The Rule Book

Growing up, we've all had the same experiences... generally. The path of right and wrong is set before us by our parents, teachers, and otherwise authoritative elders. We follow these rules on faith, and, without question, obligate our existence to the adherence to these set laws of right and wrong.

But has anyone ever questioned why? Of course they have. I'm not breaking new ground into some vast, unknown, and forsaken territory which has been deeply guarded from our understanding by a secret organization or the likes.

No.

Everyone has questioned why we shouldn't eat cookies before dinner. Why we should lift the toilet seat. Why we should open the door for a lady as she walks by. Why we should go to our room after misbehavior. Why everything we want to do at our core should be utterly and confusingly denied.


But, of course, when we get older, these things make sense:

Cookies are for after, because they leave the best taste in your mouth after dinner, and you can't eat as many of these fattening sweets after a good healthy meal.

The toilet seat doesn't appreciate the left-behind. And neither does the next guy's bottom.

I guess ladies own us. :] just kidding. Mannerisms are a way to make things easier for each other.

Punishment is the only way we can learn not to do something which is destructive to our or other's well being.



And everything at our core is utterly and confusingly destructive.



Every ambition of human nature is purely self righteous. The owner of a body has a world which inclines itself only to include the desires, needs, and ideas of the user. Such behavior is conductive only to that which takes.

And takes.

And takes.



Never giving a second thought to where the happiness it so willfully draws on is being mined and extricated from:

Other people.

A pure and simple desire for one's self.

selfishness.


disastrous. devastating. A constant struggle for the resources we "require" at the expense of those we do and do not know.








So how is it that no one ever questioned those most important rules we grew up with? *ehem* the Bible.

The rules seem bipolar. Very strict and ridiculously specific at one end, and very very vague and somehow contradictory at the other. So vast, so many, so specific the laws seem to be.

• the golden rule
• the ten commandments
• Leviticus
• EVERYTHING IN THERE!

It all seems so harsh. To put these rules down in front of us and expect us to take these without so much as a hint to what it's all for. tragic, the plight of the human race.

It's just so hard.

No one could possibly follow these commandments. It's just too much. There was that one guy, but no one is exactly like Him.

So why?

Why all of this ridiculousness? It's obvious, looking at the christian world today, how well the rules have worked out... right? Obviously a failure. Obviously another fraud among a field of fraudulence.

But wait.

If these rules are good, then why can't anyone follow them? More importantly, why are the rules good? The parents and such had reasons for their rules and regulations on our youth.

So why are these rules from an ancient book good?

Are the rules good because God made them that way?
Or is God good because the rules are the path to selflessness, which he embodies?

On the one hand, God created existence.

On the other, the rules of good and evil define all forces.


hmm....


but what if?



what if God and the rules were not mutually exclusive?


What if God is the rules, and the rules are God?


Because we are made in the image of God... that means that... to be Godlike we must follow the path he follows... but to be Godlike we must follow the rules..... like a=b and c=b therefor a=c....

God is the rules, because they define who he is, but at the same time... they are defined by Him.


so.

God IS the rules.



therefore, the reason we must follow these many rules is because we are God-like, our nature being benefited from the replication of Him... since we are Him in a way, and the reason the rules are there in the first place is because if they are Him, and He is us, then we are them.



SOOOO... to be beneficial to God and inadvertently ourselves (because remember: we are selfish and destructive concerning our own lives since the great fall) we must regard the rules as good and therefore beneficial.



In Laymen's terms, the reason why the rules are in place is because they are beneficial to us. And the reason they are beneficial to us is because we are in the image of God, and God is the rules. Therefore by doing something which is like God, we are doing something to benefit ourselves and Him at the same time.


So when you think "Why?" the next time you are disheartened by the "rules" (which, by the way can be summarized in the GOLDEN RULE (see L-O-V-E blog)) just remember that there is a reason, and it is intended to benefit both parties.



But don't be fooled.


