When we see a table, we know what it is with no words or definition, that is the "concept" level. In another language it is another word with another but relatable definition. So it is concept that is master, not definition or word.

All faiths are this way, we have the same or similar concept, but the definitions (holy books) are very different. Often it is the faiths closest to one another that fight the most, like cosmic sibling rivalry. If we look at the concept level what do we see?

- A male energy that some call God and other names meaning the same thing.
- A female energy that some relate to mother earth
- Ideals of goodness and kindness, forgiveness, grace etc
- Wisdom of how to treat each other
-Wisdom of how to treat the earth and animals
- Notions of eternity or spiritualism or reincarnation.

These words even do not do the concept level justice because I must use words, however, we are all gravitating toward similar ideas. If we can understand that the word and definition levels (and indeed all languages) are artificial constructs that get information from mouths to ears or writing to eyes and minds, we have a way to heal the world. 

A table is a table, a shoe is a shoe, feeling divine love is feeling divine love, the rest is just words. Can we just respect one another, help each other grow and not threaten each other's mental frameworks? Maybe?

It's gonna be a busy day, I'll explain this one better latter, it's just an "idea seed."

"Everyone needs compassion, the kindness of a stranger..."

When truth = compassion the healing possibilities are limitless. That might sound weird to some, but if I explain it right (not now, gonna go back to bed) hope you'll find it quite beautiful. In essence - when someone is struggling with their mental framework the healer "goes to them" - finds out what they need to be healthy and bolsters that framework into a positive cycle. **yawn** Back to bed...

***A rare serious post, most work here is creative writing. To understand this piece think of a "mental framework" in the brain being like the operating system of a computer - without it working properly the computer can't function. When your mental framework is compromised you have mental illness.***

Firstly, I greatly respect Richard Dawkins as an academic and I think his heart is in the right place, but as knowledgable as he is in many fields his understanding of the mind and spirituality is causing flaws in his work, or at least leading him to think proof that religion is harmful and causes war is reason to try to eradicate it. I can show with sound and simple logic why religion and war are correlated and why his camp is now as much to blame as anyone. We shouldn't be mis-using our intellects to remove a vital source of comfort and love to billions when the alternative is simpler, safer and kinder. I will also challenge some of the logic I recall from his God Delusion book, I read it twice, but not recently, so if I make any errors I am of course open to correction.

War and Religion

Our minds need a framework to work with, anyone who's had mental illness will know the devastating effects of what happens when your mental framework fails. Religion has a positive correlation with the recovery of mental health patients. News headlines and dialogue that insist that the only comfort they have found is bogus is a cruel thing to do. The reason war and religion are correlated is because each threatens the mental framework of the other, unless you marry the underlying concepts that unite the faiths, the practitioners have no option but to battle it out. The more shrill the verbal attack, the more shrill the response. This is also why religions tend to fragment, someone sees things a different way and they need that mental framework to be sane and so seek others to agree and a new splinter group forms. The more they need that framework the more violent the battles will be. Atheism simultaneously threatens every religion - and so I would predict, the more vocal they are the less stable the world will be. It is not for anyone to deny the faith of others but instead to seek where we are the same - find common ground to build from. If the atheists, the christians and the muslims all love Jesus let's start there,. Perhaps they all might like notions of grace and forgiveness, why not? Perhaps we could get along like adults instead of fighting? Perhaps we could learn that fighting the only thing that gives another person love and solace is a crappy thing to do.

The Common Elements of the Story of Jesus With Earlier Stories

Because people can't move quickly from one mental framework to another (to do so would cause mental illness and social unrest), you would expect elements of one story to be in another. The repetition of ideas is like social archeology, exciting to find, but does not invalidate other parts of the tale. So the echoes of other stories are just that, echoes. Sudden conversions are rare, slow adaptation to something new is more normal and overlapping stories is the kindest way to teach - that's why culturcide is such a brutal crime. That's why my country, Canada, should be even more ashamed than it is about what happened to the First Nations. And that's another place Dawkins is wrong, his entire platform is pushing for culturcide of religion worldwide and, I repeat, it is brutal and destabilizing.

Lazy Logic

I recall a quote that went like this, though likely he was quoting someone else: "If God is omnipotent He is malevolent, if he is not, He is not God." That's like saying "If my Dad isn't the biggest bastard in the playground he isn't my Dad." It isn't logic that stands up, I find it lazy. Spirit and matter are related and separate, I find it quite logical that for a God to work in our reality it would be through spiritual guidance, that we would be His hands and feet mending social injustice.

