Author: Don Butler

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Repentance – A New You in 2022

Repentance Does Not Equal Remorse

Throughout Christianity and the Bible you find the word “repentance”. What do you think when you hear the word repentance. Most people will say that it means to regret, to be remorseful. In fact, the Oxford Language dictionary presents a definition of repentance as “sincere regret or remorse”. This brings to mind a scene from an episode of the classic television comedy series, “The Office”. The episode is entitled “The Coup”. In this episode, the character Dwight Schrute attempts to steal the job of his boss, branch manager Michael Scott. He fails and unbeknown to Dwight, Michaels finds out about it. At first, Michael leads Dwight to believe that he has succeeded in supplanting him and that Dwight is the new branch manager. Michael then abruptly lets Dwight know that he knows all about Dwight’s attempted coup and betrayal and advises Dwight that he has completely failed. Shocked by this information, Dwight drops to his knees in abject remorse, hysterically crying and begging Michael for forgiveness. Dwight totally prostrates himself at Michael’s shoes, vowing never to betray him again and promising to do Michael’s laundry for a year. Ultimately Michael relents and offers reconciliation but takes up Dwight on his laundry offer. This is what many picture as repentance. Begging God for forgiveness and offering to do God’s laundry for a year. That is not repentance. Repentance is a radical change of your attitude.

A Radical Change In Your Perspective

Repentance – a radical change in your awareness. Radical as in right down to the very root of your being. Repentance has nothing to do with the breaking of any traditional moral code. You can endeavor to strictly keep all the moral codes of the world, imposed by all the priesthoods, encoded in all the religions of the world. It would mean nothing as far as what the scriptures teach about repentance. To repent is to radically change your attitude toward your life and circumstances. When you do that, your perspective changes. When that happens, your awareness of being changes. When that happens, it will inevitably be reflected in the circumstances of the external world around you.

In the New Testament, the word for repentance is taken from the Greek word metanoia. Literally metanoia translates to “change of mind”. It is not about regret or shame or guilt or walking over hot coals to do penance. Metanoia or repentance implies a conscious decision to face a new direction. Take this example of metanoia. When you stand with your back to a source of light, you cannot see the light. You are only aware of your shadow and a reality of darkness. By simply turning around and changing your point of view you no longer encounter darkness. Your awareness has changed. You are now aware of bathing in the radiance of the source of light.

Your Responsibility – God’s Gift

Repentance is both your responsibility as a child of God as well as a wonderful gift from God. You want things to change in your life? Are you currently sick and tired of the ways things are in your life? If so, then repent – totally change your view of the current picture of you “missing the mark”. Replace it with another view, a view of you “hitting the mark”. In your mind’s eye – in the fertile fields of your God-given Imagination – create. Create a scene just as if you were a movie director, but the movie was your reality, your life, not a movie. Create, then be the actor in that scene that portrays the rock solid reality of the fulfillment of your imagination dream creation. Feel it. Live in it. Be in it. It simply is. It really is real.Live in the end. Then stop. Surrender the deepest and most heartfelt thanks to God Almighty for the completion and fulfillment of your dream. In your heart, let loose and be like one of those blubbering contestants on a television game show when they realize they won the grand showcase prize. Let the course of events, timing, manner and methods be completely directed by God as to the details. The fulfillment is God’s gift to you as long as you do your part by fulfilling your responsibility of a radical change in your awareness. God’s methodologies, from the very depths of Universal Intelligence, are far beyond comprehension. Dismiss any thought or indwelling of circumstances that do not sync up with your vision. Have faith that your consciousness, your awareness of being, is now your true reality. You do not have to see it – You know it. Read carefully how Scripture defines faith: “Faith is the assurance of things not seen, the evidence of things hoped for.” The assurance of things not seen. Stop reading for a moment. Just ponder the richness and beauty of that wonderful definition.

Perhaps you are currently caught in a financial bind. Maybe you feel like your bills got you by the throat and are throttling you to death. Let me ask you this question – What would it be like to you, if in fact, right now, you had plenty of money for all your needs as well as the ability to help others. Would you hide this money from your creditors and those that you would help including yourself? On the contrary, you would happily pay all your bills, buy what you want to buy and help those that you wish to help. So where does this wonderful circumstance begin? In…..Your …..Imagination with your chosen state of awareness. Metanoia…..Repentance…..A Radical Change of Mind. Don’t wait until next week or next month or next year. Do it now.

A New You In 2022

Repentance is dwelling in Imagination. Imagination is Divine. When you dwell on the Divine, the realization then hits you that the Divine dwells within you. The Kingdom of God is within. Your Imagination creates your ultimate reality. Your complete faith in Universal Intelligence solidifies that reality in your external circumstances. Any current awareness that you stubbornly hold onto that you are “missing the mark” or “falling short” is sin. Repentance is turning away from sin. You turn from sin by assuming in your Imagination that you are “hitting the mark”, whatever you choose that mark to be.

Repentance is a radical change in your awareness of what is. The word radical has been defined as “very different from the usual”. Take this brand new year of 2022 and choose radical. Choose the gift of repentance. Right now is truly the time to break free from the sickening cycle of “I will never do it again” only to observe that in one day or one week or one month from today you are doing it again and right back on that frustrating hampster treadmill, right back to “the usual”.

Claim your desire. Change your attitude. Live your repentance. Manifest your desire. Be a living, breathing demonstration of the glory of God, the Eternal I AM.

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Jesus Christ Is King – Deliverer From Evil

Origin Of The Term – Jesus Christ is King

December 25 is almost upon us. Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Have you ever heard the phrase “Jesus Christ is King”? The message of Jesus Christ as King can be observed in several Bible verses. One is John 18:37 – ” Therefore Pilate said to him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘ You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” Another is found in Revelation 19:11 where it is stated that the title given to Jesus Christ is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords.”

Christ the King is frequently used as a name for churches, schools, seminaries, hospitals and religious institutions. There is even celebrated a Feast of Christ the King in the liturgical calendar. The feast is a relatively recent addition to the liturgical calendar instituted in 1925 for the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Lutheran, Anglican, Moravian, Methodist, Nazarene, Reformed and United Protestant churches also celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.

