Fear and Entitlement: The Real American Values

What is wrong with America? You can ask that question to one million people and get two million answers. Here is my answer, fear and selfishness. 

We once had a president whose name I won't say in fear of being called a communist. He said that the only thing we need to be afraid of is fear itself. If you want to put a name with his words, we will call him FDR. That president took over a country that was on the cusps of two real crises. One was the Great Depression, which we were already in the early stages. The other was World War II while it had not began yet, the world was setting itself up for it. Do I agree with FDR's policies? Hardly, his interferences in the economy gave the nation problems that to this day keep getting kicked down the road. Later, he would lead a nation that would intern some of it's own citizens. Coincidently it would do this out of fear. We should never expect perfection just honest effort. However, our fear today is being stoked by politicians. FDR did not stoke fear. In fact, he stayed positive. He told the nation that the bad economic times would pass. He told the nation that we would defeat Japan and Germany. Let's see what our nation does today. Ebola breaks out, we want to ban flights from other parts of the world without considering the unintended consequences. A terror group attacks us, we invade two countries (one which was housing the terrorists, the other not so much). Those invasions right or wrong militarily, both violated our Constitution. We did not mind allowing one man to decide when, where and with whom we should go to war. We also gave away our liberties because we feared another attack and believed the government would protect us. We also fear letting others have religious liberties. Just look at stories about France prohibiting certain apparel of Muslim women, American comments support the French law. Some cities have tried to ban Mosques. American fears are used to trample the rights of others. Of course minorities are told to fear certain political parties. Just look at stories about literature that the Democrat party is sending out in Georgia. We fear a person crossing an imaginary line to better his family's life. We want the government to ask him questions that we would never allow the government to ask us. Oh wait, unless there is another terrorist attack. I can go on and on about our fears. The only thing it seems we do not fear is fear itself. In fact, we embrace the fear.  

We once had a president with the initials JFK.  He once encouraged Americans to do for others and their country. He said not to go around with a hand out if that hand was able. What is the motto of modern day America? I think it is somewhere along the lines of get yours and screw everyone else. We cheat each other. We cheat the system. We cheat our children. We think only of ourselves. We pay our taxes and expect the government to take care of our brothers and sisters. We do not parent our kids because we need to go out to the club. We constantly ask, "what's in it for me?" If we get offended, we ask everyone else to change instead of making a conscience choice to either avoid that situation or choose not to be offended. We want society to revolve around us.

We live in fear and with a sense of entitlement. Our politicians just keep those two pots stirred. We need a leader that will stand up and say that we will not fear, we will help our fellow man no matter how much different he is from me. 

Interfere to Fix Previous Interference

When I was a youngster, I watched Star Trek: The Next Generation (big surprise if you know me). In the Star Trekverse, the Federation has what is called the Prime Directive.  It is a key document that holds Starfleet and the Federation back from interfering in the natural development of other civilizations. On a side note, captains of Enterprises seem to have problems adhering to it but yet it is still a core value. 

While it is idealist and sometimes it would not allow someone to stop an atrocity or protect people from disasters, it would be good for the United States along with most developed states to adopt a similar policy. In 2014, we are seeing the results of many years of interference in the Middle East. Not that that is the only place in which we see interference, it however is a great example of what can go wrong when states interfere with other civilizations. 

So, primarily the West has shaped the Middle East of today. They have drawn up borders that have divided some nations and mixed them with other nations. This has led to oppressive regimes. This has also given Western states (and others) a reason to go to war in the region. It also has led to more interference in the form of equipping and training groups to oppose those who invade and that we do not like (USSR v Afghanistan). It also gives Western governments a reason to train and equip groups to fight oppressive regimes that we do not like (Assad v The Other Bad Guys Who Might be Good). 

So out of all of that, we get a new group of bad guys named ISIS aka ISIL. These guys like to behead folks and keep traffic flowing smoothly in the streets of cities they capture. They have taken control of places in Syria and Iraq. What is the solution presented by the Obama administration? Bomb them and train groups to fight them. I'm sure this will workout great.

Time to Get Back to Being Americans

Today is the thirteenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America. Thirteen years and one day ago we were a totally different nation. We did not live in fear of attacks from Islamic radicals. We had been attacked once in the 90s on our own soil. Not so coincidently, it was the World Trade Center that had been bombed that time. Of course we had experienced attacks by fellow citizens who looked like us (well the white ones of us). Timothy McVeigh was the face of the bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City which occurred in the 90s as well. While both of these attacks grabbed the attention of the American public, they were small beans compared to the 9/11 attacks. Of course everyone knows that two commercial jets were flown into both World Trade Center towers, one flown into the side of the Pentagon and one was downed in a Pennsylvania field after the passengers showed courage like no others and took the plane back from the hijackers. 

I was not in a spot to watch the coverage that day but I have watched much of it in the last thirteen years. One thing that always sticks out in my mind (besides the fact that CNN reporters were curious if two planes could accidentally slam into the side of two buildings that sat next to one another) was Tom Brokaw saying that we were about to have to give up some rights for security. As I think more and more about that statement as the years pass, the more I am sadden at that statement. It was a statement that was half true. We have given up rights but are we safer? The other thing that has sadden me is that we gave into fear. Since those attacks, we have gone on a war spree. We have lost our values and have lost what made us exceptional. The terrorists did score a victory that day and it seems that they continue to reap the benefits even today.   

Shortly after the attacks, Congress passed the Patriot Act and other laws that would vastly expand the power of the federal government and concentrate that power in the executive branch. We now have a government that intrudes into our lives like never before via technology. Congress gave the president the power to go after whoever he saw fit with very little or if any restraints. We began imprison people indefinitely and kill others to include citizens without due process. We began to accept torture as acceptable. We would invade countries based on the decisions of one person. Not that that the practice of presidential wars were new but now they seemed to be on steroids. If the president thought a nation was a threat to our secruity then our miltary would invade without any declaration of war from Congress. We would invade two sovereign nations in the name of national security. One would be in response to the 9/11 attacks. The next would be to prevent the next 9/11. We also would spread democracy through military action. These wars may or may not have been needed. That is not the point. Out of fear, we allowed them and without any kind of accountability from the ones who made the decision to start them. The other problem with presidential wars is that we go in and get out based on one person's whims and those of their successors. We are starting to see this causes us to seem bipolar in our foreign policy. We lose credibility with the world and gives the bad guys some great PR to use for recruiting. 

There is a popular talking head out there that always wants us to go back to 9/12/01. He thinks we were more kind and caring on that day. I would agree that in some ways we were more kind and caring to some people on that day. To other people, we demonized them and pre-judged them based on race and religion. Heck, sometimes they weren't even the race or religion that we thought they were. We lived in fear and were willing to bow to the government and give them all of our rights. We were ready to go around the world and make countries pay even if they had nothing to do with the attacks. I do not want to go back to 9/12/01. I want us to take a stand and no longer live in fear. We do not give away our rights. We love our neighbors and treat them as Americans even if they look like or have a similar name to someone who attacked us. They attacked our neighbors also. We need to hold Congress accountable and not let them pass off their responsibility of declaring wars to the president. What we really need to do is to get back to American values. We need to love peace, our neighbor and the individual. 

