WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT: What Is Not Seen

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, what is the wind?

Really.

After all, we can't see it.

Yet we know that it exists.

How?

We don't/can't see the actual movement of the atmosphere (i.e. wind/breeze) itself. What we do see and hear are the effects that it produces.

We see and hear it when travels through the tree leaves. We feel it when it gently (or not so gently) caresses our faces and blows through our hair. We've harnessed the power of the wind to drive our ships to new discoveries and, now, even light our homes.

So, it is entirely accurate to say that the wind may be unseen but it is a force none-the-less.

Well, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, can't the same be said of the so-called Spirit World?

We can't see Spirits (at least most of us can't LOL). Yet, there are times when we can experience their effects.

Strange, unexplained things happen to us all of the time.

Sometimes, it may be nothing more that an intense feeling of a presence of someone lost long ago. Or, perhaps, just when you've given up hope of finding your keys or cell phone, intuition makes you look in one, last, unlikely place and, voila', there they are.

There are also those times that we classify as divine intervention, i.e. the moments when a more logical, worldly explanation simply won't do.

My mother shared a story that embodies this notion: Many years ago, when my younger brother was an infant, he began to choke on his food. My mother couldn't clear his passageway and the situation turned dire. She claims that in her most desperate moment, her deceased father appeared to her and instructed her to hold my brother by his heals while smacking his back. This did the trick as she was able to dislodge the food and he began breathing again.

Of course, the logical explanation was that she performed the right procedure to clear the obstruction. What is not so easily explained is how she got the knowledge to do so when she had no previous idea how.

Perhaps, it was just the wind . . . 

Today's MOSTLY TRUE SHORT STORY: Do I Get To Ride in the Limo?

In a recent conversation with a dear friend, the topic of Gay Pride came up. It was also the day our village's Gay Pride celebration, so the discussion was both topical and lively.

At one point, I mentioned to her that I had recently seen an interview with a gay man who professed that he had known that he was a homosexual by the time he was 4 years-old. Not having raised a child of my own, I asked my friend, who has an adult son, if she felt it reasonable for a boy that young to be that confident in his sexuality.

While not necessarily disputing the young boys claim, she related to me a story of her own son as a child to answer.

My friend's sister is gay and was marrying her partner. She decided that it was time to tell her son, who was about 8 at the time, that his aunt and her girl friend were about to marry and that they would all attend the wedding together.

Prepared to answers any questions about the union of two woman instead of a man AND a woman, she got this response:

Oh, cool! Does that mean that I get to ride in the limo?!

How wonderfully innocent! There was no confusion or judgement, only acceptance. At that time and place, it was irrelevant to him that 2 women were being joined. The only truly important thing was whether or not he got to ride in the limo.

There is a lesson to be learned here; what 2 consenting adults choose to do with their lives is THEIR business. And, we should support that choice. Our only concern should be if we get to come along for the ride. . . 

Today's MOZEN: Universal Health Care NOW

 

I rarely write or talk about my own health issues. We all have them in one form or another. Besides, I am an old-school football player who comes from an era that if you suffered a compound fracture of one of your fingers, your coach told you to spit on it and get back in the game. So, it's simply not my way to complain.

But, I feel like in a case that I just experienced with the Health Care System, I should share it.

Here's the back story:

In recent years I have suffered with severe bouts of GOUT. I'll spare you all the intricate details and just describe it as a form of arthritis that periodically attacks virtually any joint in your body (*see below for a link with more information). It's a genetic disorder that causes one to retain Uric Acid, normally passed in a person's urine, causing crystals to form in the blood and creating extreme swelling in the joints and pain that can be reasonably described as excruciating.

Personally, I tend to get it in my ankles and knees. It can last anywhere from a week to a recent bout that I had of 6 weeks!! Simply put, the pain gets so severe as to be incapacitating. In other words, IT CRIPPLES ME. I cannot walk so I cannot drive, etc., etc. And, since I live alone, completing any task around my apartment without encountering mind-numbing pain is virtually impossible.

A strict diet that limits the amount of food containing the substance (Purines) that creates Uric Acid helps. However, when it kicks, you need DRUGS. My doctor prescribes Colcrys. And, it usually provides relief within a day or two of its administration.

Now, here's THE ISSUE: I'm on Medicare with a drug plan administered by United Health Care. After a recent bout of the disease, my MD prescribed the usual dose of Colcrys - as he had for the previous episode. And, ALSO as was the previous case, THE INSURANCE COMPANY disputed MY NEED for this essential drug! Therefore, while it goes back and forth for DAYS, I sit at home, waiting in EXCRUCIATING PAIN. If it plays out like the last time, the Insurance Company will pay a PORTION if what is a very expensive substance - but, only after days of suffering.