Ever since the Fall of Man, we have had a part of us that is NOT like God, which has ruled our bodies, and which has, in effect, taken the desire to do good by these guidelines from us. So now, the Law brings death, and this is why one rule, to love God, was set in place for us to follow, and why Jesus had to die for all the infractions of the law by His imperfect brothers and sisters.

The Painfully Obvious

Give me that beat,
'Cause im on my feet.
I'm ready to run -
and I'll never be done.

taking this out to the people when
I'm off and running strong again.
You can't stop this pace - its not my own,
I'm taking off now before I'm thrown

Took me years to search
Right in my face
so obvious it hurts,
since I've ran this race

Deep under despair's wing,
down below my suffering,
I asked myself why I bleed -
to find that you're everything I need.

What I used to be looked worn,
and never were thoughts so torn,
than in the questions I'd begotten-
My past hardships forgotten

took me years to search
right in my face
so obvious it hurts,
since I've ran this race.

but here I am- starting off again
foot by foot pushing off that wind,
breathing in, breathing out,
raising my voice, rising up to SHOUT.

I need you like I need the sun,
going to run like this until I'm done
because you need me to -
and its all that you've asked me to do.

took me years to search
right in my face
so obvious it hurts
since I've ran this race.

Autumnation.

Recently I have learned about a philosophy which places life in the perspective of a cycle.

I thought:

"How droll. "


But the more I looked at it, the philosophy caught my attention more and more.


It's called:

The Hibernation Cylce

Strange. Yet appropriate.



You see, the cycle conforms life to the laws of nature in a way. Our lives become part of the revolving door we call the seasons of the year.


Spring- One of the most pleasantly ignorant times in our lives. If only we could but see the world through these eyes, and yet retain our knowledge from darker seasons. Spring stands for new birth, a renaissance, if you will. It symbolizes the fresh, crisp, clean new start that begins us on a long journey, the most naive and sensitive time in our lives. As we experience more, however, spring slowly warms, the blooms of youth falling ever so slightly to the ground, and exposing strong, life filled, and experience worn leaves.

Summer- The summer is perhaps the prime of our physical lives (albeit physical attributes being an insignificant and worldly variable of life), having more to do about growing out than any other part of the cycle. Experience pushes us through the threshold, and we begin to enter what some may consider, the "real world". We capture all of the sun's rays of opportunity, opportunity to grow, to become strong and courageous in the face of adversity - yet some stand in the shade, afraid to be scorched by the relentless rays. Inevitably, the vitality of these rays shrinks, a cool and calming breeze rushing over us; a breeze of decisions and the set consequences of our actions. No more having to worry over the future, because the future has been chosen.

Autumn- Perhaps, to me, the most important phase of the revolution. The follow through. Releasing the ball towards its intended target. All of the experiences, the growth, the opportunities and decisions made, come to a head. Autumn is the time of action, of understanding, and trial. The leaves that once grew their owners strong now wither in the lack of sunlight, the calming winds take over and chill the air into a less warming environment. And then action strikes, forcing survival on every man... or tree it can find. Taking everything previously worked for and testing it, refining the ideals, the work, the suffering, the experiences - Spring and Summer, until all that's left is what truly stood the test of life - what truly made the existence worth creating. A last kick, a last furiously magnificent blast of colors, blowing into the calming winds, out showing the youthful vibrant colors of bygone times, as a vindication for all the effort, to show that yes, this was all worth growing up for. And once this climactic event has been flaunted, has been tested, has been shown for what it is worth, nature responds, chilling the air into a frigid standstill, as if to create submission for the enormous amount of energy in passing. As if to chill the iron after it has been struck one final time.

