tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43502470209042900962024-02-07T01:40:25.079-08:00of Serious ThoughtsB. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-69388436760240996122024-01-27T13:10:00.000-08:002024-01-27T13:10:47.213-08:00We Need the Word MalhumanSo much frightening news in today's world leads me to return to my blog.<div><br /></div><div>----</div><div><br /></div><div>We need the word malhuman in our dictionaries. It refers to human behavior that is beyond the pale of 'bad' and in the domain of evil. Torture, brutality, rape, aggression, annihilation . . . Those are behaviors that defy human reason and justice. </div><div><br /></div><div>Reason and justice are among the building blocks of civilization. When human behavior defies reason and justice, it becomes malhuman. When our intelligence is perverted to choose behaviors that are totally harmful and destructive, it falls into the realm of evil. Evil is defined as: profound immorality and wickedness; exclusively harmful and destructive.</div><div><br /></div><div>Malhuman acts are human behaviors directed by humans to other fellow humans. They don't 'just happen', they arise from calculation, planning and choice. We are responsible for our choices.</div><div><br /></div><div>The word malhuman will help us better understand the nature of the behaviors we choose. </div>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-44067903917707373502023-05-05T07:48:00.000-07:002023-05-05T07:48:37.466-07:00Our Choices<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">This morning as I walked in the drizzling rain looking at the beauty of Spring . . . trees in bloom, fresh green grass and the last two daffodils,</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">my mind was once again presented with the question, ‘Who or what is God?’</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Of course that is beyond my knowing or understanding, but it’s a question that often presents itself, and my consciousness wrestles with the question.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I was praying.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I don’t do a good job of staying focused but the effect is to stimulate thoughts . . . Who or what is God. . . IS God?</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I must answer that last question in the affirmative for the world IS, the Universe IS, Life IS, humanity IS . . . it is all ordered and in balance and harmony . . . until MAN, with the gift of reason and free will set about choosing without adhering to God’s advice . . . ‘I lay before you life a death, choose life that your children might live’. . . and God gave us the outline of what was</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">meant by ‘choose life’.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Life flourishes in following the directive ‘Do unto others what you would have done unto you’.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Some version of that showed up in every civilized religion and was expanded in more detail by what came to be called ‘The Ten Commandments’, once again showing up a bit less clearly defined, in every religion.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Those were God’s directives . . . having given humanity reason and free will, God did not command and demand but rather left ‘choice’ to man.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Man invented religion, which became <i>religions</i>. Early on, humanity was yet without having communications and transportation well defined. Each group was vastly separated from others so each group structured guidelines for living differently. Oh yes, and also having evolved from brute ancestors wherein the law of the jungle was ‘might means right’ humanity carried that law forward which came to be interpreted as ‘man’—the one with the ‘might’ had the voice of ‘right’ and silenced the ‘weaker sex’, thereby women had no voice in leadership (leaving out things like compassion, kindness, love etc.) and <i>power </i>became disproportionately important. Religions (the aspect of keeping-in-touch-with God) also developed with power and control as an important element, and even here, the voice of half of humanity was left out.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">With eons of time, man became more and more aware, skills and knowledge expanded, communications and transportation grew to include hitherto unimagined possibilities and then by the 19<sup>th</sup> century the ‘whole world’ became available to individuals who had the means to pursue it.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">As humanity gained more and more knowledge over time, it became narcissistic (in love with its own reflection) and God became less and less important. Man ‘stood alone’ in his power which he protected with weapons. As humanity became more in control of all aspects of existence, different conclusions and points of view set up clashes. The fear that ‘<i>his</i> power or point of view might overpower mine’ grew. Fears escalated, it was necessary to build walls of protection and greater means to resist. Finally in the 20<sup>th</sup> century, the power man held was literally the ability to destroy all life on earth! <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Meanwhile, the feminine voice began to emerge as mankind evolved in its humanity and made room for compassion, kindness, love, etc. (Ending slavery, caring for the unenfranchised, etc.) That is not to say ‘feminine voice’ refers to only and to all women, it is to say the feminine ‘voice’ which exists in both genders as does the masculine voice exist in both genders’ but each gender is more prominently associated with the one than the other. As both the feminine voice as well as women take a place in governance the future may change. Civilization developed with the masculine voice in control, allowing for a disproportionate emphasis on power and control.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">So let’s bring God back into the picture. We cannot know nor comprehend the vastness of creation, the Universe, or God; we can only be in awe of it. But now, in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, as we face the danger we have brought upon ourselves and this planet we need to face what is said to be God’s directive. It doesn’t matter so much how you envision or deny ‘A God’, what matters is the wisdom of: ‘choose life over death’, ’do unto to others’ and ‘moral guidelines’ . . . be they from God or very wise men long ago, they are our only hope for continuation of the species.