MASH Theme Song is not True

This week one of the great comedians and actors took his own life. Just like everything else in today's society, it has set off a social media firestorm. Most people have talked about their sadness over the tragedy while others have interjected their opinion on suicide. That is not what I am trying to do with this post. I know very little about the subject. It has never effected me. I have not educated myself enough on the subject to run out and say that the act of suicide is selfish. Here is what I do know about mental health and suicide.

1. There are enough people with mental illness that most of us probably know or even respect someone with mental illness. I have seen stats that 1 in 5 have some form of mental illness.

2. Those with mental illnesses probably never did anything to deserve the illness. 

3. Most people with mental illnesses want to get better.

4. Those who take their own life do not want to die, they just see their life as hopeless. I always think about 9/11 and those people on the floors above the crash sight. They saw a fire behind them. They knew the jump from so high up was a better option than burning alive. Those who take their own life are in a situation in which they see a metaphoric fire all around them. It is burning them. They see the option of suicide as the lesser of two evils. As a person who is currently mentally healthy, I can look and see that the circumstances in my life are not so terrible that I need to jump. However, my mental health is not unstable. I can see things clearly. 

5. I cannot judge those who have taken their own life. 

This is what I encourage others out there to do. Before you post something on Facebook or Twitter about suicide, mental health or any subject for that matter; consider that you may be friends with or have followers who have strong opinions on the subject. There is a good chance that you may know someone who has attempted suicide, thought about suicide or known someone who has committed suicide.

If you are thinking about suicide, call someone you know, call 911 or go to this website.

https://m.facebook.com/800273TALK?refsrc=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252F&_rdr

Need a Hobby?

Today the Supreme court ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby when it comes to the Affordable Care Act.  Hobby Lobby management did not want to provide healthcare coverage that provided the morning after pill and IUD.  Hobby Lobby cited religious reasons as to why they do not want to provide coverage that would pay for these methods of birth control.  From everything that I have read and heard about the IUD and the morning after pill, I would argue with Hobby Lobby that these are immoral or unethical.  This does not mean that the government has the power to force them provide coverage that includes these methods of birth control.

Many on the left are upset because they feel that women have a right to all forms of birth control and employers are responsible to provide women with a way to obtain them. This would mean that the employer may have to check their religious beliefs at the door. This to me seems to violate the first amendment.

There are those out there that truly see contraceptives as a sin. They believe that people should not interfere with this part of nature. They would have moral issues with being involved in any part of the process. This would truly violate their conscience. 

The left would also say that this is a corporation and has no right to freedom of religion. While I do not agree with Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad, it does set the precedent that corporations have 14th Amendment protections. Couple that with incorporation and this means that corporations have 1st Amendment rights. Now, I agree with the left that this is crazy especially since people in the corporations commit fraud and rarely face indvidual consequences. Even if one rejects SCC v SPR, then one must concede that corporations are made up of people and those people cannot be forced to violate their conscience. 

Some of my liberal friends argue that this opens Pandora's Box and now companies will be able to discriminate based on religion. If a white does not want to hire an African-American or a Christian does not want to serve a Muslim then they will not have to because of this ruling. This argument sounds a lot like the "if gays can marry then a dad and daughter can marry

or a woman and a horse" argument. We still use common sense with laws. It is interesting to me that both sides use the same templates for their arguments. 

Our nation has chosen certain values to follow. One of them is to protect te freedom of religion. This must be protected at all costs. Just as freedom of speech and due process should be protected at all costs along with our other constitutional rights. Your boss not assisting you in purchasing birth control does not prevent you from going out and getting it yourself but the government forcing your boss to violate their conscience does violate their first amendment rights.

Good Corporations

Yesterday, I was catching up on The Daily Show.  One of the episodes had an interview with Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks.  He was on the show promoting their new program that will send employees to college for free.  He talked about how he was concerned about the rising cost of college and the debt it was creating for young people today.  He mentioned that we cannot wait on the government to fix the situation and that profits should not be the only goal of a corporation.  That got me thinking about the Chick-Fil-A.  This too is a company that does not seek profits as the end all be all. 

It is funny that these two corporations both have goals other than profits and have a sense of social responsibility.  Now, I am not saying these two corporations have all the same values because they do not.  However, both corporations have created a very positive environment in their stores.  This is a result of money not being the determining factor in all decisions. 

I am a huge fan of both places.  I have always been impressed with Chick-Fil-A's employees asking how they can serve you.  It might not seem like much but that is a very humbling statement and these days, humility is in short supply.  At Starbucks, the employees really do seem to take pride in their work and enjoy the place.  Pride in one's craft and enjoying work is also in very short supply these days. 

What is my point?  It is this, finding a purpose greater than money in life will lead to even better things.  If more corporations would find ways to help their employees and foster better environments then the world will be a better place.  Yes, I know that sounds like a statement from a third grader but it is so very true.  If everyone went into work, knowing that on some level the company took some interest in their well-being then maybe we would not have fast food employees out protesting to make $15/hour and CEO's would not crash companies into the ground by making greedy decisions just to walkout with a multi-million dollar severance package while the investors lose their life savings.  It starts with the leadership.  Schultz said in this interview that Starbucks is not just a coffee business but a people business.  If you go onto the Chick-Fil-A website, you would see they find ways to keep the environment clean.  They also offer scholarships to employees and help to send disadvantaged youth to college. 

These are not the only companies out helping others.  I do find it interesting that the founders of these companies are opposites politically.  Those on the right would demonize Starbucks for having a founder that supports Obamacare.  Those on the left would demonize Chick-Fil-A for having a founder that speaks out against gay marriage.  How about instead of painting people with the brush of politics (colors would be Fox News Red and MSNBC Blue), we start looking at how these people are leading the way in helping their fellow man?

Random ramblings

It's been about 4 weeks since I've started back to my lifting routine.  I was down with a rotator cuff strain/sprain whatever you want to call it...it hurt to move in certain ways.  I was scheduled to do a meet in May, had to drop out, which just so happened to rest of the team did the same actually, none of us represented our sponsors...good times there.

Anyway, this past week has seen some progress back in the garage on bench and squats, but dead lift is yet to be determined as I hesitate to really put myself under a lot of pressure just yet.  I hit 405 for an easy single on bench, and 475 for an easy single squat.  Tomorrow I'm contemplating, pending I get more than 3 hours asleep like last night, to work up to a moderately heavy dead left and see where we are.  I've got a chance to qualify for Nationals in October, I need to cut some weight and get my lifts back up, which I believe it's just getting back in the groove and hitting my paces again, muscle and strength are still there.

On a sadder note...I learned recently a man I well respected passed away.  Bob Ihlenfeldt aka "The Angry Coach".  I read a lot over at EliteFTS, anyone in strength and conditioning, dieting and nutrition should check out their plethora of articles.  EFS puts together some of the strongest, smartest individuals, and they put out article after article helping others for nothing.  Bob was one of those guys.  We wrote back and forth a few times in the past when I was going through some issues with my squat.  He always called it like he saw it, and how it honestly needed to be called.  He told me to quit being an asshole, and do what I needed to do.  Now, he didn't just tell me to stop being an asshole, he also gave tons of advice afterwards, and he'd never call me that unless it was what I needed, which it was.

