October 22, 2023 ~ MESSAGE TO THE UNVACCINATED ~ From Substack – 2ndsmartestguyintheworld.com
“Even if I were pollinated and fully vaccinated, I would admire the unvaccinated for withstanding the greatest pressure I have ever seen, even from partners, parents, children, friends, colleagues and doctors.
People who were capable of such personality, courage and critical ability are undoubtedly the best of humanity. They are everywhere, in all ages, levels of education, states and ideas. They are of a special kind; they are the soldiers that every army of light wants to have in its ranks. They are the parents that every child wants to have and the children that every parent dreams of having. They are beings above the average of their societies, they are the essence of the people who have built all cultures and conquered horizons. They are there, next to you, they look normal, but they are superheroes.
They did what others could not, they were the tree that withstood the hurricane of insults, discrimination and social exclusion. And they did it because they thought they were alone, and believed they were the only ones.
Banned from their families’ tables at Christmas, they never saw anything so cruel. They lost their jobs, let their careers sink, had no more money … but they didn’t care. They suffered immeasurable discrimination, denunciation, betrayal and humiliation … but they kept going.
Never before in humanity has there been such a “casting”, now we know who are the best on planet Earth. Women, men, old, young, rich, poor, of all races or religions, the unvaccinated, the chosen of the invisible ark, the only ones who managed to resist when everything collapsed.
That’s you, you passed an unimaginable test that many of the toughest Marines, Commandos, Green Berets, astronauts and geniuses could not withstand.
You are made of the stuff of the greatest who ever lived, those heroes born among ordinary men who glow in the dark.”
Anon
October 21, 2023 ~ LIVING IN THE MOMENT ~ There is no stress in The Moment. It takes practice to live here, but it is so well worth it, once we get it down.
When we pray, we are in the Moment. When we talk to God, we are in The Moment. “The Moment” is where our lives are clicking off, one moment at a time. We can pray all day if we wish, and it keeps us mired in the Moment. There is no stress, and no fear in the Moment. It gets easier every day to live here in the Moment, where our lives are clicking off, just one moment at a time. One. Moment. At a time.
I remember when I was new to my Spiritual path and sitting in a meeting with my first Sponsor. We had been talking recently about “The Moment”, as I kept hearing people use that phrase and I didn’t know what “The Moment” was. He asked me what time it was, and we both looked at my watch and saw that it was 5 minutes to noon, and I told him “But it’s actually 10 minutes to 12. I set my clock 5 minutes fast so I’m not late.” I suddenly realized that I wasn’t living in The Moment if my clock was set to 5 minutes in the future, and I immediately set it back to Real Time. My Sponsor said to me “Welcome back.” I have made it my goal to stay in, and live in the Moment, ever since.
When we’re in our heads, on the other hand, worrying about what just happened, stressing about the future or tripping on the past, our head is filled with imaginary thoughts. We can’t touch the future or the past from here. The past doesn’t exist and neither does the future. They’re imaginary. So we have to imagine those times and places, which means they aren’t real – they are imaginary. We can only imagine those moments because they aren’t real, but we commit emotional energy to those imaginary places as we worry, stress or fear and it drains our emotional resources. So because we’re spending so much time in our Imaginary World, then when something happens in the Moment, our emotional tank is empty or drained and we experience emotional overwhelm in the Moment. When we learn to stay mired in The Moment, we have all of our emotional resources available and we don’t tend to get overwhelmed by Life. In fact, almost nothing overwhelms us, when we learn to live in The Moment.
Our lives are taking place in the Moment. Be there for your life, every moment – in The Moment. Praying that one day soon, maybe even today, that you even forget what stress and fear even feel like, my friends. 👊🏻😊
April 5, 2022 ~ PRACTICING PRINCIPALS ~ Over the years, I’ve discovered that practicing principles is the key to high Self-esteem. When we are rigorously honest, even when no one is watching, and when we choose to practice Humility and Kindness, Gratitude and Open-mindedness, Love, Forgiveness, Acceptance and Service to others without wanting anything in return, we cannot help but feel good about ourselves, and our Self-esteem goes up.