My beliefs over the course of my life have always been grounded in the Christian faith. The phrase “Jesus Christ is King” is a phrase that I was familiar with but had never actually spoken. That abruptly changed some 25 years ago. At that time, the words “Jesus Christ is King” came forth without thinking from my mouth and from my soul. Those words provided me with a shield of protection against an approaching and ominous evil spiritual entity.

Dream Number One

I had been sprawled out on the living room sofa late at night watching college basketball on television. Using the remote, I remember turning off the tv. It was one of those situations where I was so very tired that I did not even feel like getting up. I just said to myself “I’m just gonna rest my eyes here for ten minutes and then I’ll head up to bed”. Of course, I promptly dozed off.

I rarely remember my dreams. The dream that I had that night however is burned into my memory. In my dream I was laying on the living room sofa where I had fallen asleep. Everything in the house was quiet. I was awake in my dream.

A Cold Chill Down My Spine

All at once I got an icy cold chill shooting down my spine, from neck to tail bone. I looked over to my right to the stairs that led to the second level of the house. My eyes saw a grey luminous mist. It had the general outline of a human being but without any real definition or features. You can call it a presence or an entity or an energy source or any of a dozen different things. Call it whatever you want. It was there and it was real. It was midway down the steps and was slowly heading toward me. The entity made no sound whatsoever. It moved without any movement of arms or legs.

Deep Doo-Doo

Whatever it was, it was pure malevolence in nature. I intuitively knew immediately that I was in deep doo-doo. I felt the essence of its total contempt for me. My body was literally frozen in fear. I could not physically move. I was paralyzed. It is difficult to imagine that something such a luminous mist can emit such an evil presence but I felt an intense hatred directed at me from the entity. I knew it was coming for me. Whatever its intent, it was not going to be anything good. I knew if it reached me it would have been bad for me. Very, very bad. Like maybe dying from a heart attack caused by terror.

Since I was frozen, I could not run away. It was a nightmare’s nightmare. I have actually had nightmares where aliens were chasing me. In these dreams I would have one close call after another (ala Indiana Jones). At some point in the dream I finally said “Alright, enough of this bullshit” and I actually woke up, thus escaping my dilemma.

No Escape Route

In this dream there was no such escape route. I was truly fucked. Then, as the malevolent being reached the next to last step at the bottom of the stairs, there came out of my heart and out of my mouth, from the depths of my soul, the words, “Jesus Christ is King”. I had no thoughts beforehand of saying it. I did not think “what should I do”. The phrase just came out of me and just barely at that. Even my vocal chords were partially frozen in fear. However feebly I whispered the words “Jesus….. Christ….. is….. King”, I spoke them with conviction..

At the sound of those words, the evil presence stopped in its tracks. Then, in a more pronounced manner I immediately followed up with the same spoken phrase, “Jesus Christ is King”. This caused the entity to shrink backward and begin to lose presence. Without even thinking, I immediately followed up with a third even more forceful, almost shouting “Jesus Christ is King” intuitively knowing that I was in possession of the kryptonite of the malevolent entity. After the third pronouncement, it vacated the scene and was gone.

Dream And Reality – There Was No Difference

At the same moment that the malevolent force departed, I opened my eyes and immediately woke up from my “dream”. It hit me at once however that I was in the exact same position on the living room couch as I was in my dream. I was wearing the exact same clothes and everything in the living room was in the exact same place as in the dream. Even the light from the street lamp outside shining through the living room window was exactly the same as in the dream. I was somewhat shaken by the experience and turned on a living room lamp and walked to the adjacent kitchen to get a glass of water.

As I passed the stairs, I just stopped for a moment and stared at the spot where “it” was. I sat on the couch for about fifteen minutes pondering what I had just experienced. Then I prayed a succinct “Thank you Lord” before going up to bed. My conclusion was quite simple yet profound – the dream was no dream. It was as real as real ever gets.

Dream Number Two

Flash forward some twenty years later to 2016. I was now living in a different house. It was a one story house. I slept in one bedroom. My son slept in the second bedroom. I always left a small 40 watt lamp on in the living room at night. I slept with my bedroom door open. The door led to a hallway which led to the bathroom. I knew that at some point during the night that tag team duo of prostate and bladder would be sending me to the bathroom at least once, maybe twice. In those intervening 20 years, I never forgot my encounter with the unseen malevolent energy. I kept a crucifix on the wall above my bed that had been in my mother’s bedroom when she was alive. I figured it couldn’t hurt to have it there if a vampire decided to show up one night.

Anyway, it’s the middle of the night and I am in bed. I look over to the bedroom doorway. Standing there is the very same evil entity that I encountered 20 years ago. The same grey luminescence You may wonder how I could possibly know that to be a fact. I can only tell you that I knew. I just knew. It was an intuitive knowing. I have no idea how I was able to know, but I knew.

The Second Time – A Different Response

This time however, I reacted differently than my first encounter some twenty years prior. As before, it seemed to be just standing there, observing me with hatred and contempt. I sensed that it was about to head toward me as I lay in my bed. This time however, my response was different. I was not frozen with fear. I just said out loud, “Oh it’s you again.” Then I followed that up with the same phrase that I had used twenty years before, “Jesus Christ is King.” At the sound of those words, the entity froze. I followed up with a second “Jesus Christ is King”. At that second salvo, it started backing away. I could sense it was losing energy. One more time I repeated loudly, “Jesus Christ is King”. With that final pronouncement, the malevolent entity departed – poof- gone. The difference this time was that I knew right from the start that the power of Jesus Christ would protect me.

A Peaceful Sleep – Free of Fear

I was aware of the pure essence of malevolence of the being. However this time I did not fear. In fact, in this second dream, after the departure of the entity, I said aloud to myself, “And that takes care of that”. I turned on my side, back to the hallway and went back to sleep. And then I opened my eyes and woke up. Everything around me in my bedroom was exactly the same as the dream. The bed, my position on the bed, the bedsheet and blanket, my bed clothes, the wall hangings, the bureau, the light from the living room lamp, the quiet of the house. This time however I understood. My shield of protection “Jesus Christ is King” was something that the evil presence could not overcome. I then said, “Thank you Lord, now I’m goin’ back to sleep” and proceeded to do just that.

