Stuck

People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.


James Baldwin
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Hello Val
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When I was a senior in high school I went on a field trip to Washington, D.C. Part of the trip was a visit with one of the Supreme Court Justices, Harold Burton. In his office Judge Burton showed us the files of books on his shelf. They were records of all the disputations, opinions and decisions of the Supreme Court dating back to its very first session. There were pieces of paper jutting out of the tops of many of the books and he explained that every time a former case was entered into the proceedings of the Court he would place a marker in that case for reminders.

Consider that man's library, the libraries of the other 8 judges, the libraries of all the various state and municipal courts throughout the country, the records of the US Senate and House of Representatives, state and local governments, and we find a vast and complex history of the legal proceedings of our land.

And the Unites States is just a mere 236 years old. Imagine what exists in other countries with a conscientious legal tradition, Great Britain for example, which could go back for thousands of years. It seems as though world history is written in laws and jurisprudence, and that a judge could not make a righteous decision without consulting the legal minds that went before him all the way back to the beginning, Hammurabi.

The history of the world is not all written in laws of course, but it is one way we can get trapped into derivative thinking. There are also the unwritten laws: custom, tradition, legend, lore. The human race loves its tractions, religious and secular. Some of those traditions come from ancient legends and superstitions, handed down without much question from generation to generation. But many of them still have a powerful influence on our behavior.

Some people are obsessed with keeping records even when there is no need. Some live their lives by the zodiac or other heavenly influences. Some do what their fathers and grandfathers and great grandfathers did, carrying on a family tradition. Some people carry hereditary beliefs with them and others believe there is a genetic streak in a family line that produces their behavior.

I can see how easy it is to move unnoticeably from the dry, sturdy, dependable world of legal tomes to the colorful, mysterious, uncertain world of superstition, completely passing the world of natural law on both sides.

Oh how easy it is to get trapped ! !

DB _Vagabond Journeys No. 1892
Never give up.

Flip The Dial

Fire can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men.

James Baldwin
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Hello Ernie
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I've spent much time and effort scraping through embers trying to find a spark to light up the spirits, other people's and my own. It's so easy to shut down the fire and settle for the hum drum. "Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear yo not?" (Mark 8) Why do we maintain the habit of looking at the world as if it was mainly uninteresting? Why do we not look for the invisible things, and listen to hear what may be inbetween the sounds around us? Have we forgotten or do we take for granted that we have a mind filled to abundance with thoughts, ideas, dreams?

Remember the radio with two stations? You don't? I bet you have the feeling right now that I am about to remind you. I wrote about it a couple of times. It's a Cabbalist idea. Imagine there is a radio and it plays only two stations. One of them broadcasts only good news, and the other one only bad news. Now image that you turn the radio on and set it at the good news station. But as soon as you turn your back and walk away it automatically flips over to the bad news station. When you realize it you have to go back and readjust the dial, until the next time.

Now imagine that this radio is your mind and the way it works. Right? How many hours a day do you listen to the bad news, the fear, worry, anger, resentment, doubt, depression, despair? Dial flipping is seriously needed there.

Believe me I know how difficult it is to get that dial pointed in the right direction, especially since the bad news station has given you something to worry about or to be afraid of. You don't want to let go of it. You would almost rather chew your head off than hear some cheerful news. You are enjoying the misery. And that's why you need an impulse, a reminder, a kick. And that's where the vagabond comes in.

I have just about typed my finders to the bone stirring up the embers, trying to get people to stay tuned to the good news station and to remind them that the human spirit when armed with the everything of good thoughts and not the nothing of bad thoughts is a powerful force, and when focused on the ins and outs, the ups and downs and the backs and forths of life it can perform miracles.

Remember, the opposite of good isn't evil.
The opposite of good is good-and-evil.

Dana Bate - Vagabond Journeys
Never Give Up

Turn Back O Man

Experience which destroys innocence also leads us back to it.

James Baldwin
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Sometimes I perceive living as one huge elliptical orbit around wisdom and self-knowledge. One year we find ourselves doing something or thinking something we would never dream of in another year. Just when we think we know ourselves circumstances turn things around and we find responses we didn't know we had. What is it that takes us on these strange journeys, how do we know when we've reached the limits and what is it that turns us back? Those are questions to ponder.

It may be that life becomes too repetitive. We get bored or depressed with the "same old-same old" no matter how good it is and we start looking for something to spice things up a little bit. Maybe we take up a hobby or some extra activity that gives us pleasure and makes the "daily grind" less draining. Let's say you take up golf. That's a good choice. There's some exercise, It's a target sport which gives you the sense of challenge and accomplishment. Soon your friends are saying they never thought of you as a golfer and you have to admit you never thought of yourself as one. But there you are playing golf every weekend weather permitting. But maybe the weather doesn't permit and you had to miss your Sunday game. But if you leave early from work on Friday you can make up for it. And the following Friday you do the same thing just in case it rains on Saturday, which it doesn't. Soon you're leaving work early on other days and playing all weekend.

How do we know when we've reached our limits? You can go on making excuses to yourself and your colleagues for a while. But one Monday morning you come to work with your clubs ready to leave early because it's a beautiful day, and no one is talking to you. How come? It seems that you forgot and left a job undone and the fellow down the hall who wanted to get home to take care of his wife who wasn't feeling well had to stay late to straighten out the mess you left. That is what might happen if you're lucky. If you aren't you might come in and find someone else at your desk.

What is it that turns us back? It's a wake up call. What drew you to this job in the first place? And isn't it the job that paid for the golf clubs and your membership in the local clubhouse? What will you do if you lose the job? You won't be playing golf if you have to spend all your time looking for another job. It's time to stop focusing on the hole and start looking at the doughnut.

So you straighten things out with the boss and your fellow workers and settle down to being a good conscientious worker. Everything is fine, your life is good again. Then one afternoon on a sunny Saturday a buddy takes you fishing. And there you go again.

Is golf a sin? Of course not. Is fishing a sin? No, but anything carried to such an extreme that it interferes with the harmony of your life is certainly something that punishes itself and that is what a sin is.

What if instead of golf it becomes a behavior, like bullying, criticizing, belittling, carping, resenting, hating or some other disgusting action? What will it take for you to wake up to yourself?

Or what if it's gambling, alcohol or drugs, the really habitual self destructions? How far away from the center of your life, the harmony of your life, are you going to get before you turn back, o man. Some people never do. Whether they're gold addicts or drug addicts they just fly off into outer space and burn themselves up.

But it's those moments of realization and fear that you are about to go too far that, if heeded, can turn you around and head you back to regain your innocence. And it's a great feeling when it happens.

DB - The Vagabond
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SUMMER QUESTION
(This is not a contest.)

Who are the 2 (two) most important people alive today? Why?

5 responses so far.

dbdacoba@aol.com

Thank you.
DB
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