It just feels right to do the right thing and not only are we blessed, but everyone around is blessed, as well. I remember being introduced to the process that ends with “…and we practiced these Principles in all of our affairs.” At that time, I truly believed that I was an honest Man. I remember quietly thinking that thought (‘I already AM an honest Man’) when I heard people talking about ‘rigorous honesty’ for the first time. And then I worked 12 Steps.
Taking my personal inventory for the first time in 1992 was the greatest personal learning experience of my entire life. The 4th Step process showed me who I had been, how I had carried myself in this lifetime, where I had fallen short of my goals and in what ways I had not lived up to being the Man I had always imagined myself to be.
Imagine how surprised I was to discover how dishonest I had been with myself and others, when I had always considered myself – convinced myself, even – an honest Man. It simply wasn’t true. Granted, I was more honest than many people I knew, but I couldn’t say “I am an honest Man”, despite believing that about myself when I first arrived at the rooms of Recovery.
The good news is that I found the tools and developed the skills which facilitated my becoming that “honest Man” that I had always considered myself, and which I now am proud to be. So many things were missing from my personal toolbox that I use today on a daily basis today. Accountability was a very important tool that I did not have 30 years ago when I began my Recovery journey, and Accountability is simply essential if I want a clear view of who and how I am.
Acceptance, as well, was missing from my personal toolbox. I didn’t even know what Acceptance was, nor did I know that it is an essential Principle for those who wish to be truly Free. When I first read “And Acceptance is the answer to all of my problems today…”, (Alcoholic Anonymous, First Version, page 149) I thought to myself ‘Acceptance isn’t the answer to all of MY problems’. A short list of my problems at the time included a failing marriage, 3 mortgages which were not being paid because I had been seriously injured, could no longer continue working as a Carpenter and Workman’s Comp didn’t pay enough to cover all 3 mortgages.
But by the time I had walked through all 12 Steps, to my amazement I learned that Acceptance IS the answer to all of my problems today. At least, Acceptance is the beginning of the answer to all of my problems. When I could accept Reality of a given circumstance in my life, only then could I move on to the process of finding a solution to those problems.
While I was blaming others for my problems because I was incapable of seeing MY part in creating those problems, then I stayed stuck in the delusional “Victim” role. That’s correct – I was a “Victim”… in my mind, anyway. Once I learned to accept the Truth and accept my responsibility for having created the circumstances which resulted in my problems, only then was I able to move out of “Victim” mode and become a responsible Adult, able to address my problems honestly and humbly seek advice from Men I had grown to admire, about how to address and/or solve my problems.
I’m not saying any other Man had the answers to my problems; most often, they did not. But being humble enough to tell another Man the Truth about myself resulted in an amazing dynamic which I was not aware of before I landed in the Recovery Community; telling another Man the truth about myself always (yes, always) brings the Truth to the surface. That is, hearing myself honestly confessing the Truth while discussing my true Reality with another Man, the answer(s) to my problem(s) always became clear to me. It was like magic, but it wasn’t magic.
I had times where I asked advice from as many as 7-8 men in my Trust circle, and I remember one instance when they all gave me the same advice. But I didn’t take their advice, because in the process of seeking a solution to my problem, the answer simply became crystal clear in my mind. That is, after seeking the counsel of my Trusted Men group, the answer suddenly became obvious, and I was able to take steps to seek a solution to that problem.
As Iron sharpens Iron, so one Man sharpens another. That doesn’t mean that other people have the answers to my problems; it means that humbling myself enough to hear myself tell the truth about myself to another person facilitates bringing the answer to my problem to the surface in my mind.
