Holiday cards.

 

Holiday cards.

Thirty years ago, we used to get, on average, fifty Christmas cards. Some were from people that we only heard from on the holidays and often some notes told us what was new in their lives. Now it’s a week before Christmas and we have six cards. We sent ours some time ago. Holiday wishes on the screen are not the same. They come and go, leaving an empty feeling. Of course, the price of postage plays a role, but it reflects on the relationships between people as well. There is less commitment and less time for each person. We want a superficial relationship that is down to the bones. Like all things, we go for quantity, not quality in our modern life. Some of my Facebook friends have thousands of “friends” and they are lonely.

Out of the six cards, one impressed me the most. It is a painting depicting a couple of homes in the forest by mountains in the light of a full moon. Could have been taken in the Crowsnest Pass. The written message is, “Peace on Earth.” No religious sayings, just one wish. Rick and Joan, who sent it to us, have no children. They are Christians and lived in Calgary most of their lives. Now close to eighty years of age, why is their number one wish for peace on Earth? Don’t they care about prosperity, the sad state of health care, or our deteriorating safety with all the cheating and crime that is going on? Don’t they want fewer taxes and more services? Why did they drop the mention of our Christian heritage? Don’t they worry about other races taking the country over as they used to?

My research shows that Earth at different periods had over twenty-four kinds of humans, some coexisting at the same periods. Some go back hundreds of thousands of years and we have bones and artifacts to prove it. Modern science improved our ability to investigate those past societies and even reconstruct how they lived. The planet changed and the climate also changed. There were floods, earthquakes, and droughts and changes lasted much more than a human’s lifetime. At times, human populations almost vanished, and at other times experienced overpopulation in some areas. Humans of all sorts and sizes adapted and survived much longer than we homo sapiens existed in the current period. However, we are the winners. All the other types of humans disappeared, and we flourished. There were humans with bigger brains and stronger bodies, but we were more adaptable and capable of working together. Now we are approaching eight billion individuals on Earth and risking the collective suicide of human civilization. I pray not to be the last human on Earth.

I had a dream once, where I was a raven flying over a destroyed Earth. There were cities broken down, ships half sunk and trains overturned. I was exhausted looking for a place to land, but there was none. Everything was broken down and there were no people or other living things. I cawed, as ravens do, but an answer never came.

Peace on Earth, or the survival of our species, should be everyone’s top priority and we have had warnings and instructions on how to achieve it for thousands of years now.

If we want to research, using the latest technology available, the information is free. The Earth is full of evidence of past civilizations assumingly of human societies that often surpassed our present. It’s underwater, under the ground, and frozen in ice. Much of it is simply existing in the open, but people are so used to it they do not see it. When I was in Israel, I saw old ruins that were built by ancient technology that we can’t repeat today. Egypt has a lot more.

There is no way to deal with all the available data in a short newspaper column. We are vulnerable to extinction, but also close to perfect existence as described by dreams of heaven. If we look at the world today, we see great danger looming. Wars, natural disasters, and evil people with enormous power at their fingertips. Our weapons can destroy humankind, and so can our personal want of power. Those who are comfortable are under siege by those who have nothing. Look at the borders of most rich countries. When in trouble we say “God help us”, yet we don’t follow His instructions. It’s simple. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves. Do it and you have peace on Earth as written on the Christmas card.

In the beginning, God or “Holy Spirit” hovered above “Tohu Va-Vohu” or “formless void” in English, and later He created humans in His image. (Genesis.) We are a spirit that can have a material form created from the dirt of the Earth. A spirit is eternal, but bodies are not. To survive in material bodies, we are instructed to function as one body that takes care of all its parts, which are all needed in some way.

Christmas is coming, and I have a wish. I wish that people, regardless of their religious affiliations, will spend time contemplating the spiritual message that all faiths have. Go with your community, thank God for what we have, and figure out how to spread the goodness. Go to your temple and contemplate what the Christian faith is about.

