The Joke That Really Isn't

Once upon a time, there was a young man in college who was very excited. He had worked hard in high school and managed to gain entrance to a very prestigious college. He thought, now I am going to be somebody, and worked diligently to get the best grades that he could.

After some time he realized that there was something missing, after all, getting good grades was fine, but they only went so far and he believed that there was something more. That's when he met a lovely young woman with whom he fell in love.
"Now I know what was missing." So he married the lovely young woman as soon as he finished college.

But after college he realized that there was still something missing. His friends told him that he needed to have children soon, because children gave your life permanence and purpose. So he talked with his wife and they set about starting a family, and in a few short years they had two lovely, healthy children and he thought, "Now I know what I was missing."

Still, something felt incomplete. The man had worked in a few different jobs, but hadn't settled into a path that felt right. He spoke to many people including his father who advised him to do what he loved. The man loved to tell stories, so he found a job where he could tell stories and discovered that he felt happier. So, looking back he realized that his wife and children were not enough, and that now that he had a true vocation, he would be happy.

A few years went by, his children grew, he advanced in his career and became more successful. But still, he felt like there was something missing. He looked around and saw that his friends all had the same things as he did, a home, a family a career, and they appeared content so why didn't he?

He began to look for answers. First he started to read many books about the meaning of life. While he gained some insights, he still didn't feel that what he was reading provided him with the answers he was seeking. He started to become obsessed with finding the answers he needed.

His wife told him that he should be happy with what he had. His pastor told him to find peace in God, and his parents told him that they were proud of him and that he should be proud of himself.

But nothing that anyone said seemed to satisfy him. A friend told him that true wisdom lay in Eastern philosophy, and so the man began to read a great deal of Eastern Philosophy. The man began to become enlightened and expanded his view of the universe and his role within it.

But still, he felt that there was something missing. This feeling gnawed at him and he became even more obsessed. One day he came home and told his wife he could not stand it any longer.

Even though she pleaded with him, he quit his job and devoted all of his time to studying philosophy. His wife grew frustrated and desperate and finally left him. Though hurt, he felt that he could not give up his quest.

He used his remaining money to travel to China in search of someone there who could help him to find the answers he sought. Once there he found many teachers, but none that could give him the deeper answers he was looking for. That was when someone told him the wisest teachers were in Nepal. So he made the long journey to the Himalayas.

He found a monastery that allowed him to stay and learn in exchange for work. He worked hard at cleaning the monks robes and dishes, all the while he studied hard, looking deeper and deeper into his soul. While he felt that he was getting closer to the answers he wanted, something was still missing.

Seeing his frustration, the elder monk told him that he must seek out the wisest man of all time, the great Sri Unum. "Only the great Sri Unum has the wisdom to give you the answers that you seek."

The man was overjoyed but the monk warned him that the great Sri Unum lived on top of the most difficult and treacherous mountain in the Himalayas and that the journey to him would be hard and long and he could lose everything. The man didn't care.

"I have to know" he told the monk and he set out to find the great Sri Unum. He walked for weeks, over harsh terrain in terrible conditions. Along the way, he was robbed of his remaining money. He cloths became threadbare and torn, but still he persisted. When he saw the mountain that the great Sri Unum lived atop, he was disheartened for it was a truly intimidating mountain. But he was determined and so he walked on.

He climbed and climbed the rocky face of the mountain. His hands and feet became bloody and blistered. He was frost-bitten and starving, but still he climbed on until he reached the summit where he saw a small wooden shack sitting in a bare patch of ground at the very top of the world.

By this time the man was nearly broken. He could not walk but crawled his way to the door of the humble shack. When he opened the door, he saw a very old man sitting in lotus, smiling peacefully.

It took all the man's strength to ask, "Are you Sri Unum?"

"Yes, I am he." said the old man.

""Oh that is wonderful, I have come so far, given up everything to find the answer that I seek, can you help me?"

"Yes, of course. What is your question?"

"What is the meaning of life?" asked the man.

"Life..." began the great Sri Unum, "is like a fountain."

The man looked at the great Sri Unum, waiting...but there was nothing more.

"That's it?" asked the man, "I have come all this way, lost my wife and family, given up my home and all my possessions and you tell me that life is like a fountain?"

The great Sri Unum looked surprised, and then a little confused, "You mean, life is not like a fountain?"

Cynicism Vs. Compassion on the Internet

Recently, an excellent health blog that I follow, www.Everythinghealth.com, posted an article asking for financial assistance for a 13-year old Armenian girl who requires a very serious operation to remove ovarian tumors. The blogger is a physician that I respect and have consistently found her blog to be an excellent source of credible medical information and advice, however, this recent article caused me some concern.

