Tag Archives: wisdom

Film: The Great Educator

I went on a Twitter rampage (compared to my usual posting rate) yesterday, beginning with rants against the extreme right-wing folks and then the extreme left-wing folks and then…as I finished watching the DVD “Priest” on my computer (so that I could get it back to library before I got fined for being late) I shifted suddenly and dramatically to sharing “movie wisdom.”

Now, after doing that, I am fully convinced (and will likely remain so for at least a few more days) that all the useful common-sense knowledge and keys to success that I need can be found in film. Especially action movies, cheesy horror and science fiction, and perhaps dark comedies, too.

Without further ado, let me share that wisdom, some of which is leftovers from yesterday’s tweeting (slightly reheated or freshened up with some new ingredients) and some new gems…or polished rocks…or just hunks of asphalt that broke off from the edge of the parking lot:

  • You know that you are entering into an area full of monsters and/or humans who are hostile to you. While I realize you need to search the area quickly, find supplies, look for clues and/or locate someone, I humbly suggest to you that this would NOT be a good time to split up and all go individually into different directions.
  • If a mysterious someone kidnaps your beloved, or a close relative or friend, and leaves a note, obvious clue or survivor to tip you off where to go hunting for them and your loved one…well, it’s a trap!
  • There are only four populations that you are allowed to completely exterminate without fear of retaliation by society or guilt to yourself: Nazis, vampires, zombies & invading extraterrestrials
  • In a dystopian future and/or apocalyptic wasteland, black clothing made of leather, latex and/or vinyl will always be in fashion. (Women are allowed to wear white versions for special occasions before Labor Day.)
  • The most evil and dangerous creatures will always grow inside and eventually spring out from really disgusting, slimy pods that are either all over the floor of the room/cave/whatever you must pass through, or are hanging from the ceiling above you, and probably all around you like sides of beef in a butcher’s freezer. You should avoid them. To be safe, avoid Brussels sprouts and other disgusting and potentially slimy ovoid vegetables, too.
  • Addendum to the above point: Evil creatures freshly hatched from slimy pods always—even though it makes no sense based on how things normally work in nature—come out with full strength, agility and awareness of their surroundings. (Bring along a person you don’t like and can shove in the way to buy yourself time.)
  • If the bullet has passed all the way through your body, it is considered the same as a flesh wound and you are required to keep on going. The only exceptions are if it passed through your heart and/or lungs—and even then you’re expected to try to keep going for the next five to 10 minutes.
  • When working with explosives, always bring a second detonator, as someone will always end up accidentally shooting or crushing the one you’re counting on
  • Never bring a knife to a gunfight. Exception is if you are a samurai. Or ninja. Or Vin Diesel’s “Riddick” character or someone like the warrior priests of “Priest.” In those cases, you are pretty much required to ONLY bring a knife (or a larger melee weapon bearing blades and/or spikes).
  • If you are supernaturally fast, agile and accurate, it is considered socially unacceptable to use firearms. Unless you’re in the Matrix.
  • Once you’ve knocked down your adversary (who is armed with a gun, while you are not), please remember to take his or her gun away afterward—before you get caught up in emotional bonding or witty repartee with your friends nearby. Also, it might be a good idea to use that gun to shoot said entity in head, whether human or not. Thank can me later…or the grandkids my advice made it possible for you to have can thank me.
  • Always keep a watch with you. Entirely too many protagonists lately have not been planning their attacks well and have allowed themselves to be caught in creature-infested areas just as the sun is going down.
  • It’s quite acceptable for drama queen to be kept alive through end of your quest, especially if he or she provides good comic relief. However, do NOT apply same standard to alien queen or vampire queen.
  • Always pay attention to your grooming. After all, as the movies teach us, it’s the attractive ones who will be rescued/survive/prosper…

Take a Lesson John-Boy by Miz Pink

Okay dokay here we go.

No doubt all of you in blogland have heard about that John Mayer interview with Playboy Magazine and even if you don’t know who the hell he is and I sure didn’t except vaguely that he sang some crap, you no doubt know about things like talking about his “hood pass” and using the N-word and talking about how his penis is like a white supremacist because he only boinks white chicks.

Nothing new here. Just want to preface that Johnny is young, virile, healthy and can speak but has diarrhea of the mouth and no home training and should shut the heck up.

