Infusion

                             

Others,

Click on the link below to witness a rare moment! The tornado represents communication with heaven. The rainbow is the promise of a brighter future.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/02/24/rainbow-meets-tornado-in-colorado-sky_n_1298717.html

It is interesting to note that a tornado starts as a cylinder of cold air that rolls along a plain until a warm updraft kicks it upright into the familiar funnel. The tornado is formed under a super cell of clouds. It is a just a vortex of air until the funnel sucks some cloud down to the ground.

Natural disaster is dialog with God as the Creator. Nature has some forces that are larger than life. Walk with humility when you take the time for this talk.

Infusion fm. Ps.25

I lift up my soul to you, O LORD.
I put my trust in you, my God.

Do not let me be humiliated.
Don’t let my enemies beat me.
Let those who look to you escape shame.
Let the extremists be disappointed by their schemes.

Show me your way, O LORD.
Teach me your paths.

Lead my in your truth.
Teach me to be constructive in production.
You gave me the ark of my salvation.
I have trusted in you in adversity.

Remember your compassion and love.
They extend from before the beginning
to after the end.
They are infused throughout time.

Do not remember the sins of my youth.
Forgive my transgressions.
Remember me according to your love;
for the sake of your goodness.

You are gracious and upright.
You teach sinners that there is redemption
with repentance.
You guide the humble into goodness.
You teach your way to those who seek
your guidance.

The paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness.
Keep the covenant and share your testimonies.

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

Human being is not God, but we have the capacity to allow the uncreated energies of divine being to work through us by infusion with faith. Human being can be infused with divine energy.

Democracy was initiated by Pericles and Protagoras in Athens in direct relation to the Persian threat to the Greek homeland. After Alexander the Great led the coalition of Greek states in the expedition against Persia (336 BCE), Athens defaulted to traditional government under various empires.

See the First Peloponnesian War
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pericles

Democracy was to resurface as a political theory with the help of John Locke during the constitutional monarchy (1688 CE).

The aristocracy had been regarded as possessing the divine right to rule during an absolute monarchy.  The king had been appointed and ordained by God to rule. The belief in the divine right of kings was promoted to reduce the competition for the position of leadership for the kingdom. This did not stop competition. There were certainly cases where it only heightened the struggle to obtain the power associated with the absolute monarchy.

The Royal Acts of Supremacy (1534, 1559) were enacted to give the king authority over the Church of England.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acts_of_Supremacy The separation of Church and State leadership as affirmed by the different offices of the pope and the king was denied by the acts. The primary justification for the acts was that the pope had grown too powerful as a political figure.

John Locke presented his advocacy for the social contract of a government based on human understanding in the seventeenth century, over a hundred years after the second act of supremacy. If the pope had grown to be too powerful before the act, the king or queen of England had grown to be too powerful after it. This growth did not go unchallenged.
Parliament had been started with the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. This was the start of democratic monarchy. The Glorious Revolution of 1688 established a constitutional monarchy. It was the revolution that had allowed John Locke to return to England.

This was the political background that led Locke to question traditional revelation. This questioning would eventually lead to greater regard for biblical criticism. A rudimentary form of questioning was established when Locke criticized traditional revelation.

He argued that there is greater certainty with propositions knowable by reason than by traditional revelation. Certainty regarding the measure of triangles was compared to certainty regarding the story of the flood in the bible:

“The like holds in matter of fact, knowable by our senses; v.g. the history of the deluge is conveyed to us by writings, which had their original from revelation: and yet nobody, I think, will say he has as certain and clear a knowledge of the flood as Noah that saw it; of that he himself would have had, had he then been alive and seen it.” (“Concerning Human Understanding,” Ch.XVIII, S.4, John Locke, 1688)

Biblical criticism now regards the story of the flood in the bible as a modification of the Sumerian legend. The point regarding the importance of sensory perception however, still stands. Human understanding uses sensory perception for reasoning based on facts and the rules for reasoning.

The criticism of traditional revelation did not eliminate the question regarding the role of natural disaster in nature. Drought is another form of disaster that played a prominent role in the story of the conflict between Elijah and the prophets of Baal under King Ahab.

