But, metaphor is the tool of the immortal GODS!….. Oops, got carried away…. Never mind, we’ll start over….

Ffolkes,

But, it always passes, if only due to the very human skill of denial, that innate, natural exercise of foolish will power; this ability to reject reality, for us humans, allows us to completely ignore an entire set of perceptions, as if they did not exist, thus insulating ourselves from the emotional content of those perceptions….. If you stop to think about it, this ability to deny the truth is how Reagan, Ford, and both Shrubs, got elected, and how much of the stuff we hear from politicians is bought by the public; denial is a very powerful force in humans, and, when combined with stupidity, is virtually impossible to contend with, at least, on a rational basis….

I’m not at all sure why this subject came up this morning, other than the picture having an effect on me all out of proportion to its cuteness factor…. I guess I reacted more to the very obvious, immensely high level of “Aww….” that is so clearly present in the lion’s family dynamic….. Dad is being very patient with Junior, who is determined to get his/her pop up to play, though, apparently, both are still half-asleep….

I can’t help it, I look at it, and the tears form, threatening to flow down my face uncontrolled; the feelings themselves reaching back thirty-five years, to connect with the time when my own son would do something as cute….. Even as I type this, which provides SOME distance, I feel the pressure in my chest, & behind my eyes, that presages such emotional outbursts…. In our culture, as you might imagine, this tendency to break out in tears at a moment’s notice has some rather embarrassing side-effects, such as the way people look at me when it happens on a bus, or in a store…. Quite the pisser, I can tell you….

(And that doesn’t even address the severe danger in which it places the person in public, who has the failure of grace so far as to be the one who is laughing…. It’s lucky for me I have excellent control over my impulses, or I’d be involved in more than one legal mess, for having aced some idiot before I could stop myself…. It’s come close a few times, but, I’ve managed to avoid homicide, thus far….. Well, if you don’t count that one in Tuscon; the charges WERE dropped, once they showed the video….)

Ah well, it could be worse, I suppose; I could have no control over it whatsoever. At least no one can accuse me of being a typical American male, who refuses to cry at his mother’s funeral, or hug his own children…. That sort of emotional denial can become an unbreakable habit, with some rather nasty side effects on one’s family. The insistence on being the Marlboro Man, (a nasty delusion, to be sure; remember, the Marlboro Man died of lung cancer at the age of 45…. truth….), is a big part of how we Americans have reached the stage where NONE of the policies and beliefs that now are being touted as “American” have an real relation to truth, or anything resembling what is actually true in Reality….

Oh the hell with it; I’m going to just say it straight, and hard…. I regard the typical American male’s emotional stultification to be a big part of the reason our culture is dying…. It is a symptom of the sort of delusional adherence to an outdated, never rational outlook toward life, and toward other people, that has led us to the position we are now facing, with the threat of imminent species extinction. That may sound a bit overly dramatic, but, to be honest with you, it’s not only NOT overly dramatic, it really doesn’t even come close to describing how far along the path to perdition we have come…. Things in Reality are much worse than anyone out there in the public venue will admit, ffolkes, and THAT is the truth….

But, even in this case, or, maybe ESPECIALLY in this case, the truth isn’t going to get us any further down the page, or get this anywhere closer to posting; ranting in the intro seems to be developing into a habit…. At this point, only some drastic intervention by yours truly will be able to save this Pearl from its own form of extinction… I guess I’ll take advantage of this little-known corridor, right HERE; it should get us out of here, & back on the regular trail to the oyster beds…. Mind the steps, please, and don’t pay any attention to anything you see, or hear…. Trust me, you don’t want to know….

Shall we Pearl?…..

“If possible, try to find a way to come downstairs that doesn’t involve going bump, bump, bump, on the back of your head. -” — Pooh in Winnie the Pooh A.A. Milne, English author (1882-1956)

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As noted in previous posts, this week’s Pearls are being composed at home, ahead of time, then posted each morning when I go to a local coffee house, one with free Wifi to connect to the internet…. It’s a pain, to be sure, which should be over by Thursday, when my new service is scheduled to be set up…. But, as it’s a chosen duty, whattyagonnado? In the meantime, I’m using a lot of archived material… I’m trying to use stuff at least a couple of years old, to prevent too much repetition of purpose, but, I’m pretty sure anyone looking back at this week will find some anomalous entries…. So be it…. Here is a nice little religirant from 2012, which will give a bit more insight into the discussion in the introduction today…..