In general, I am always suspect of pleas for money that arrive over the internet. A few years back, I began to explore the many “Nigerian Scams” that I would receive via the various email accounts that I had. This exploration lead me to develop some vary simple research techniques that quickly identified whether a particular message was a scam. Unfortunately, these same techniques don’t seem to yield the same degree of certainty about whether the messages are not a scam.

And therein lies the foundations of my cynicism regarding internet pleas for money.
The problem, of course, is worldwide and affects anyone with a valid email address. Most of the pleas come in the form of non-specific spam messages which most of us have come to recognize. The basic components of a “Nigerian” scam seem to include:
• A long, detailed message body
• Semi personalized greetings
• A reputable sounding author
• A detailed explanation about a unique financial predicament that requires the recipient to make certain international financial arrangements, which, if performed properly, will result in the recipient receiving a large sum of money.

“Non-Nigerian” variations on this theme can also include:
• A desperate description of a dire (medical, political) situation facing the author or author’s family
• Specific details that relate to the recipient’s situation (child of similar age, recent news topic, shared family name)
• Specific dollar amounts required
• Detailed explanation as to why the author is required to ask for help via the internet

Many of these messages are truly heart-wrenching, and easily understandable given most of our knowledge of the various terrible world and personal situations facing us. My cynicism grows out of the fact that these messages specifically target that most precious of human qualities, compassion, and twists it into a completely self-serving ploy to separate well-meaning people from their money.

Of course, in the pure Nigerian Scam, the recipient’s motive is less altruistic, as these scams rely on another human quality, greed, as their primary motivator.
The non-Nigerian scams rely upon the recipient’s underlying guilt at his/her own financial comfort and relative success, compared to the poverty that exists throughout a great deal of the world. This guilt is mixed with a need for meaning and purpose that haunts many of us in the Western World. There is a feeling that our success and comfort has separated us from true substance and moral value, so donating some of our wealth to support those less fortunate (and seemingly more desperate) than ourselves seems to be a logical way of re-attaining our compassionate soul.

The internet is a powerful vehicle for reaching literally millions of people quickly and effectively. Note how effectively President Obama leveraged the power of the internet to fund his campaign and organize his followers. This same power has long been used for various other types of fund raising for any number of excellent and worthy causes. There are so many convenient payment and verification tools now available on the internet that online fund-raising is almost painless and certainly immediate.

So how can one weigh the value that the internet can provide for worthy causes and individuals against the harm that unscrupulous individuals and organizations cause to human spirit and faith by using our own compassion against us? This is a question that I struggle with often, especially when presented with, what appears to be, a genuine plea for help that any desperate parent might resort to in order to save their child.
In a future blog, I will share some tips I have learned about quickly identifying internet scams using simple internet search tools and websites. In the mean time, I welcome your comments on this topic.

Baked Spaghetti

My Niece just moved into her first apartment and asked me to send her some easy dinner recipes. So, this is an stand-by I have used for years, its nothing earth-shattering, but just makes a tasty spaghetti without meat.


Spaghetti:

1 box regular or whole wheat spaghetti
1 jar spaghetti sauce ( I like Classico "mushroom and ripe olives)
3-4 good sized mushrooms (optional)
5-7 green olives (optional)
2 green onions (optional)
1 clove garlic (optional)
1 tablespoon Italian spices (buy a mix, it's easier)
1/2 to 3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
2-3 quarts water (basically you need enough water to cover the softened spaghetti with about an inch of water)
Some salt
Some olive oil

Put water in a large pot, add a little salt and a little olive oil, bring the water to a boil
When the water boils, add the spaghetti, let it boil for about 5-10 minutes (read directions on package) but it really is "done" when you can throw a strand of it against the wall and the strand sticks...(take strand down after throwing unless you like a pasta-themed kitchen) When pasta is done, pour water and pasta out into a colander and rinse briefly with cool water. Set aside.

Pour spaghetti sauce into another pot and warm it on low to medium heat, stir frequently

Optional part:
Slice mushrooms, olives and green onions into small pieces
Crush or chop tiny the garlic
Add some olive oil, salt and Italian seasonings to a frying pan on medium heat
Add mushrooms, olives, onions, garlic to frying pan
saute all of these by stirring them frequently in the oil. You'll be done when the mushrooms are a little brown singed.
When you are done, add these to the simmering sauce.