If monarchy was dependent upon the fertility of the earth for the crop cycle to produce food for the military, then a drought provided a strike against the god of fertility. It provided motivation to pray to the Creator for guidance.

While Elijah, King Ahab and the prophets of Baal are regarded as historical figures, the slaughter of the prophets of Baal is thought to be metaphorical. The destruction of the leadership of another religion offends the law to not kill. No religion however should be presented as the only legal religion for the state. Religion is the citizen’s choice.

The UK is a parent country to democracy in the US. It has become apparent that the parent needs to document that freedom of religion is a human right in the constitutional monarchy. The acts of supremacy need to be counteracted. The law needs to recognize that the archbishop of Canterbury is the leader of the Church of England.

Water plays an important role in hydration as a basic need. We need water as much as crops need rain. The fundamental need for love is compared to the need for rain in the Selena Gomez song called, “A Year Without Rain.”

Selena Gomez – A Year Without Rain
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8uPvX2te0I

She sings that “A day without you is like a year without rain.”

Democracy needs your participation to work.
Occupy democracy by watching current events.

Freedom of religion needs you to be free.
A day without you is like a year without rain.

Steve K.

Meritocracy

Occupy the meritocracy of democracy!

Others,

Consider the case of a disease that not only threatened to kill many, it threatened to kill all. The Black Death killed 1.5 million out of 4 million people in England between 1348 and 1350. There was no medical knowledge of the disease. It was not known how to treat it at the time.

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/black_death_of_1348_to_1350.htm

Was the plague a curse from God? Was it punishment for sin? What caused the disease? From where did it come?

The outbreak of the Black Death actually started in China in the 1330’s. It was transported to Europe by Italian merchant ships that arrived in Sicily in October of 1347.

http://www.themiddleages.net/plague.html

Boccaccio recorded the symptoms: “The first signs of the plague were lumps in the groins or armpits. After this, livid black spots appeared on the arms, thighs and other parts of the body. Few recovered. Almost all died within three days, usually without any fever.”

Medical inquiry has to evaluate relevant evidence. Questions regarding God’s role are set aside to favor the investigation of the relation between physical symptoms and causality. Theology can interpret findings after a cause has been identified and a treatment has been devised.

What were the people of England to do? Suppose they knew that the disease started to rampage after a ship had landed from Italy? Should they assume biological warfare? Should they send an army to Italy; then on to China? Would that cure the disease?

It became apparent to objective observation that it was fleas from rats that started the contagion. The rats had climbed onto the ships that sailed from China to Italy; then from Italy to England. It was then spread by close contact with other humans.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm

What could be done? It was the lack of community sanitation and the close living quarters that provided a favorable environment for the disease to spread. Garbage was not taken to public landfills. Bodily waste was not disposed away from the household. The unsanitary conditions were favorable for the rats that harbored the fleas that spread the contagion.

The cure for the time was environmental. They didn’t come up with an inoculation that cured the disease. They had to change the living conditions. Community and household sanitation had to be improved to the extent that the rats would not have such a happy home.

This was a time in history where Europeans were coming closer to understanding the microbial causes of disease. The fleas on the rats were the vectors for the disease, but it was some invisible microbe that caused it.

The environment established by humans was favorable to the communication of the pathogenic microbe, so improvement of living conditions would come to provide a preventative measure.

Did everyone respond objectively to the plague? Albert Camus, a writer associated with existential philosophy, wrote a novel called “The Plague” that evaluated the social situation. He used it to comment on the German occupation of France; an occupation that had only recently ended.

The leadership of the time was sectarian. They supported state religion. They called it Christianity. They said that the disease was a punishment from God. They used it to control the population by frightening it into submission. They tortured suspects. They killed people who were not Christian. Quarantines of infected communities and the documentation of physical conditions were the only effective actions applied by the government.

http://www.enotes.com/plague

The central character, Dr. Bernard Rieux, heroically applies objective inquiry into finding a treatment for the malady. Ultimately, the plague ends on its own despite the lack of medical knowledge. The torture and execution of suspects would prove to be criminal. The plague would eventually come to serve as an argument for public sanitation. 

A movie called “Black Death” was released in 2010. It is set in England during and after the period of affliction. A friar is called to investigate reports of resurrected bodies in a town in the country. He is sent with an envoy of knights appointed by the bishop. The movie becomes a depiction of the conflicting claims of christianity and paganism, but ultimately it serves as an argument against devotion to destruction. The argument also supports freedom of religion.

