Locked and loaded...

At the risk of jumping into the firestorm of gun control, let me first say I'm not here to say I support the gun lobby, nor am I here as a left wing proponent of total gun abolishment for our citizens.  I'm that guy, right smack dab in the middle of this insanity, who's had enough.

To be honest, I'm REALLY tired of the 2nd Amendment folks saying it's their God given right to bear arms.  Yes, I get it, it's a right, per our Constitution and I'm very much behind all that.  Hey, just for full disclosure, I own a gun and very much enjoy having it.  Not just as a means of recreation but also as a little sense of security, given this day and age where home break-ins are more and more prevalent.  But gun people, rights require responsibility!  As I've said before, when it comes to authority and responsibility, you can't have one without the other.

So to start, how are we defining "arms"?  For me that's a HUGE issue in this whole war on guns thing.  Personally, I think of it as owning a pistol or a rifle.  But for others it means owning military grade assault weapons.  For the last few decades politicians and lobbyists from both sides of the aisle have spent millions fighting for an against a ban on guns, or a ban on certain guns, or a ban on guns with the letter "U" in it.  Whatever.  I just don't get it.  Be honest, gun people, why do you think you need a military grade weapon?  I really can't think of one logical reason for it.  You aren't going to hunt with it and I suspect in some places it would be considered illegal if you tried.  And besides, I don't think there would be much left of Bambi if you shot her with several rounds from a .50cal machine gun.  I don't believe we have any state or federal militias that would require you to have one.  I know there are those out there that insist the "government" is coming after them so they need to be able to protect themselves.  Ah, yeah.  Kids, let me tell ya, if there was money to be made in taking away everyone's guns, the politicians, Democrats and Republicans alike, would be all over it.  So relax.  And besides, I have it on good authority the zombie apocalypse won't happen for some time.  At least I'm pretty sure.  So seriously, stop pissing about background checks and limitations on the types of guns you can have.  The more I hear about how someone needs an assault weapon the more I think it's an issue of what's lacking between their legs.

Now no matter how many mass shootings there are we ALWAYS attack the issue from a single vantage point and that's more gun control.  We definitely don't need more gun control but we sure need better.  I'll leave it at that.  But until we realize there is more to these incidents than the availability of guns we'll continue to watch our children die and people rage with nothing being done.  To coin AL G's phase, the "Inconvenient Truth" of the matter is that we also have to address the mental health issue that's the constant in nearly everyone of these horrible acts of violence and that's the point I think the gun control lobby misses.  Until we have the courage to create enforceable laws and programs that prohibit "at risk" individuals from having guns, we'll continue to see carnage on our public and school grounds.  So, my friends on the left, I know it sounds like I'm suggesting we sacrifice our personal privacy and freedoms but really I'm not.  Folks can go on living in deep, dark caves, ensuring their privacy, however, getting back to my "responsibility" comment, if an individual feels they have the authority to own a gun, then they have the responsibility to be transparent.

So what's the solution?  Just off the cuff, perhaps there's a national data base that captures names of individuals that doctors identify as being "at risk" of owning weapons.  Ok, I think half of you probably screamed "NAZI!", but hear me out.  There are no specific details provided in this database.  Just a flag, perhaps in an existing national database, that says "yes" or "no" to the question "Is this person able to buy a gun?"  Now, between you and your doctor(s), you can have assessments and discussions about your mental health and the doctor can make an assessment as to whether or not you're fit to own a weapon.  The doctor would be required by law to tell you that they intend on putting your name on this "no buy" list and you as the patient would have X amount of days to contest it before your name actually goes on the list.  I would expect there would be methods to adjudicate assessments as well as ways to get your name off the list, but the details I leave to career lawyer/politicians to figure out.  I know, I know, it seems heavy handed and a major invasion of our privacy but if an individual today can be denied a drivers licenses due to medical or mental health reasons, why not owning a gun?  

So you folks on the Right, you can't keep going on squawking about your rights to own a gun without owning up to your responsibility of being transparent and being reasonable in what you think you should be allowed to own.  And you folks on the Left, stop squawking about gun control without owning up to the fact that mentally disturbed people are the constant in every one of these shootings and it has to be dealt with just as much as changing laws.  We can't fight only the battles we feel like fighting.  This is one battle we ALL need to be on the same side.

Choices...

I gotta admit, I was a little apprehensive about getting back on social media but I felt my hiatus had run its course and I kinda wanted to see how things were among my circle of friends and family.  I have to tell you it was a bit disappointing.

