My 100 Year Old Ago Baptism

When I was eight years old I was informed I had reached the age of accountability and therefore needed to forge a contract with God which would make me responsible for all of my decisions and actions, especially those that were potentially damaging to myself and others, from that point forward, forever and ever. I remember walking through marbled halls and answering to men wearing starched white shirts held tightly around their necks with perfectly knotted ties wrapped in tailored jackets, sitting in very quiet rooms with high ceilings, behind large, ornate desks.

I was in agreement with and felt a bit honored by the whole ordeal, really. Most of my friends at the time were Catholic and had to make the same agreement when they were so young they couldn’t even walk or talk so I figured I was getting a pretty good deal. At the time I had a pretty good grasp of the concept of symbolism but I really didn’t understand why I had to be pushed to the bottom of a giant four foot deep ornate bath tub filled with cold water in order to seal the deal, twice. I thought maybe the twice part was because someone sensed I might be a bit of a problem in the future and they wanted to make sure I got the point.

I think most people who get baptized miss the fact that the Devil takes note of such an event. In my case the fact that the Devil was a witness to the whole ordeal kind of erased any questions I had in my mind as to, “Where’s the pen and paper, where do I sign?” I remember feeling that his attendance reinforced my very early recognition of the existence of good and evil. As it turned out, when all was said and done there was a pen and a piece of paper but I was never invited to sign it. I resolved the conflict in my mind with the understanding that my submission to my own near drowning was just as good, or perhaps even better than my signature.

My baptism influenced my life for the good and has a lot to do with where I am today. As I mentioned above it helped reinforce my understanding of the profound concept of good vs. evil, even at the tender age of eight years old.

What I had no concept of at the time was ever living to be 61 years old and the inevitable highs and lows that would occur in my life between then and now. I do remember when I turned ten years old I decided since I was born in 1950 I would think of my future life in terms of decades lived. Even so I had a very difficult time imagining 1970 and the year 2000 was but a futuristic fantasy filled with x-ray glasses, 3 dimensional, color TV and flying cars.

Please excuse my rambling. My point is, it’s 2012 and I’m still here and my baptism seems like it was 100 years ago.

- Me Self

End of Year Observations and a bit of Advice

If you were, right now, on a ship in the middle of the ocean, with an unobstructed and undeniable view of black storm clouds in the direction of all horizons what would you do? With no knowledge of which clouds will intensify or dissipate if any, what would you do? My advice would be to simply prepare yourself for whatever you perceive is about to happen in the direction of your sails. Or if deemed necessary change directions and if you are not the captain of your ship, do whatever is in your power to convince your captain to change directions.

America is in a steep decline. Perhaps signaling a global decline? Our elected representatives who have taken an oath to uphold and defend our constitution apparently haven’t even read it or fail to comprehend its contents or meaning or outright defy it in opposition to their own corrupt interests. They no longer listen to their constituents through conventional means, i.e., telephone calls, letters or even email. I know, I’ve tried repeatedly over the past year. They conduct ‘town hall meetings’ as diatribes and lectures rather than listening to the voices of those they represent. The main stream media, paid for and acting as an arm of our corrupt representatives reports our voices as uneducated, ignorant, contrived, insincere, covertly organized, radical, ‘nut-winged’ and even militant.

We the citizens of this great nation are allowing this decline to happen. Who among us has the time or inclination to take on and solve problems that exist beyond the realm of our own little microcosm of life; our families and our jobs?

Do I need to say it? Do you need to be shaken by the shoulders to understand that if you don’t start acting beyond the boundaries of your little world that you and your children are soon to be buried in an avalanche of domination trumping perhaps the very core of your own personal beliefs?

The New Electronic Grass Roots

The rise of the internet and the subsequent birth of social networking and the blogosphere is the greatest weapon in defense of freedom since the inception and execution of the Gutenberg press, guerilla warfare as invented by and executed by American Revolutionaries and the American invention of the Winchester repeater rifle. The internet is again, undeniably, an American invention born from the roots of freedom resulting in unlimited and unabated innovation. The blogosphere is exposing severely biased news organizations, corrupt governments, fatal propaganda and politicians and mainstream media outlets for what and who they are.

Plant Your Seeds

First and foremost, balance your life. Actually, tip the scales on the positive side. Live, laugh and love, enjoy your life to the fullest but create enough weight to throw on and tip the scales to balance out an unexpected crisis or disaster, upon a moments notice.

Prepare yourself physically and mentally if you possess the ability to do so. Teach your children first and foremost the principle of good vs. evil and hone not only their minds but also their bodies. Encourage and teach them the technology needed to preserve social networking and the blogosphere and encourage them to use such tools to spread the truth and goodness. Teach them a trade, to use their hands. Teach them to understand that those dark clouds on the horizon have the potential to not only cause a crippling technological breakdown but also the destruction of our physical infrastructure. Stock up and store those commodities that enable you to not only sustain but enjoy your life.

The Top Three Planetary Threats

• The resurgence of Communism – world domination via the ultimate control of the individual, their rights and their possessions, as sought by power hungry, ruthless dictators and megalomaniacs overcome with evil obsessions.
• The Myth of Global warming – The 'Green Movement' - a cleverly disguised, sinister, feel-good path to world domination.
• Radical Muslimism – An epidemical off-shoot of the Islamic religion who’s conversion methods include strong armed terrorist actions and threats offering you the opportunity to live a life defined by their leaders in lieu of having your head cut off, slowly, or having your body blown to smithereens while shopping for a piece of fruit in an open air market. Those who somehow escape the aforementioned stark consequences of non-conversion are subject to an excruciating and prolonged, extremely perverse form of guerilla warfare and/or persecution, humiliation or life long submission.

The Top Three Purveyors of the Worlds Most Dangerous Threats

• Barack "It's not my fault" Obama – the source of the virus that will ultimately, without intervention, weaken America to the point of collapse.
  
• Al Gore – the planetary bully who the world forfeited their lunch money to because no one had the balls to stand up to him.
• Mahmoud Ahmajinedad – the mass murderer whose precursor lunacy went unbelievably undetected and/or was deemed too crazy to believe.