Early Morning Musings.

  Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too...John Lennon

  Do you ever imagine? I find myself at 2:30 in the morning just not getting there as far as sleep goes tonight/today. Even the old reliable guided meditation download on my earbuds isn't quite doing it tonight. I went to bed around ten and around 2:30 my body parts starting with my bladder yells "rise and shine" cause we are up! So, I sneak out of the bedroom hoping not to wake Cindy and go past the dog hoping she doesn't sound the alarm that something is moving in the house and head for the computer room. I then give my mind (not a worried mind just a busy mind tonight) permission to imagine and think.

Sing it sweet and clear
Oh mama, let me hear
That old rock and roll lullaby...B.J. Thomas

I sometimes wonder if my generation was the last to grow up on music. We didn't have the internet so we waited until our favorite artist would release an album. We didn't have as much segregation of our music back then. You might hear Al Green and then Jackson Browne and after that Willie Nelson or The Who on the radio. But, there was always an undercurrent of "rock." AM radio was the thing back then. There were giants on the earth broadcasting out into the night. I would be in my Gadsden, Alabama neighborhood or out at my grandparent's house in Altoona, Alabama and rock myself to sleep listening to WLS in Chicago with John Records Landecker playing the hits. Rocking me to sleep. I also would listen to talk radio such as KMOX out of Saint Louis. I still remember waking up and hearing my hometown stations in Gadsden, Alabama signing on the air. WGAD would sign on and I knew I had made it through the night and was back home again.

I'm young
I know
But even so
I know a thing or two, I learned from you..."Love Hurts" Nazareth

I was young but I had a lot more to learn. I just didn't know it at the time.  I think we miss youth is when we get older because it seemed like everything was out there and you were heading towards it. Now the road in the rear view mirror is longer than the road up ahead or at least from this limited view it appears so. But, I think there are more things in heaven and earth and to infinity and beyond (to mix the Bard with common pop culture) and I am optimistic that there are "Other Worlds Than These"  I know, but I had to throw a Dark Tower quote by Stephen King in there somewhere.

All We Are Saying is give Peace a chance...John Lennon

Peace. I find peace in stillness and meditation and prayer. Not because I'm devout. I no longer see God as a sky daddy to give me stuff because I found Jesus. But, because I've had enough experience along the way to be hopeful that this journey is meaningful and not simply a march towards oblivion or some sort of perverted hellfire and brimstone. Sorry, I don't mean to offend but I'm rambling about my thoughts here. Not trying to uphold or tear down religion or convert people as if I have the answer. I got questions though. 

The cup that I drink. You will drink....Jesus

I don't follow the religion of my youth anymore. The dogma just didn't survive my life experience or my prayers and questions. But, I still see in the person of Jesus the wisdom and hope and struggle of this journey. I remember when I was a kid and adults would take you to a funeral. I would see these old people with white hair go past the coffin. They would shake their heads in sadness as if the person in the coffin had been a poor unfortunate victim of a disease and they were spared. But, in my youth I figured out something. Everyone of them and everyone of us including me will drink that cup. So, is the hope of life after death as dead as my  faith in the religion of my youth? No, because I have had some personal affirmations that I and we are more than the body. But, I'm not interested in converting anybody to a particular religious proof. As Stevie Nicks sang "I keep my Visions to Myself.

I often see my old childhood friends post their religion on facebook and proclaim the faith. I don't have a problem with that as long as they understand that I don't want my government to be a "Christian" government. I don't want it to be an atheist government either or a Muslim or a Jewish or any other special interest government. I also don't want far left identity politics and social justice warriors running it. What if we just agreed that everybody has a right to health care regardless of social status. What if we stopped playing nanny to the world and cleaned up our own act. Not isolationism but simply work on our own stuff for awhile. Oh well, I'm not a spring chicken anymore so I guess that will be an issue for another generation in the coming years.

“It is not more surprising to be born twice than once...Votaire

I have my own reasons for suspecting that this isn't my first rodeo but, here is the thing in the United States or at least in the part of the country I'm from which is the Southeast or "The Bible Belt." You can proclaim Christianity and belief in certain dogma and be considered spiritually and morally and even mentally sound. You can say you are an atheist and even though you will get some funny looks and invites to church to save your sorry hide you will not be thought of as insane or mentally unstable. But, if you let it out of the bag that you suspect that you have made this journey before and that you are an eternal being having a human experience then you will be considered crazy at best. 

I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane...Waylon Jennings 

Writing thoughts down while sleep deprived is not the best way to have a coherent flow of consciousness. But, sometimes I just like to ramble and see where the road takes me. If you have come along on this ramble then thank you for giving me the honor of reading my blather.

Peace!