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.

What I want for Christmas.

 

What I want for Christmas.

Christmas 2022 is coming into a world that I hardly recognize. All that I have learned in over seventy years here on Earth is changing faster than I can process the information. Possibly my human brain wasn’t built for that much data to pass through it, but I have computers to help. Almost all the information that I need could be searched at incredible speed, but there is no guarantee that the results are not tainted by fake news. I am expected to know what there is no way of knowing. What I have is my opinions based on the best information I can obtain and a quick assessment done in my head. The old brain is struggling to discover the truth, and like it or not, I sometimes must change my opinions when I discover previously unknown facts. Much of my conclusions are based on what I believe, and I just trust that if my intention is good, I have a fair chance of drawing the right conclusions.

What is special about Christmas, and why do we even have a day off with family and friends? Why do we go out in mid-winter and shop for presents which often are rarely used? Is it to support the low-wage workers who make them often for close to nothing to beat the competition that may sell them for less?

I sit here in my mountain retreat little home studio. That’s the way I like it. Nothing fancy. The walls are lined with shelves, mostly loaded with books. I read the books, but I keep them since they are filled with ideas that over the years made me who I am. Some shelves have gifts from people I worked with. I was a supervisor and my workers used to buy me gifts for Christmas, which I relish to this day. It had little monetary value; it was from the heart. They did it since I treated them fairly and never had favorites. I didn’t take advantage of my position and people were rewarded evenly for contributing what they could. My business is people.

Looking at this year’s first few Christmas cards, I am reminded about the baby whose birthday we are celebrating.

I go back to the reason for Christmas, not considering that it is a solstice festivity that existed since before Christ was born. The babe became a man who walked the same paths that I did long after, but he had a message. The message was so simple, yet it captured the world and changed humans forever. We see people from all walks of life, rich and poor, respecting him regardless if they believe in his divinity. Was he right-wing or left in politics? We don’t have a definite answer. He was pro-people and cared not if they were useful or not. He considered the intentions of the giver higher than the monetary value. Thousands joined His new religion, later millions, and now billions. We should remember that even the Muslims who came away after His departure believe that He is very special and will play a major role in the future of humanity.

What would Christ, the Saviour, ask for on Christmas? I think I should ask for the same. Ukraine is a big issue where many people are killed and many more suffer each day. I wish for an end to it, while there is still some Ukraine undamaged. The Ukrainians are so brave and they deserve to be rewarded, but the suffering is too great. If the Russians and Ukrainians get guarantees for nonaggression, peace may work.

I wish for humans to forget their local origins and races as a reason for war. The human race can retain cultures, art, languages, religions, you name it, and quit wanting what others have. There is enough for everyone and if all are educated, there will be a slowing of population increase. We have proof. What we spend on wars and preparations for wars would be enough to keep us all healthy, fed, and educated.

Our main worldwide problem now is getting the energy to do our work. It is time to quit using the energy from burning things and use better, less damaging sources we know of and can develop. One example is nuclear, but there are others. It’s time to take the big step. It will happen anyway, so let’s plan the change and do it properly. I am not advocating useless delays but real action.

I would like to see us pay less for what we need and more for garbage disposal and recycling. We are drowning in garbage, solid, in the air and water. Taxes shouldn’t pay for garbage removal but by those who make the trash. No trading of responsibility should be allowed.

I would like independent media that would be exposed if they tell lies.

Above all, I think the Christ would like to see more equality. He talked about it. In the last 40 years, about 50 trillion dollars of wealth that could have gone to regular working people went to the richest 1%. In the US, mortality has grown and poverty became a norm. It would not sit well with the one born on Christmas. If I could, I would ask for a cap on wealth. It would go far towards making our home planet more like the Kingdom above or below, depending on the point of view.

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.

 

 

 

Worshipping Possessions.

 

 Worshipping Possessions.