Life passes too fast, and this game is way too short.  I think of all the time I spent in the gym, alone, doing my own thing and working my butt off for selfish reasons, and it makes me thankful for my wife and kids, and how they've embraced the same craziness I have, and joined me in my conquest to defeat death as long as we can.  We owe it to ourselves to do what we can to last as long as we can here.  Scratch that, we owe it to our kids, and our wives to last as long as we can.  If I think about going off course, or not working out, I think about my wife and being without me, and me without her, and I sprint (as fast as a fat man can) to the garage to get my workout in.  If you're overweight, or out of shape, and if you have the DESIRE to change, stop sitting around thinking about it, and get to work doing something every day to make yourself better.  It doesn't have to be those drastic changes all at once, that usually leads to unrealistic expectations, and failure.  Small changes, one step at a time. As Paul Carter says, Death is Winning...Do Something!

I leave you with this...The Scroll Marked III from Og Mandino's book "The Greatest Salesman in the World."

The Scroll Marked III

I will persist until I succeed.

In the Orient young bulls are tested for the
fight arena in a certain manner. Each is brought to
the ring and allowed to attack a picador who pricks
them with a lance. The bravery of each bull is then
rated with care according to the number of times
he demonstrates his willingness to charge in spite
of the sting of the blade. Henceforth will I recog-
nize that each day I am tested by life in like
manner. If I persist, if I continue to try, if I
continue to charge forward, I will succeed.

I will persist until I succeed.

I was not delivered unto this world in defeat,
nor does failure course in my veins. I am not a
sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I
am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep
with the sheep. I will hear not those who weep
and complain, for their disease is contagious. Let
them join the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure
is not my destiny.

I will persist until I succeed.

The prizes of life are at the end of each journey,
not near the beginning; and it is not given to me to
know how many steps are necessary in order to
reach my goal. Failure I may still encounter at the
thousandth step, yet success hides behind the next
bend in the road. Never will I know how close it
lies unless I turn the corner.

Always will I take another step. If that is of no
avail I will take another, and yet another. In truth,
one step at a time is not too difficult.

I will persist until I succeed.

Henceforth, I will consider each day's effort as
but one blow of my blade against a mighty oak.
The first blow may cause not a tremor in the wood,
nor the second, nor the third. Each blow, of itself,
may be trifling, and seem of no consequence. Yet
from childish swipes the oak will eventually tum-
ble. So it will be with my efforts of today.

I will be liken to the rain drop which washes
away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger;
the star which brightens the earth; the slave who
builds a pyramid. I will build my castle one brick
at a time for I know that small attempts, repeated,
will complete any undertaking.

I will persist until I succeed.

I will never consider defeat and I will remove
from my vocabulary such words and phrases as
quit, cannot, unable, impossible, out of the ques-
tion, improbable, failure, unworkable, hopeless,
and retreat; for they are the words of fools. I will
avoid despair but if this disease of the mind should
infect me then I will work on in despair. I will toil
and I will endure. I will ignore the obstacles at my
feet and keep mine eyes on the goals above my
head, for I know that where dry desert ends, green
grass grows.

I will persist until I succeed.

I will remember the ancient law of averages
and I will bend it to my good. I will persist with
knowledge that each failure to sell will increase
my chance for success at the next attempt. Each
nay I hear will bring me closer to the sound of yea.
Each frown I meet only prepares me for the smile
to come. Each misfortune I encounter will carry in
it the seed of tomorrow's good luck. I must have
the night to appreciate the day. I must fail often to
succeed only once.

I will persist until I succeed.

I will try, and try, and try again. Each obstacle
I will consider as a mere detour to my goal and a
challenge to my profession. I will persist and de-
velop my skills as the mariner develops his, by
learning to ride out the wrath of each storm.

I will persist until I succeed.

Henceforth, I will learn and apply another secret
of those who excel in my work. When each day is
ended, not regarding whether it has been a success
or a failure, I will attempt to achieve one more
sale. When my thoughts beckon my tired body
homeward I will resist the temptation to depart. I
will try again. I will make one more attempt to
close with victory, and if that fails I will make an-
other. Never will I allow any day to end with a
failure. Thus will I plant the seed of tomorrow's
success and gain an insurmountable advantage
over those who cease their labor at a prescribed
time. When others cease their struggle, then mine
will begin, and my harvest will be full.

I will persist until I succeed.

Nor will I allow yesterday's success to lull me
into today's complacency, for this is the great
foundation of failure. I will forget the happenings
of the day that is gone, whether they were good or
bad, and greet the new sun with confidence that
this will be the best day of my life.

So long as there is breath in me, that long will
I persist. For now I know one of the greatest prin-
ciples of success; if I persist long enough I will win.

I will persist.

I will win.

Five for One

The release of PFC turned SGT Bergdahl happened this past week and who would have thought an American being released from the Taliban would cause a political fight. Then again, what doesn't start a political fight. Someone yesterday asked me what I thought about the situation. My answer is not a clear cut one. This is not an easy situation to maneuver. We had an American who was captured by a group aligned with the Taliban. He was captured because either he wanted to be captured or was extremely stupid. He left his FOB alone without a weapon. People in his unit say that he had become disgruntled with the army and the mission in Afghanistan. There were soldiers killed on missions out looking for him. His father is against Gitmo and would like to see all detainees released. The Obama administration brokered a deal that exchanged Bergdahl for five detainees without notifying Congress as prescribed by law according to those in both chambers from both parties. This decision was unique and many fear that it will encourage more terrorist groups to kidnap Americans.

If I were to talk to Bergdahl, I'd tell him that he is a worthless solider and that he is not an NCO just because he has obtained a certain rank. No matter what was going on, leaving in the middle of a combat deployment was stupid and/or selfish. People were held over from seeing their families and some died. If he had issues with the treatment of the local Afghanis then he should have found a better course of action. Also, being captured was not his punishment for leaving his unit. That was a consequence for being alone in a combat zone without having a weapon. He still needs to answer for any UCMJ that he may have violated.

To his father, I'd say that while I sympathize with his view on Gitmo, I do not agree with releasing everyone of them. I do support them all having a trial. That is a fundamental right. I believe that 90 percent of every detainee is guilty. I would bet anything that at least one is innocent. It is not right to hold someone indefinitely without due process. There has been some progess in this area but it is still not where it needs to be. 

As for the law that Obama has broken, I do not believe it to be Constitutional. I do not know if this law has been upheld by the Supreme Court. I don't think this part of it has gone to them. If it has and they upheld it then they are wrong. There are separation of powers for a reason. The legislative branch cannot tell the executive who they can or cannot hold. Had these guys gone to trial and even found guilty then the president could pardon them. I do not see how this is different except they haven't even had a trial. As for the actual swap, I think it will lead us down a slippery slope. If another American is taken, the captors will request more to be released. As for the motivation of others to capture Ameicans, I do not think that has  increased. There are plenty out there that have had a 10 on that scale for a long time. 

I do not know what I would have done as the president in this situation. There was an American being held against his will. I think that getting Americans back must always be a top priority.  If my child was being held, I would no longer about anything but their release.

