Kris, The High-Tech Hippie!

This is a poem I wrote around May 11, 2004, I just recently found it and updated it (by tweaking a few words). I hope you like it.

I'm distressed
I mourn for the world
the one world which we share
the world which we are collectively killing
for it is sick, diseased, dying
plagued by fear, and fear's offspring, hate
what makes me the most sick, though
is that WE are killing it
OUR hate, OUR fear, are what will bring our OWN demise
The solution, the answer, the cure
is so simple, so simple that in 5,000 years we havn't understood it
the solution, the answer, the cure is love
love concours fear
love concours hate
and, yet, many of us are afraid to love
afraid of opening ourselves up to pain
afraid of being compassionate
but why must we hate?
why must we concede to hate?
for hate, fear, sin, are concious decisions
we should not concede to them but stop them in their path
does it not stand to reason, that if we allowed ourselves to love fully, without fear of pain, that there would be no room for hate in the world?
men obfuscate love
we tangle it with all sorts of custom meanings
and twist it with lust
true love is lending your lawn mower to a neighbor who's is broken
true love is helping a fragile old lady carry her mounds of groceries
true love is giving of yourself and expecting nothing in return
but giving of yourself because it is good to do so
a cynic expects nothing, and therefore gives nothing
but a person who loves gives simply because it is good to do so

Satan is awfully sneaky; he promises to give you everything you want, and he often delivers on those promises; but he will never give you what you truly need.

I wonder, and have been pondering over this question especially as of late: As a whole, is the human race happier now then they were in, say, the 1800s?

I suppose I really only ask this question becuase of my belief that the answer is "no." Although, in reality, there is no real way to measure this or to ever truly know the answer. I believe, though, that we have strayed from the one thing that can truly make us happy; we have strayed away from, and devalued love. Love in the true, unending, unconditional sense. For it is only love, true unconditional love, that will make us truly happy.

In the place of this love, we have put stuff. Possessions, objects, money, toys, cars, gadgets.... stuff. We operate under the false pretense that stuff will make us happy, that if we can accumulate a whole lot of stuff for ourselves that we will finally be happy. In the end, isn't that what we all want, to be happy?

We also confuse comfort and happiness, and leisure time and happyness. We have forgotten that hard work can truly be rewarding and can make us happy. We also believe that happiness is derived from comfort. To those who truly love, however, comfort and leisure mean little, for their love makes them happy, keeps them amplly contented.

I'm not trying to say that living simply is a necessity to a happy lifestyle, however simple living certainly offers less distractions from the love that will make you truly happy. The more we have, the more distractions we have to think about, the more we think about ourselves, and the less we think about those around us. The less we think about those around us, the less connected we are to them, and the less connected we are to those around us, the less love we will share.

More on this later....

If we all believed that, and lived as if Utopia was possible, it would be.

So the big debate is always "creation or evolution." Right, we know that. I don't believe in one or the other exclusively, though, simply because both are THEORIES. You know... theories, that fancy scientific word we use instead of the word "guesses" because it sounds more professional.

That's not to say that I don't believe in God and that I don't believe that God created the universe and all living things. What I am saying, though, is that no human on this planet, in this life knows HOW all things came to be, and we're fooling ourselves if we think we can figure it out. The truth is, there are things that are beyond our understanding. The story of creation, as told in Genesis, is true in many ways, but it is also metaphorical and incomplete. Incomplete because we, as humans, have incomplete knowledge, and are incapable of obtaining, grasping, or understanding perfect knowledge.

Moreover, I don't believe in complete evolution. Let me make an aside here to explain my terminology. When I say "complete evolution" I mean the evolution of animals through the formation of man. I fully believe that evolution occurred. Animals evolved from other animals over eons and will continue to evolve. The life on this planet all evolves from a worldwide symbiotic balance that the planet maintains in it's natural state. I do not, however, believe that mankind evolved into the world, and here is why: we serve no purpose to this planet. We are, to our Earth, a parasite, using up every resource available and leaving behind a path of destruction.