To anyone reading this – Merry Christmas to you and a Very Happy New Year!

Conceive. Believe. Receive.

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The Timeless Yin and Yang of Winter

The Eternal Change of Seasons

The winter solstice is almost upon us, arriving on December 21. This is officially the shortest day and longest night of the year. It traditionally marks the beginning of the three month period known as the winter season. Not until late March will the tulips and daffodils start making their appearance, thus signalling the end of “Old Man Winter”. The period of daylight immediately after the winter solstice is a little bit longer every successive day until June. The winter solstice is actually marked by different festivals and celebrations in many cultures around the world. It has been called “The Death of the Sun (shortest day) – The Rebirth of the Sun” (all days onward until June will be longer each day). Yin and Yang.

A lot of people, probably a majority of people, dislike winter, for the cold and ice and a variety of other reasons. I just read where Phoenix, Arizona topped the country in population growth for the fifth year in a row. They’re all flocking to the desert heat. No matter how cold or snowy it might get in winter however, or how much I enjoy the luscious warmth of shelter when I get in out of the cold, I know that even though I am cussing him out when I am shoveling away nine inches of snow from the sidewalk, I would truly miss Old Man Winter if somehow Mother Nature decided to send him away. Even though autumn has always been my favorite, I have always enjoyed the variety of the change of the seasons. I have relished living in a part of the country where all four seasons have equal turns, a full three months, at “displaying their wares”. Then, so as to allow you to experience the variety of Mother Nature, weather-wise, the next season makes its appearance right on time and takes its turn in the spotlight.

Taking The Good Along With The Bad

The Chinese philosophical concept of yin and yang describes how opposite forces of nature may actually be both interconnected and interdependent. The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus wrote, “By cosmic rule, as day yields night, so summer winter, war peace, plenty famine. All things change. Fire penetrates the lump of myrrh until the joining bodies die and rise again in smoke called incense.” Another reference to the yin and yang comes from from The Emerald Tablet, ” That which is above is from that which is below and that which is below is from that which is above.”

While people generally disparage winter as something that you have to just “get through” until spring arrives (unless you choose to fly down to your beach house in Florida LOL), the facets of winter actually have a positive aspect which is interconnected and interdependent with a negative aspect. Let’s take probably the number one thing that people dislike about winter…..the cold and snow. The biting wind on your cheeks. The ice on the roads and sidewalks. The inability to engage in outdoor activities. The shoveling of snow from sidewalks and driveways. Without the cold and snow of winter however there would be no pure crystalline beauty of evergreens laden with snow. There would be no sleighs coming down the sides of hills or snowmen or snowball fights. There would be the absence of the exquisite beauty of a single unique snowflake. Without the cold and winter winds that drive people inside, there would be no solitudinous peacefulness outside during a frigid night. You would be robbed of the enhanced enjoyment of a steaming mug of coffee or hot chocolate inside a cozy, warm room as you savor a good book. Sitting with your spouse by the fireplace with a crackling fire is a unique treat in the winter that during the summer would just be an exercise in excess perspiration and discomfort. Without the cold of winter those amazingly irritating houseflies and annoying blood-sucking mosquitoes would be hanging around all year long. A blast of heat which might be cursed in summer is blessed in winter. There is always the yin and yang of winter.

A Golden Opportunity

Things slow down in winter. You can spend your time on things that may get squeezed out during spring, summer and autumn, You can be active in a different kind of way, preparing your stage so to speak for your grand performance during the warmer weather months that are up ahead. While you are inside during the winter, you can use that opportunity to get rid of junk that you do not need – junk in the attic, junk in the basement, and even more importantly, junk in your mind, in your thoughts and in your beliefs – junk that is weighing you down in life big time and keeping you from fulfilling your true potential, the true you, the real you.

While you are taking a three month break from the frenetic comings and goings of the outside activities of the other three seasons, you can use winter time to go inside…..inside of you, inside deep to the core of your being in order to make inner adjustments and improvements. Winter, day by day, will relentlessly yield longer and longer periods of daylight during every twenty four hour cycle until the culmination of the longest day of sunlight at the time of the summer solstice in June. You can grow your inner self relentlessly day by day throughout the winter through your disciplined free will choice of daily thoughts, daily feelings, daily words, daily actions and daily beliefs. Those five things really, really, really make all the difference in you successfully manifesting the beautiful life that you came here to live. As Hamlet says in Act II of Shakespeare’s famous play, “for there is nothing good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” And that is where it all starts. Your choice of thoughts generate your words, generate your feelings, generate your actions and ultimately generate your beliefs. And thus, the tenor and substance of your entire existence is formed by your free will choice of thoughts, feelings, words, actions and beliefs. In the book of Deuteronomy scripture states, ” …,,I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life…: ” It is your choice. That is how our Creator made us. Choose wisely my friend. Choose life.

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Read Now – Urgent Message – Enough Already With The Bull Manure

Mr. Holzmeier

Back when I was in high school, in what seems to be a couple of centuries ago and at the same time, just last month, one semester our regular algebra teacher was out on a three month leave of absence. We received a substitute teacher to fill in while our regular teacher was away. Into the classroom came a distinguished, very Germanic looking grey-haired gentleman with a hefty build by the name of Mr. Holzmeier. He sort of resembled General Von Hindenburg without the facial hair and with eyeglasses and regular combed hair. We subsequently discovered that he was Swiss in origin. His initial demeanor on day one certainly pointed to the Swiss reputation for efficiency in operations and directness as he took fifteen minutes emphasizing, in his Germanic accent, the need for punctuality and explaining that lateness to class would not be tolerated and would affect a student’s grades. As time went on however, we found that Mr. Holzmeier was actually a pretty nice fellow. He had a bit of a temper though and a few of the students always enjoyed trying to get him worked up about something or other. I remember that when a student would say something that he did not agree with, he would say quite loudly “Bull Manure”. The Swiss reputation for courtesy did not allow him to say Bull Shit. For example, one day a student starting telling Mr. Holzmeier that Switzerland was a wealthy country only because of the fact that their banks hoarded ill-gotten gains from all over the world in secret numbered bank accounts. “Bull Manure” bellowed a red faced Mr. Holzmeier and he spent the last twenty minutes of classtime explaining all the positive facets of Switzerland.