Why go through all of that...

"Why do you go through all of that?"

One idle Friday morning in a hotel room, with 3 boys and one other father on the school trip, I was asked by the father why I did what I did.  Why did I choose to wake up 45 minutes early, do push ups, sit ups, and stretch, and then pop enough pills and vitamins to put a drug dealer to shame?  I guess to me, this is like being asked why you have a certain religion, or a certain belief.  Chad touched on that on this post so I figured I would share my side of why I do what I do every day.

It's the internal reward I seek.  I don't need others to see how strong I am.  Yes, I compete among other lifters, yes this is frequently in public hotel banquet rooms open to everyone, and yeah, there are videos on the internet featuring some of my lifts, but without all of that, I would still get up early, stay up late, eat my vittles and make sure my protein content was high, fat content was moderate and carbs were scheduled around my lifting sessions.  I do it so that when I put that bar down, or come out of the hole in a personal best squat, I get to feel that feeling of satisfaction, of accomplishment, of success.  Realize there are some people who only experience this once in a while in their lives.  To me, that's just not enough.  I want to feel accomplished, I want to feel that I woke up today, and I did something awesome and I made my physical and mental being better.

My kids have taught me something very, very special. They taught me how to care and how to show others that they can accomplish more than they once thought possible if the proper amount of time and work is put in to achieve the goal.  It's imperative to have a little bit of ego, and a lot of self confidence when getting under the bar.  Last week, I was on my final set of squats, which I had for 3 reps.  I sat at the bar, took my grip, and placed the bar on my back.  I had a moment of quick doubt, so at this point everything stops for me.  I walk away. I take a moment and collect myself, get my mind right and prepare for war once again.  No negative thoughts permitted.  If you think you may fail, or you may get buried under the weight, you've already lost.  Even on lifts where I failed my attempt, I went in to it thinking I was the strongest person on the platform that day.  This lesson has taught our kids to strive for success, and that if they don't succeed at first, you get up, wipe yourself off and keep busting your rear to get what you want.  I used to want to bench 225, then I wanted to bench 275, 315, 365, 405, and each time I achieved my goal, I kept reaching.  The pursuit never stops.  My kids lift, they love it, and they've grown more in the past 6 months doing so than they have in a very long time.  They're a part of our group.  They're social, they're active, and they're learning to watch what they eat.  My youngest is so fascinated with his little bicep peaks, that he works HARD to get them bigger and bigger.  He's also cautious of his waist line.  He wants that V taper and he wants to have abs, so he eats healthy lean meats and proteins, and well...he's at least eating some veggies now with his dinner.

Sure, I'll probably have arthritis when I'm 50 or 60.  Sure there's a chance I may buckle under a 800 pound squat, but what if I don't?   This could relate to anything in our lives.  Relationships, religion, our career, anything.  Do we want to go in to something half committed?  Do we want to only skim the surface of excellence or should we strive to be the absolute best we can be?  I choose to push myself to the limit, really try to get everything out of life I can.  I love my life, and I love my self, that's why I choose to get up every day and push myself as far and as hard as I can.

Believing the Belief

Recently, I was asked about my beliefs on a particular subject. It was a very important subject to me but for the purposes of this post, it does not matter. It was not an on the spot question. I was writing the answer down so I had time to think about my answer. I decided to see what others thought on the subject. I truly believe in 1 Peter 3:15-16. But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 

Of course this started out with me checking out views of others on one subject. That just led me to reading up on the beliefs of other groups and people in different areas. As I read through these different ideas and beliefs, I found myself feeling sadden, unsure and alone. See, as I read about the beliefs of the group that I associate myself with now when it comes to the original subject of y search, I found that I did not like their attitude towards others who did not believe the same as we do. I then thought about the group that I use to associate with and their views on that subject and I realized that I could not say that I agree with them. I love them and love them dearly but they and I do not agree on a very important subject. That does not mean that I should look down on them and I still associate with many from that group but I cannot identify myself as part of that group in good conscience. I also read stuff on the internet that was critical of my belief. I read that my beliefs are from the pits of Hell. As I pondered these feelings, I came to some realizations and I become more confident in my beliefs.

The first realization is that I cannot worry about others views about me or my beliefs. I am a man of conscience (I believe many who do not agree with me on a variety of subjects are of conscience also). As a man of conscience, I must hold to my core beliefs, no matter what another person thinks about me. God has led me to focus on certain areas and I must stay true to my beliefs in those areas as long as I can show reasons why I believe the way that I believe. 

The second realization is that I must look at people as people. When people are like minded to me in an area, I must not expect to always agree with them and I must remember that they are imperfect humans just the same as me. That does not mean that I should condone things that I feel are wrong such as talking down to others or when someone acts as though they could not be wrong. What it does mean is that I should provide the example of how I think people who think differently should be treated and at times point out that attitude in others with whom I agree when they are talking to others in which we do not agree. That also means when someone that I do not agree with is talking to me then I listen. I will also tell them as much of my argument as they will allow me. I must always live as Christ in my actions. He never forced anyone to listen to Him and He called out His own when they were wrong. 

The third realization was a simple one. I am an individual. God created me to be one and that means I will never see eye to eye on every subject with any one person out there.

The final realization is that I am just human and I do not have all the answers. I do not have to be right in every area. I just have to put my trust in The Truth not a truth. This does not mean that I believe everyone is one is right. Even if there were no one truth in the universe then that would be the one truth. In a world in which everyone disagrees on something, someone must be right and someone must be wrong. What I must do is set my core beliefs and know that I could be wrong a wide range of things. I must always be looking for evidence for my beliefs. That journey can never end. 

I hope this post is not too much rambling. This was more for me to put down the words that I am thinking more than anything but I hope that you the reader gets something out of it. Please do not look at this and think "that guy is closed minded" or "that guy has no beliefs". Trust me, I have very solid beliefs and I am always willing to listen to and discuss those beliefs with others. I do believe that Satan and evil forces use divisions in ideas as a way to keep people isolated from others. That leads to so much evil and ultimately separation from God. 

Getting Started

Once people figure out I'm in to that "hardcore lifting" game, I get asked quite a few questions.  Yes, I'm the guy jacked up on pre workout, usually rocking some heavy metal, and I do get a little loud on max effort lifts (hence why I dropped nearly $2500 to equip my garage with every thing I would need to be successful, commercial gyms just aren't my thing).

One of the most frequent and toughest questions I've come across is, "How do I get started on a workout routine?"

To me that's tough because, it's so individualized.  I can set someone up on a program that I write, and that I do myself, but would they stick to it?  Likely not, as a beginner it would leave them fatigued and too tired to complete the following workouts throughout the week.  It's like me asking an ultra marathon runner what he does to train, and then trying to mirror that on my own.  Just Not.Going.To.Happen.  So, for those looking to just get in the gym, build some muscle, maybe drop some body fat, here are some suggestions I can give.