Complexity vs Intelligence

We, as a species, eternally confuse complexity with intelligence. They aren't the same thing. Sometimes intelligent things are simple, like love. Humans need very little to exist - food, water, good shelter and love. Now some might say, "You don't need love!" Do you know what happens to people who don't have love? They die. One way or another, they die. We can feel love like a sixth sense. It is not bound by time or space, you can't weigh it or measure it, but you know it's there. Love heals, love makes us well. So when we say God is love, we mean it. We can feel it. Why fight so hard against love? I just don't get it, how can that motivate a person?

Love

We should love our partners with fire, intensity, compassion, forgiveness, grace, honesty, integrity and perseverance - love like a lion not a Hallmark card. But there is also divine love that heals too, some people are so abused and forsaken it's all they have and it's real. They hear spiritual music and they cry, or smile, or sing, or feel comfort. How can anyone say that isn't real? Real to who? Who gets to say what is real to another person? Should we discount the pain of others too because we can't feel it? That's psychopathic. Why is spiritual love different? Only I know what I feel, and I communicate it as honestly as I can. Personally I have both kinds of love plus love from true friends and I feel alive, creative and bursting with life. 

Common Ground

So really, it's time we put our hands in the air. It's time we realise what it means to attack the mental frameworks of others. We need a more peaceful world, we need aid to go the hungry, not bury ourselves in meaningless trivia and consumer goods. Love doesn't come in a box, it's our birthright. Time to take it, soak it in in whatever way works best for you. We're all a little different and that's great. Communities are like natural meadows not wheat fields. 

Value Everyone


It's time to value everyone no matter what they bring to the table and stop the elitist crap. I value the beauty of different faiths. I value the genius of a dancer as much as the genius of a mathematician. If I need a home it's the builder who makes it, if I'm sick I need a doctor. We can't all be doctors, I can't live in a diagnosis. IQ tests are bogus and flawed, they only tell you what this society is bias toward. 

Multicultural is Good


I want to surround myself with folks who understand what love really means - love is not bigoted or cruel, it is not boastful or jealous, it is beautiful, it is kind and strong, brave and noble. Getting a better world is a simple as dreaming common dreams, devising systems with virtuous cycles instead of deleterious ones and making sure nice guys finish first. Dare to dream. Dare to love. Don't give up.

Atheists often put all their stock in earthly love and are very healthy, they do very well, they are kind and wonderful people. They can be honest, respecting their partner and appreciate the beauty of the world. They frequently give to charity and are great to be around. These people are content with the love in their lives, it is enough for them and that's great. Not everyone is so lucky though...

For some people the love of Christ or other form of spiritual love is the strongest they'll ever get. They have been abandoned, abused, neglected. They learn that trust leads to pain and earthly love is the worst source of pain. So how can they tap into the kind of love that keeps the atheist so happy? They need people with enough love and patience to reach them and often those people will be from a religious group or mental health professionals. They may be addicts, homeless, scarred inside and out. Their faith is the last thing between them and deciding not to live at all... so can we stop attacking each other's sources of love?

I believe the luckiest people of all have both, but not in the weak way advertisers push. They love their partners like lions and embrace their spirituality with passion. Don't let a mortal love stop you seeking divine love and don't be so satisfied with divine love that you neglect mortal love. For in truth, all love is immortal, it stretches, it bends, but it never ends. It does not obey mathematics for when it divides it multiplies. The wise person seeks all kinds of love - the Godly kind, a true lover and true friends/siblings. Why say stop? Why not let more in? 

Once upon a time there were three brothers, a set of twins and another. Well the twins were called Fenny and Al. They rained down punches on the other, Ben, and stole his stuff. They told lies about him and then pretended to love him when Mom or Dad walked in the room. They whispered mean things and broke every promise they could. Then one day when they were adults, Ben said "I love you all, but I can't live here anymore. You won't be part of my new life. I forgive you and goodbye." Without a backwards glance he left.

The terrible twins felt sad, they'd had so much "fun" together and he was their brother. Brothers should stick together. The twins grew older and felt somewhat bad for their behaviour now but still Ben never returned calls. He met a girl, they fell in love and started a family. The twins wanted to be uncles and the brother said "No, go away. I forgave you instantly but fear and abuse are not compatible with love and that is what you mean to me, you are the scars I can't shake. I do still love you but you creep me out and I don't trust you. If you've reformed, that's great, but I get to choose my own friends and family now. Genetics doesn't mean that much to me anymore, sorry. I know what real love is and I hope for your sakes you learn too, but not from me, we're done."

Fenny and Al were confused, they thought forgiveness meant something else. They thought it meant Ben would come for beers and laugh with them. Then Fenny got a text from a girl he'd had a one night stand with a week ago and got distracted. "Fuck Ben," he grumbled and deleted the girl from his phone. Al was rummaging in his pockets, his wife had locked him out again but he'd put a spare in there somewhere. He thought again of Ben, "lucky little maggot, how come his wife loves him so much? It isn't fair!"

