It Is Time For You To Decide or 
Not in 2012: 

The Harvest Is Past, The Summer Is Ended ... Jeremiah 8:20.  And  not much changed in 2011. 

Christian America, is still fighting unjust wars and invading other nations of the world whenever it pleases with the full support of religious sycophants. Sadly, the religious world is as divided as it ever was.  Religion, has more sects, denominations ... than America has parties and differences of opinion by far.

Sadly and arrogantly, the one that you happen to be a part of or listening to at the time, has something in common with the other - that of believing that whatever it is that they believe, is 'what God believes or said'.  And the problem with that is, God, apparently lacks the quality of believing. And why should God believe? By every religious standard that I am familiar with, God created all things, knows all things and therefore wouldn't have to engage in the exercise of believing anything.  It seems to me that the prudent thing to do, given this religious-voice of truth conundrum, would be to 'seek the source'!  The head of the Jerusalem church, Apostle James, apparently wrote to the dispersed, tired and burned out Jews to do the following:  "Ask God"!

Christian America, is also still a tale of 2 cities, rich v poor; upper and lower; educated and uneducated, Republican and Democrat -- and the latter are still at each other's throats, in public anyway. The number of unemployed, underemployed and temporarily employed American citizens, remains high. Americans are loosing their jobs, homes, marital partners and minds in some instances.  So what is a person to do, think or feel?

Perhaps the wise thing to do, is to stop listening to all of the so-called voices of reason and right in the land - because all too often, those voices turn out to be categorically wrong in most instances? And whether they are correct or not, each one of us is apparently not absolved from our apparent responsibility of being in charge of our lives, assuming that we are not physically or mentally incapacitated, a youngster or simply unable.  In other words. never outsource the responsibility for your life or outcome to anyone else.  Instead, take charge of your life, think, plan, read, pray or do whatever you do, but at some point make decisions that you can live or die with for that matter. And even if you turn out to be wrong, you will still be right, because you, the responsible captain of your soul, made the best decisions and choices that you could have made at that time.And, in the future, based on the understanding that you acquired from a prior decision or experience that might have gone awry, you might even make a better choice!

It seems to come with life, that most of us have a 50/50 chance of making the right decisions anyway, and other people will point out - when you or I have made an apparently, poor decision.  But keep this in mind, you are not God, and they are not God either. In other words, it is not a sin to make the wrong decision or choice; all of us do that everyday (even though some individuals will never admit it themselves). I like to quote old bishops, and I can still recall what one of the Bishops, who I sat under, once said: “My opinion is just as good as anybody elses, he said".

And isn't it the case, that each one of us has the right to opine and to be right, or wrong ?  At least that is what the old Bishop used to say, and I suspect that he being very sagacious, was correct in that regard. Too many people often fall into the trap of living their lives by what someone else has to say.  Typically, it is a suggestion or directive, one that is typically accompanied with a healthy dose of fear, guilt, retribution or negative consequences (if their prescription is not adhered to) by some weak or guilty person. Sadly, when things don't quite work out in the manner that they were told that it would, that is for the better or the worse - some individuals will return to the same person for more advice!

There are, and have been so many voices in the world, from which each one of us has listened to from time to time, hoping to find some clarity or understanding, while attempting to navigate through the unknown in and out of this world.  Some counselors, will end up helping you to develop what I will refer to as a 'condemning conscious'.  That it to say that for every action that you take, or whatever decision you make, you are persecuted by their unhealthy advice, words and voices of condemnation, that take up residence in your conscience.

And one day, what will occur, when the so-called voice of reason of that person or person, who you permitted to take charge of your conscience lets you down, or even worse falters them or themselves?  Answer?  If you are not careful, they will take you down with them, because you have never been able to, or permitted you, your conscience, your experiences and your cognitive awareness and abilities, to pilot your ship!

A better method that could be employed in order to navigate through life, or to pilot your own ship might be this: see this world as the odyssey that it happens to be. Second, understand that oftentimes, as the old Bishop used to say, your opinion, is just as good on a day-to-day basis, as anyone elses happens to be. Another problem is this:  oftentimes, some individuals elect to allow someone else to take responsibility for deciding the choices that they will make. I have seen families, even couples who have outsourced the leadership in their families, to some 3rd person, a friend, a teacher, a mentor, a pastor or a living David Koresh type-figure.  And why do people do this?