From 5/15/2012:

As I grew older, the things about church that first bothered me continued to grow in number, fueled most heavily by the actions of the church-goers themselves. It always seemed to me, what was said in church on Sunday, and what actually happened out in the real world, had nothing to do with each other. Nobody I could see was acting in a Christian manner anywhere but in church, and even then, it seemed pretty self-serving, as if the folks who were discussing morality were showing off for the preacher, more than they were invested in the morals themselves. (You can’t fool a teenager about hypocrisy….)

As my reading list expanded, I found that my suspicions and objections to Christian churches intensified, as I became more aware of what actually went on out in the real world…. As I continued to be exposed to more religions and philosophies, it seemed, at least on the surface, that the proponents of the other big religions in the world were no less hypocritical in their actions than were the Christians, and further evidence of the accuracy of that observation has been in the news daily for a long time. (You can’t bullshit an old bullshitter….)

Nobody in the entire world, as far as I can see, really buys into any of the religions, unless they are so poor that they grasp onto the charitable aspects of their respective creeds in order to survive. I can find no religion, anywhere in the world, that has significantly advanced the cause of morality in humans; it generally has a negative effect instead, providing their constituents with reasons to practice immorality, as long as it is directed against those in other sects.

So, I continue to wage my own personal battle against falling into the ignorance of how reality really works; I refuse to accept the blinders, and the limits on my reason, that all churches demand of their followers. Instead, I prefer to promote rationality and reason as an approach to life; I’ve never seen any sense in encouraging people to submit to what, to me, is just another lie disguised as something supposedly “good for me”…. and I find the following statement to be extremely accurate, not only in the context of when it was written, but in today’s complex world of the future, as well…..

“The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting.  It has been found difficult, and left untried.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton (1874-1936), “What’s Wrong with the World

Note from the future: In truth, I really don’t see how I can improve this by adding more; it’s pretty straightforward, and the ending paragraph, and pearl, finish it off perfectly…. Well done, lad!…. (Okay, yes, my arm & shoulder hurt now, from the excessive back patting…. we’ll go on anyway….)

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Just for you, here is the freshest of pearls, constructed from a collection of them chosen at random, for future use…. Since we are now, thanks to the magical time-bending powers of this blog, ensconced in a part of that part of the future for which they were saved, here are seven of the best, a comely collection of glittery little gems, with some comments on life, and how to live it…. or not. It’s always your choice, you know…. Well, aside from Murphy, and those other elements of reality that the Universe is so sticky about letting us control…. But, you know, everything else is up to you…. For sure, and for certain, how you feel about it is completely up to you, isn’t it?…. Yep….

“Did you ever have one of those days when you just couldn’t get rid of a bomb?” — Batman, “Batman” TV series

“If you don’t care where you are, you ain’t lost.” — Rune’s Rule.

Rule #1– When confronted with an apparent infinite or infinitely repeating pattern, expect some variant that keeps it from being infinite.
Rule #2– When all investigation supports Rule 1, look for a situation which violates it.
Rule #3– Be prepared for an infinite oscillation between Rules 1 and 2.
Rule #4– Apply Rule 1.

— Hugh Downs’ Four Rules for Investigating the Universe

“Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.” — Jules de Gaultier

“Hope is the denial of reality.” — Smart Bee

1.  Throw it on the bed.
2.  Fry onions.
3.  Call Jenny’s mother.
4.  No one’s got the corner on suffering.
5.  Run it under the cold tap.
6.  Everything takes practice, except being born.

— Rebecca’s House Rules:  At least one fits every occasion. — Sharon Mathews

“Life is hard? True–but let’s love it anyhow, though it breaks every bone in our bodies.” — Edward Abbey

As we used to say in math class, Q.E.D……

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No matter how many times I’ve done this (according to WP, that number stands at 1148…. just sayin’….), there are times when it comes as a surprise when I reach this final section, still with a lot left to say, but, for all intents and purposes, I’m done….. SIGH…. I guess I could find drama in just about ANYTHING, wouldn’t you say? Since I’m actually not overly fond of drama, we’ll just go along with the dictates of reality, & end this here, in spite of all I have yet to give….. There’s always tomorrow, right? Right…. See y’all then, if I’m reasonably lucky, & continue to suffer from my own delusions of adequacy…..