To be honest I was still on social media but I had created an alter-ego with very few friends or family and I seldom engaged in much of anything going on across the internet.  So for the most part I was off the radar, or as some would say, I was in stealth mode.  I eventually reverted back to my actual name and was overjoyed to find I was able to reconnect with many of my old friends.  The reason I left social media was the same reason many other people have left – constant bitterness, anger, pettiness and bullying.  Now I pretty much attributed that to the elections but when I resurfaced I found all those same negative attributes to still be flowing in abundance.

So clearly there are a lot of unhappy people in the world.  I get that.  Faith in our government and our society has dropped to an all time low.  It seems most every day we hear of another pillar in our society come crumbling down in the midst of some scandal.  Throughout the 2016 elections as well as the years that followed, the pure hate that was and is prevalent throughout social media points to a realization that people have lost their joy in life.  Perhaps it’s hate mongering by the media or perhaps its constantly seeing good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people.  After all this consternation it finally occurred to me that WE are still expecting our happiness to be provided to us by something or someone.  I think we need to be honest and accept the fact that we’ve been conditioned to expect our happiness to be provided by our elected officials and community leaders.  Folks, this isn’t a rant over party affiliations, political or social dispositions or playing the blame game. This is an appeal to our humanity.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”  The preponderance of posts on social media is negative in nature.  I guess I don’t understand.  Are those folks who constantly spew hatred and rage really of the mind that the more angrier they are on social media the better our world will ultimately become?  Gotta tell ya, I know I wasn’t all that great at math but this really doesn’t add up.  I suppose someone might look at me and say, ”This guy has his head in the clouds.  Another religious fanatic.”  Oh well, not much I can say or do about that except to plow through with my convictions that it is better for me, for you, for our country and for God that I devote myself to being a more loving, generous and compassionate person.  I know we all get angry at times and I’m one of the biggest offenders.  But consider this, our thoughts lead to feelings and our feelings lead to action.  I can’t help but feel that if our actions are motivated by anger then we’re likely to produce negative results.  But if our actions are motivated by a loving heart, the results will most likely be a positive one that lifts up rather than tears down.  Remember, each day is a new day to do things better. Each day is a new day to feel blessed and fortunate to have another chance to be something positive in someone’s life.  Each day is a new day to choose to see the beauty within the muck and mire.

Folks, I do get it. There’s a lot of crap going on in our communities, our country and throughout the world.  I can’t really control much of any of that.  But I do have some say in how I approach each day and I do have choices that no person or government can overcome.  For me, for now, through God’s good graces, I choose to try to be a good person.  I choose to put my heart towards those who are struggling to find joy in the midst of circumstances that have knocked them down.

Join me, won’t you?

Nuggets...

Complaining of our circumstances without doing anything about it is like being that guy in line who can’t decide what he wants. Just order and move on.

Over time those wonderful memories begin to fade and eventually become like dreams that we sometimes wonder whether they actually happened. Were it the same for pain.

Don’t pray for something to leave you without praying for something to fill you. Remember power abhors a vacuum. Praying away despair without praying for joy only brings back despair in greater abundance.

In the great race of life, it’s not how you look when you finish but rather by the grace and character in which you lived it.

Have you served someone today?

The greatest treasures are found not in the things we obtain but in the depths of the generosity of our own hearts.

If you believe in a universal balance in life, just remember when you choose to take you make someone have to give.

Authority and responsibility, you can’t have one without the other.

Life is like a bacon and egg breakfast. While most people want to be the chicken only a few will stand up to be the pig.

If you never doubt your convictions or beliefs, I submit you have neither. Doubt instills a desire to pursue our beliefs beyond our own capacity to understand.

Praise in public and punish in private. To do anything else breeds resentment, distrust and discouragement.

If it’s not worth resolving it’s not worth discussing.

If your faith creates barriers between you and others then all you’ve really done is build a wall between you and God.

Replay your favorite songs over and over, not your greatest disappointments.

No matter what you might think or believe, you are NEVER alone. 

Everyone believes in something, even the belief there is no God. Because no amount of science or reason can prove them.

A smile is one of the most powerful weapons known to man.

Greet with praise and a kind heart those who do the small and seemingly menial tasks, because it’s upon their shoulders that our society rests.

When I tell you I’m a Christian please don’t hear “I’m going to heaven and you’re not because you suck and I’m better than you.” All I’m really saying is “I’m a flawed, broken person that is struggling through my sinful nature, that I believe Jesus died to redeem us, that I’m on a constant journey to understand and grow my faith and that I’d love to have you come along with me if you’d like.” Really, that’s all. 

Whether positive or negative, any experience that doesn’t come with a lesson probably isn’t worth remembering.

Remember, when we pray to be more courageous, compassionate and loving God will create situations that will require us to be just that. Careful what you pray for. :-)

Sent from my iPhone