmark of understanding. In fact, Albert Einstein said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.”

Only through an acceptance and understanding of how to effectively research a topic can one avoid deluding oneself. Embrace the freedom you have to seek knowledge and the ability to observe and evaluate the facts. Release any pre-conceived notions and develop your imagination to the point where you take all the facts into consideration before you make judgments. Only then can you start to recognize the truth in all opinions. When that thread of truth is used to make a convincing argument to lead a base of people into supporting your conclusions without a 360 degree evaluation of the facts, then you are trying to delude others based on your own judgments (e.g., 9/12 March). Seek a better understanding of the facts before you take action. It will keep your foot out of your mouth and not mislead those who believe you. You can only delude others when you are pretty good at deluding yourself. Take the high road and speak the truth; it will surely set you free.

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. Please visit my Eschatology Refutation Blog. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." ©2009 Dean A. Banks. All Rights Reserved. Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

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Laugh out loud!

I haven’t laughed out loud like I did this morning in a while. I read this article and couldn’t stop laughing. It started off with “Liberal revisionist historians and biased media types continue to do what they can to strip Americans of the truth of our heritage”; sounds like a whine about the liberal media again. Talk about parroting, word for word, Glenn Beck’s statements. As one commenter once said, this writer is the best cut and paste man in the business. I wonder what this “writer” has to say about Conservapedia re-writing the Bible? This GB supporter really loves his work and lays out his argument based on others’ opinions and NOT the facts. Subsequently, not a very good analysis. As Alistair Cooke once said, “A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it” applies. Since this writer continually manipulates the facts with opinions, professionalism is NOT a word that should be used in reference to his writings. Talk about right wing Republican rhetoric! What is exactly behind this rhetoric? It is attitudes and subsequent behaviors that come from a mindset that the way they look at things, their evangelical Christian view, is right. But most of the time their view is NOT based on the teachings of Christ. It is based on the Christian leaderships’ “interpretations” of the Word. Fools fooling themselves because they don’t THINK their way through an argument to a logical conclusion.

Articles like the one referenced amaze me. They take bits and pieces of the truth and concatenate a plausible argument because the facts are colored by the perspectives and opinions of those with manipulative agendas. If you choose to believe something, it is human nature to seek out those in agreement with you to reinforce what you believe. If your belief is valid, why do you need someone else to validate it? Could it be that your position is so weak that you know you have made a leap to a conclusion and are too lazy to investigate it? Or is it that you just feel that your conclusions and suppositions are valid because you have made them? Either way, the ego is involved. Anytime one’s ego is involved in determining beliefs it is skewed. Why? Because the ego is our survival mechanism. It is the device that oversteps any character that we have in order to protect ourselves. Character comes from making good choices based on facts and not opinions. It is the moral and ethical qualities of honesty, courage and integrity. Margaret Jensen once said, “Character is the sum total of all our everyday choices.” Ego was once said to mean Edging God Out. When YOUR needs are greater than others, your EGO has taken over. Embrace what God is telling you and go to Him for guidance. It will make you survive even more so than your ego. Don’t listen to the Beck’s, Hannity’s, O’Reilly’s and Limbaugh's of the world who preach FEAR! Rudyard Kipling once said, “Of all the liars in the world, sometimes the worst are your own fears.” Stop listening to the liars of the world who prey on your fear and listen to the still small voice of God.

The Republican rhetoric of late has been to say “No” to everything. Just watch Fixed Noise every night and see what I mean. Fox News is the promotional vehicle for the Right Wing Agenda. It is NOT a news organization. They promote the simplistic and juvenile opinion that Nancy Reagan adopted when she said, “Just say “no” to drugs.” Just say no? She obviously didn’t have a clue what kids in school were going through because she used her frame of reference to evaluate a situation without all of the facts. The Republican representatives are just saying no because they think they know all the facts, but they don’t. Just show me one Republican (or even some Democrats) that are really in touch with the people! Their theories and suppositions are based on who is lining their pockets, not on what YOUR needs, wants, desires and expectations are. Wake up people and listen to what God tells you and not what manipulators are filling your heads with; their results will be frustration and depression. Make the time to go within and ask God for guidance.