1.  Stay out of the magazines and off the internet sites with pro's or wanna be pro's who think they can write you a program to get cut and stacked in 6 weeks.  Sure, Flex magazine is fun to look at, and has good information, but those workout programs aren't what the pro's are actually doing day in day out.  KISS method applies here, especially to a new lifter or runner.  It's like those fat burners that are advertised on every page, yeah, they're not going to get your shredded.  They may give you a little kick in the butt in the gym, but their actual ability to burn fat off of you is nil.  A few good starter programs for lifting are: Starting Strength, 5/3/1.  Those are just two of the more well known programs that are easily obtained and started.

2.  Consistency.  My favorite quote from Dorian Yates, "It's all about consistency.  It's like building a house, every day I'm adding a brick."  You have to put in the time, over and over again to make the progress you want.  If you can break through feeling like complete crap, drag yourself out of bed and get to the gym, or garage, to workout you'll start to see that trait bleed over in to other aspects of your life.  Procrastination kills.  Dedication.  Hard Work.  We've all heard that time and time again.

3.  Goal setting.  Like anything else, keeping clear, concise and ATTAINABLE goals are key.  My nephew always wanted to be a body builder.  The kid had genetics, where he got them from who knows, but in high school he was cut.  He lifted occasionally, but he easily could have built his body in to one of those fitness models you see walking around with no shirt on in the winter time just to show their abs.  But...he never set attainable goals.  He wanted to go from zero to hero in 4 weeks.  Along with the bad goal setting, he didn't follow number 2...consistency.  If you're 300 pounds, your goal should be to start with just getting on a good nutrition plan to drop weight.  Set your goal at lets say, 250.  And idea of abs is ok, but the goal needs to be something short term enough to push yourself to success.

4.  Do work that gets you closer to your goals.  If your goal is to lose 25 pounds, busting your rear end in the gym is great, but eating 3000 calories of processed carbs, sweets, sugars, is going to negate that gym time.  Diet and nutrition are upwards to 90% of your success in losing weight.  Cutting out bad carbs, sugars, processed foods and going to a clean, natural diet is going to yield great results on the scale when coupled with a consistent workout plan.


I could go on listing things but getting down to the basics of it all, that's the ground level.  In short, have a clear image and goal of what you want to get out of your workouts, be consistent, and do what works.  I don't know how many times I see people doing something that's contradictory to what their said goals are.  If you want to drop weight, stop eating and drinking crap all the time, if you want to get stronger, start lifting more and supply proper nutrition to your body.  Too many people out there are trying to reinvent the wheel.  Bodybuilding and power lifting have been around for years and years, if you take a look at those who are or who have been successful in the past, they're sticking to old, tried and true methods to get what they want.

Again, no details listed because I really do feel that we're all pretty different.  Some look at what I do as taboo or not normal.  I look at treadmill bunnies as lame and boring.  We all have our thing, part of the journey is actually taking the time to sit down and find out what makes us tick.  What's going to be that thing that gets you going, and keeps you going.  If I went to a trainer that was all about cardio and running on a treadmill, I'd probably throw him the bird on my way out the door.  There's nothing wrong with that, it's just not my cup of tea.  Just like if someone saw how we workout, and how intense we get they'd likely think of me completely different than they do now.  Find what works for you, and roll with it.

And here we go!

A while back Chad approached me about blogging regarding fitness and such, I was hesitant at first, but figured I've accrued quite a bit of knowledge over the past 10 years or so of lifting competitively, and I've worked with some of the brightest, and strongest individuals on the planet, so who knows, this may help push someone in the right direction and give back since I've been helped and blessed by so many in the strength world.

To start, a bit about my background.  29 years old, no, I'm not 30 yet.  I started taking an interest in lifting in high school, off season football, the mean strength coach, all that.  Pretty typical start for most of us meat heads.  I never took lifting seriously though.  It was something we were obligated to do in the off season, and on the off chance it was storming bad enough for the coach to actually say we're not going to practice that morning on the field. After high school, lifting was non-existent for a good while.

Fast forward a bit, cutting out the boring crap.  After realizing my weight had shot up horribly and I was getting lazy, I contacted a few people I found on Google to see about setting up some training.  My first contact was Josh Bryant.  This is when everything I thought I knew, or had been taught in the past changed.  Google Josh Bryant, he's a beast of a man, with the heart of a Saint.  Not only did he push me further physically, he tested me mentally, and even got me on a better path with God (which I admit is something I do struggle with quite a bit).  Josh was the youngest person to bench 600 pounds raw (no bench shirt or support shirt), and had been able to cut weight himself over time.  I knew if anyone could get me going, it'd be him, I just didn't know how far he'd take me, and how much potential he'd unleash in me.  I started on a power lifting method he had put together.  We focused on dead lifts, bench press, and squats.  Cardio was done, but minimal.  When I start with Josh, I was at or close to 400 pounds.  My heaviest ever was 464 back in 2008.  Under Josh, I dropped down to about 320, and did my first power lifting meet.  During that meet, I set 2 state records and came close to a 3rd.

Since then, I've also studied under Ken "Skip" Hill, Brian Dobson, and Brandon Lilly.  I've gotten information or programming from too many people to list on here, that's for sure.

I've managed to get my weight down to 285, but during the winter relaxed a bit, and bulked up just a bit.  My lifts have all gone up, so it's not a total loss.

In March of 2014, I had a minor set back with a rotator cuff injury.  It wasn't severe enough for rehabilitation or medical treatment, but it was a nagging injury I had to address, so I took some time off from lifting heavy.  Now that it's cleared up, I'll be competing in October in a USPLA meet in Carrollton, TX.  I'll have the chance to qualify for an invite to Nationals in Las Vegas for 2015.  In 2015, I'll have the chance to qualify for IPL Worlds, which would be a pretty big step for me.

So, through this blog I plan on touching on some subjects regarding workouts, nutrition from time to time, and some personal goals and such as we roll along.  Any questions or comments, just leave them here and they'll definitely get answered.

Peace

The Exciting Finale of the Top 17 Episodes of Star Trek: Tng

Previously:
17.  Encounter at Farpoint
16.  The Royale
15.  Data's Day
14.  The Masterpiece Society
13.  Chain of Command
12.  The Offspring
11.  The Wounded
10.  Parallels
 9.  Redemption
 8.  The Game
 7.  Tapestry
 6.  The Inner Light

Star Trek: The Next Generation is my favorite television series of all-time. It had everything. It had action, adventure, taught moral lessons, explored humanity, was a social conscious at times and almost always told a story. Here is my top seventeen list of the greatest episodes of the series. As a side note, episodes that were two-parters, I lumped together.

5.  I, Borg
The crew finds a downed Borg ship that has one survivor.  Dr. Crusher brings the Borg back to the Enterprise to take care of him.  It is not a decision that Picard is happy with but he agrees to it.  Guinan thinks Picard is a fool for allowing the Borg onto the ship.  She points out, rightly so, that the other Borg in the area will come looking for him.  La Forge and Data come up with a plan to plant a virus into the Collective via this Borg (Third of Five and later takes on the name Hugh).  As Geordi works with Third of Five, he sees more than just a Borg drone.  He sees a young boy who is afraid and Geordi makes a connection with him.  This is when he and Dr. Crusher decide to rename Third of Five, Hugh.  Hugh grows and starts to take on individuality.  Guinan talks to him and even feels compassion for him.  She talks Picard into talking to Hugh.  When with Picard, Hugh refers to himself as I for the first time.  This leads Picard to decide that it is not right to use this drone as an instrument of genocide.  The senior staff agrees that allowing Hugh to go back might introduce individuality into the Collective.  It does and we find out the unintended consequences of that later on in the series. This is an excellent episode for a post 9/11 world where we look at people as groups and rarely consider the individual.