I’ll be discussing more, in the future, about how Honesty and the Truth truly sets us free from that which binds us. Hint: It’s God; it’s how God works when we have worked on developing a close personal relationship with God and are in relationship with Him. More coming…
From November 27, 2019 ~ “EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT”. That’s what God’s Word tells us again and again.
Respectfully, those who don’t read the Bible, who aren’t Holy Spirit filled, do not get the benefit of God’s wisdom. Those who know the Lord, who are filled with His Holy Spirit and who have chosen to engage in a personal relationship with Jesus, tend to understand the wisdom of His Word, as found in the Bible.
God tells us more than 365 times in His Word not to be afraid – “Fear not”, “Do not be afraid” – it’s a daily reminder not to fear anything. Even those who are in close personal relationship with Him forget that sometimes, because we are in the Devil’s dominion here on Earth and God’s Word warns us that the Devil came to “steal, kill and destroy”, everyone and everything. Satan steals our memories, our hope, our awareness, our relationships and even our promises to ourselves.
God’s reminders, in His Word, like we find in Jeremiah 29:11-14, are the only way Believers stay focused on His promises, hope and continue to benefit from His protection. No matter what is going on in my life – Stage 4 Cancer, terrorism on TV 24/7, the Communist occupation of Washington DC and the takeover of our government by NWO Central Banker Globalist Communists – no matter WHAT, I know that if I stay focused on what God is putting in from of me every day, every moment of every day, that if I stay focused on His plans for me, as they unfold in my life each day, then everything is going to be alright. Never forget that, even when times are dark or troubles flood your life. Everything is going to be alright.
May 11, 2021 by guest Columnist DON KING, Political Editor AmericanNation.net ~ TAKING A STAND FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS ~ It’s been a long time coming, this social sickness many Americans are watching and experiencing right now. The past 60 years are showing up as hatred, envy, greed, sloth and Evil – a large dose of sick, ungodly Evil.
The Ungodly have truly taken over Hollywood and public education, literally forcing normal Americans to disconnect from both. The unhealthy, complete lack of principles, the degenerate behavior should be marginalized in our culture in order to sustain a moral and ethical society, but instead, with the movies and television taken over by these Ungodly people, Pedophilia is being pushed, homosexuality and selfishness are being promoted, to the extreme.
What we’re seeing is a mirror image, a reflection of the degenerate men and women who produce TV, commercials and movies today. Business and politics has always been where greed and envy and hatred have dwelled, but it’s all modeled on MTV for the young folks and on Mainstream Media every day now, dragging our culture down, and into the crapper, making our nation’s soul sick.
Americans are going to have to abandon the s*** shows on TV and get active at REMOVING these Godless Leftists from local, state and federal government, from our nation’s schools and from the Justice system, and force Hollywood to hire some HEALTHY Producers, actors and writers if they want an audience again. It’s all our call.
In fact, it’s more than “our call” – it’s our duty. My friends and family no longer watch TV. We have already abandoned Hollywood productions and TV. We see the Racism of “woke” weaved into everything Hollywood produces and we are not interested. We are doing things differently now, with more family activities, gatherings, meeting with friends to talk about this disgusting turn of events in our country, and making plans for some down-home American Activism, and it all starts with principles, like honesty, courage, faith and fearlessness.
These Leftists have been infiltrating our culture since the 1960’s, and our culture has been in a degenerative nosedive since the 60’s. It’s not a coincidence. It’s their intention to take down the American Family, Family Values and all that America and Americans stand for. It’s got to stop, and there is only one way to stop it. Abandon their system… completely. We’ll be talking about this on AmericanNation.net in ways in which we can all participate. Great times are coming.
Screw Progressivism, Liberalism, Socialism and Marxism, all just precursors to Communism. This is America, and that s*** won’t fly here any longer. It is OUR JOB as Americans and as Patriots to abandon the sickness and the Racists and the Haters and TV and even cellphones, and get back to being Americans again, modeling what kind, honest, hard-working and resourceful people look like. We need to get these generational Welfare Freeloaders off the government tit and force them to get a job and work for their money like the rest of us. Either our nation makes this giant shift, or our schools and TV will continue to have nothing but hate, confusion, mental illness and violence and sexual immorality to offer our children and grandchildren. Screw that.