Winter- By far the most suppressive, chilling, and sought for season. Cool, sweet, sometimes reluctant death awaits the post "Autumnation", taking with it the evidence, the proof that some magical and inspiring whirl of color and promise ever existed, to some hidden place, stowed safely away to be used only for rekindling spring. But not until Winter has had its effect. Every last branch is bear, no longer growing, stopped, and dead. Cold. Unimaginably and wretchedly ironic, that such a beautiful cycle must end on such a low note. And yet, with the coming of Winter, one remembers that the struggle was in spite of Winter, in preparation. One remembers that Winter had given the Spring inspiration to bring forth life, Summer its drive to grow, and Autumn its very instinct and natural obligation to carry through with the overall purpose of existence. Without Winter, there is no purpose. Without Winter, Benjamin Franklin is horribly wrong: "Don't put off till tomorrow what can be done today." Why rush? The cycle becomes a line, everlasting, ever stretching, ever meaningless, ever uninspired. Winter brings hope, brings purpose, brings new life before it ever happens. And this is why, after the chill has had its way, the amazing beauty of a past generation is passed on, unlocked from the frosting bosom of Winter, from its sleeping, yet restless, hibernation from that glorious past effort.
And then that warmth....my friends...



begins anew.

Time and a theory.

This one gets a little heavy, so just sit back and really think about this one.

*important note: This is a theory. It's meant to intrigue your mind and get you questioning things. All I ask is that you consider it. This is by no means proven, nor will it or its opposing views ever be.

so just chill :D

and enjoy-

God does not adhere to the laws of time.

got it?

He lives outside of time.

We experience time as a series of events, much like if you were to look at a 3D human body, but you lived in the 2nd dimension, you would see 2D cutouts (<-- plural) of the person as they passed by. [if you don't understand this there is a visual in my video called "the ten dimensions" in an earlier blog] well, God lives outside of time. think about that. outside of time. can you imagine seeing yourself coming out of the womb and into the casket and everything in between at the same point? Could you imagine seeing yourself both finish and start a race and all the running in between at one time?

exactly.


I believe that even though God is all knowing, the reason he is is because he is watching it unfold,

but its like he can see the entire timeline of the the universe in one object.


so while he does know the outcome of things, and he can predict things for someone at a certain point in time, he is also watching that very thing happening at the same time, as well as everything that has ever happened or will happen to it in its entire history.




so the uses of past tense and future tense are thrown out the window and whenever you talk about any event ever you use the present tense.

Why does this matter?

I don't really believe either way, predestination or otherwise, because its both to me.

Confusing?

really.

but just hear me out, its all about ideas, and none of us can ever be sure we're right anyways.

so-

He sees it all as one SINGULAR thing from the big bang to the end of the universe.

So if you live above the time-line, and you no longer experience time, everything you ever do is done at one point (which is IMPOSSIBLE to define, much like a point on a graph), because you live ABOVE time. You see time you DO NOT experience time.


So when God got himself set up, he did everything at one point, just at different "sections" on our time line.

which were really done at one "time" for him.

so he's not like a computer that predicts things that happen, because he's not predicting it. He's seeing it. He neither changes things before, during, or after it has happened, because those things do not apply to someone outside the time-line. He just changes it. It's instantaneous. It just happens. For a reason, but it happens.


So you can't say he set things up like a clock and let it swing because he is involved in things "while they are happening". But at the same time it isn't the opposite because he's not experiencing it as a sequence of events.


ok ok i know its confusing,

but just imagine if you put a drop of water on a vertical wall, and you want it to follow a certain path, but its just going to go straight down and you know this, and you want to time it going from point A to B.

so you have your clock at 0.0000.... sec. and at different points, you alter the path to point B from point A, and you get your desired outcome knowing what will happen every time you change it. Then you start the clock and release the water at the same time, but when the water finally gets to point B, and you stop the clock, the clock still reads 0.0000.... sec.


So you both

1) set it up to get a predestined result

and

2) actively involved yourself in the "time line" or path of the drop of water because at 0.00000.... sec you dropped the water and at 0.00000.... sec the water reached point B (because you're outside the time line)

so at one "point" you watch the entire life of the drop of water and alter it. So you can't really say that you changed things before the drop went down or while it went down.



And thus we have the 4dimensional universe (4 dimensions = length, width, depth, time)



pretty cool eh?

what do you think?

Do Not Resuscitate

Today marked the saddest day in my life. Some one who was not very close to me, who I personally have never met before in my life, who I didn't even knew existed still until this morning

died.

