Hopeful Thinking

Evander Holyfield vs Mitt Romney in a charity boxing match in 2015          Where do we draw the line? When is enough enough? Our human culture worldwide has been asking that question for about 10,000 years, roughly speaking. The first known slave revolts in history were questions along those very lines. When is my life worth more than this?          Century by century we have learned the path of asserting our inherent worth and dignity. Because that’s really what it’s all about. Step by step, decade by decade, humanity recognizing that it has value, recognizing that we are in charge of our own individual destinies, acknowledging that working together in peace will ultimately be more profitable than war. Civilization, for the most part, has already tipped the scales on awakening to the fact that we all deserve to be free. The numerical majority of this planet understands that every huma...

Hopeful Thinking - Saturday, July 21, 2018 - Feeling Fat and Worthy-ish             Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. That’s the advice. But you actually have to know how you would have them do unto you first. There’s a point to that. Knowing oneself is the cornerstone of all achievement. Everything, from making friends to building fortunes, rests on the degree of self-understanding we possess. It’s visible in the quality of our accomplishments, not the quantity.             We will attract what we think we are. We treat other people the same. If you think you are unworthy, then you will attract that. Your notice will attune itself mostly to things which support your deepest, truest opinions and you will gravitate toward them as proof of your belief. The same is true for all of us. We all see what we want to see and from that we make our assumptions. Our beliefs are founded entirely on our interpretati...

They say don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. It’s an interesting little maxim. Mostly about the inspection of teeth. Horses’ teeth give away their age. They become longer and more numerous the older they get. If someone gives you a horse, don’t look at their teeth right in front of the giver as if to question the value of their gift. The direct advice being given here is about offering courtesy, gratitude and respect toward the giver and not to question the value of their generosity. But the implication is deeper than just not being rude. I always pick up pennies on the sidewalk whether they are face up or face down. I believe in luck, sure, but a face down penny still pays the bills. Sort of. And if the universe is literally handing you money, don’t disrespect abundance by leaving it there. It sends a signal to your brain that abundance is for other people, not you. Ask and ye shall receive. Are you asking for abundance with your words as well as your actions? How about your th...

I used to sing on cruise ships. Not just sing, but dance as well, God help me. But that was part of the gig, so I did it. I made it through six weeks of exhausting rehearsals in the studio at Barry Manilow’s production company, Stiletto Entertainment in Los Angeles. Great company, nice people. Still don’t like dancing. And every single syllable of every song we sang had a dance step. I had to practice every morning at 5am on my own in the mirrors at the gym in actor housing before rehearsal just to keep up. Among the other six production shows we learned simultaneously for the passengers, I actually played the part of Tony in a cruise ship version of the stage musical Copacabana based on Manilow’s 1978 iconic hit song by the same name. Ruffled shirtsleeves and all. Oh yes, that too was part of the gig. I liked being on stage well enough, but it was the singing I truly loved. I love to sing big songs, quiet songs, songs with meaning. I feel the same when I give a Sunday message....

     My favorite piece of Star Trek scripture is “resistance is futile.” It’s one of the many concepts in that series which align with spiritual teaching. Of course, in spiritual teaching the line isn’t accompanied with the destruction of a civilization as it is in Star Trek. Unless of course, you’re doing it wrong.      There’s a nuance to resistance which actually gives power to the very thing, idea or person you’re resisting. In sports, all good offense starts with knowing your opponent. We have to get inside their head. That’s where the single trail ends. Now it depends upon what you intend to be the goal of your offensive action. We presume it is to score, to win. So depending on your definition of the word ‘win’ in this instance you are looking for information that will destroy your opponent. You’re spending time contemplating their weakness. You pump yourself up with rivalry and statistics and cross your fingers they injure themselve...

Thank you for your selfishness. It’s not a bad thing, really. In fact, that, more than any other reason, is what perpetuates both a species as well as a fully-realized, peaceful civilization. But we must examine what selfishness really is to understand why.     The word selfish has dubious origins. It was coined by a cranky archbishop in 1640 for his own use to describe, in the most disreputable terms, the events of his day. To him there was no word sufficiently hostile to describe the unworthiness of human nature as he witnessed it. So he created one. It’s interesting, actually, that he formed a pejorative of the concept of self in the process. He literally made ‘self’ a 4-letter word. He was declaring that the ideas of self-awareness, self-orientation and self-direction are heretical. The gift of free will was apparently not a consideration.     Why did he twist the word ‘self’ in this way? In the Bible, for instance, n...

The day of the longest light is upon us. We know on some level that the occasion is meaningful. And that our rituals and ceremonies and observances add unique layers of meaning for us one turn of the wheel of the year at a time. I’ve always been of the mind that if people like something, there’s something to be learned from it. Good or bad. Or scary. If a tradition develops, there’s something to be explored. If everyone has the same questions, there is something to be answered. Why are so many of our world monuments aligned to the summer solstice? It’s easy to make assumptions about it. To look at a hammer and nail and conclude the building of something, when it’s just as likely the taking of something apart. We should be wildly circumspect about drawing conclusions on behalf of cultures and societies earlier than ours. We prove ourselves wrong so often we might have learned something from that by now. We are too hasty with our conclusions. In the process we miss the parts whi...