Oh, article here by the by: www.playboy.com/articles/john-mayer-playboy-interview/index.html?page=1

On the other hand I just learned that Roger Ebert the movie critic hasn’t been able to speak for the past four years and the Esquire Magazine article about him is just heartbreaking (in good and bad ways). Deke shared with me some of the Twitter posts that Roger has done and all I can say is, this is a man who cannot speak but has loads to say and does it well.

John Mayer should take lesssons from him.

Esquire article about Mr Ebert here: www.esquire.com/print-this/roger-ebert-0310

Balanced, Not Superstitous

I’m sure this post will earn some guffaws and maybe some blow-back from my loyal readers who happen to be atheists or semi-militant agnostics, but here goes…

My belief in God, and Jesus for that matter, is not a sign of any of the following:

  • Fear of death
  • Insecurity
  • Superstition
  • Desire to belong to a group
  • An aching emptiness inside that I wanted to fill
  • Delusion
  • Idiocy
  • Lack of scientific awareness
  • Immaturity

In fact, I see a lot of maturity and balance in my worldview. And that is because I deny neither the scientific nor the spiritual. I’m not saying I have all the answers in life, but what I do have is a lot of internal security and well-being.

I don’t understand when entirely secular folks insist that to be fully mature, I must deny my belief in, and search for, spiritual meaning. Just as I don’t understand religious people who insist on ignoring science and reason.

Humans have sought spiritual discernment for a long time, and for quite a number of centuries (in fact, a couple millennia at least), it hasn’t been about explaining why it rains or how the sun moves across the sky or anything like that. It’s been about a deeper kind of meaning. People who dismiss religion as an artifact of ignorant ancient goat herders is doing a disservice to goat herders (many of whom, I am sure, had deeper thoughts than screwing their herd-stock and picking at their asses) and a disservice to spiritual seekers.

Yes, there was a time when religion was all about explaining worldly things. But as people have advanced, so has the depth and maturity of spiritual seeking. Sure, there are plenty of idiots in the world who follow religion and religious leaders blindly and skim only the surface of religious precepts, but most people seem to prefer following someone than thinking for themselves.

Funny thing is, spiritual seeking, while it cannot follow the scientific method, does still follow the same general progression as science. That is, as humans have advanced, so has the study. Science was once a pretty pathetically ignorant, simplistic and sketchy affair, just like religion.

The problem is that the more we figure out about the world, the more full of ourselves and our intelligence we become, and the more we think we don’t need God. We are not slowly disproving God, but simply pushing him aside unnecessarily.

If more believers would be mature about their spiritual seeking, and more non-believers would stop ridiculing those who are trying to find spiritual meaning, maybe religion wouldn’t be the mess it has become these days. Now, both sides, secular and religious, essentially call the other side a bunch of heretics, which solves nothing.

I can already see one retort coming.

But science is rational. Science doesn’t lead to oppression or wars!

Wrong.

Maybe it doesn’t have the same track record right now, but religion had a hell of a head start. People can blindly follow a scientific theory or finding as much as a biblical principle. Science and research can be twisted, skewed and misrepresented.

Hmmmm. Just like religion.

The Nazis based their genocidal campaign in World War II based on “science” that showed Aryans were superior. Noted intellects justified slavery by “proving” that Blacks weren’t as evolved or even as human as Whites. Medical science can downplay the horrors of abortion, even as it can also be used to overplay them. Research shows us that it isn’t cost-effective or “useful” to pay for certain types of medical screening or healthcare, and so insurance companies and hospital executives can oppress us to sickness or even death. Religious groups can call homosexuals deviant because they can point to a  lack of scientific proof that same-sex desires are inherited rather than learned or chosen. Need I go on?

Science is on pace to do everything that religion did and more. It can bring us together in understanding and truth and good guidance. And it can tear us apart.

Science is not the be-all and end-all of human experience, and it never will be. Nor shall religion or any kind of spiritual pursuit. I maintain that both are entirely necessary to being mature humans.

A Fool for You by Miz Pink

I thought about posting that I was taking over the blog and devoting it to a combination of posts on bible study and crochet projects…or that Deacon Blue doesn’t exist and I created him to be my public face (a la “Remington Steele”)…or that I am expecting octuplets…

And then I realized that too many people pull this stuff on April 1st and either confuse the dickens outta folks or look silly because everyone says, “C’mon, we KNOW it’s April Fool’s Day!”