The town where the friar was sent did not suffer from the ravages of the disease. They claimed that the plague was a punishment from the christian’s vengeful God. It did not affect them because they were not christians. The christians on the other hand were convinced that the claims of resurrection were the work of a necromancer and witches.

The pagans tortured the christians to get the renunciation of Christ as God. The christians killed the pagans for witchcraft. The cruelty of the affliction ruled the actions of both sides. It was not a typical movie insofar as both sides were shown as being wrong. Neither side was depicted as being just. The development of the central character was not heroic. It was pathetically tyrannical.

Neither side favored the rule of law based on due process in investigation. Their only investment in evidentiary investigation was to determine if the people whom they did not know were christian or pagan. The findings were then used to put the members of the other side to death.

It was emotionally disturbing and seemed all too historically accurate. I wouldn’t call it enjoyable entertainment, but it had an educational value in the implied support for non-sectarian and representative government.

This review of the bubonic plague serves as a lesson from history. The disease was not a punishment from God. Faith in liberty and love however played a role in calling for improvement in medical knowledge, public sanitation and representative leadership for the general public.

Praise for the God of gods then, is not a call for sectarian government or state religion. It is a call for learning about representative leadership for human being from the lessons of history.

Fm. Ps.50

LORD,
you are the God of gods.
You call the earth
from each rising
of the sun
to the next.

You reveal yourself out of Zion;
perfect in beauty;
majestic in glory.

God will come from
before the dawn.

LORD, you come
from nowhere
out of silence.
A consuming flame
precedes you.
There is a raging storm
all around you.

You call the heavens and the earth from above
to witness the judgments of justice.

“Assemble my people.
Renew the covenant of love.
Seal it with sacrifice and celebration.”

Let the heavens declare the rightness of justice;
for God is the judge.

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

One thing government and people have in common is the conflict of battling factions. Initially, it can seem that the answer to factional conflict is to eliminate the factions. This is the basis for dictatorship however. Dictatorship always shows favor to one group to the disadvantage of others. It is “the party” that rules over and against any other parties.

Democracy operates on the assumption of factional disagreement. Debate is entertained from at least two parties to find agreement by the reduction of disagreement. The goal is to weigh the oppositions against each other in order to find a resolution. The participation of the people is required. Otherwise, representation is limited to those opposing factions that can afford to support the debate between the political leaders.

The “Underworld” movie series looks at the battle between vampires and werewolves as factions of society. The vampires are the death dealers. They represent the aristocracy that was out to eliminate opposition. Currently, they have a correspondence with that industrial leadership that seeks to destroy the competition.

The werewolves used to be slaves to the vampires. The vampires operated at night. The werewolves worked in the day. They were the hard working peasants who had worked so hard that they became as fit as warriors. They became so strong in serving that they rebelled against oppressive leadership. They represent labor. This movie series is about class warfare.

The romance between Michael and Selene underscores the love that can grow within the drama of war between factions.  War and oppressive government can be so cruel that the cruelty threatens to eclipse the experience of love. Humans won’t reproduce without love. The species would die were it not for the reproductive urge. Somehow, couples find a way to love working together. This love represents the ability to stay together to the end; to the last breath.

Evanescence – Last Breath
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7ZyHwj4wQU&feature=related

Romance is eclipsed when opposing factions play the love of the couple for each other against the responsibility to parent offspring. The pattern had been for the male to act as the income provider and the female to act as the household manager. Modern life and democracy have altered the pattern. Now, both parents often work. The male is not necessarily the primary income provider.

Currently, the trend to promote the industry of war is an effort to regress to the old pattern of male domination. Democracy abhors single party leadership. Representative leadership is not patriarchal. It is not matriarchal. It is a meritocracy that values experience with education.

Don’t succumb to the call for regression. Occupy the meritocracy of democracy.

Steve K.

Saved

Happy Valentine's Day!

Others,

What preceded the establishment of our republic as a constitutional democracy?

American leaders in British colonies had petitioned the monarchy for a peaceful resolution to the conflicts of the time.