Good For Crops, Bad For You

Well, composted bovine manure may be great to fertilize a farmer’s crops or Mrs. Mulligan’s vegetable garden but bullshit is deadly when you feed it to yourself. Of course, I mean in a figurative sense only, in the hundred and one ways you bullshit yourself in your thoughts, words and actions on a regular basis. When you are not true to yourself, your train goes off the tracks and ultimately leads to negative consequences for you.

The term bullshit came into popular usage only in the last one hundred years. It is a near synonym of the euphenism horsehit but while you don’t horsehit someone, you can bullshit them. Thus, bullshit is a verb as well as a noun. When you hear the word bullshit, certain things might come to mind – used car salesmen, most politicians, bernie madoff, russian bots, a guy desperate to get laid, a gal desperate to get married, any corporate voice mail that states, “your call is important to us”, and any corporate sign or notice that has the words “to better serve you”.

You live in an era of unprecedented bullshit. George Carlin once proposed that there were three kinds of troublesome people, those who are: (1) fucking stupid, (2) fucking nuts or (3) full of bullshit. Bullshit is most assuredly detrimental to you, whether you are a willing receiver or an active deceiver. And yet, you do it over and over again, in both big things as well as little things. Here are some of the standard bullshit lines:

“It’s not my fault”

“I’m just too tired”

“I’m bored. I need motivation”

I’m gonna get around to it”

“I learned my lesson this time”

“How was I supposed to know”

“I can’t help it. It’s just the way I am”

“If it wasn’t for _____________, I would have done it”

“If it wasn’t for _____________, I wouldn’t have done it”

“He (or she) made me do it”

“The dog ate my homework”

And so on, ad nauseum.

There’s Only One Best Time……….That’s Right Now

Circumstances Do Not Matter…….Only State of Being Matters. Stop the Bull Manure already. Just Stop it. Stop. Face the truth. Successfully deal with the truth by maintaining a state of being, an awareness of consciousness that yields only benefit to you. Stop the bullshit that it’s this one’s fault or that one’s fault. Stop the bullshit that you could have done it if you only had……….. Stop the bullshit that being where you are, being with who you are, being in the job you’re in, being saddled with the responsibilities you have, being given the sex or the skin or the family you have keeps you from achieving your true purpose here on earth. We are all children of God. We are here to bring glory to our Creator by manifesting wonderful and beautiful things, whatever they may be. We are not here to engage in stupid bullshit. There is only one best time to start walking on the road of conscious manifestation and that is right now, right where you are.

Of course, everyone has bullshit themselves at one time or another. I certainly know that I have. It sucks the energy right out of you and causes you to waste your precious life. Yes, I said precious because that is what your existence is. Wherever you are on your journey, there is still time to just stop bullshitting yourself and start living your remaining lifetime in the manner that you originally intended when you first arrived here in this world. What happened to all the people who listened to bernie madoff’s bullshit? They lost their life savings. What happens to you when you listen to your mental bullshit? You lose your true life.

You are the carpenter of the house called “your life”. You have been given the building material called Imagination. You have been given the building tools called your chosen thoughts, feelings and beliefs. They will allow you to build your own unique custom house, board by board, brick by brick. Refuse to allow bullshit to hold you back. You deserve to have a beautiful life through the process of conscious manifestation. You’ve tried the way of bullshitting yourself. How has that worked out for you? Now try the other way. You will find that endeavoring to live bullshit-free lifts you into a majestic dimension of existence that you never thought was even possible.

Bullshitting yourself is toxic. Be honest with yourself. Set yourself free.

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The Grim Reaper – What’s With This Guy Anyway ?

The Old Saying Is Wrong

There is an old saying that goes, “Nothing in life is certain except death and taxes.” Wrong. We have all heard about the “sharpies” that use loopholes to get out of paying taxes. The twenty-five richest Americans (think billionaires, not millionaires) paid little or no federal income taxes, according to a report recently released by the non-profit news organization ProPublica. Not surprising. One thing that these Richie Rich’s (and their accountants and tax lawyers and financial advisors) cannot weasel out of however is death. At some point they will most assuredly die as everybody in the world is destined to die (except maybe Nosferatu and Queen Elizabeth II).

What’s with this Grim Reaper guy anyway? I am sure you have seen pictures of him, he of the skeleton, the black hooded robe, the long handled scythe. Sometimes he even hauls around an oversized hourglass. At the time of your death he will be standing there in the shadows waiting for you. As sure as the sun is in the sky and the ground is beneath your feet, at the appointed hour, he is there with that pointed skeleton finger signaling you to come with him. His other hand has that ever present scythe as a silent intimidator for you to dispense with any thought of making a plea for just five more minutes of life. No snooze alarm is allowed by Mr. Reaper. I mean the guy is a great employee. He never takes a day off. He can’t be bribed or persuaded. He handles both peak and off-peak hours with the same efficiency. He just relentlessly does his thing with complete equanimity.

I am reminded of that scene from the Mel Brooks comedy movie, “History of The World, Part I”. Before the Inquisition musical number, this robed monk guy comes out and announces the arrival of Torquemada (pronounced Tor-kah-mah-da), the Grand Inquisitor. The monk shouts, “Torquemada – Do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada – Do not beg for forgiveness. Torquemada – Do not ask him for mercy. Let’s face it folks, you can’t “talk him outta” anything.” And so it is with the Grim Reaper. After your last breath of life, when he appears, its game up, party’s over, time to move on to what’s next.

Gilgamesh and Methuselah Tried

In Mesopatamian legend, the epic of Gilgamesh describes the saga of Gilgamesh, son of a human king and a goddess. He tried through a series of adventures to obtain immortality but ultimately failed in his quest. At the end of the saga, Gilgamesh returns home and happily accepts his life as a mortal man.

Many Americans are not as mellow about the inevitability of death as Gilgamesh. The fear of death is so common that it has spurred many university research projects and intrigued both atheist scholars as well as religious teachers. Nowadays there is even a field of study called thanatology, which studies how humans react to death. According to a research study published in 2017 by Chapman University out of Orange, California, over 20 percent of Americans are afraid of dying. There is even a documented phobia called thanatophobia that is an intense fear of death that comes to consume someone’s thoughts and affects their daily actions.