So, in honor of April Fool’s Day, some bible passages about fools:

Proverbs 17:28 – Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

Matthew 7:26 – Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.

First Corinthians 3:18 – Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.

Proverbs 12:15 – The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel.

Proverbs 12:16 A fool shows his annoyance the same day, but one who overlooks an insult is prudent.

Feeling Special by Miz Pink

Who doesn’t wanna feel special…right? I mean a compliment here, a bit of flattery there, a slap on the back for a job well done. We all want some kinda validation and unsolicited love.

There’s nothning wrong with that but we need to be careful that when we’re getting a fair amount of it, we don’t let it go to our heads. See that’s the problem that popular people have, whether it’s the chick who’s been head cheerleader and prom queen and president of the class and is dating the super-hot dude on the baseball team…or whether it’s a celebrity on an ego trip…or whether it’s me or you.

When you’re popular or cute or talented, you can get hit with lots of praise and you start to think that you crap roses and fart perfume. You get caught up in who others think you are and you start to think you’re special and people who get less praise than you aren’t

But even those of us who don’t get praised and adored and lusted after and pumped up on the regular can still fall prey. A dude who’s been married a long time, and suddenly 20-year-olds are giving him a little flirty action and he steps out on the wife. Or you’re at work and you’re doing well with the boss and you start to think you don’t need to hang around the water cooler or that you can shirk your work and pass the weight along to your lessers. Or people tell you how healthy you look and you neglect to actually go to the doctor so you can find out about that cholesertol problem that’s gonna kill you in another 8 or 10 years.

So, a few words on that from the Bible writing folks…

St. Paul – Colossians: “Masters, do unto your servants that which is just and equal, knowing that ye also have a Master in heaven.”

Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. (Proverbs 27:2)

And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. (St. Matthew 23:12)

Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. –2 Philippians 2:3

Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. (Proverbs 26:12)

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. (Romans 12:3)

Keep it real, folks, and don’t let yourselves get too much into believing your own press.

Keep Your Wits About You

Today’s information dump from my brain into yours could seem pretty much just strictly spiritual advice. But even if you’re not in the mood for religion, stick around, because it has some seriously practical applications in daily life, too.

Anyway, I have two great biblical passages to share with you on today’s theme. For those with attention deficit issues (and if you’ve got those, you’ve definitely come to the wrong blog; I post way too long most days), they’re short, so don’t worry.

First,

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Gospel of Matthew, chapter 10, verse 16, King James version

And then,

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. First Peter, chapter 5, verse 8, King James version

In the Christian’s attempt to overcome the world and spread the gospel, both of the above passages are critical. Do not go out into the world naive about what you face. Kenny Rogers sang in “The Gambler” that: You need to know when to hold ’em, know when to fold ’em; know when to walk away, know when to run.

We must be peaceful whenever possible, which pretty much mean almost all the time. But at the same time, be aware and be watchful. Don’t be caught off guard and don’t be afraid to be wary or even cynical at times. Be willing and able to see the best in people; don’t assume that people are good though.

The second passage covers a lot of the same themes as the first, but with a more specific slant toward not letting Satan get too many good licks in on you, nor any of his servants (whether his actual servants or just folks he nudges your way to mess you up). But it adds another wrinkle: Be sober.

No, I’m not saying you have to be a teetotaller. God knows I’m not. Only reason I don’t have a beer every day or two is that my work and Little Girl Blue don’t really allow for much of that, and I’m paranoid about driving with any alcohol in my blood. I like a good drink now and again. But drinking doesn’t mean drunk. Any time you let alcohol or drugs get your senses and your judgment muddled, you open yourself to being attacked and to doing things that can really set you down a bad path.

Also remember that being sober isn’t just about intoxication. It’s also about things like covetousness, lust, passion and the like getting ahold of you in a big way. Don’t go overboard on such things because when they consume you, they can mess up your ability to be harmless, wise and/or vigilant like nobody’s business.

So, what does this mean for the non-Christian, who doesn’t have any reason to spread the gospel and doesn’t believe in Satan or maybe any devils at all? Well, even if you don’t believe in supernatural forces, you still have devils in your life. Might be an adversary or competitor. Might be a boss or a subordinate. Might be a bitter spouse or an angry ex. Might be a random criminal or someone you trust who is waiting to betray you.

Just be sober. Be vigilant. Be peaceful and be wise.

Just be careful out there.