4.  Time's Arrow
This episode begins with the Enterprise coming back to Earth due to a find in a cavern below San Francisco.  The crew learns that what appears to be Data's head was found in the cavern.  It is about 500 years old.  Through a series of events (the type that tell us we cannot fight our own destiny), Data is sent back to 19th century San Francisco.  He finds Guinan who is posing as a debutant and hosts parties with such figures as Samuel Clemens.  Data believes that somehow Guinan has come back in time with him.  In fact, she has not come back in time, this is her from 500 years earlier.  Others from the crew end up going back into time to search for Data and to stop an alien race from destroying humanity in the past.  We find out why Guinan and Picard have the relationship that they have from this episode.

3.  All Good Things
The final episode of the television series and it was a good one.  We get to revisit Encounter at Farpoint.  We also get to see the future of the crew.  Q comes back and lets Picard know that the trial never ended.  Picard, one final time, has to save humanity.  This is a great episode because we get to see Lt. Yar one more time and we get a glimpse into the future.  Of course that future is always changing and based just on the first movie (Generations) that future will be at least somewhat different than what Picard saw as jumped between time periods. 

2.  Yesterday's Enterprise
At the time this episode aired, it became the best episode of the series.  An Enterprise from the past (NCC-1701-C) comes through a rift in space/time and history is changed.  The Federation and Klingon Empire have been in a bloody 20 year war.  Lt. Yar is still alive and Worf is not a member of the Enterprise. The crew is not all chummy with each other.  In fact, you get the distinct feeling that Riker and Picard hate one another.  Guinan has a feeling that things are not right but cannot put her finger on it.  She only knows that the Federation should not be at war and that she should not know Yar.  Picard is faced with a dilemma, does he send the Enterprise C back to the fight with the Romulans in the past?  He knows they do not stand a chance to survive but if a Starfleet ship fights to defend a Klingon outpost against the Romulans then the war could be avoided. Does he convince them to stay in the 24th Century and join the fight against the Klingon Empire?  If they stay in the 24th century, they have a chance to survive.  He even makes the point to Guinan that he does not have the right to ask them to go back and to die.  She points out that 40 billion have already died in the war.  He knows keeping them in his time period will do nothing to change the fact that the Federation is close to surrender.  Once Yar finds out from Guinan that she dies a needless death, she wants to go back in the past with the Enterprise C crew.  The ship does go back to it's correct time period and the timeline is restored.  Nobody but Guinan knows it has changed.  The sending of Yar back to the past will still have effects in this time period.  She is captured by the Romulans and is sent back to Romulus where she marries a Romulan and has a child.  That child will grow up to be an important figure in the Romulan military and we find out about her in Redemption. 

1.  Best of Both Worlds
This is the season three finale and season four premier.  The Borg have decided to make their move and to assimilate humanity along with the other races in the Federation.  The Enterprise engages them and plays some hide and seek in a nebula.  On the eve of one of the battles, Picard and Guinan have a discussion about what the Borg did to her people and she reminds Picard that humanity will survive even if it is only a remnant.  Once the battle begins, the Borg win.  They capture Picard.  The Enterprise catches up to the Borg ship and an away team goes back to rescue Picard.  They come back with the news via Worf (in his saddest voice ever), "He is a Borg."  Locutus (Picard as a Borg) tells them that resistance is futile and they will be assimilated.  Riker is ready to use the deflector dish as a weapon that will destroy the Borg ship.  The season three finale ends with Riker saying the fateful words, "Mr. Worf, fire."  I would go the entire summer thinking that Picard was dead (I was 11 years old. I did not know the magic of television writers knowing how to get out of jams.).  In the season four premier, we find out that the plan did not work.  The Borg knew the plan and was prepared because they had all of Picard's knowledge and he knew about the deflector dish plan.  The Borg ship escapes and heads for sector 001 (Earth). Riker is promoted to captain. The Borg ship engages Starfleet at Wolf 359.  They decimate the fleet.  This is the battle where Captain Ben Sisko loses his wife when he was a Lt. Commander.  The Enterprise shows up in the aftermath due to not being able to go anywhere because of their use of the deflector dish.  The crew does get to the Borg ship while it is in sector 001. They are able to capture Locutus.  Once back on the Enterprise, Data accesses the cybernetics and figures out from Picard to give the Borg ship the command of sleep.  This shuts the ship down and then Data gives it an autodestruct command.  The rest is history.  The season three finale half was ranked in the top 100 television episodes of all-time by TV Guide.  It was a turning point for the series and that is when it really took off as a cultural icon.  

The Continuation of the Top 17 Episodes of Star Trek: TNG

Previously:

17.  Encounter at Farpoint
16.  The Royale
15.  Data's Day
14.  The Masterpiece Society
13.  Chain of Command
12.  The Offspring
11.  The Wounded
 

Star Trek: The Next Generation is my favorite television series of all-time. It had everything. It had action, adventure, taught moral lessons, explored humanity, was a social conscious at times and almost always told a story. Here is my top seventeen list of the greatest episodes of the series. As a side note, episodes that were two-parters, I lumped together.

10.  Parallels
This is the episode that introduced the idea of parallel universes to me.  It is a very interesting idea.  With a rift in the space-time continuum, Lt. Worf starts to jump from universe to universe.  In each universe we find that a different choice here or there changes lots of different things.  The best part of this episode is at the end when we find out there is a universe where the Borg are about to finish off the Federation and in another Riker succeeded in killing Locutus.

9.  Redemption
This is the season four finale and season five premier.  Following the awesome cliffhanger from season three to season four, this cliffhanger had me imagining all kinds of scenarios over that summer.  Part one ends with what appears to be Tasha Yar emerging from the shadows in a Romulan uniform stating that humans will come around when least expected.  Turns out that it is not Tasha but who it is, is even more intriguing.  This episode also puts Data in the commander chair of his own ship which has the viewer question their own stereotypes about people who are different and their capabilities.  We also get to see Worf serving on a Klingon ship as a Klingon warrior in a Klingon civil war.

8. The Game
This episode was way ahead of its time.  Riker brings a game back from Risa.  This game is so addictive that the entire crew becomes addicted to it.  Some writer must have heard about a plan to introduce smartphones in the next 10 to 15 years while thinking up this episode.  Wesley visits the Enterprise while on leave from Starfleet Academy and meets Ashley Judd (yes, Ashley Judd played a minor character on Star Trek: TNG).  The game is being used to control the crew by an alien.  Watch this episode and then think real hard before playing Candy Crush.