There are times when saying no is good. Saying no to things that don’t contribute to life are wise. War, disease, poverty and ignorance are just a few examples of things to say NO to. Have you ever noticed that when you have said YES to things you haven’t thoroughly investigated that it came back to bite you? It is always a good policy to make the time to check your facts. Don’t give your opinion out until you have checked out what you have heard or read. If you don’t, you will be inclined to make big mistakes. Moss Hart once said, “All the mistakes I ever made in my life where when I wanted to say No, and said Yes.” Are you saying yes to the right things and saying no to the wrong things? Are you saying no to the right things and saying yes to the wrong things? It is simple. If opinions don’t contribute to life and the support of all concerned, then saying no is probably OK. If opinions contribute to life and the support of all concerned, then saying yes is probably OK. It is your choice. Make the smart decision. If someone spits rhetoric and B.S., turn your cheek and laugh out loud. They don’t have a clue, but you do!

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. Please visit my Eschatology Refutation Blog. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." ©2009 Dean A. Banks. All Rights Reserved. Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

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Out of touch

Are you out of touch? What exactly does that expression mean? First, it is an idiom. An idiom is an expression of speech whose meaning is not a result of the literal meanings of its elements, but is a result from the parallel thoughts it creates. “Kick the bucket” is an example of an idiom which means that someone has died. Hence, the subsequent term “Bucket List”, which denotes a list of things to do before one dies.

Out of touch is an expression of speech which alludes to someone who is no longer interacting and communicating with one’s physical environment. The opposite idiom is to be in touch, or have regular communication and interaction with one’s physical environment. Events and circumstances regularly occur in our physical environments. Are they a result of random chance, or are they a result of one situation building on another situation until these situations are expressed as a final result? If you don’t pay attention to events and circumstances on a regular basis in your physical environment you are out of touch. In order to understand what that truly means we must analyze how events and circumstances manifest in our environments.

Jesus said in the Lord’s Prayer, “on earth, as it is in heaven.” Another way of saying this is “As above, so below.” These expressions of speech describe how the process of creation manifests in the physical world. As living beings, we have different aspects or levels of being that relay our thoughts into the physical world. Our spiritual aspect is our connection to God. It is a knowing that exists within us that we are expressions of the Most High God. Our mental aspect is where thinking occurs in our minds. It is where we generate and move the energy of thought. Our emotional aspect is where feeling occurs and it is where we either react to or pro-act with our physical environment. Finally, our physical aspect is where we interact with our environment through sensing. Our senses are our point of contact with our environment. Each of our 5 physical senses absorbs or feels different frequencies of the electromagnetic spectrum and converts them into electrical copies or representations within our brains. What we perceive in our minds are symbols of our environment. We compare these thought symbols or archetypes to previous experiences through the contemplative processes in our brains. Our perceptions are a result of the state of all of our aspects of being in relation to the physical environment.

When we deny the facts that occur in our environment and replace them with the perceptions or opinions of others we are out of touch with ourselves. Anne Morrow Lindbergh once said, “When one is out of touch with oneself, one cannot touch others.” Do you live your life based on the perceptions or opinions of others? Are you so out of touch with your environment that you defend mediocrity and false beliefs? Have you daily accepted the easy way out because you have given up on your dreams? There is a way back to a state where you can be in touch with reality. It is a process that requires discipline and focus. By making the time to relax and block out the distractions of the outer world, you can begin to listen to the still small voice of God, who will develop your spiritual aspect to the point where your environmental interaction is based on knowing instead of reacting. Meditation is a process where you let go of the grip of the outer world and enter the peace and joy of the inner world. You might say, “I have tried to meditate and it feels weird, so I give up. It’s too hard.” First, you don’t try to meditate; the very definition of meditation excludes trying. If you try you are not letting go! Secondly, Henry Ford once said, “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” I addressed this in a previous article.

If you haven’t made the time to get in touch with who you are, then you will inevitably fall into mediocrity. Do you just get by? Are the results of your life barely adequate? Have situations occurred in your life that have shaken your world and have brought you to the point where you know something must change? Charles C. West said, “We turn to God for help when our foundations are shaking, only to learn that it is God who is shaking them.” Has God given you a wake-up call? Has He rattled your cage enough that you are finally paying attention to what is truly going on in your environment? Will you heed His call or will you ignore it? It is your choice. Choose life, awareness of yourself and being in touch with the reality from all aspects of your being. That is the only way to escape being out of touch.

For more info: Download my free Wilmington Spirituality Examiner toolbar. Please visit my Eschatology Refutation Blog. “Life is a gift. Be thankful for it and it will be replete with abundance. Encourage others to express creativity, release negativity and embrace pro-activity." ©2009 Dean A. Banks. All Rights Reserved. Dean A. Banks, MCIWD, DD can be reached at webproducer@hotmail.com or banksnet.com. Download my free eBook on Articles 1-10 here.

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