We also have the story of Methuselah from the book of Genesis. He is recorded as living for 969 years. In fact, many of the pre-Flood patriarchs lived over 900 years – Seth, Enosh, Cainan, Jared, Methuselah and Noah. During the thousand years after the Great Flood, the Bible records a downward spiral of lifespans. Abraham lived to be 175 and Moses, who lived an extra long life for his time, 120. The transitory nature of our lives is described in Psalms 90:10: “The days of our lives are seventy years, and if by reason of strength are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow, for it is soon cut off and we fly away.”

Living Your Life Times Four

OK, as soon as you come out of the womb, the clock starts ticking. The Grim Reaper dutifully writes down your name in his appointment planner. You have been presented with a mind-boggling power of being able to create your life reality through the magic of your God-given manifestation abilities. For crying out loud, use them why don’t you. Here are four tenets, four ideas, that can and that will (if you choose to run with them) manifest for yourself a life of beauty and joy:

(1) Treat Every Day As Precious. Every hour, every breath, is an hour, and a breath where you can use what you have, where you are without interference from that Grim Reaper guy. Every day is your chance to create. Every breath you take means your presence is still pulsating here and as such, you can cause beauty and wonder and magic to manifest around you. When I wake up each day and plot out what I want to achieve that day, I keep this acronym in mind – Edisal. It stands for “every day is a lifetime”.

(2) Live Fully Now. Let your chosen awareness of being at this moment be your entire existence. The past is gone. It no longers exists. If you want to do revision a la Neville Goddard, then do it in a manner that yields benefit – benefit to you and benefit to everyone around you. Refrain from rehearsing and rehashing old mistakes, failures, hurts, grudges and grievances. It just doesn’t work. It’s a dead end. You only wind up anchoring them around your neck. The future is only a dimension of multitudinous possibilities. It is a mist. It has not arrived yet. The future is totally dependent on your “now” awareness of being, your current state of consciousness.

(3) Live With Special Knowledge. Know what it is that you were born to do with your life and then do it, dammit. “Gonna get around to it someday” or “I can’t because…..” is just another way of saying “I am powerless” and that is not true. You have power that you never even dreamed of, but, you, and only you, can set this power into motion. That is what free will is all about.

(4) Live The Very Best That You Know How. Choose a lifestyle that edges continually toward a “no stone left unturned” philosophy. There comes to mind a story I came across in my reading of a guy who finished dead last in a marathon race and ultimately had to crawl on his hands and knees across the finish line, long after everyone else had finished. He was a winner. Put everything that you have to give on the table of the feast of life. Then you can say to the Grim Reaper when he comes for you – Hey Grim my man, what’s up (giving him a high five). I gave it everything I had. I’ve done my thing here in this world. Now lead me on to what’s next. I’m ready.

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Gratitude: Magic Magnet For The Good Stuff

Today Is Thanksgiving Day 2021

Today is November 25…….Thanksgiving Day. The present form of this federal holiday of gratitude was enacted into law by Congress in 1885. It originally stemmed from a proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 in the midst of the Civil War. The proclamation called for a national day of thanksgiving, to be celebrated on the final Thursday of November. This proclamation set the precedent for America’s Thanksgiving Day. The date for the holiday was fixed by federal law in 1941 as the fourth Thursday in November.

In the midst of the calamity of the Civil War, with the unrelenting violence, death and destruction threatening to rip apart the nation, Lincoln instinctively felt it was necessary for everyone to just take a day off from dwelling on the negative effects and events of the war and simply dwell on those gifts received that would generate true gratitude to the Almighty.

In the manner of synchronicities, Sarah Josepha Hale, a 74 year old magazine editor wrote a letter that Lincoln received on September 28, 1863 urging him to have a national day of thanksgiving to permanently become an American custom and institution. President Lincoln responded to Mrs. Hale’s letter immediately and issued the proclamation of a Day of Thanksgiving to be held on the last Thursday of November 1863.

Of course, over the years, the societal controllers and manipulators of consumption have made every attempt to contort this holiday into an ode to eating food and buying stuff (think Black Friday sales). As is always the case, they only succeed to the extent that you allow them to succeed. OK, you say, what is so bad about having a good dinner with family and then saving some money on the purchase of Christmans gifts? Nothing, absolutely nothing at all, they are good things unless they distract you away from deeply experiencing the eternal magic of gratitude.

Filler Up With High Octane

Gratitude is the fuel that powers the engine of the cosmic delivery truck that delivers “the good stuff” to you. Just as your car won’t go anywhere if it does not have any fuel, the universe patiently waits for your gratitude fillup before the delivery truck of goodies can start on its way to you.

It all filters down to your current (as in right now) awareness of being. If you are truly feeling gratitude for something, you are simultaneously transmitting neural electro-magnetic impulses to the universe. The neural impulses of gratitude are received by Universal Intelligence. In alignment with how the universe was created by God, your electrical signal of giving thanks sets off a chain reaction that in turn starts sending “good stuff” your way in order to match the “feeling wave length” that you are transmitting. This is equivalent to a television signal that is sent out from the broadcasting tower.

When you direct the tv remote to the designated channel that you want to watch, your receive the program that is on that channel. That channel represents a specific wave frequency. That is why it is of paramount importance to you to always be thankful. Otherwise you turn off the flow. I will repeat that — if you turn off the gratitude, you turn off the flow. The flow is not turned off by God, or your spouse or girlfriend or your boss or co-workers. Not even Joe the barber. You do it, as in y-o-u.

Yeah, It Really Is a 7/24 Thing

You do not have to be thankful all the time, only when you are actively breathing. In First Thessalonians 5:18 it states, “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (KJV). This verse is a toughie when something bad has happened in your life. How do you give thanks for a negative event and more importantly, why would you?

In the midst of some minor or major negative event, that is the time when it is all the more important to find a way to generate thanksgiving for something…..anything. The reason being is that it sets into immediate motion the ongoing electrical impulses that will subsequently return to you in the form of something good happening for you as long as you keep the electric current turned on. Very easy in good times. Very hard in bad times but you have to find a way to do it.