7. Tapestry
In season two, we found out that Picard has an artificial heart due to a fight when he was young.  Later on in season six, there is an accident and Picard dies due to the heart being damaged.  He awakens to find Q as the judge on the other side. He is quick to point out that Q cannot be God because the universe is not so poorly designed.  Q gives Picard the chance to change that moment and he does not get into the fight.  He never has the artificial heart and later on down the road, the accident will not cause his heart to malfunction.  However, his life turns out so much different.  He never makes it into command and is just a normal Joe working as a science officer on the Enterprise.  Once he is brought back from the dead, he and Riker have a conversation and I learned a lesson that has reminded me throughout my life to accept that both the good and bad have shaped made me into the person that I am today.

"There are many parts of my youth that I'm not proud of. There were loose threads - untidy parts of me that I would like to remove. But when I pulled on one of those threads, it unraveled the tapestry of my life." - Picard

6.  The Inner Light
An alien race that has been extinct for many, many years sends out a probe that "tethers" itself to Picard and he lives a lifetime as one of the aliens in his mind.  They do this so that their culture will be remembered.  This episode also has a quote that I will never forget and will always remind me to enjoy what I have in front of me.

"Seize the time, Meribor, live now!  Make now always the most precious time.  Now will never come again." - Kamin (Picard's alien name)

Part One of the Top 17 of ST: TNG

Star Trek: The Next Generation is my favorite television series of all-time. It had everything. It had action, adventure, taught moral lessons, explored humanity, was a social conscious at times and almost always told a story. Here is my top seventeen list of the greatest episodes of the series. As a side note, episodes that were two-parters, I lumped together.

17.  Encounter at Farpoint
This could have been a much better episode.  I put it on the list because it was the series premier.  We learn that Riker and Troi use to be a thing, Picard is somehow connected to the Crushers due to the death of Wesley's father/Beverly's husband.  We also get to see the first time the saucer section separates from the ship and we get to see the battle bridge.  We are introduced to what I think is one of the most interesting villains in television history, Q.  He causes lots of problems for lots of cultures throughout the galaxy but I really would like to sit down and drink a beer with this guy.  In the end, the story was blah and it was obvious the technology was not up to post-season two standards but we could not have the series without the series premier.

16.  The Royale
This was a good episode.  It was kind of cheesy at points.  If anyone watched Walker Texas Ranger, you will recognize the character Texas played by Noble Willingham.  We find out that at some point, the United States expands to 52 states (thanks to the flag on the dead astronaut who went way off course) and Data can roll dice like a champ.  We learn a very valuable life lesson, if ever stuck in a casino/hotel and you cannot get out through the revolving door then just read the book left in the dead astronaut's room.  This will tell you how the story ends, you can play it out and the revolving door will start working properly.

15.  Data's Day
In this episode, we get a chance to look at a day in the life of Lt. Commander Data.  The O'Briens get married, a baby is born and the Romulans get the best of the Enterprise crew.  I learned a valuable saying in my life thanks to Commander Riker.  Some days you get the bear, other days the bear gets you.

14.  The Masterpiece Society
We get to meet a human society that has perfected itself through genetic engineering.  Every person is performing the job they were designed to perform.  They have no disabilities.  Yet, we find out they are still not happy and have vulnerabilities.  Their society is saved by LaForge's VISOR that he uses because he is blind.

13.  Chain of Command
This is a two-parter.  Picard, Worf and Dr. Crusher are sent on a mission to discover and destroy a Cardassian weapon.  The weapon is a fake and was put there to capture Picard. The Enterprise is taken over by Captain Jellico who is hard on the crew and is not liked by Riker.  He also makes Counselor Troi start wearing a uniform which reminds us that she is a Lt. Commander.  It is a great episode to go back and watch.  You would think it was a written post 9/11.  Picard is tortured.  It will challenge your views of our tactics used during the war on terror.

12.  The Offspring
Data creates a new android (the robot not the cellphone) and it's a girl.  She even grows beyond Data and starts using contractions.  She learns to love.  Thanks to some admiral who wants to interfere and take her away from Data, she gets scared and this ultimately kills her.  It is a great episode that makes us ask what it means to be a parent and that parents are meant to be the most important figure's in a child's life.

11.  The Wounded
Chief O'Brien's old captain has gone after the Cardassians.  He is still fighting an old war and is convinced the Cardassians are getting ready to fight a new one.  Picard is ordered by Starfleet to keep the peace at any price.  This means that he has to protect Cardassian ships from the Phoenix even though he believes the Cardassian ships are carrying weapons.  This episode introduces The Minstrel Boy, the song that would become Chief O'Brien's background music in many episodes in DS9.

Help Wanted

One of the things that bothers me so much about our society is our unwillingness to help others and our greed. I am here to say, I am guilty as charged. I am not generous. I try to hold onto as much as possible. My time is precious. It is what our society says to do, right? Get as much as you can and he who dies with the most toys, wins (remember that No Fear tshirt?). 

I think it's time to change that about our society. Let's stop waiting for the government to help our fellow man. Let's find those opportunities to give. It doesn't even have to be money. It could be volunteering. It could be giving blood. It could be helping that rough looking guy push his car off to the side of the road. Yes these things may cause us to lose time and we may have fears about helping that guy who does not look like us but that is not justification to not help. 

The Good Samaritan is the perfect example of how to help. Those who thought they were the good people in society did not help a man who laid on the side of the road. The man had just been beaten and robbed.  They probably had great reasons why not to help. They were late to an important meeting. It could be a trap in order to rob them. Perhaps it was two days before payday and they did not have the money to spend. Maybe they knew a caring Roman solider was patrolling the area and would help the man. The Good Samaritan was the one that truly did care. He risked his safety. He was late to his destination. He spent his money. He did not wait for the local Imperial Emergency Management Agency representative to come help. He just did the right thing. The best part, the man he helped probably hated Samaritans. At best, he had very negative stereotypes of them.

Look for those opportunities to help, no matter the cost. You have been helped at some point in your life and it's time to pay it back. He who risks all of his toys to help someone else, that truly is no fear.

2014 Stanley Cup Playoff Primer

     New year, new structure. With realignment comes a new playoff setup that harkens back to the 80's where the divisions have a playoff to determine who will play in the conference finals.

     Still confused? Well, let me explain. For the last 20 seasons, division winners automatically qualified as the top 3 seeds followed by 5 wild cards (just like the NBA). After the first-round, teams would then be reseeded. Before that, the top four teams in each division would face each other over the first two rounds to determine division representatives in the conference finals.

     This new format is a combo of the two. The top 3 in each division qualify along with two wild cards from each conference. The division winners face the wild cards in the divisional semi-finals while the two and three seeds play each other. It's that simple.

     Play begins tonight with a couple of surprises, the big one bring that there is just one Canadian team for the first time in 41 years (Ironically, the Montreal Canadiens). On the Western side, the Dallas Stars have to cross over to the Pacific Division playoffs due to a stacked Central producing both wild cards. 

     

Photo: CBSSports.com

Why I Believe

About a month ago, my church did a three week series about the empirical and philosophical arguments for God. It was very interesting to me. About the same time, the new show on Fox called Cosmos started. It looks at the beginnings of the universe, the Earth and humanity. These are the things that interest me also. I am neither a scientist nor a theologian but I find both science and religion to be very important in life. Those who ignore science, ignore facts. Those who ignore God, ignore the world around them. 