Next,
Pre-heat oven to 350
mix spaghetti, sauce and most of the grated cheese into a single large bowl that can go in the oven (like Pyrex)
sprinkle remaining cheese on top of spaghetti,sauce and cheese mix
put spaghetti into oven and bake for 15 minutes

Then serve

Skip the optional part if you don't want the hassle or don't like mushrooms and olives. Or you can substitute with other veggies like spinach, asperigas, broccolli, tomato, zuccini, eggplant..but always do the saute with olive oil, garlic and italian seasonings.

Rock the Pot-Luck!!!

OK, so you want to make a big hit at the office or neighborhood pot-luck? Here’s a salad that will do the trick. In addition to being colorful and tasty, it is heart healthy, with very low sodium and fat.

This salad takes about 30 minutes to prepare, and can be made up the night before with no problem.

So here’s what you need to get started.

• ½ pound Orzo (Roughly ½ a box of the Ronzoni Orzo)
• ¼ to ½ cup of Feta cheese
• 10 – 15 Kalamata olives
• ½ of a good-sized tomato
• 4 mushrooms (sliced)
• 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, (minced)
• 3-5 green onions (minced)
• ¼ -1/2 cup chopped basil
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ½ -1 cup fresh spinach (chopped)
• 1-2 small-medium sweet peppers (chopped)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 1/8 – ¼ cup red wine vinegar

While the orzo is cooking, prepare all of the other ingredients (except for the olive oil and vinegar) and put them in a large bowl that will give you room to really stir it all together.

Once all the ingredients (except the Orzo) are in the bowl, add the oil and vinegar and mix everything well.

The following is the key to the success of this salad, so pay attention.
When the Orzo is ready, drain it and then immediately pour the drained and still hot orzo into the bowl with your ingredients. Mix the Orzo thoroughly with all of your ingredients and then let the bowl sit out(preferably covered) for about 15 minutes. This will steam-cook the spinach and other vegetables just enough to release their flavor. It will also slightly melt the cheese so that is mixes and blends in with the other flavors.

After 15 minutes, refrigerate the salad until you are ready to go to your pot-luck. This salad is best served at room temperature, so that is why it is ideal for bringing to a party because by the time you reach your destination, the salad will be perfect, and you will be a star!!!

I Believe in God and Science.

I believe in God and Science. I also believe that religion and science are the creation of Man, and thus subject to the motivations and influences of Man. While these institutions may have been born of a profound personal conviction, they are not the definition of God.

So how do I define God?

Basically, I believe that the universe is too complex, too intricately interrelated, too beautiful and spectacular to be the product of mere random chance. I believe in a continuum of intelligence, so that just as my intelligence is greater on that continuum than that of an amoeba, so too must there be a far greater intelligence than my own.

Is it so much of a leap, then, to imagine that this far greater intelligence consciously designed the universe? Why do modern scientists dismiss the idea that complex systems and processes were the product of something greater than random chemical reaction? After all, where did the elements and chemicals come from? Why do they have the possibility of interaction in the first place?

I believe that each of us has been created with a set of tools that we can choose to use as we see fit. These tools include curiosity, intelligence, compassion, discipline, love, ambition, drive, fear, joy, passion and patience. We have the capacity to explore and study and discover the beautiful intricacies of the universe, and then, once discovered, to look for more.

We also have been given choice, and the will to choose those tools that we wish to utilize. I find it sad when someone chooses then to believe only the dogma and doctrine of what is familiar and claim that that is the end of their need to question and explore. That type of choice, to me, is tragically limiting and wastes the gifts that we have been created to use. Too often the constructs of religion and the Church have been used as a weapon to beat down these gifts in order to satisfy the very human need for power and control over others.

That is why I differentiate between Faith and Religion. Faith is that wonderful capacity in humans that allows us to believe in something greater than ourselves, and, perhaps even more important, to dream. What an incredible gift to be given, the capacity to dream and believe that there is always something more that can be discovered? Perhaps then, this ability to dream is the most tangible evidence of God we have. Who else could conceive of giving the product of millennia of innumerable chemical reactions the intangible capacity to feel the presence of an intelligence and power greater than itself?

Religion can provide guidance, solace and direction to a large number of people. In it’s purest form, an organized religion creates a safe and wholesome community that is united by shared beliefs and ideals. Unfortunately, too often religions can fall prey to the baser nature of mankind, especially the hubris, greed and lust for power that can consume even the most devout of humans. When this happens, religion is tainted and twisted into a mechanism for prejudice and hate.

I am not condemning religion, nor am I condemning those who ascribe to any specific denomination. My objection with organized religion is when the very human leadership of these religions too often choose to supress the gifts of imagination, free choice and curiosity that we have been given, and instead choose to further their own agendas of prejudice and hate through twisted doctrine and dogma.

