Respect

Others,

The goodness of the economy includes respect for the poor. Poverty increases when the wealth of the wealthiest grows without compensation for error.

Topless Protesters Detained
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/topless-protesters-detained-davos-forum-134449002.html

Respect can also be rendered in the form of liberating captives.

Navy SEAL’s Rescue Aid Workers
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2012/01/26/navy-seals-rescue-two-aid-workers-from-somali-pirates-gunmen-killed/CvdZGjbE55JgajMAAfVuoL/story.html

Respect
Fm. Ps.111

Amazing!
Creation is wondrous!
God is the CREATOR.
Let the light of creation shine
as yours and mine.

I will give thanks to the LORD
in the assembly of the faithful.
I will sing gratefully
with my whole heart.

Great is the love of creation!
The unseen underlies and guides
that which is seen.

Science is waiting
to be found by those
who will test for it.

Art is looking
for expression
through those
who will express it.

Justice will be rendered
by those who will
represent it.

The design of the CREATOR
is full of majestic liberty.
Grace radiates from compassion.
Splendor gives birth to beauty.
Marvelous works will be remembered.
The LORD is gracious.
Mercy is kind.
Righteousness endures forever.

Food is given
to those
who will work for it.
God is mindful
of the covenant
with creation.

Works by design are faithful and true.
Justice by the rule of the law is sure.

Safety, health and providence
guide the law with truth in equity.

Redemption has been sent to those
who will accept it.
The covenant has been established
for those who will establish it.

Awe for holiness
signifies redemption.

Respect for the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
Those who act respectfully have a good understanding.
True praise endures forever.

=====================

Love for others often finds its most profound initiation through romantic attraction.

The following music video by Alizee makes an appeal to desire to know the unknown by avoiding that which is false about romance.

Alizee – Mademoiselle Juliette
http://www.youtube.com/user/AlizeeVEVO#p/u/4/WyUXWgmEvE8

“Mademoiselle Juliette,
It’s in the Alpha Romeo,
from Verona to Rome, she runs;
Pretty syndrome of love.

“Shakespeare muses about his muse.
She is his heroin abuse.
She rises in his towers.
The writer plays great tricks for hours.

“Miss Juliette,
not above forgettin’,
must choose between Montague and Capulet
Juliette would miss all her frettin’;
Champagne cut;
Cocaine popped.”

===================

The video makes a dramatic leap from the comedy of knowing the unknown through the one that is loved to knowing that it is one’s self that is being sought to be known by entertaining the romantic impulse.

How is she to find sanity in the madness of love? She is the modern Juliette. She knows better than to throw herself into love with madness, but her flaw had been that she had been throwing herself into substance use to avoid that madness.

The value of Shakespeare’s tragedy is that it purges that which is false about romance to encourage each in the audience to know his or her self. Many marriages resolve to the success of learning how to work with the person whom had been loved romantically.

The modern Juliette has learned to avoid subjugating herself to dependency. She just has to learn how to avoid dependency upon addictive substances.

Occupy the liberty of democracy with sanity,

Steve K.

Darkness

Others,

It is important to know how we respond to the absence of light. When it is dark and hard to see, reliance on the other senses makes navigation possible. Speed in movement has to be adjusted to avoid pain.

Corruption is the absence of “light” in leadership. Deliver us from corruption.

“Stop the Corporate Takeover of Democracy” by Bernie Sanders
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/9537-focus-stop-the-corporate-takeover-of-democracy

There is emotional content to the historical context in which Psalm 62 was written. My sense is that the psalm had been written after the liberation from captivity in Babylon had turned out to be another concession to oppression. This concession was to the leadership of a province in the Persian empire.

Deliverance
Ps.62:6-14

My soul waits in silence for deliverance.
My hope rests in God, my rock and my salvation.

The stronghold of my faith will not be shaken.
My safety and honor lie in my Savior.

Put your trust in the LORD, people.
Pour out your hearts as an offering.
Faith in God is our refuge.

The wealthiest are but a fleeting breath.
The fidelity of the lowly is suspect.

Extremists are lighter than a feather
on the scales of justice.

Do not trust in extortion;
take no pride in robbery;
Do not set your heart
upon ill-gotten gain.

The LORD has spoken once for all time:
Power belongs to God.

Gratitude belongs to you, O LORD,
for you repay everyone for
correction and redemption.

====================

It seems that the feeling that the psalmist had could be described as “Black.”

