Please Read These Words

            If you’re upset, there’s probably a good reason for it.  If you’re disgusted with yourself, there’s something behind it.  Chemicals in that hunk of cheese in your skull are likely firing into the wrong sockets, creating unpleasant, jagged pulses of electricity.  The symphony in your head has become full of violins with rusty strings.  When things are better, those pulses take on a smooth silky rhythm.  Our facial muscles relax, and we walk on the springy lightness of brand new running shoes.  Is it chemicals?  Are some souls born to bear the hassle of a vessel with lousy wiring?  This seems like an important question—especially if you’re a Republican. 

            On the “You Tube” debate, participants were asked whether they believed in every word of The Bible.  Without getting too muddled into theology, the overall Christian message is to believe in One God.  One who is all-powerful, and benevolent as long as you believe in Him.  The candidates all asserted that to a great degree, they believed in this book—it did in fact represent God’s Word.  Each seemed to be in a sparing match to profess ever deeper levels of faith—certainly attempting to shout their Amens and Hallelujahs loud enough so their voting base could hear them.

            The reason I bring up brain chemicals and Republicans, is to ask whether all of us are really created equally under the power of this God guy?  I would agree that we all deserve equal respect and reverence, simply for being walking miracles of life; however, to say we are created equally is false.  The playing field is not level.  Some people need help to get back on their feet, and I’m happy to pay taxes to help them get there.  When cowboy Ronald Reagan—that odd pillar of conservative worship—closed down all those mental heath facilities, I guess he didn’t understand that chemicals can indeed fire in very depressing directions.  People hear voices that they attribute to God’s—and He tells them all kinds of things, but forgets to tell them to shower and not drink so much.

            People can change—and it’s always a combination of things that bring about change.  Chemicals—perhaps with the help of other chemicals—can begin firing in more pleasant pathways.  Maybe this God guy, and some faith in a benevolent force can help, too.  There are indeed great words of wisdom in The Bible…  as there are in The Torah and The Koran.  People need faith to wake up.  Even atheists have faith that doing this or that will bring greater peace to their sense of self.  They wouldn’t call it faith; but this sense of self is often clouded in a mystery that some choose to call God.

            When our sense of self is fogged and when our identity is in crisis, we often lash out at the world around us.  Our soul puts the chemicals on red alert and we sometimes step on the toes of others.  The stomping is always empowering.  We feel like we matter because we’re “better than” for a fleeting moment.  Later, we realize we’re all in the same boat.  We realize that our chemicals can misfire.  We realize life is fragile.  Our minds are fragile.  In these moments, it is possible for gratitude to enter our hearts and we feel connected to that mysterious source, and more important, to one another.  Our minds become strong.  Our life and sense of self feels true and steadfast.  We get back into the ebb and flow.  The chemicals of the soul flow in and out the power outlets of the Great Spirit, in those big hunks of cheese, floating precariously above our shoulders. 