So how long do we wait to address this evil in our midst? If not now, when? And if not us, who?
It’s us, people. It’s up to us.
About FAITH ~ One of the most amazing, life-changing Spiritual principles of all is faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It brings with it hope and wonder, eyes to see what one has never seen before. It is the confirmation of one’s belief in God, manifested. And never is it more valuable than when one is staring death in the face.
Everyone has it. Everybody practices it, every day. Even those who attack or insult “people of faith” are themselves “people of faith”, only oftentimes they don’t know it. Whether you have faith in God or some Higher Power of your own understanding, or whether you have faith that there is no God, you are still a person of faith.
For example, if you are a person who, when arriving home at night to you own home, you switch on the light switch when you enter the home, you have displayed your faith. You and I all have faith that when we flip that switch the lights will go on. If we had no faith in that, or in PG&E, we wouldn’t bother flipping that switch. But we do have faith in PG&E and we do have faith that the lights will go on, and so we flip the switch and we discover that our faith proved to be fruitful.
If you are a person who doesn’t believe in God or in a Creator, or if you believe that there is no God (there is a difference between one who doesn’t believe in God and one who believes there is no GO, btw), you are a person of faith.
We are all people of faith. In fact, if we didn’t all have faith that tomorrow was going to be a tolerable day, we would likely take steps to see to it that we didn’t make it until tomorrow (ending our own life). But our faith keeps us in the game of Life. And not just faith, but hope, as well, as most of us hope that tomorrow might be an extraordinary day, or that some change might take place which will change our lives forever. It takes faith to, even unconsciously, plan on being here tomorrow. So you can see that even the most hardboiled Atheist or Agnostic or Satan worshipper are persons of faith. Naturally, I love it when Atheists mock we Christians or the Jews for our faith because I know that they don’t realize that they, too, are persons of faith, just like us.
Faith in God, however, at the risk of becoming long-winded, requires a conscious effort, a conscious decision to believe that there is One who created the Heavens and the Earth. The evidence, of course, is overwhelming. From the perfect balance of nature to Human DNA, to the function and abilities of the Human eye – only a completely belligerent fool would ignore all of that evidence and choose to pretend there is no Creator. That in and of itself requires an incredible faith, and yet many people don’t realize how much faith we all practice in our daily lives.
When we choose to put our faith in God, truly amazing things happen for us. We begin to see Him. We see Him working in our lives. We see His intervention into our affairs and we see our prayers being answered. It’s amazing, and there is no escaping it.
We are people of faith. The only question is ‘What do we put our faith in?” Truly, those who think they reject faith and who call people of faith “foolish” are the most foolish people of all.
Cancer. The result of wrong living, of chemical laden foods and organs destroyed by the abuse of one’s self, and the abuse of others for monetary gain. Man knows nothing about how to prevent it…or do we? Of course if we were to eliminate food from our diet which has been altered by the use of chemicals, surely we would come close to eliminating Cancer. Artificial ingredients and pesticides have poisoned our air and land and water, and yet we collectively do nothing to stop this craziness.
I’ve stared Cancer down recently, and won. But my flesh is not strong enough or powerful enough to beat Cancer. Faith was the answer, the key to my victory. My faith, and the faith of hundreds if not thousands of friends and family in my community who collectively prayed for me during my battle with Throat Cancer. It was my faith that kept me alive while doctors and various therapies attacked the Cancer and won. It was the faith in God and in God’s love that was stronger than Cancer and which ultimately facilitated my victory over that which claims so many lives every year.
But not just your common, everyday faith. I’m talking about a massive faith, a wholesale, unadulterated faith that brought with it the power to overcome the damage the Cancer had wrought on my body, for with that kind of incredible faith one will always find God in it’s midst…and God’s way always works.