There are lots of folks who can talk the talk, but show me a man who walks the talk -  then I have trust, then I have faith in him because the language of Love is not spoken but lived. I don't care what you say, I'll watch what you do. That doesn't mean I won't love you or be your friend, but then it is I that will gently lead you and not the other way around. Show me my err and the roles reverse. You don't have to be perfect and neither do I, we learn together, catch each other, hold more ideals than we can live up to - yet keep walking even though all say the dream is only a dream. Dreams can come true, just dream the right one in the language of Love and know what it means - strong hearts, brave souls, complete and healed minds. 

**This is a story seed rather than a story, but my middle child has a b'day tomorrow and I need to do Mom stuff!**

Once there was a treasure box with a key hole and no-one knew where the key was. Part of the problem was that in this strange world things that looked like keys would often either crumble to the touch or else burn fiercely leaving an ugly scar. Everyone wanted the key, they had some good hints about what it might be and they were often confused as to why it hadn't been found.

Well, the thing is, they did have the right key all along but didn't understand it properly, and so they grew to mistrust it and become sad. The problem was that only by understanding why the wrong keys were wrong, would the right one slide in and open the box! 

There was a girl called Hattie who loved puzzles and knew the right key by instinct and this is what she did.

She learnt about all the wrong keys - being scarred and burnt. Her journey was painful and she almost broke, but at the end she knew that unless the others understood the wrong ones fully they could never be free. The key wasn't even to the treasure box they all wanted, it was to the chains around their own hearts. It almost broke Hattie again once she could see them, no longer invisible, each heart was bursting against chains and blaming everyone else for the pain.

She described the wrong ones as best she could:

betrayal
pain
anger
deception
narcissism
jealousy

There were others too, she wrote about them all, then when she turned back to the right key and described it:

love

The key melted into her soul and all her hurts were healed. The scars were still there and she welcomed them like footprints in sand, evidence of a journey, one to her "happy ever after."

Poor Jack! All work and no play! Why, he got duller and duller. Their living standard was his fault and the media kept putting the bar higher and higher. He was to be unfailingly romantic, able to buy luxuries, fancy holidays and everything his kids wanted. He worked so much he felt his soul become weary. His wife was lost in a sort of toxic daydream, if he couldn't do everything her friends husbands did then did that mean he didn't love her? She wanted valentines and extravagant gifts at birthdays. He smiled along and did his best, he didn't want to lose Jill but where could he recharge his soul? A hockey match? That was good. The pub? A laugh with the boys was great. But Jill was becoming sullen and passive aggressive.

Jill wanted the love she had felt years ago and many of her friends had traded in their boring Jack for a new one, a recycled one. She didn't want to loose her Jack but really, he was annoying her and this other Jack at work was quite handsome. Her Jack didn't appreciate her, why, he often forgot to take the garbage out. Why should she put up with that? Their bedroom life was all but gone and her friends, well, the things they were doing made her so envious! Some of her friends had more than one Jack and didn't even cook them a meal. Well, that sounded way better than this drudgery.

Jack was unhappy, but he knew what divorce meant. It meant some other guy took the girl he fell in love with and raised his kids. Just the thought of it broke him some more but like most men he just buried it deep and got on with the day job he hated to provide the life Jill found so "inadequate." It was killing him. He became anxious and tried harder with Jill but she didn't respond. She had already left him in her mind and was making plans for her "freedom." Jill was going to be an independent woman in a fancy condo, she'd already calculated their net worth and figured she'd be just fine. She was a bit concerned for Jack but "It was his fault. He wasn't romantic or spontaneous, he was so boring." She confided in her friends and they all confirmed that men were hopeless. She'd be "happier on her own."

What could Jack do? He was dying on the inside. Twenty years at a menial job to keep the woman he adored and the kids that he loved more than anything... and for what? To be as disposable as a Tim Hortons Coffee Cup? Tossed in the trash? 

Jill wasn't a bad person, really. She loved her kids and was lonely on the inside, just like Jack; but the proof of how much she was loved was there all along but she just missed it. It wasn't any of those things he bought her, they were just trinkets after all, no matter the price tag. Love after all, cannot be bought or bribed. The trinkets were tokens that the media made Jill crave and Jack too scared not to give. That's how love dies and it does it slowly. Then Jack and Jill fall apart, but they never had to. All Jill needed to see is that Jack did a boring job day after day because he loved her and the kids beyond anything in the world. When a man loves a woman he will work in a cubicle farm or assembly line or pushing paper until her is almost dead for her and his kids. If it was just him, he'd be off in a camper trailer to hike the mountains and he'd take his chances. Had she known that she would have never wanted all those expensive things because in reality, until Jack can retire he is a slave, an unhappy one. I know there are Jill's out there doing the same thing, so for this story you can choose to be Jack or Jill, there are Jackie's right? And they know how soul crushing that life is, they know.