Black – Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi with Norah Jones
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sqSI6MWQt0

“We touched the walls of the city streets and
Dead ends plain, sadly showed us our ways
Of never asking why”

“Cast down it was heaven sent and
To the church, no intent to repent on my knees
Just to cry“

“Until you travel to that place you can’t come back
Where the last pain is gone and all that’s left is black.”

I'm feeling the need for deliverance from the corruption of the plan according to the design by Nature's God. This song expresses feelings related to the socio-economic oppression caused by political concession to greed. Please deliver us from evil.

Occupy democracy. Vote for the rule of law. No one is above the law.

Steve K.

Light

Others,

Light is important to sight in human being. When I hear something that is not seen, I have to look to find the source of the sound. If I smell something that I do not see, I have to look to find the source. If I feel pain or pleasure from an unknown source, I look to see the cause of the change in sensation. If I taste something that I did not expect to taste, I have to look at what I’m consuming to see what caused the unexpected taste.

The following poem re-writes a psalm that celebrates light in relation to sight and knowing.

Light
Fm Ps.139:1-5, 12-17

I have been searched
in my searching.
I have been known
by my knowing.

God, you know why
I sit and stand.
My motivations are
subject to your design.
My journey is shown
to the light of day.
My rest stops
are apparent.

There is not a word
that I could speak
that is not related
to your rule.

The warmth of your light
is comforting.
It goes before me.
It follows my steps.
Your hand is there
to guide me
on the way.

Your truth is too wonderful for me;
It is so high that I cannot attain it.

It is the knowledge of your truth
that sustains me.
It keeps me searching for that
which can be known.

You created my inmost parts.
My DNA was knit within my mother’s womb.
Your code has been written in my soul.

I will continue to thank you
because I have been made marvelously.
Your works are wonderful.
I know it well.
The creation of my body
was not a secret to you.
The heights of heaven
were woven into the depths
of the earth.

Your sight saw my limbs
before they were finished in the womb;
Each part of my life is being
written in your book;
I am being fashioned day by day.
The future is forming from what
had been into that which
is yet to be.

The depth of your thought is deep.
The sum of your thoughts
exceeds the greatest height.
If I were to count them,
they would be more in number
than the sand.
My life would need to span
the length of time
to count them all.

Thank you LORD
for being God,
my Creator.

==================

Sensation is the means by which reality is sensed. Truth is learned from variation and constancy in the perspective on perceptions.

Those who dictate truth to others based on belief in destruction do not know the truth. They have yet to learn. They are culpable for their damages to others.

Those who dictate truth believe that it is good to distort re-districting to favor the wealthiest. They believe that it is okay to test with torture. It had been thought that torture had been limited to the Guantanamo detention camp under the Bush administration. It had been thought that indefinite detention without a trial had been limited to the same administration.

View the following video to see if you agree that torture had been used on Nick Christie in a Lee county jail in Florida.

Pepper Sprayed to Death in Jail
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILEmYeX7eHQ&feature=g-all-f&context=G2c026d1FAAAAAAAACAA

Christie was tortured to death. He was a US citizen. He was 62 years old. He was struggling with a mental condition that had developed in relation to a medical diagnosis regarding his breath. (Chronic pulmonary disease: http://www.ehow.com/about_5380426_definition-chronic-pulmonary-disease.html?ref=Track2&utm_source=ask )

He had been restrained in the “devil’s chair” for six hours. He had a spit mask placed on him when he had a breathing condition. What was the purpose to spraying him with pepper? Why was he sprayed repeatedly when he should not have been sprayed at all? He should have been taken to the psychiatric ward of a hospital under the provision of the Baker Act in Florida Law.

Testing with torture is not acceptable law enforcement. Was law enforcement testing to shock him out of his mental condition?  This was not an acceptable application of the scientific method. The law was not enforced. It had been broken by those who were responsible for enforcing it.  

If the last ten years of government in Florida had not been conditioned by the misuse of redistricting to favor the wealthiest, there would not be a two to one majority in the legislature. If there had not been an unfair majority for the last decade, the next election would be about the competition for representation between the parties. As it is, corrections and reparations are in order for the damage that has been done.

It is hard to trust leadership after having been burned by the abuse of authority. Nevertheless, the unfair majority clearly places the responsibility for error on the party who profited from the “majority” leadership. They are culpable for reparations.

The other party is responsible for making corrections. Help take responsibility for the correction. Get out and vote for leaders who support democracy, not dictatorship.

Even though our trust had been exploited, the importance of trust has been re-affirmed.