Our lives and existence are truly miraculous things, and to ignore them is to miss a fundamental component of being human. Science may not consider itself a religion, yet it ascribes to the same ultimate purpose as any religion, to explain our own existence and all of the infinite details that that explanation entails. Discovering these details for ourselves does not lesson the greater wonder that these details were there for us to discover in the first place. Why not ask, “Who put these details there?” or, at the very least, admit that this continual cycle of the discovery of new details indicates an order and system to the universe that we have yet to discover the nature of.

Admitting to the wondrous complexity of the universe in no way diminishes our quest to explore that complexity. Admitting that this self-same complexity may be the product of a greater intelligence than our own, merely means incorporating the human capacity for faith into our consciousness and our explorations.

Retinking McCain

So yes, the election is over and Barack Obama is now firmly ensconced in the Whitehouse. So why discuss John McCain’s choices during his failed attempt to run for president?

Well, I still have some lingering questions about how John McCain, a man who is admirable and politically savvy, decided to use the negative campaign strategy team that launched George Bush into office. Certainly, on the surface, the choice to go with a team (and tactics) that have a proven track record of success would seem a logical choice, especially when facing the juggernaut of momentum that the Obama campaign had generated. Still, the Obama juggernaut indicated that America was ready for a new type of government, built on a foundation of Hope and Possibility, rather than Fear and Arrogance. John McCain has been a fixture in American politics for 3 decades. The question then is, how could he miss such an obvious movement, and not try and capitalize on it himself? Or, at the very least, not tie himself to a campaign machine built on the principles and tactics that the evident trends indicate are being rejected by the voters?

There are two possible answers to this question:
1. John McCain was desperate and turned to the Bush-Rove-Cheney strategy team as a last ditch effort to tap into the power and influence of the neo-conservative movement.
2. John McCain is actually quite politically savvy, and he indeed recognized the strength and value of the Obama (Hope and Possibility) movement, and so he intentionally chose the Bush-Rove-Cheney campaign strategy BECAUSE he knew that it would fail, in essence, throwing the election.

The reasons for possibility #1 are obvious, and were John McCain not such an experienced politician and savvy political survivor, this would seem to be the only logical choice available to him. By choosing this path, he stays true to his Republican base, tosses a sop to the neo-cons and remains in power (with enhanced national recognition and influence).

The reasons for #2 are less obvious, though indicate a far savvier political strategist than first thought. By engaging a campaign strategy and team that is in the process of being rejected, and that is intimately tied to an outgoing administration that has the lowest approval ratings ever, McCain was actively putting the final nail in the entire Neo-Con revolution, a revolution that he himself had never fully endorsed or participated in.

In addition, it has become evident that John McCain has maneuvered himself to be a very prominent and influential player in the new Obama administration, basically becoming the poster child for the Obama administrations to truly “reach across the aisle” and mend the political rifts caused by divisive tactics that have defined the past eight years.

John McCain is a proven survivor, in life and in politics. No one questions the courage and fortitude that he displayed during his time as a prisoner of war, and he has leveraged that same strength and fortitude into his long political career. Perhaps he learned in prison that one can stand against a powerful force on the strength of one’s convictions, and that by doing so, outlast the powerful force.

Essentially, John McCain is a good and honest man, who has built a career of “being his own man”. He has also learned to become a wise political player who recognizes the value and strength in being flexible in alliance and temporary ideology so as to achieve a more lasting and broader objective. Some would call this flip-flopping or some other type of derogatory term…others might call it savvy political survival.

Quaint-O-Rama in Montmarte!

Montmarte has more quaint streets per square mile than just about anywhere on earth. The little village on the hill overlooking Paris has been a favorite of artists, actors, philosophers, writers and the folks who love to drink with them for centuries.

Topped by the imposing Sacre Couer, Montmarte offers some of the best views of Paris as well as a dizzying maze of narrow cobble stone streets that wander into open squares where you weave through an endless array of portrait artists who will gladly turn your Euros into a caricature that you will treasure all the way back to the hotel.

As you stroll through these little winding streets, and really, that’s the only way to travel these kinds of streets, its easy to both imagine what it might have been like 200 years ago, staggering up to one of the café’s to drink and talk with local intellectuals and bohemians; as well as forget that these ancient feeling streets are also part of a modern city.

We wove our way downward off of Montmarte and suddenly found ourselves in … a modern city, with traffic, grimy buildings, regular shops and noise. People were walking with purpose and direction. The spell of Montmarte, while not broken, was simply replaced.