As strange as it may sound, I'm lucky. Gout won't kill me - at least not directly. I just have to deal with the intense pain. However, there are others where a delay like I experienced can literally prove deadly. I had a very dear friend's son die after a lengthy battle to get treatment for his colon cancer. The check game the day AFTER he died!

Folks, it's always someone else's issue until it happens to us. Well, believe me, it will happen. Sooner or later, it will happen to all of us.

So, let's stop screwing around - FIGHT THE SYSTEM - PASS UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE NOW!!

*https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gout/symptoms-causes/syc-20372897

Today's MOZEN: All You Have To Do Is Get Home

Whenever I finish my shift at work on W57th St. in Manhattan, the first thing that I do after entering and starting my car is take a deep breath and remind myself verbally NOT to get caught up in the rat race that is commuting to and from NYC. Despite the fact that I've been doing it for over 20 years, I still make it a regular ritual.

Why?

Well, for me anyway, it is important that I bring my mind under control before I deal with the lunatics driving on the West Side Highway that have virtually none.

It is not unusual to find cars zooming by at 80-90 mph on a City highway that is designed for people to do 50! And, motorcycles often wiz by you at speeds in excess of even that.

So, I use this simple mantra, literally saying out loud: Frankie, don't go there. All you have to do is get home.

This may seem overly simplistic but for someone who's nature is to be ultra competitive it is absolutely essential. It takes some work, especially in one of, in not THE, most competitive cities in the world to find emotional stability. That's why the path to Mindfulness is called a practice - it takes effort to keep things in perspective. Freaking out, using foul language, flipping someone the bird, or cutting another car off in anger may work in the short term (i.e. venting can be cathartic) but in the long run it just makes us as ugly as the person we were so angry with in the first place.

Remember, Karma is more broad and complicated than just what goes around comes around. Every moment of our lives, not only every action but every thought, in a sense, contributes to the so-called Wheel of Life. If we contribute positive thoughts and deeds, the world in general is a better place for EVERYONE (not just you).

So the next time some inconsiderate asshole obliterates you on the highway, instead of responding in kind, try waving and smiling. It's hard not to react (or, OVER react). It's easier to meet anger with more anger. But, that doesn't make it right. Besides, you may be pleased to see the surprised reaction on their face when you do so. It's sure worth a try.

Today's MOZEN: Let The Magic Work

It may be argued that sometimes the magic works and sometimes it doesn't. However, what's indisputable is that the magic will never work if you don't believe.

I found this on my kitchen table this morning.

I have no idea how it got there and why I simply didn't crumple it up and throw it away before reading it.

You may take from it anything that you like. . . 

Today's MOZEN: Don't Hurry It Along

Everyone has to die of something but you don't have to hurry it along.

                               Kathy McKee, former girlfriend of Richard Prior

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT: Open Your Mind!

When referring to the term close minded we are generally speaking of issues of social and cultural importance like race or gender identity, etc. However, When You Think About It, it is a way of thinking that can affect our daily lives in the simplest yet most profound ways.

Here's an example that happened to me just the other day.

A friend gave me a Colibri lighter for Christmas. It is a well-made instrument that I use to light my pipe (what I smoke in the pipe is irrelevant to this conversation and, actually no one's business). One of the functions I like best about it is the ability to adjust the intensity of the flame from a mere flicker to a virtual flame thrower.

Well, after having nearly burned my thumb off while using it recently, I figured that I had better adjust the flame before I set my entire body on fire! So, I looked at the base of the lighter where a set screw is located. Turning it one way or the other will either intensify or reduce the flame.

I had used it previously and distinctly remembered that turning the screw to the left decreased the intensity. So, using a small screw driver I began turning it down, i.e. to the left. However, despite turning it ALL the way left I found that the flame had not been reduced one iota. I was flummoxed. I kept turning it the left until no matter how much force I applied, it simply would not turn any further.

Hmmn, I thought to myself. I remember it working just fine for me that way in the past.

Then I had an epiphany. As it so now often happens, maybe my recollection was NOT correct. Perhaps the adjustment called for the screw to be turned to the right.

So, I used my small screwdriver to slowly move the screw in the opposite direction. Sure enough, the flame slowly started to recede to a safe level!

SO SIMPLE!

I had closed my mind to even the possibility that moving the screw in the opposite direction would solve the problem. I had locked into a single way of thinking that would not even allow for a possible solution! Once I entertained the idea that maybe, just maybe, if I tried things another way, the damned thing just might work right, the problem was actually resolved.

FREE your mind - in ALL things.

When it remains closed we will never know what could have been. When it is opened, a whole new world will be revealed. 