Olive Branch Petition.
http://www.revolutionary-war-and-beyond.com/olive-branch-petition.html

King George III reacted by characterizing all of the colonists as rebels who needed to be taught a lesson.

Speech to Parliament 1775
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/amrev/shots/address.html

It had been the Sons of Liberty who had rebelled against British rule. They had been the ones who led the Boston Tea Party disguised as Native Americans.

It was John Adams who advocated that the absolute monarchy of Great Britain needed to be replaced by another form of tyranny. He had said, “Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

Iraq was liberated from the tyranny of Saddam Hussein, a CIA supported asset, by a western coalition invasion that was not formally requested. Now they have to deal with an elective form of government that was not selected by election.

Authoritarian repression by the newly established government however has been decreased. The western coalition did not pull the military out before the state could find stability without using violent repression to establish order.

The following story conveys a sense of how things are progressing.

Bottoms Up for Democracy in Iraq
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/weekinreview/17booze.html?pagewanted=all

Freedom of Religion has yet to show statistical significance in regards to changing the religious population of a large industrialized nation. Members of religions that are the largest majority remain the largest majority. The difference in percentage between the different religious groups remains large between the majority and the minorities.

The most statistically significant change has been the increase in the number of people who are not affiliated with a religion.  The “Bottoms Up” story shows a movement in the direction of opposition to religious intolerance.

The Arab Spring has shown that there is a widespread discontent with authoritarian regimes. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Spring

Elections in republics magically seem to render the same results for the established leaders when there were no term limits. Mubarak had been in power by “election” for thirty years. He had been there since the assassination of Anwar Sadat (1981-2011).

Gaddafi had claimed that he was not the ruler of Libya, but he was in power from 1977 (34 years). The difference there was that there was no elections.

Ben Ali of Tunisia had been in power for 23 years when he was driven out of the country for corruption, unemployment, inflation and lack of liberties. Tunisia had claimed to be a constitutional republic, but their constitution declares that the state religion is Islam and requires that the president be Muslim.

Government corruption is analogous to a disease that invades the body. The microbes of disease often slip in undetected, but manifest in an illness that can be life threatening.

Bacteria and viruses exist in human being. There are microbes that pre-date human existence. Russian scientists are exploring a find that will give important information regarding microbes that existed before we did as a species.

Bacteria and viruses are present in non-pathological levels in a healthy body. It is conceivable that 'catching a cold or the flu' is an indicator that behavior was not adapted to keep the immune system ahead of the pathogenic effect of the virus.

Colds and flu viruses seem to hit most frequently during a change of season. Temperature and moisture levels change rapidly, leaving the immune system open to attack. The remedy, plenty of rest and fluids, can be applied proactively.

Moreover, skin care like moisturizers help to bolster the skin’s defensive role in the immune system.

The following poem is a re-write of psalm that has political and pathological implications.The remedy, plenty of rest and fluids, can be applied proactively.

Colds and flus seem to hit most frequently during a change of season.
Temperatur­e and moisture levels change rapidly, leaving the immune system open to attack. The remedy, plenty of rest and fluids, can be applied
proactivel­y.

Moreover, skin care like moisturizers help to bolster the skin's role in the immune system. to attack. The remedy, plenty of rest and fluids, can be applied proactively.

Colds and flus seem to hit most frequently during a change of season.
Temperatur­e and moisture levels change rapidly, leaving the immune system open to attack. The remedy, plenty of rest and fluids, can be applied
proactivel­y.

Moreover, skin care like moisturizers help to bolster the skin's role in the immu

Saved!
Fm. Ps.30

I will exalt you, LORD.
You are my God.
You have raised me from the dead.
You did not let me pass from life.

I cried out to you in sickness.
You restored me to health.

You brought me up from descent into darkness.
You restored my life as I was descending to the grave.

Sing to the LORD people!
Give thanks for the remembrance of holiness.

Wrath endures for a moment.
Favor lasts for a lifetime.

Weeping spends the night.
Joy comes at dawn.

When I felt secure, I said,
“I won’t be disturbed.
You, LORD, have made me
as strong as the mountains
with your favor.”

Then your face was hidden from me.
The darkness became darker.
I was filled with fear.