Billy Joel – A Matter of Trust
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yYchgX1fMw&feature=fvsr

“You can’t go the distance with too much resistance.
I know you have your doubts but for God’s sake don’t shut me out…”

It’s always been a matter of trust. It is still a matter of trust. Occupy democracy by voting for it.

Steve K.

Shine Forth

Shine forth through the New Year!

Others,

The celebration of the birth of Jesus is used to celebrate the re-birth of the solar year. The celebration of the baptism of Jesus is a celebration of renewal in Christ for Christians. The new solar year represents the renewal of time for all.

The linear aspect of time is progressive. Much of this progression is circular in relation to the rotation of spheres. The earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the sun as the galaxy moves away from a point of origination with all other galaxies. Time is both circular and linear. Each year represents renewal in the progress of civilization.

The code of law had been based on the destruction of the accused. The death penalty had been applied to crimes less than murder, yet murder could be excused with the pledge that the death had not been caused with malice.

The legal code had some requirements for conviction. The main criteria for judgment however rested on social status. If the accuser was closer to the imperial party than the accused, the accused was convicted. This law promoted a society that was characterized by the pretense of law abiding behavior, but was undergirded by a homicidal impulse. It was an uncivilized form of civilization.

Now the law is based on the correction of criminal behavior. First the legal system has to prove that the accused was guilty of crime. Then it has to apply measures for correction. The measures are aimed at the rehabilitation, not the destruction of the person who has been convicted.

Statistics and DNA evidence have shown that the system has not been perfect in providing proof that the accused had been guilty of crime. Social status has still played a large role in obtaining convictions. Empathy for those who are working to be rehabilitated is the cost of redemption for society.

It is another new year. The public has been presented with the ‘war on Islam’ by sensationalism in the media. It is time to remember that the more aggressive this so called “war with Islam” is pushed, the more defensive Islamic society has the right to be. A society that promotes human rights has to promote them as the goal for the society that discredits them. Islam is not the problem. The lack of respect for human rights in a government that does not protect freedom of religion is.

Wars of aggression were ruled out by the international standard formed in relation to the world wars. It is not right to invade a country to impose regime change. The change is not organic to the people of the society. Investigation and mediation supported by military intervention is gaining acceptance as a development of the international standard. When there is no proactive effort to correct dictatorship in the world, democracy defaults to oppression.

The people of the nation have to initiate the call for change to an oppressive government. Otherwise, the determinations are made to support the international business oligarchy that promotes the industry of war.

The economic struggle in the world had never been between communism and capitalism. It had been between communism and fascism; the single party political systems that promote the interest of the party. Democracy shines forth as the better political system. Two or more parties have to debate important interests in order to seek the most representative solution.

Insofar as democracy is a reflection of design in representative government, it is sanctioned in the mind of God. Single party representation that claims sole privilege to divine favor however is not. There is much to be done to occupy our democracy. The correction of the unfair advantage afforded to the wealthiest by the political system is a primary goal.

I offer the following as an expression of faith for those who choose to share it.

Creation (Fm Gen.1:1-5)

The earth was a formless void; darkness covered the face of the deep when the Creator was creating life. This was in the beginning. God said, “Let there be light.” The earth turned into the sun. There was light. The light was called day. The dark was called night. There was evening. There was morning. The first day of creation had passed. It was good. (fm. Gen. 1:1-5)

Fm Ps.29

Witness the new creation, you gods.
Ascribe to the Creator glory and strength.

Observe the light as it shines forth.
Attribute beauty to the manifestation
of divine Light.

Revelation is upon the waters;
the God of glory rumbles;
Revelation shines through
the great lifting of mighty waves.

The voice of the LORD
speaks through the crack of lightning.
Some trees are broken by lightning
to redeem the life of the forest.

The Potter of the earth
makes it quake for a shake.
The hills skip like a calf;
The mountains like a wild young ox.

The voice of the Maker
spits the flames of volcano heavenward;
Clouds are pushed into the air;
The wilderness shakes in wonder.

The raging fire
serves a purpose.
The land is prepared for re-birth.

Even when creation groans
all are crying, “Glory!”
in the temple of the LORD.

Christ rules over reparations for disasters.
The RULER reigns with the law of love forever.

Strength is given to the people.
The blessings of peace are rendered
with civility.

Love others as you would have them love you.
Know yourself through your respect for them.
Act only in a way that you could will for all.

Have a happy new year
and shine forth like the star that you are!

Steve K.