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT: Doing Nothing

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, Doing Nothing is really an oxymoron. The two words are not congruent.

Doing is a verb, i.e. a word that denotes action. When we do, we create.

Nothing is a noun, i.e. a word that signifies a person, place, or thing - the doer or receiver of action. How can something that doesn't exist be the recipient of action?

So, if you put the words together they really don't make any sense. By it's very definition, if you are doing then you are actively creating something. The ultimate outcome may be either positive or negative, but it is not nothing.

So, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, if someone asks what you might be doing for the day and you have no plans, instead of responding with nuthin', you might more accurately answer, I will be doing something - which is working on doing nothing.

That is all. . . 

Today's MOZEN: A Strange Twist of Fate

Joseph Welch/Wikipedia

Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

With these 2 sentences, lawyer Joseph N. Welch*, virtually single-handedly shut down Senator Joseph McCarthy's Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (the infamous Army-McCarthy Hearings, a.k.a. Communist Witch Hunt) in June of 1954.

Welch and McCarthy/Wikipedia

Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?

I simply can't get the words out of my head.

Because they ring so true again today.

Kevin McCarthy/Wikipedia

 In some bizarre twist of fate, another  Republican who ironically shares the  same last name (no relation), Kevin  McCarthy, is behaving in the exact  shameful, bullying, indecent manor.

 The House Minority Leader continues to be a Trump lackey and, despite his OATH to uphold the Constitution, continues to perpetuate THE BIG LIE, challenging not only our duly elected President but our Democracy itself!

Now, in the ultimate sham, he is leading the Republican charge to silence fellow Republican representative, Liz Chaney, for her steadfast refusal to accept THE BIG LIE and blindly support Mr. Trump. Mr. McCarthy hopes to accomplish this by leading other Republicans legislators in removing Ms. Chaney from her House GOP Leadership position and having her replaced by another Trump sycophant and Big Lie proponent, Elise Stafanik.

The message is as clear as it is shameful:

Live the lie. Do what you are told. Trump is lord.

Their mendacity, hypocrisy, and downright perversion of the truth knows no bounds. We have our answer - 

They, indeed, have no shame. . . 

*https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_N._Welch

WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT: No One Ever Said Life Was Fair

Michael Ochs, Getty Images

It came to me while watching one of those true crime programs on cable TV. This one happened to be the untold story of Charles Manson and his misanthropic minions. Near the end of the program, I wondered that despite the fact the Manson will forever be known as a monster and died alone in prison, if he had, in the end, really ultimately accomplished his goal?

Charles Manson? Really? Hear me out.

Most of us would like to believe that the world has an innate sense of justice, i.e. a good life is rewarded in one way or another, while a bad one brings with it corresponding punishment. And, most of the world's religions preach the paradigm that if those tenets do not come to pass in this world, they certainly will in the next.

Well, I cannot speak with any certainty of what happens in the afterlife (should there even be one). However, in this life, I believe that things are not quite that simple.

Let's take Manson as an example.

First, as a human being, he was insignificant in so many ways. He was diminutive in stature, only about 5'6". Despite having a relatively high IQ, he was poorly educated having attended high school and some college but never formally graduating. His mother was just 16 when she had him and he never experienced a stable home life. Manson was in and out of reform schools and prisons beginning at the age of 9. He fancied himself a songwriter and musician but never achieved any real success at either. He never really had any professional life (except murder) to speak of.

Yet, in the end, he DID achieve his ultimate goal. And, that was to become famous. And, that Manson did in spades!

You may argue that he didn't become famous but, rather, infamous. However, to me, in this case, that's just a matter of semantics. Manson didn't give a shit if any remembrance of him is associated with evil. The fact that you remember him is enough. Bizarrely, he may even be seen as a type of immortal. His name and foul deeds will live on long after you and I are gone.

Mission accomplished.

Yes, that sucks but that's how life often goes - and, it has been that way for centuries. John Milton (1608-1674), in his epic poem, Paradise Lost, has the ultimate Evil Character, Satan, explain his motivation for risking everything and being cast into hell by saying; Better to rule in hell, than serve in heaven.

Satan is not interested in living a good life of servitude - and, neither was Manson. Both had a lust for power and control over others, no matter the personal cost. They were willing to pay the price for their infamy to achieve their so-called immortality. And, in some perverse way, it worked. Will Manson's soul be condemned to never find peace? Perhaps. But, we will never know that for sure.

I know that considering the brutality of his crimes it is difficult to see anything human in Charles Manson. We can call him a monster yet he was one of us. He even lived to the ripe old age of 83.

Yes, my friends, WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT, no one ever said life was fair.