They do so for a myriad of reasons.  Some individuals, simply have never been in charge of their lives, given the overbearing parents, teachers, preachers, siblings and other guides, who to put it nicely 'tutored' them or to be more succinct, dominated them or took charge of them and their lives, during some vulnerable period(s) in their lives. Oftentimes, and in these instances the implied message that they receive, not so subtly is, "you do not know what you are doing", and "I know what I am doing", so FOLLOW ME and the script that I provide for you.  Sadly, the follow me part, eventually turns into 'OBEY ME'!

Some humans are weaker, or better yet, they are not as fully developed as others tend to be, and they are more likely to fall prey to this form of trenchant domination.  Besides, in the end, if things go wrong, the ones who knowingly elect to capitulate, can simply blame their failures or short-comings on someone else.  I have had individuals come to me in the past, in order to ask for advice.  For example, they might ask, "what would you do if...".  And similar to Rufus the Dufus, I would, without thinking, in turn share my opinion with them, only to experience a return visit by the same individual (s) in the future, and to be blithely informed, "the advice that you gave me was wrong".  Er herm!

This world is an odyssey in many respects, so live it as a “I don't know the answer to everything”, that is what I really believe,  Existentially speaking, most of us would simply like to live, partake and enjoy life along with a reasonable amount of pleasure, and a lesser amount of peril, I suspect.   Most of us, have been exposed to  voices from other people who on a regular basis supply us with a steady cadence of death, doom and gloom scenarios, along with a kind of 'the sky is falling kind of pessimism and scenarios'.  And who needs that, unless of course, the United States is bombarding your nation at the time (er herm)!

Individuals, who are the harbingers of what I will refer to as, 'a persecution complex', will remind you of all of the things that you do wrong, and teach you the art of persecuting yourself, well, that is if you permit them too.  Too many people, as I mentioned before, will be only too happy to remind you of all of the things that you have done wrong in life.  However, another way of looking at it is, to put it another way; you simply made a choice that did not quite work out, on a prior occasion and humans, do that.  So expect to make mistakes, even after you know that you did all that you could do before, including praying, in order to make the best choice, based upon what you knew or understood at the time, it is simply a part of life that we cannot escape, and you are a part of life too.

In conclusion, if you are experiencing this kind of scenario with a purported friend or an obvious foe, simply acknowledge this fact of life:  You have met 'god', and this god, happens to be the person who wants to dominate your life; and they believe that they are God, or God sent.  So, why am I writing this piece?  Did someone do something to me lately, you're thinking?  The answer is 'nyat'!  It is the last day in the year 2011, and I simply want to encourage some individuals that I know, and others that I don't know with this message, as they begin the New Year:

Live your life in 2012, and stop listening to the, everything that you do is wrong reporters in your life, or the 'you aren't any good or haven't made it yet, anyway, voices, that are in your lives - even the ones who carry around huge bibles. These voices, mostly come from overly-religious sycophants, zealots, controlling and unhappy people and overly confident ones, who have never resolved their outstanding issues, or think a bit too highly or have an exaggerated sense of themselves. And remember this:  That at the end of the day, your life is your life, that is unless you give the control of your life over to someone else, either because you neither want to be responsible for taking charge, nor to be responsible for it, given the choices that you will have to make everyday, for the rest of your life!

Won't it be funny, if when all of us reach the allegorical form of Heaven, that is portrayed in certain sacred texts, that while standing before God, he says, brother or sister, I have never known anyone to have made more screwups in life than you did, but come on in, BECAUSE I LOVED YOU WHEN I CREATED YOU AND I NEVER STOPPED, LOVING YOU!

If, a thousand years with God is only one day, each one of us exists for less than a day, apparently (we simply take out time to go to sleep and download our personal computers, every 14 hours or so).  During the day that I am spending on Earth then, I simply accept life for what it is, and do the best that I am able to do, while I am still here on location.  I see myself as being responsible for the choices that I make and have made during my one day here, whether they worked out or not - and some of the choices that I made, well, let's just say, 'DON't tell anybody', eek!  And like the old Bishop, you don't have to agree with me, however, I suppose that my 'informed opinion', is just about as good as anyone elses happens to be.  My focus happens to be more on what put me here and ITS expectation, the one that is NOT A MAN, that IT should lie!

The Rev

And if you are wondering, who is this strange minister, who hasn't been a parish minister for a decade or so now?  Answer:  I tend to be more like Moses, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist and even Jesus Christ of Hebrew and  Christian traditions.  I prefer being outside, and have several sets of sandals to prove it; let them have the Temples, and I will drop in for a visit from time to time.  Blasphemy and sacrilege? Yes I know - see you at the Pearly Gates; I will be standing in line with the group in sandals, wearing goatskins and donning Raybans' perhaps!