I understand, better than you may think, that you may have zero desire to be thankful when bad things happen. You have to will yourself into gratitude mode. It is your way out of trouble and hardship. Dwell in God. Don’t you see? Your awareness of being “down and out” only anchors that condition to you. Choose (and it is your free will choice) to ignore circumstances and relentlessly send out electrical impulses of thankfulness to Universal Intelligence — Original Source. By doing that, you, yes you, start the process of overcoming that trouble or hardship no matter what it is.

And then stay thankful. Stay thankful, not to be some mindless moron who merely accepts bad stuff and then says, “Thank you sir may I have another” like the fraternity pledge in the movie Animal House. Stay thankful in order to use your God-given power to create your life circumstances and fashion a reality that you truly desire.

Feeling + Action = Power

When you combine your feeling of gratitude with some type of action that reflects your gratitude, that is what is termed a synergism. It is you “upping your game”. A thanksgiving action does not have to be something that is expensive or time consuming or showy.

Just what is a thanksgiving action you say? It is something that says “I am receiving…I have received…I will receive…good stuff and I want to demonstrate my appreciation. It can be something as so simple as a smile and a kind word to someone. Perhaps it is a silent prayer for someone who you think could use a prayer (God, I claim a rich blessing for this person today. Thank you. Amen.).

It could be tolerance and patience (when you don’t want to be tolerant or patient) when somebody makes a mistake. Maybe it is just stopping for a few moments and listening to someone who wishes to say something. It could be be doing something helpful for someone without the slightest expectation that they will ever even know about what you did for them. It could be a thousand and one simple little things that you could come up with that send a signal of gratitude to Universal Source.

You can try to ignore it. You can try to deny it. That doesn’t change anything – gratitude is absolutely vital to your personal well being. The thirteenth century theologian and mystic, Meister Eckhart, stated: “If the only prayer that you ever said during your entire life was ‘Thank You’, it would be enough.”

The Boil Down

When a chef “boils down” a sauce, stew, pudding or other dish, he decreases the water or other liquid in it — it evaporates in the steam rising from the pan. Cooks do this to make something thicker and more flavorful. Carrying over this phrase to outside of the cooking realm, when you boil down something, it means that you get down to its essence. When I read something, a book, an article, an essay, etc., in my mind I always try to do a “boil down” so that I will remember the essence of the book, article or essay.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this blog post. However, I hope that you do more than just read it. My hope even more is that you actively use it to make your life better. There is something inside me that desires, in these final years of my life, to spread the word about universal truths that I have learned about during my stay in this dimension. If you remember nothing else of this post, I will give you a “boil down” of just five easy words to remember — Be Thankful……..Get Good Stuff.

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Learn Something New — Re-Learn Something Old

It Never Fails To Give A Rush

In last week’s Veterans Day post, you read about the hapless World War I general, Luigi Cadorna. Tragically for him, much more so for the soldiers that he commanded, he was an abject failure as a general in World War I due to his pride and arrogance. They led him to disaster after disaster. He steadfastly refused to learn. He felt he knew everything that he needed to know. In his mind, his failures had to be the fault of someone else.

The day that you stop learning, is the day you start dying. It does not matter what it is that you learn. It could be something that appears small and insignifigant but you never know. What you learn could dovetail into something else, then something else, all creating steps on a ladder that leads you to someplace wonderful. Learning never fails to give me a rush. If I learn something new on the very last day of my life, it will be a successful day because learning is growth. If we are still growing, even on our last day on planet Earth, it bodes well for us in The Great Beyond.

A Reason Why You Are Here In The First Place

One of the reasons you feel good inside when you learn is because “to learn” is one of the reasons you are here on Earth in the first place. There are two primary ways to learn something. The first way is “the hard way”. From personal experience I do not recommend this method as it can be quite painful. The second way is “the easy way”. I like this way much better.

There are many avenues that you can travel in order to learn “the easy way”. One of those avenues is via the modern invention known as the internet. It probably numbers in the thousands, the number of times over the years that I have wondered about something then headed online to check it out. There are literally hundreds of online sites where you can learn something. Some are “pay for the information” and others are free. I am going to focus today on four free sites that I find myself visiting frequently: Reddit, YouTube, Quora and Wikipedia. What I like about these sites, besides their being free, is that through discernment, once you learn to ignore and sidestep the trolls, shills, psychos and simpletons, you can actually learn something solid about something that really interests you.

Reddit is a network of different communities where people can focus on what interests them. It is the social media platform where each of the Reddit communities is like visiting a forum where people have hands-on experience with something and they share their knowledge. Millions of people post, vote or comment in the various Reddit communities.

At one time or another, I think anybody who has gone online has visited YouTube. It cannot be beat for offering do-it-yourself videos when you’re stuck as to how to fix or repair something. Through YouTube I have discovered wonderful music, enjoyed movies and old television shows from a bygone era, learned to play a musical instrument, gained insights from listening to lectures and been introduced to different ways of seeing things through unique presentations, rare documentaries and enlightening tutorials.

Quora is a social media platform that operates on a question-and -answer system. It is a place where you can ask questions and get published answers from people who have specific knowledge about your specific question. Readers can make pertinent comments regarding a specific answer. Quora is a site where you can get insights and answers that may not be written down anywhere else. A fascinating place to visit.

Finally there is Wikipedia, the ubiquitous free online encyclopedia. I will never get tired of my complete set of 1960 World Book encyclopedias. They are with me for the duration. I still include them in my regular reading. Many times when I read something in them and I want to know more about that subject, the place I will go is Wikipedia. Many a time I start reading about something on Wikipedia and before I know it I then start going down that rabbit hole of those addictive blue links. Before I know it, a couple of hours have flown by. I may have started out learning about Turkish lokum candies and would up learning about the intrigues and controversies of seventeenth century Ottoman Empire. Wikipedia is a wonderful place of learning, it is free, and it is truly indispensable to lovers of encyclopedias.

Fertilizer For Your Bumper Crop

Growth means life. Something that is dead cannot grow. When you learn, you grow. Thus, learning is a fertilizer that facilitates your growth, which in turn facilitates the enhancement of your life experience.