There are many people that do not believe there is a God. Many of those people are good people and do so much for society and their fellow man. They are very noble people. There are also many people who believe in God (at least intellectually) and many of those people are not good people. I can say at times in my life that I have been one of those people who believes in God and is not a good person. Those who believe in God many times will demonize those who do not believe in God and label them as terrible people. Those who do not believe in God many times look at those who believe as simpletons or weak-minded. What ends up happening is there is very little dialogue between the two groups. This is never good in society. 

I grew up in church. I grew up around my grandparents and my mother who were and are believers. My grandfather read the Bible to me when I was young. So many would say that believing is my default setting and I would agree with them. This does not mean that my faith is blind. As a Christian, I am responsible to have a reason why I believe and I am suppose to let others know about it. I have plenty of reasons to believe. If I listed them all and went in depth, I probably could write a book. Of course, I ramble and get too distracted for that. I will attempt to skim the surface as to why I believe in God. 

 

One of the things that sticks out most to me in life is the opposable thumb. How handy is this thing for humans? Imagine if you only had four digits or if all four digits were fingers. Life would be so much different. Like most things, I am not concerned with whether we had these thumbs since the beginning or if they evolved over time. I look at them and I am amazed by their design. Those who oppose my belief would argue that in an infinite universe, the thumb was destined to happen. If it had not happened then we would have adapted and lived life without them. We would have created things designed to work with what we have. I would say that this still does not take away the beauty of the design of the thumb. The human thumb is a magnificent machine that had to have had some kind of designer. 

 

Another reason I believe is the human need for rules. For the vast majority of humans, there is a sense of right and wrong. Now that sense of right and wrong does vary from society to society. I would be interested in finding one society in human history that had no rules, do what you want. Kill whomever you want and whenever you want. Have sex with anyone you want, whether they want to or not. Many times those who do not believe in God will focus on the differences in the rules. The focus needs to be that humans make rules and have a sense of right and wrong.  Even those who do not believe in God will say there cannot be a god because of all the evil in the world.  What sets the standards for that evil?  If there is nothing higher than humanity then who cares what happens to everyone else.  Just take care of yourself.  If you are only a product of biological functions and have no spirit then you should only be out for yourself.  You should not even care what happens to those in your family.  There is no point to being a "moral" person if fellow humans have set those morals. 

Another reason that I believe and by no means the last reason is the universe itself. It is massive. It is has been expanding for almost 14 billion years now. It started as small as an atom. It had a starting point. We know that in our physical universe, everything has to have come from something else. We don't look at each other and believe that any us come from nothing. We know that somehow all of the parts of something had to be brought together, even at the atomic level.  Those who do believe in God will ask where was God's beginning. I cannot give a good answer. He is not of our universe so the rules do not apply to Him. He is spirit. I know that's a cop out but it's the best I can do. Just because I cannot explain something does not mean it's not real. I would ask, how in a universe where everything has to come from something, can one believe that the universe itself came from nothing? 

When it comes down to it, I believe because of what I have seen God do in my life. Too many things have come together in my life to get me to this point. I cannot take credit for any of it. I did not choose where I was born. I did not chose my DNA. I did not choose my family. I did not choose the abilities that I do and do not have.

I would challenge anyone who is a non-believer to seek out some believers and spend time with them.  Not to debate religion or the existence of God but to see their lives up close.  You might be surprised.  If you watch TV, you will mostly see stereotypes of believers.  Some made up by Hollywood and some that just fit the stereotype without any help.  Church is a great place for something like this but does not have to be.  You probably work around believers even if they are not wearing a sign.  You will find that believers are very diverse and do not have all the same ideas or the same personalities.  Some are professors, doctors, lawyers, police officers, firefighters, soldiers, marines, sailors, airmen, mechanics, world leaders and janitors.  Some have IQs that are off the charts and others have IQs below your IQ.

I do believe that one day everyone will meet God face to face.  I believe that we will have to answer some questions.  I do not try to do good things in order to impress God.  I know that I can never do that.  I try to do as much good as possible in order to say thank you for the gift that I have already been given.

For those who do not believe, I would ask this question; in an infinite universe with infinite possibilities, how can the door be shut so easily on there being an intelligent being that created it? 

Strawberry & Banana Muffins

Strawberries are my all time favorite fruit! For as long as I can remember they always have been. I guess not just the fruit but also the flavor. I have always loved strawberry milk, strawberry cupcakes/cakes, strawberry koolaid, Straw-ber-rita's!!

And bananas are pretty close to the top of my list also.

Please tell me I am not the ONLY person whose bananas end up looking like this? I swear, my kids will eat them like they are going out of style, demanding more. Then one day, nobody wants them anymore and they end up looking like those poor things! And then it dawned on me! I wonder if you can make Strawberry/Banana Bread? I was tired of making the same old Banana Bread that I always make when my bananas look close to death. So I decided to google and I found this recipe here!

Here is the cast of characters! Flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, eggs, butter, cinnamon, vanilla, smooshed bananas, strawberries and sugar! (not the sugar above, the one below!! I didn't read the recipe correctly, be sure you do that!) Also don't plan on using that many strawberries and bananas for one batch. I got a little crazy and made three batches!! Luckily I was able to take some to work and I really think my coworkers enjoyed them! Oh yeah, my kids were super excited too! They loved having them for breakfast and then a snack when they came home from school!!

Use brown sugar instead of white!!!!

All right! Time to get started! Melt your butter in a small saucepan and then let cool to room temperature.

 Smoosh your bananas up!! (Yes that is a real word to me! I don't care what auto correct tries to tell me!)

Cut your strawberries into bite size pieces. And feel free to snack on them while you are cutting them up!

Get your medium sized bowl and whisk together the eggs, vanilla extract and mashed bananas. 

Add the melted butter and stir to combine.

Doesn't that look good?!?!?1

In a separate larger bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

Beautifully combined!!

Now dump those beautiful berries onto your flour mixture.

Gently fold the berries into your mixture, making sure each berry is coated with the flour mixture. The directions stated this was important because it would help the berries from sinking during baking. I wasn't sure if it would make a difference. I wasn't going to get my hopes up, but I was not disappointed in the end!

Now add your wet ingredients to the flour mixture.

And start stirring until the ingredients are combined. Do not over mix or you will end up with tough muffins!

Lookin' Good!!

Line your muffin tins with some pretty paper liners!

( These beauties came from the Dollar Tree!!)

Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups.

(or 50 if you get a little overzealous like I did!!)

Slide your muffins into your preheated 350* oven.

Check on them around the 20 minute mark. Look at those beautiful strawberries just hanging out on top!

I guess that flour trick did work!

Mmm, Mmm, Mmm

Delicious!!

Strawberry Banana Muffin Recipe

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter,melted
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 large ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
• 1 cup fresh strawberries (cut into bite sized pieces)
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place oven rack in the center of the oven. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper liners.

In a small saucepan melt the butter. Let cool to room temperature.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs,vanilla and mashed banana. Add the melted butter and stir to combine.

In a separate large bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Gently fold in the berries, making sure they are coated with flour. (This helps to prevent the berries from sinking during baking.) Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are just combined. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

Divide the batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop. Place in the oven and bake until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Can be stored for a few days at room temperature.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

Prep time: 20 mins