I cried,
“What profit is there if I go to the Pit?
Will the dust praise you or declare your faithfulness?
Hear me LORD. Have mercy on me.
Please be my helper.”

You turned my mourning into dancing.
You took off my sadness.
You clothed me with joy.

My heart sings to you without ceasing.
LORD, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.

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

Life has a way of reminding us that death will eventually darken each person’s door. Whitney Houston has passed away at 48 years of age. The song, “I Will Always Love You” is a testimony to the love for life that she shared.

Whitney Houston – I Will Always Love You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9nPf7w7pDI&feature=fvsr

I remember when the song became a hit. I had never heard such a beautiful voice. She sings it with such strength; such clarity; such beauty. Her range is incredible. Every word is treated with dignity and respect. The annunciation is magnificent. It is a celebration of the human spirit.

How could you not love her too? Now she lives on in the memory of those who do.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Occupy your love for self and others,

Steve K.

Zion

Others,

Honey is a wonder food. It tastes sweet. It can be preserved indefinitely. It is a symbol for prosperity. It represents community producing value in cooperative harmony. The buzz is that it is made by bees. LOL.

Creating a product that has value for the community often takes the belief that the product will produce benefit. Tests measure the value of properties. Science counters excessive confidence.

Yolanda Adams – I Believe (fm. the movie “Honey")
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pj4pRQXX_4&feature=related

"You keep creating pictures in your mind. Sometimes, maybe, they will come true in time.

“It will be fine. Leave all of your cares and stress behind.

“...and just start to believe."

 I believe in you...and me. LOL

Products that are beneficial have value because they serve a purpose for human being.  The following poem celebrates constructive production.

Zion

Fm. Ps. 111 & Ps.147

Totally awesome!
I will give thanks
with my whole heart;
in the assembly of faith;
in the administration of justice.

The works of creation are great!
They are to be studied by all
who delight in them.

How good it is to sing praises!
How pleasant it is to show honor with praise.

God is great!
LORD, you started the universe.
You counted the number of stars.
Earth was formed from star dust.
You formed the molecules for life
from matter.
You call them by their names.

Your creation is full of majesty.
Zion celebrates civilization!

You heal the brokenhearted.
You bind up their wounds.

The good will rise up.
The wicked will be cast down.

You are rebuilding a foundation for peace.
You are gathering the exiles from conflict.

Our God is awesome!
You are mighty in power.
There is no limit to your wisdom.

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving;
Make music to God with your instruments.

The heavens are covered with clouds.
Rain is prepared for the earth.
Life giving substance falls.
Water nurtures life.
The thirst of earth is quenched.
The quenching of thirst
replaces lost fluids.

Grass grows where the ground is fertile.
Green plants serve human being.

It is providence for herd animals.
Fiber from plant life absorbs fat.
Absorption prevents
hardening of the heart.

Food is given to those who will work for it.
Even young ravens eat when they cry.

The virility of life is liberty.
The strength of our being is justice.
Justice is not only for the majority;
the minority or the majority
of minorities.
It is designed to protect
safety and health.

It is for the well being of the people.
Well being is the guide
for taking risk.
Risk that produces harm
or destroys is wrong.
This kind of risk taking
requires correction.

The LORD takes pleasure in respect;
in those who live with grace.
It is a wonderful life!
It is simply fantastic!
Praise God!

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

Power is awesome in nature. It needs to be treated with respect.

Consider the case of Clara Lazen, the fifth grader who discovered a new molecule.

Ten Year Old Discovers a New Molecule
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/02/ten-year-old-discovers-chemistry-molecule-published_n_1250825.html

The molecule can be used to generate energy or cause destructive force.  Households need energy for maintenance. While households are the very foundation for peace, many have been destroyed for the sake of new war toys.   Sadly, the potential for civilization has been trashed for the sake of devotion to destruction. 

The world needs progress in development. Cultural evolution has to be cultivated with education, government, management and justice. 

Stop the world from turning into a monster!

Paramore – Monster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoTEnaAI9Fo

Civilization has seen enough damage from havoc. Cry, “No more havoc!” Care for the poor! Stand opposed to war! The drive to eliminate competition destroys long term improvement. When competition has been annihilated there is no motivation to perform with standards for excellence.

Show respect! Occupy democracy for civilization!

Steve K.