Why, then, are we here?? To figure that out, it's important to look at what makes us different from the animals. Very simply, I believe that the trait we posses above the animals is the ability to grasp and believe things which we cannot fully understand. This is where our ingenuity stems from, our thinking power, our ability to reason. This is why our God created us, because He knew that although we couldn't fully understand the fullness of his grace and love and power, that we could find within ourselves the ability to believe in Him, and through belief in Him, learn to go beyond basic instincts, basic logic toward love and compassion.

Love.. true Love in it's purest form is illogical. It makes no logical sense. Basic logic states that what I have gained for myself I should keep for myself because I may need it later. Love, however, makes us share our possessions, and even ourselves with others. Love feels so good because WE WERE MADE TO LOVE!

There is another logic, though, one that goes beyond basic logic. This logic is based on hope, and trust, and faith, all traits that only we humans have. This logic says that if we all love one another as we should then we would not have need of possessiveness. This is the love we were made to share with one another. And oh how very short of it we have fallen....

The kingdom of Heaven is a place where we all love each other in this way. Paradise is marked not by earthly possessions, but by having all our needs (physical, emotional, spiritual) met, and where we all share in love, all our needs will be met.

So, I don't know exactly /when/ I wrote this. *smacks forehead* and I just deleted the original file that contained the datestamp that would have told me. Oy! Sometimes I amaze myself with stupidity. Maybe it's absent-mindedness. But I can narrow it down and say that I know I wrote it in the last 5 months or so. I don't remember writing this... that is to say, it almost sounds like I didn't write it, but I found it on my hard drive, and so I must've written it when I was inspired. So, without further ado, here goes....

Life is not to be wagered. Life is not to be gambled upon. Life is not - is not - a commodity, it is an inalienable right endowed by a far greater power than that which is mankind. War is the gambling of life and wars are fought to maintain a standard of living, often for the maintenance of the standard of living reserved for the wealthy. As human beings we should understand that the choice to take another person's life is just that, a choice; it is not a necessity, it is not a need, there are no mitigating circumstances, no reasons in favor of. Life is life, a right given to us by God, and far be it from any man to take that right away from any other.

So, this is what my first blog entry is going to be like? Many years later, when I'm famous, this will get dredged up and everyone will laugh about how lame I was before I became famous. Or maybe not... that is... I'll probably never be famous, so I shouldn't worry about it. :)

Hrm.. what do you write to the general world at-large? Anything and everything, I suppose. So I'll start here...

I figure that this blog will be mostly comprised of my brain's own ramblings, perhaps even occasionally sprinkled with bits of wisdom. Heh... wisdom... wouldn't that be nice? Anyway, I can dream, can't I??

A little about me, to get you all interested... I'm a bit of a hippy (or is it hippie?), in that, well, okay, for one I own a VW Microbus, which I really love to drive, but which is currently in multiple parts. I assure you, dear readers, however, that it WILL live again; for I love driving it just TOO much to give up on it now. Now, where was I? Oh right... I'm a bit of a hippy in that I own a VW Microbus, for starters, but also in that I truly believe in the ways of peace, love, and compassion for others. I also play the guitar rather poorly, if that helps. :)

It is strange, however, that I am a Christian Hippie. That, in my estimation, is a rather rare breed. I promote peace and love, but I also know that love, true unending, unconditional love, comes from God and was shown to us through Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, the Christ. Now, in all honesty, I don't want to shove my theology or my religion or my dogmatic practices down anyone's throat. I respect your right to believe what you want to believe, but at the same time I insist that you respect my right to talk about and discuss my beliefs, openly, honestly, and truthfully.

In that spirit, it is my belief that Jesus of Nazareth was a rather hippy-esque dude himself. He had long hair, he wore sandals, and he detested the corrupt authorities. To those same authorities, he represented upheaval. Jesus rocked the boat, he protested, he spoke out against the injustices of the world (especially those of the hypcritical "religious"), but he did so peacefully, continually preaching one message: love. His message was simple: "I give you a *new* commandment. Love one another as I have loved you." In essence, Jesus is saying "screw your rules and regulations, just love one another!" And for that, they killed him.

So, as I'm lying here, typing this on my iBook, I can't help but wonder if anyone is still reading... or if anyone started reading to begin with. Oh well, I'm sure someone will stumble on this page by accident.