Scripture states “Ask and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find.” If you sincerely search to learn about the metaphysical truths of how to manifest your desires, you will ultimately find those truths. Truths, which if put into practice with faith, will be the rich fertilizer that helps beautiful manifestations to spring forth. The fertile ground of your imagination and belief will bear you a bumper crop in due time. In due time. I confess that I want things now, not “in due time”. It is human nature to want what we want right now. In a certain way however, we do receive right now what we want but it is in the dimension of imagination. In that dimension, your manifestation is as real as real can get. For different reasons, some known, some unknown, there has always been a time lag of varying degrees concerning my own manifestations. Belief and pure faith are vital. In the book of James it clearly states “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like the wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.“

The more that you learn about the truths behind manifesting your desires, and then put into practice what you learn, the sooner you will experience the rich fullness of life in the manner that was intended for you from the very beginning.

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Luigi Cadorna…..The Worst General of World War I

Today Is November 11 —– Veterans Day

November 11 is designated a federal holiday to remember and appreciate those Americans who have honorably served in the US Armed Forces. This holiday was originally named Armistice Day. It falls on November 11 because that was the day in 1918 that all the participants in World War I ceased fighting. The primary treaty that officially ended the war, The Treaty of Versailles, was signed on June 28, 1919. Originally, World War I was simply called “The World War” and was nicknamed “The War To End All Wars”. Oh how very wrong they were about that!

One can easily make a case that World War I did not end until the conclusion of World War II in 1945. World War I resulted in twenty-four million deaths and twenty-one million wounded. This includes eleven million deaths of military personnel and a civilian death toll of thirteen million. Wounded on both sides was estimated at twenty-one million. Forty-five million human lives ended prematurely or negatively affected as a result of a very preventable and needless world war. This number does not even include the lives of the family members of those killed or wounded who were likewise negatively impacted.

Eleven Straight Times And He Still Didn’t Learn

There were no shortage of incompetent generals in World War I. The British had Douglas Haig, the French Joseph Joffe, the Russians had Aleksei Evert, the Austrians had Conrad von Hotzendorf and the Turks/Ottoman Empire had Enver Pasha, who lost half of an army of 120,000 in the one battle where he commanded the Ottoman army. The prize for the very worst general of World War I however goes to the commander of the Italian forces, Luigi Cadorna, seen in the image above.

General Luigi Cadorna was a bitter, arrogant and callous man with a cruel authoritarian streak and a profound conviction that all his mistakes were always somebody else’s fault. Cadorna was a firm believer that the morale of an army was of utmost importance. His method of fostering high morale among his troops was to impose draconian discipline for the slightest infraction. Between 1915 and 1917 he sacked 217 generals under his command and the 750 soldiers that he had executed was by far the highest of any of the armies that were participants in the war. It was not surprising that Cadorna’s philosophy of “the beatings will continue until morale improves” lowered morale drastically.

Cadorna was a general who launched the same doomed battle, in the same way, in the same place (along the Isonzo River), against the same opponent, achieving nothing every single time except more dead and wounded soldiers and yet he continued to do it over and over and over again, eleven times in a row. He learned nothing from his repeated failures. The twelfth time he tried it at the Battle of Caporetto in late 1917, it resulted in a complete rout of the Italian forces by the Austrians and the Germans. Out of a force of 1,800,000 troops that Cadorna was in charge of, there were approximately 800,000 in dead, wounded, captured (many voluntarily surrendered), and missing soldiers. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The British and French sent reinforcements to prevent the Austrians and Germans from bursting through to Venice but they insisted that Cadorna had to go and he was finally relieved of his command. After he was sacked, the Italian defense line held at the Battle of the Piave River and eventually achieved victory over the Austrians at the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.

A True Military Hero — General Smedley Butler

General Smedley Butler served for thirty-one years in the United States Marine Corps. He was wounded in combat and was the recipient of two Congressional Medals Of Honor. His courage in action is well documented. After he retired in 1931, he spoke out against the various behind the scenes interests that pulled the strings leading to wars. He gave speeches to veterans groups. He even wrote a book titled, “War Is A Racket”. An amazing statement for one of the most decorated veterans in American history. Something to ponder.

I can picture in my imagination an image of two aliens going over their reconnaisance mission concerning their plans to conquer the planet Earth. One says to the other, “Zog, these humans are not very intelligent but boy do they ever know how to kill each other. They’re bloody experts at it.” The other alien answers, “Yes, Dax, we won’t even have to waste our resources to conquer them. We can just sit back and watch them kill each other through their endless wars. I can’t even keep up with all of them. Every time I get ready to submit my report to fearless leader, another war on Earth pops up.” The first then says, “Ah don’t worry about it, in no time at all they’ll wipe each other out and then we can just swoop in and take over. Come on, it’s still happy hour at the Milky Way Lounge. Let’s go get a brew.”

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Reincarnation……….What Do You Think ?

One In Three

In a survey conducted in December of 2017 by the respected, non-partisan Pew Research Center, their survey revealed that 33 percent of adults in the United States believe in reincarnation. One in three. That is a sizeable percentage.

I was a child that grew up in the Eisenhower-Kennedy fifties and sixties. I was raised in a Protestant denomination where it was a universal belief in a life that was “one-and-done, you’re either goin’ to heaven or hell for eternity when your one-and-done is done”. Any talk of a belief in reincarnation would have been branded blasphemy and you would be branded as a weirdo.

The purpose of this week’s blog post is not to get into a long, philosophical discussion on all the various permutations of reincarnation beliefs in all the various religions of the world. The purpose of this blog post is to get you thinking about this topic and how it concerns you personally in your efforts in the world of manifesting.

Reincarnation ……. What Is It?

So just what is this reincarnation thing that one in three Americans believe in?

Reincarnation is a concept that is loosely defined as your non-physical core essence (your soul or spirit) begining a new lifetime in a different body at some point after physical death. In different forms, it is a central tenet of Eastern religions – Hinduism, Buddism, Jainism, Sikhism and of the Druze. The majority of denominations within Christianity and Islam, as well as mainstream Judaism, do not accept that individuals reincarnate. Of those who believe in reincarnation there are those that state that reincarnation is an involuntary thing while others state that it is a voluntary decision.