God’s way works. Whether we’re talking about a battle with Cancer or Spiritual warfare with the Father of Lies, the Antichrist, Beelzebub, God’s triumph is guaranteed when His way is utilized. Be it walking in faith, practicing principles in all of one’s affairs or utilizing the wisdom of the Universe gleaned through prayer, God’s way always results in freedom and safety and release from fear…as it did during my battle with Cancer recently.
Those of little or no faith cannot begin to conceive what I’m talking about. They have no eyes to see and they cannot see the truth. God’s ways are a mystery to us all and I don’t purport to have the ability to explain them; I cannot. But not only did the Lord of all Creation bring doctors alongside me, skilled and knowledgeable and able doctors with advanced medicine powerful enough and strong enough to overcome the Cancer in my body, but He saw fit to save my voice. This voice has spent years singing praises to Him and of Him and about Him, leading congregations to join in song and lift their voices in praise, as well. And He facilitated the loss of 25 pounds of unwanted fat which I had been trying to lose for the past five years, unsuccessfully until now.
But that’s not all! He used this medical crisis to bring me to a most wonderful and abundant new service opportunity, a seemingly perfect place for me to utilize my heartskills and my education and to make a good living in the process. Enjoying the highest hourly wage I’ve ever been paid and working for and with people who are kind and civil and well-intentioned is all new to me, and I’m enjoying it immensely. And did I mention that I’ve finished the book I was writing at the time of my diagnosis?
“12 Steps: NOT For Dummies” is now available here (right click to download) and at my website http://12StepsNotForDummies.com, at our sister site at http://NotForDummies.org and on Amazon.com, as well. The Lord allowed me recuperating time to finish my book, aimed largely at the hardcore addicts and alcoholics I’ve been helping for years, the chronic relapsers and stubborn intellectuals who just don’t get it…yet. While anyone and everyone could benefit personally from reading my book, I intentionally addressed those who have been exposed to 12 Step recovery but haven’t embraced it.
The Lord also saw fit to reassemble my band, “Tetelsti”, after six months hiatus. When He blessed me with the opportunity to pastor a Celebrate Recovery meeting at Lytton Springs ARC in Healdsburg, CA, I immediately thought of my band and called them. Each of them responded in the affirmative and we exploded back into life on the fourth Saturday in November 2012, without so much as a rehearsal. But the reason I love playing with these particular men is because they are all deeply in love with the Lord too, and each of them worships in a big way whenever we get together to lead others in worship. They fall right in musically, expressing themselves to the Lord fully and completely and the Holy Spirit uses that attitude in a real big way.
While the Lord has blessed me in such a phenomenal way since my Throat Cancer diagnosis in early February of 2012, it was Faith that carried me through this awful storm. Both my faith and the faith of my friends, family and community brought the Lord in and planted Him in the middle of my plight, and He simply went about doing what He does best: blessing us all.
Faith is not something we are necessarily born with. It is a Spiritual principle which, like every other Spiritual principle, must be practiced intentionally in order for it to manifest and/or grow. Sometimes faith appears to be automatic or something which is given to us, but don’t be fooled by just another mystery of God’s ways. We can choose to act in faith or not, to put faith into action or not. Faith is a choice, like Humility or Patience or Acceptance or Love. We control that choice. Never forget that.
About FORGIVENESS ~ Do you want a stress-free life? A big part of accomplishing that is to learn how to forgive others for absolutely everything. Forgiveness is a choice. If you have folks in your life who you refuse to forgive for something, big or small, you need to ask yourself: “Why do I like this feeling of resentment so much?”
That’s the truth: You like feeling resentful. That’s why folks hang onto resentments, rather than choosing to forgive other people. Oh, I know… It seems like it’s about the other person. It’s not. It’s about you. The reasons you refuse to forgive are about you, not about the other person.
When you get that through your thick skull, then there is nothing but blue skies, baby. Blue skies ahead…