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-8514379565338097492023-01-27T08:28:00.001-08:002023-01-27T08:28:34.155-08:00Toward A Better World<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">After a six month pause from my blog, I return to report of the 2</span><sup style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">nd</sup><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">edition of my fiction book, ‘The Conflagration’.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">It does not fit available genres—it is a cautionary tale for the 21st Century.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">A fire-bird, a Phoenix, graces the cover, a symbol of new possibilities rising.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">It is now in a second edition which carries a new sub-title: ‘Toward a Better World’. When I began writing the book about a decade ago, ‘conflagration’ was, perhaps, a less familiar word.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">It can now be found in music and as at least one other book title.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">It has also struck me that my use of the word on its own may be a bit misleading as it brings to mind images of widespread destruction.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">The addition of the subtitle helps set up the more positive post-destruction story that takes place in a world that has learned to live in peace.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">The story opens 300+ years into the future in a world without war when a plane from the 21<sup>st</sup> Century is found in the Antarctic containing an intact cryonic capsule with a mature young woman inside. There is controversy about what to do as that world does not practice cryonics.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">She is revitalized and slowly learns of her fate. She is angry, unbelieving and resistive to what she is told. Her resistance gradually thaws under the gentle care of her rehabilitation team. The team recognizes her intelligence and a plan is made to educate her to this world and hopefully enable her to find a career.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Once Sydney accepts the truth of the destruction of her world at the end of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century, she falls into a deep depression. Next, recovering from the depression, as new information piles on, she becomes overwhelmed by what she must absorb and she goes to the desert on a long retreat. In that soul search she becomes obsessed with the question, ‘Did the Conflagration have to happen? Was it inevitable?’<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Upon her return, she decides to write her Master’s thesis on some version of that question by delving into what information was available to her former world that could have helped avert WWIII, The Conflagration.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">In the story, this is <i>Sydney’s </i>question . . . Our 21<sup>st</sup> Century world is in crisis; we are on the wrong path; Sydney’s question is the book’s question.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"> *all references to the 20<sup>th</sup> and 21<sup>st</sup> Centuries are factual.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6u45OG5uyKz-qpYsvh7lEep_XdZ1vy9E5hi6M_KQRe6VIB9CaliHICZ-IeU-c4iue9cmDYNSq17O0Il1rRxthc2qrZd6NKsqS2xHAC80rQSdC7HE5UIoPqhoMb6d94xXIxAPb3ZNMW3KknfjqTTxH9pHsLH-Pho1cSg25TtyaAERX4Oxg-PGSS43xmg/s1740/ConflagCoverFront2E_0123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1740" data-original-width="1119" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6u45OG5uyKz-qpYsvh7lEep_XdZ1vy9E5hi6M_KQRe6VIB9CaliHICZ-IeU-c4iue9cmDYNSq17O0Il1rRxthc2qrZd6NKsqS2xHAC80rQSdC7HE5UIoPqhoMb6d94xXIxAPb3ZNMW3KknfjqTTxH9pHsLH-Pho1cSg25TtyaAERX4Oxg-PGSS43xmg/s320/ConflagCoverFront2E_0123.jpg" width="206" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Conflagration-B-Sabonis-Chafee/dp/B09NRJW4J9/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1ILN10DBAVJFC&keywords=conflagration+sabonis&qid=1674836410&sprefix=%2Caps%2C156&sr=8-1&sa-no-redirect=1" target="_blank"> Click here to buy on Amazon</a><br /></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-22250942601115539472022-08-03T14:01:00.001-07:002022-08-03T14:01:39.924-07:00of Serious Thoughts: End of an Era<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2022/07/end-of-era.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: End of an Era</a>: I began writing ‘Of Serious Thoughts’ in August 2013. August 2022 marks the completion of 9 years of regular writing, first twice a mo...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-68442561450067874682022-07-25T15:57:00.006-07:002022-07-27T18:43:04.102-07:00End of an Era<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I began writing ‘Of Serious Thoughts’ in August 2013.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">August 2022 marks the completion of 9 years of regular writing, first twice a month then after 5 years it became once a month. This will be my final entry as I intend to cease writing regular blogs.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Will I add another one now and then?</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I’m unsure, time will tell.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I want to thank my many readers for the 180000 reads over the years.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I chose to begin with a long prose poem, ‘Un-Named God’ from my poem collection. I chose it as it seemed to incorporate all that I think of and care about. I’ve just reread the poem and find it to still be true. Some time ago a priest read it and suggested it seemed blasphemous; I recommended he go back and read Psalm 2 . . . he relented.