“I came here to chew bubble gum and kick ass…..and I’m all out of bubble gum.” — From THEY LIVE!
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All nature is but art, unknown to thee;
All chance, direction, which thou canst not see;
All discord, harmony not understood;
All partial evil, universal good;
And spite of pride, in erring reason’s spite,
One truth is clear, Whatever is, is right.
— Alexander Pope (1688-1744)
— Essay on Man, Epistle i, Line 289

Mssr. Pope’s poetry may be regarded as one of the indications that mankind has gotten as far as we have toward being truly civilized (current idiocy not being counted; the world’s in a mess, ffolkes…). And such a poem as this one hardly needs my praise or discussion; how can one argue with the last line? Soon after finding it in the database, I found the one below by Emily, one of my all-time favorite poems. So, this section requires nothing but your kind attention. The lessons to be learned here today are in the words of the poets themselves…..

I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you- Nobody- Too?
Then there’s a pair of us?
Don’t tell! they’d advertise-you know!
How dreary-to be- Somebody!
How public-like a Frog-
To tell one’s name-the livelong June-
To an admiring Bog!
— Emily Dickinson
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“Faith is one of those words that connotes, however irrationally, some kind of virtue in itself.” — Louis J. Halle

This is a very subtle point, and highly insightful. How many times have we heard some religious fanatic use scripture to argue against what is real, or more often, against what is possible? And by using scripture, that person assumes that they are right, and stand on higher moral ground than the other person, merely by quoting the text they believe to be true according to their faith. The insight here involves the word ‘rational’, for that is where most fanatics tend to veer away from the truth, and charge off into faith-based assumption.

Myself, I’ve never understood it; I never saw ‘faith’ as virtuous; it always seemed more ‘put on’ or shallow to me. It seemed to me that most of the people who I saw that claimed to be faithful Christians only made that claim at times they were preparing to act in an un-Christian manner, or when their beliefs were challenged somehow. They didn’t wear the Jesus suit all the time, but instead, put it on when it is convenient, or when needed to keep from having to think. In my entire life, I don’t think I’ve met more than 3 real, actual Christians; people who lived by the same precepts as Jesus did, without trying to foist it on anyone else.

Instead of proselytizing, which the fanatics tend to do when confronted, these ffolkes ask themselves what Jesus would have done, and then do it. They don’t quote scripture, they provide an example of what is in the scripture by the way they live. Much more honest, and they make better neighbors than the ones who are always making the assumption that having faith is all they need to do to make it to heaven, never realizing that they’re actually on a different road, one paved with good intentions……and we all know where that road leads!
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“In the greatest confusion there is still an open channel to the soul. It may be difficult to find because by midlife it is overgrown, and some of the wildest thickets that surround it grow out of what we describe as education. But the channel is always there, and it is our business to keep it open, to have access to the deepest part of ourselves — to that part of us which is conscious of a higher consciousness, by means of which we make final judgments and put everything together. The independence of this consciousness, which has the strength to be immune to the noise of history and the distractions of our immediate surroundings, is what the life struggle is all about. The soul has to find and hold its ground against hostile forces, sometimes embodied in ideas which frequently deny its very existence, and which indeed often seem to be trying to annul it altogether.” — Saul Bellow

This is why I love diving for pearls. Every once in a while one comes across a pearl that so closely parallels one’s own thoughts, it’s spooky.  The only words I would take issue with here (“higher consciousness”) can be considered as the single exception, which solidifies the evidence of the truth of the theorem, that each of us is unique, no matter how dissimilar we may appear to be. Other than that, I would tend to agree with every point of his statement, without any further qualifications. Naturally, there are points of discussion that are apparent; I’d be surprised if any statement on this subject didn’t present some anomaly to at least one other person with a different POV. But taken as a whole, with a gestalt viewpoint, it is a clear marker of the road that leads to higher consciousness, and right action…..and that is a pretty cool place to hang out, exploring our uniqueness in the playgrounds of the universe……
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Under the old format of Pearls of Virtual Wisdom, several individual pearls would be given, one after another, to make a certain philosophical point, or underline some particular concept suggested by the quotes, using differing and often contradictory elements to reach the objective. This is such a quiz, with the conclusion, as always, left as an exercise for the Gentle Reader, to wit: you….. oh, and just ask yourselves, “Which of these is not like the others?”….

“The militia of these free commonwealths, entitled and accustomed to their arms, when compared with any possible army, must be _tremendous and irresistible_. Who are the militia? _are they not ourselves?_. Is it feared, then, that we shall turn our arms _each man against his own bosom?_. Congress have no power to disarm the militia. Their swords, and every other terrible implement of the soldier, are _the birth-right of an American_…the unlimited power of the sword is not in the hands of either the _federal or state governments_, but, where I trust in God it will ever remain,_in the hands of the people_.” — Tench Coxe 20 Feb. 1788

“Government is about coercion. Limiting government is the single most important instrument for guaranteeing liberty. We’re working on a third generation which has little in the way of education about what our Constitution means and why it was written. Thus, we’ve fallen easy prey to charlatans, quacks, and hustlers.” — Dr. Walter Williams

“”If we are to survive, this nation must end its love affair with guns.”  — U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

“If we are to survive, this nation must end its love affair with big brother government and individuals must relearn what it means to be free.” — Jeff Chan, chan@shell.portal.com

“No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), June 1

Where do you keep your gun?…..I keep mine at an undisclosed location, close and instantly accessible (note, I did not say how many I keep)…. Never thought I’d need one, until the Bill of Rights was ignominiously and stealthily terminated, whereupon it became obvious that in the future, one of our first concerns if we wish to continue living, is that we will need to have adequate ammunition, of a caliber appropriate to the weapons stored with our water, food, and books….the other necessities for survival in a world gone mad…..
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“I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there be any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again.” — William Penn

Even if one believes that we come back to life multiple times, this suggests an excellent way to approach life in the Now. Who knows what our time is like when we are not here? Could be worse, could be better, and no direct evidence to tell us which, only speculation. So, we may as well optimize our chances of improving our lot; acting otherwise is for fools….and I do try so hard NOT to be a fool. Nature seems to have provided us with an ample supply of them, without otherwise adept people displaying their Bozoid Tendencies for all to see…. besides, I don’t know about y’all, but I sure feel better when I do something for someone else, especially if I don’t expect any reward; better than if I look away, and pretend I didn’t see the homeless vagrant begging for food, thinking to myself, “I can’t help Everyone.” My response to that idea is, “well, no, perhaps not, but you might be able to help one at a time…..” And the beat goes on….
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Well, ’twas a bit of a struggle, but it has a chance to fly; I’ll go ahead and throw it up there and hope it manages to miss the ground for a time… 🙂 At any rate, it fits right in with the rest of the dross and drivel on this blog; I’m nothing if not cruelly honest, at least with my self. S’okay, I have thick skin, and a dull scalpel….. y’all take care out there…..