Hey God, I've got a great idea for You.

Hey God, I've got a great idea for You.

Caveat: One of my beliefs in God is that He/She has a sense of humor... or at the least, a tolerance for all. Otherwise, why would God put all of us ridiculous people on earth to do all this stupid stuff and still have a good shot at Heaven.
If this isn't your belief, that's OK. It is the concept of fairness I'm talking about and this is just an easy way to look at what should happen in a hypothetically perfect way.

So here's where I come in with this great (in mere mortal-speak) idea. Follow me:

God says that getting to heaven, in its simplest terms, is not that hard:  

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and with all thy mind," and "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Arrgh! I knew there was a catch to it.


But with all the discord going on and so much hate in our 'one against another' contentiousness, we are rude, crude, disrespectful and uncivil as we tromp (?) all over each other. We tend to see others as less that us if they have different ideas and thoughts and/or are less respected if they are poor, ethnically and/or gender different, politically and/or socially other than us. And we are angry, often using what power we have to step on others. We often lack the most critical emotion in the world, empathy.

This love thy neighbor thing is out the window for the disrespectful.

So God, how about this:

Some religions-- Hinduism and Buddhism and others--have a concept that we are reincarnated... we come back in a different way than we are known on this earth. If Shirley MacLaine was once Cleopatra as she says, then who were you... and more frightening perhaps, who will you be next?

Other religions don't accept that  BUT... if God is almighty and can be anything and do anything then why not, unknowing to us of course, allow every person to return to earth or any other place God might/could put His/Her creations in a universe where they are the most opposite of themselves? Yep, like the best Seinfeld episode ever, Bizarro Universe.

• Those who hate will become those who are hated.

• Those who have prejudice become those who are the subject of those prejudices.

• The white will become black or Hispanic or 'other', the mighty will become lowest, the rich who regard money as their god will be poor,  the subjectors will become the subjected, the dictators will be ruled as they so dictated and so forth.

• The good, the humble and the kind and loving in mind and spirit will be rewarded, as they represent the sweet spot of God's people.

That way, everyone not in the "Golden Zone" will be the opposite of who they are now to experience fully the life they once subjected on others. You know who you are. Fair? Yes!

So what do you think God? Oh, you are already doing that? Wow! Great news. OK, I promise not to tell anyone. But between you and me Lord, it makes my heart and soul smile... if a heart and soul smile, of course.

You got our back... and of course, everything else. It's nice being in touch God. Thanks.

A STICK-UP MAN'S CODE: Creeds, Mottoes, Slogans and Rules that have Shaped America

"Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from swift completion of their appointed rounds" 

Coffee shop buddy Ed (I miss him) loaned me Brian Burrell's book, Words We Live By--three different times--because he thought I'd enjoy it. He was right. It is filled declarations, creeds, mottoes, slogans, sayings, advice and rules--everything from the unofficial U.S. Post Office motto to... 

Looking down the barrel of a gun

A Stick-Up Man's Code: (from a list of personal rules that were found in his wallet when he was arrested):

1. I will not kill anyone unless I have to.
2. I will take cash and food stamps--no checks.
3. I will rob only at night.
4. I will not wear a mask.
5. I will not rob mini-marts or 7-Eleven stores.
6. If chased by cops on foot, I will get away. If chased by a vehicle I will not put the lives of innocent civilians on the line.
7. I will only rob seven months of the year.
8. I will enjoy robbing from the poor to give to the poor. 

Other words include our Declaration of Independence and the many official documents that shape our lives... the sublime and less so.

A sign in New York's Empire Diner says: "Be nice. Don't shout. Sit up straight. Don't play with your food. Have a nice day. Take care. Don't be a stranger. Murray, call your mother." 

There is a Declaration of Principles by the Pacific Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association, Robert's Rules of Order that governs democratic meetings, The Boy Scout's code, The Marquis of Queensberry rules for boxing, ("No hitting below the belt,") A Mid-Wife's Oath, Parkinson's Law, ("Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion."), not to be confused with Parkinson's Law of Triviality, ("The time spent on any item of the agenda will be inverse to the sum of money involved."), Murphy's Laws, ("Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, No good deed goes unpunished, A short cut is the shortest distance between two points,") and so forth. Every organization has bylaws and rules that govern its purpose.

Benjamin Franklin's 13 Virtues is there as are Sir Walter Raleigh's Instructions to his Son. And Google says "Do no evil."

The book also includes our Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, the Ten Commandments, AA's 12 steps, The Chicago Cubs team rules of 1913 (which make no mention of never winning the World Series for at least 104 years), Jack London's Code, The Official Creed of Elvis Presley Impersonators International (Yeah, really), The Hippocratic Oath and The Clown Code ("No more than 18 in a car at any time," No shoe size smaller than 34 EEEE, etc".) OK, so I fudged that last one... but clowns do have their rules.

Most of all though, it has The Golden Rule stated in many ways:

"I got a simple rule about everybody. If you don't treat me right, shame on you!" Louis Armstrong said that in the 1970s. 

 

In 325 B.C. Aristotle was asked how we ought to behave to our friends. "As we wish our friends to behave to us," he said.

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you," in one form or another, is found scripturally in Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. It is a moral acknowledgement of how to lead a good life.

Socrates, Aristotle, Samuel Clarke, John Wise, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Paine, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Sedgwick, Petr Aleksevich Kropotkin, Malcolm X, Alan Gewirth and Louis Armstrong, to name just a few, have stated in writings and speeches... in many, many languages... in many different words... from so many ages... their expression of The Golden Rule.

It is not to be misconstrued as "He who has the gold, rules," or, "I don't get mad, I get even." These are usually followed by a hollow laugh, as if to say, "Not really."

But, really!

We sometimes seem to live more by those 'anti-golden rules' than the real thing. We have had wars forever, you know. I guess I'm feeling especially moralistic today. As a society of humans, wouldn't you think we can be better than we are?

Yeah, really!

Recognize what they are talking about?

"I got a simple rule about everybody. If you don't treat me right, shame on you!" Louis Armstrong said that in the 1970s.

How about this one? "The question was once put to him, how we ought to behave to our friends, and the answer he gave was, 'As we wish our friends to behave to us.'" That was Aristotle, sometime around 325 B.C.

My friend, Ed, loaned me his book, The Words We Live By: The creeds, mottoes and pledges that have shaped America, by Brian Burwell. I found it so fascinating that I blogged about it here before. Just recently, I saw two guys so angry at one another over something very petty that they almost got into a fist fight. Then I saw another sickening magazine cover blurb about Jon and Kate, etc., etc. Hmm! I thought maybe we all need a reminder.

The quotes above are expressions of "The Golden Rule," more familiarly stated as "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

The Golden Rule, in one form or another, is found in scriptural writings in Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. It is moral acknowledgement of how to lead a good life.

Socrates, Aristotle, Samuel Clarke, John Wise, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Paine, Henry David Thoreau, Henry Sidgwick, Petr Alekseevich Kropotkin, Malcom X, Alan Gewirth and Louis Armstrong, to name just a few, have stated in writings and speeches... in many, many languages... in many different words... from so many ages... their expression of The Golden Rule.

It is prevalently acknowledged throughout all history as the way to live among one another.

It is not to be misconstrued as "He who has the gold, rules," or, "I don't get mad, I get even." These are usually followed by a hollow laugh, as if to say, "Not really."

But, really!

We sometimes seem to live more by those 'anti-golden rules' than the real thing. We have had wars forever, you know. I guess I'm feeling especially moralistic today. As a society of humans, wouldn't you think we can be better than we are?