Here we are, about to gather with our loved ones and call upon the spirit of gratitude for all we possess. Here in the USA, we have a shitload. Yes, this is perhaps a crass statement for what I want to be a tribute to the third Thursday of November. You’re thinking, “Another damn treehugger whining about materialism and commercial culture…” Maybe I am. But who knows, if someone gave me an 8-cylinder BMW, I’d probably drive the hell out of it… Maybe promoting sustainable fuels was a silly idea afterall… I’d besurrounded with leather like an infant’s cheek, and the roar of unnecessary horsepower. I’d pop my ipod into the standing-in-the-front-row-of-a-concert stereo system and crank up ACDC’s “Highway to Hell”…Well… Hopefully not…  But it sure is easy to get carried away with all this stuff we’ve got! Today, I want to express some gratitude for what I have, and give some due props to Thanksgiving. I have life! As I type this, I am amazed at how many cells are working together in me, and in the world around us. We don’t know how it all came to be, but we sure are running around doing all kinds of things as a result of ourfinding ourselves here. We’re cooking food, making sweaters, playing racquetball, having sex, watching people have sex, reading stories to our kids, dropping bombs on neighboring countries, and playing French horns. Life is amazing. On most days, appreciating my own consciousness can trump a really lousy mood. Since we rarely stop to examine the veins on leaves, or the patterns of freckles on our faces and in the clouds and the stars in the sky above, it is nice to annually stuff our faces with often despised bloodlines in the name of gratitude. Especially with Christmas beingmarketed to us the day after Halloween, I am relieved to have a holiday that gets people together at the table before the rush to Target and Wallmart. Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is great. I especially love seeing what old rocker will put out a holiday album. Last year, I listened to Billy Idol sing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”… Priceless. These are the timeswhen humanity comes together to celebrate; and I happen to think Thanksgiving hits the nail on the head. Food, family and friends. Even if a few other F-words find their way into the conversation, as relatives make yearly attempts to bury those rusty hatchets, so be it. This holiday season, remember: We’re all trying here, folks. There are many cells that need to stay in order and do their jobs. Let’s go eat some delicious food… Whether made from scratch, made from a box, or made by illegal immigrants at a gourmet market. I believe that no matter how your food gets cooked, the more “thanksgiving” days you have in a year, the more content your seasonal ride. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Breaking down barricades and conventions. Expanding tolerance, good will, and a broader community responsibility. Being a “liberal” is about helping people get along and making sure everyone plays fair. I’m so fucking tired of the word “liberal.” In fact, ironically enough, I get pretty fucking tired of words—but what else do I have. Thoughts going right into pleasing action is bliss, but I often miss the mark. Thoughts multiply at such an alarming rate that writing and talking seem to be the medium for my usual state.I guess being fond of writing and reading words—especially stuff that’s “edgy” and attempts to shake up status quos—makes me “liberal.” I am part of a “liberal agenda.” First of all, liberals are terrible at making agendas. Liberals, or those prescribing to “liberalism,” are by definition free and open. Perhaps even more forgiving and flexible. How can we have a doctrine? Our “agenda”—if there is one—might reflect a greater desire for peace and cross-cultural understanding. Maybe we believe that people are inherently good, and deserve compassion and respect—even when they smoke crack and shoplift.I don’t know… should I be so forgiving? I mean, when that guy got splattered all over the news for stroking the base of the bathroom stall like the erect penis he so desired, and then had to lie about it because he’s not publicly liberal, I felt really bad for him. I wanted to give him a hug and say, “Hey man, being liberal isn’t so bad.”We live in such a weird time. That word “doctrine” seems like a good one. I guess we’ve got a doctrine of war going on, and the war is over doctrine. On the surface—or in the mainstream—we’ve apparently got terror coming from people calling other people “infidels.” Wow. There’s a word. An ex once called me an asshole and I thought that was bad. Imagine being called, “Infidel!” The word has a real sting to it, and I think the terrorists are using the term in the heaviest sense possible. We’re not just cheating on our spouses all the time; we’re on the naughty list of the holy of all holies, and the punishment for such status is a slow and painful death.Beneath the surface of these terror plots coming from the land of algebra, there are those who claim our USA doctrine is entwined with these same plots in order to feed the “war machine.” To quote the words of an extra-liberal bumper sticker, “BUSH KNEW.” When I first saw this, my immediate thought-to-word translation was, “FUCK…” This is the best word out there to express frustration, surprise, confusion, anger, awe, etc. My reaction when I saw that bumper sticker accusing our allegedly fearless and wise leader of treason and mass murder was certainly not shock… Unfortunately.My “FUCK” reaction was more like… “Well… Am I still gonna get up and be nice to my neighbors?… Does believing that people are conspiring against the common good serve me?” I don’t know. I don’t want to be an ostrich, and I don’t want to just shout out against “The Man” in a way that looks like I’m masturbating on a soapbox wearing a rainbow-colored clown wig… Hmmm… Or do I?Yes. That may be what I’m going for. What kind of responsible, “liberal agenda”-minded person writes a sentence about clowns jerking off? I guess that would be me. Be nice everyone. And if you’re not liberal, and you find yourself involved in Idaho politics while liking erect penises, it’s never too late to change teams.