My Chemistry teacher, Dr. James E. Whisenhunt, lost his mother on this fine morning of September the eighth, two thousand and eight. I was not there. I heard about how he ran through the classroom to get to the office, how he gathered his things in tears, and how he left for this woman whom he loved so much without a second thought.

And even though I never even saw the thing happen... It was the saddest thing I had ever seen in my life. For Dr. Whiz to cry because he is in mourning, to me, is the equivalent of seeing your greatest hero shed tears in front of you. In my mind's eye, I have never seen anything quite so disturbing in my own mind.


Dr. Whisenhunt is one of the greatest people who walk the earth today. In his classroom at Wren High School, I have learned more than the previous 11 years combined. He has inspired us to become our own teachers, to explore the possibilities, and to simplify things which seem to difficult.


Therfor, any misfortune of his, is a misfortune of ours.

Especially our AP class, which has become more like a family than a class.



And Mrs. Whisenhunt has reminded me of something I once learned a long time ago about death, back when Easley had its tragic loss of faculty and students alike.


My girlfriend once asked me, when all of this was happening at Easley High School, why?

And oh, I can not resist that burning question. Why? It haunts me now in every aspect of my life, and all of a sudden it even haunted me concerning the end.

And when she asked why, she meant why must we die? Why must the young and the hope filled die? Why must the innocent be swept off of their feet and guided to the great beyond?

It kind of depresses you. Makes you think that all of this is hopeless. Like all of your faith has been for nothing. Like if only you could have thought of that one you would never have wasted all of that time.

But the more I comforted her, the more I began to realize something.

It grew, much like a mustard seed, as this tiny idea - and grew into a giant tree of realization.




Have you ever seen a parabola?

Well, its a curve, and if its concave down, there is a point called the maximum, where the parabola reaches as far up as possible, or reaches the highest number possible.

and if you divert from that point even in the slightest, left or right, you change the number, and it is no longer the maximum. You have a lesser value. You have a smaller number.


So lets say that life is a parabola <--- I am a huge dork. And lets say one axis is different situations, or a different outcomes (value) for a variable, and the other is the number of people who will be saved. so its like this:
This is God's plan. Preetttty rough version. but I believe it goes something like that. Because wouldn't God want to save as many as possible?



So what does this have to do with anything?




Well, as i realized this point, which seemed to have no significance, I slowly realized something else entirely.


The situations that we go through... the things that happen to innocent people... the pain.. the hurt... the constant reminder that we are mortal....

-death-

happens, for a reason. If you alter things in the slightest, the outcome results in a smaller number (y). If those people did not die, others would burn. Plain and simple. The same goes for all of the morbid and perplexing things in life which cause us to doubt.


It seems kind of mean, but here's the real kicker.


When you wish that person had not died, they are screaming from heaven at you. I'm willing to bet they would slap you around if they could, and tell you:

"NO! I WILL NEVER GO BACK! I WILL NEVER GO BACK! THEY NEEDED ME! THEY NEEDED ME!"

and they would be referring to the lives it would cost to bring them back. Somewhere, somehow, a chain of events is altered, and the maximum is not reached. They would rather die a thousand deaths than to see that their death was in vain.

For that's really what they have done, whether they realized it or not.


They have become a sacrifice, and up there in the sky, they know this,





and they wouldn't prefer it any other way.





So here's to you Mrs. Whisenhunt.


For the ultimate service to the human race, spiritual and physical,


We salute you, and as we mourn for our loss, we rejoice for your reward in heaven;

We thank you, for raising such a fine young man to inspire us day after day;

And we wish you the best up there.

And we will never, ever, resuscitate.




-In memory of Mrs. Whisenhunt-

Rest in Peace now.

L-O-V-E (the first sermon (just audio))

Now, the audio was a little sketchy (it was recorded on a phone) so you might want to keep your mouse on the volume button, as the volume of our voices tended to fade in and out as we talked to each other; towards the end it's pretty much just me.

Leave comments, I allow anonymous comments. ;]