Two Views From The West

My in-depth knowledge of the various interpretations of reincarnation among the Eastern religions is far too lacking to even begin a conversation about them. I will put forth two views, two concepts, of reincarnation that my reading has come across that seem to represent the two primary Western prevailing viewpoints on reincarnation. My interest in the subject came about as a result of observations that I have made during the course of my lifetime as well as questions that arose regarding the traditionalist “one-and-done” viewpoint. In between a hundred and one other time grabbers, I have done a certain amount of research into the matter. I heartily invite you to do the same.

Have you ever asked yourself why there is such a huge difference between the lot of one human being and another? Why are some people in the world so fortunate in their lives, while others endure prolonged suffering? Why should this be if God is loving and just and all-powerful?

Those who believe in reincarnation would answer that the life you are currently living today is not the only one. Their answer would continue that you have lived before, many times. One view put forth is that the circumstances that you were born into were a result of how things went in your previous lifetimes. In other words, either good or bad karma. The second viewpoint, somewhat in opposition to the first, is that you plan your life birth circumstances beforehand with the goal of achieving certain life purposes that contribute to your soul’s growth. For example, a soul may choose to be born with Down’s Syndrome in order to be a teacher about love, and compassion and empathy. Thus, in this second viewpoint, the person born into a degree of difficulties or challenges has purposely and meticulously chosen that lot to advance the growth of their soul.

Reincarnation And Manifesting

So just what does the subject of reincarnation have to do with the manifesting of something you desire in your life? Where’s the connection? Well, let’s say that you are a person who has come to lean toward reincarnation being a real thing. Whichever of the two Western views that you would subscribe to (karma driven or soul growth driven), it is critical for you to manifest whatever it is you came here to do. If your purpose was to come here to bring God’s love or compassion or truth or power into experience, then be those things. If you came here to be an artist, then put everything you are into being an artist. If you came here to fix things and be a mechanic, then put everything you are into that. Refrain from sleepwalking through life, merely working to survive and to grab some occasional moments of sunshine. Manifest your life as you intensely desire it to be because that true intense desire is a true “compass needle” indicator of your life’s purpose here. The exception to this would be if your intense desire is to harm anyone, including yourself. If that is the case, you are “off track” and need to manifest a new desire. Go within to the Kingdom of God and dwell there. If you do so, you will get to experience true joy, both before as well as after you “die”, and you will marvel at the growth of your soul.

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Message To Autumn – I Love You

My Lifelong Love Affair

I think I felt the first stirrings of my lifelong love affair with autumn when I was just five years old, some sixty-three years ago. My mother, my brother and I went apple picking at a pick-your-own apple orchard in the area. Afterwards we went to a peaceful, heavily wooded park nearby and had ourselves a little picnic. The air was crisp yet comfortable. The day was sunny but neither hot nor humid. The leaves that were still in the trees were showing off with their annual color display, shining in the golden October sunlight. It was a day of apples as we sunk our teeth into those crunchy, tart Winesap apples. We savored some of the fresh-pressed apple cider that we had just bought. We ate our baloney sandwiches that we had packed. Later, we watched the geese in formation overhead, honking as they flew to somewhere else. My brother told us a story he had heard about an old house that was supposed to be haunted that was in the area that we lived. Mom got the football out of the trunk and my brother and I practiced “going out for passes.” Even though I had the pea brain of a five-year old, I very distinctly remember the first stirrings of love within me for the season known as autumn.

The Four Seasons

Summer has its definite moments…….swimming, vacation from school, amusement parks, baseball, hiking, barbeques, bicycling, a cold beer under a shady tree. Spring has its unique “the cold and snow are finally over and the daffodils and tulips are doing their thing” vibe. Winter has Christmas, New Years Day, snowballs, snowmen, hot chocolate, a steaming bowl of chili, freedom from bugs and flies, egg nog. There is that something about autumn however, that has always captured my heart.

Humans have a tendency to get tired of the same old thing after awhile (types of food, jobs, relationships, etc.). I never remember a time however when my heart did not jump a little when “autumn entered the room” so to speak.

Autumn – Vibrant Yet Calming

Autumn feels to me like….well, like “me”. It has the ability to enter into me and seep down into every crack and crevice of my being. It has a truly potent vibrancy yet at the same time, a wonderful calming presence. Autumn feels like “coming home”. It is a feeling that is much more understandable if you feel it rather than attempt to describe it.

At a job that I worked at for twenty years, I worked at a desk near the water cooler. In that area that I worked, I was the only one there so I was able to have my radio on without bothering anyone else. A man who worked on the other side of the building came over to the water cooler one day to fill up his mug with water. At that time, a piece by Bach was playing on my radio. As he filled up his mug, he said to me, “I guess that is real relaxing music for you.” I responded, “Oh yeah, but at the same time, totally invigorating.” He just smiled in response but the look on his face spelled out “Well it’s sure not my cup of tea but I guess different strokes for different folks.” I do believe that is what it comes down to and for me, autumn is in perfect attunement with my inner wiring.

The Sweet Spot

Perhaps the specialness of autumn has something to do with the getting away from the frenetic comings and goings of summertime, the constant mowing of lawns, the planning and attending of different events and the overall “sweatiness of summer”. It is that sweet spot when the hot and sticky days of summer are over and the muddy, rainy months of spring are still far off. It could be any combination of things including, what to me is the grandaddy of all annual holidays…….Thanksgiving. I really do try my best to practice thanksgiving on a daily basis (not always succeeding). I do “get it” that gratitude is beneficial to my personal well-being. Autumn has the honor of hosting that one holiday where all are invited to vary from their normal routine and simply feel gratitude.

Stanley Got It Right

Published in the 1983 issue of Readers Digest magazine was that eighteen word poem written by Stanley Horowitz that has a good chance of being found wherever the joys of autumn are mentioned on the internet. It goes as follows: “Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all” That sure sums it up better than anything that I could think up. Autumn could be appropriately called, “The Total Package”. I was born in the autumn and I hope when it is my time to die that it will likewise be in autumn. I am of the same mind as the great nineteenth century English author, George Eliot, who wrote, “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the Earth seeking the successive autumns.”