Two thousand years ago, gifts were amazingly expensive. There is a good list in the Christian Gospels around the story of the first Christmas. We have reasonable accounts of gifts from archeology and even written history. The most valuable goods were those from faraway countries and were imported by merchant caravans over long distances, often defended by armed servants riding camels, horses, and donkeys for months at a time. Silver and gold made into intricate jewelry, spices, and incense topped the list. There were fine textiles, with silk being the most coveted: ivory carvings, rare gems, iron weapons crafted by one-of-a-kind masters, and pearls. Herds of livestock and slaves fetched a good price as well. Pretty young maidens, even from one’s own family, were often traded, sometimes for salt or tea. Humans valued material possessions and gained favors by giving gifts.

I just spent almost three years in isolation, not because it was mandated by the government but strongly recommended by my physician and a specialist. Amazingly, I discovered I could be thrilled with life without shopping. I never realized how much time and money I was devoting to buying stuff I didn’t need and getting rid of the garbage soon after. Johnny the barber told me I was spending money on junk, but I didn’t believe him at the time.

There is an interesting new book on the market by Paul Berton, the son of the famous Canadian author Pierre Berton, titled Shopomenia. It deals with our obsession, or better, our addiction, to possessing things. There is definitely an attempt here to have us contemplate some of our primary motivations in life. It deals with the psychological aspect of shopping. “We shop because we are happy, we shop because we are sad.” We shop to be accepted and keep up with the neighbors.

Borrowing money and shopping is not bad. It is the grease that moves the wheels of our economy. We demand that all people will work for their pay and regularly try to make others do more work for less pay, but expect them to shop for services and goods. It starts with the raw materials. Humans mine or grow them. The product is transported, refined, and shaped to become consumer goods. Packaging design and manufacturing are added, marketing takes place, and storage plus delivery to retail locations completes the picture. The item is taxed, and the wages that were invested in it are also taxed. This ensures a great deal of employment and profit-making.

The entire system works wonderfully well if we ignore some glaring problems. It is unsustainable. It is based on addiction to things and money. Money translates to power. Most of those who contribute do so for low returns and hardly any acknowledgment, while very few reap the most rewards. The miners, farmers, drivers, and salespeople, to name a few, find it hard to have a roof over their heads and food in their bellies, while those who do the least work are drowning in riches. We can all see them owning many mansions and all other symbols of plenty. Stories about people owning hundreds of pairs of shoes, hundreds of expensive cars, yachts, and mansions are often not just fake news. The systematic cheating of workers and on taxes is true as well.

Why do people feel a need for so much stuff is another question not easily answered. I guess that is why we pray, “lead us not into temptation.” Paul Berton answers it with “people like stuff”. He gives an example about a family he stayed with, in the Himalayas, northern India. They had no manufactured toys, TV, games, or puzzles, and had very little furniture, or any other western-made items. As far as he remembers, they were some of the happiest people he ever met. He also remembers people who won the lottery, some millions of dollars. So many used up their winnings very fast and had nothing to show for it. One said, “Life has more meaning when you are not shopping.”

Now we have new ways of shopping, like over the internet. Many of us realize it can easily become a risk to our existence when overdone. The cheap unneeded goods, packaging, advertising materials, transport, storage, and energy used for manufacturing, are all together threatening our existence on the planet. I am excluding overeating, related pollution, make feel-good drugs, as well as artificial beauty achieved by cosmetics. A little is great, but we don’t use only what we need. We go overboard.

The world has changed significantly in the last few years. Wars are raging, natural disasters are more severe. There is a lot of suffering and all can see it on electronic screens. We would be foolish to ignore the signs, and “Positive thinking” will not save us. We must learn self-control and empathy. Not doing so is not weakness but stupidity. This is a Christmas like no other coming our way. There is a new meaning to the old prayer, “Deliver us from evil.”

Evil brings suffering and love brings joy to those who give it and those who receive it. That’s the Simple Raven’s way of thinking.

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.