Jack wasn't perfect though, he saw the freedom Jill had and was envious. She got to cuddle the kids more and cook. That sounded way better than his lot and then he got home sometimes to no dinner and a messy house! What's up with that? Well, the memo Jack missed was that Jill was such a dedicated mother that she devoted more time to the kids than the house or him. It didn't mean she didn't love him, just that her life was busy too. She was multitasking all day long.

The sad part of the tale is that Jack and Jill didn't make it but they could have. The evidence of their love wasn't in candy or flowers or all night sessions in the bedroom, it was in the little things. It was the little kisses, the quiet "I love you's", the cuddles, the humour, the quiet times in the backyard when no-one had anything interesting to say. They didn't need hobbies in common or scintillating personalities, just to see that the other person demonstrated their love in the real way - "I go to work because I love you, not for money. I cook because I want you to be nourished. I clean because it makes the house nicer for us. I cuddle you because it fills my soul. I am with you forever because life without you would kill me on the inside, you are the best to me and I want no other, no substitute, no upgrade or remodel. You are the one I fell in love with and you will always be enough." They never needed a counsellor, that's just a third person who meddles and pokes. They needed true friends who understood that they should guide Jack back to Jill and Jill back to Jack - because this life is tough and it is Love that will carry you through. 

"You bring a lifetime of promises
and a world full of dreams
and you speak the language of love
like you know what it means
and it can't be wrong
take my heart and make it strong"

Simply the best - Tina Turner 


I hate valentines. I do Sorry. For the most part it is over commercialized landfill fodder with bows on. We think of love as soppy and sickly sweet. That isn't love, it's not even close. Then we cry and wonder why marriages fail. We turn on each other and point fingers of blame, we play "he did, she did." 

I'm sorry, but you were misinformed for the sake of profits, that isn't love at all. You can't see love, weight it, touch it, taste it, but you feel it, you need it and you wonder why it isn't satisfying you. You've got the dial turned way down, honey, way down.

We aren't supposed to love like twelve year olds with a crush, we're supposed to love with fire, determination, passion, honesty, integrity, forgiveness, compassion, tenderness, trust and loyalty. It isn't soppy. Love does not betray or gossip. Love says if we fall apart I will fight my way back to you, I won't give up on you, I will tell you 'I love you' over and over until the cage around your heart melts." We fall in love, a divine gift. We are supposed to fight for it, not with guns, but with passion. 

Love does not abandon, Love holds you safe when you feel lost or sick. Love says "though this life will test us, we are one for now and forever." It isn't "till death do us part" it is "live happy ever after." It is normal to fall into troughs, it is normal to feel like you've drifted apart, but you can find your way back and you don't need a counsellor.

Love like a lion, Love with fire, Love like your life depends on it because it does, what is more important to you than those you love?

Don't envy others, treasure what you have. Speak the language of love like you know what it means. Love doesn't hurt, it heals. Betrayal hurts, dishonesty hurts, unfaithfulness hurts and ultimately a lack of Love destroys.

To serve you must first learn the language of Love, we all can speak it, no matter what tongue or dialect we use. "All you need is love, love, love is all you need" - the genuine kind, not the hallmark card nonsense. If I say "I love you" it means I would defend you with my life, nothing less. Love defends, Love protects, Love honours and respects. Love listens, Love offers true empathy, sympathy by comparison is empty and hollow. That's the love that heals, that's the love that saves, that's what you're looking for. Now you know, go find it, be it, embody it, feel it.

Oh hey, 

Welcome to my home! The sun is shining the birds are singing, the grass is growing all the stores are jammed with yummy food. Would you like a pistol for dinner? Maybe an AK47? I can grate some cheese on top! What? Have I gone mad? Maybe, it is distinctly possible.

It's just that I blew the food budget on some guns to beat all those terrorists. The problem is, I can't find any. I've actually never met one. The news said it was those naughty muslims but all the ones I met were wonderful people, really connected, I was baffled.

Everyone I know is either really nice or just a bit selfish, where are all these evil bastards? The news is packed with them, they kill their kids and chop heads off. Hmmm. So confusing. You know, if it wasn't for the media I might think most people were really nice... I might relax... start thinking of others instead of myself... Hmm. Nice thought...

Oh wait! The news is on, I can't miss that! How would I know what's going on in the real world? So, after some fear, silly story to confuse and a redirect I think I'm unhappy because I'm fat and I need new shoes. I was thinking something... can't recall what... have some tomato on a landmine, they're almost out of date, I need to go to the mall...

Love you, come back soon!