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">My blog is of a serious nature as its title says. It covers situations of concern in our contemporary world as well as basic human issues and humanity’s struggles with God. I have frequently mentioned Teilhard de Chardin and did a 7-part series on his works from June to October 2015. (Part 6 was somehow deleted so I re-added it on January 2, 2017.) I believe him to be the Galileo of our time. He has opened our eyes to a new way of seeing. By leaving the static world behind and focusing on our dynamic evolving world, he sees Science and Religion as two sides of the same coin—the search for Truth.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Presently my focus is heavily on my latest work of fiction, ‘The Conflagration’. It is an unusual story, not easily fitting any genre. It arose from my belief that our world is on the wrong path and we are actively choosing our ultimate destruction, be it by the Climate Crisis, atomic warfare, or the obscene imbalance in wealth distribution—1% of the population (the billionaires) hold ½ of the world’s wealth, while the rest is distributed to the other 99% in way that leaves much of the human population starving. There is increasing polarization in both politics and the general populous, making compromises on any issue virtually impossible. We presently hold the tools needed to create a peaceful and prosperous world—scientific understanding of climate and the climate change, numerous international organizations such as the UN, UNESCO, and The World Health Organization, economic organizations such as The World Economic Forum, etc.—if we would but acknowledge the present danger.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The story is set in the future after WWIII, known as the Conflagration, had nearly destroyed planet earth, and caused the survivors to vow to never war again. Some 300+ years later when the planet has recovered and is again thriving, a cryonically preserved young woman from the 21<sup>st</sup> Century is found and revitalized. She struggles to adapt to this new world of peace and is obsessed with the question, ‘Was The Conflagration inevitable’?<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I invite those who have enjoyed my writing to check out: www.theconflagration.com <o:p></o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-20821719211676302192022-06-29T12:58:00.001-07:002022-06-29T12:58:38.906-07:00of Serious Thoughts: Abortion, "Yes" or "No"?<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2022/06/abortion-yes-or-no.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: Abortion, "Yes" or "No"?</a>: As the Supreme Court considers the abortion issue, people are protesting from both sides . . . there is too much shouting and polarization ...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-82004401860314292792022-06-15T08:13:00.000-07:002022-06-15T08:13:27.554-07:00Abortion, "Yes" or "No"?<p> As the Supreme Court considers the abortion issue, people are protesting from both sides . . . there is too much shouting and polarization to allow for reasonable points to be made. The abortion issue is not easily easily settled with a 'Yes' or 'No' law. It is complex and multi-faceted. </p><p>The first point to consider is that conception is the first step to the transmission of life and the protection of human life is our highest value. That makes it a moral issue--but does not automatically give us the answer.</p><p>The next point to consider is that a moral choice in always the responsibility of the individual affected by it. When a moral decision is called for, it involves a dilemma . . . a forced choice between equally undesirable alternatives.</p><p>Laws are general guidelines, but laws cannot encompass all moral issues that arise. For example, the 6th Commandment is 'Thou shalt not kill' . . . and yet we recognizethere are times when the law ceases to apply as when an innocent life is threatened, that seemingly absolutist position is modified. </p><p>In the abortion debate the Pro-Life stand is taken from an absolutist position that it is NEVER right to take a life, even (and perhaps especially) a potential one. This fails to take into consideration the moral dilemma of the pregnant woman.</p><p>The Pro-Abortion side takes the absolutist position that argues for NO restriction on abortion, thus failing to give credence to the moral value of protecting human life.</p><p>It is unfortunate that when the Roe v Wade debate was settled into law it did not include a limited time frame for undertaking the procedure; that would have avoided its becoming the intractable situation we now have. Society has been appalled at seeing piles of aborted babies in different stages of development and stories of babies aborted within days of delivery.</p><p>The coming-to-be of a human life is an evolution. The new life goes through stages of development. Within 24 hours after fertilization the egg rapidly divides into many cells, within 3 weeks it becomes an embryo, gradually becoming more complex as systems develop. Between the 8th and 9th weeks it is called a fetus as it takes on the recognizable form and functions of a baby. </p><p>Conception begins the life process and various religions argue about when a fetus becomes 'human' (heart beat? soul enters? viability?), but from a non-sectarian standpoint most would agree that if a pregnency is to be terminated, the earlier the interruption, the more humane.</p><p>There is another issue that permeates this debate and that is "Who has the right to decide?" It is within the rights of government to put limits on the timing of the procedure, but it is not the role of a government to make moral decisions. It is the responsibility of each woman seeking the procedure to come to the decision within her own conscience.</p><p><br /></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-88233779104046906512022-05-31T13:22:00.000-07:002022-05-31T13:22:38.644-07:00Is God A Non-Issue?<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">We are encouraged to seek ‘The Good’.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Take a slow and thoughtful look at our world:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> --Nations under siege<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> or collapsing without leadership<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> the world awash with refugees.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> --a measurable increase in violence:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> the violence of war<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> mass killing in schools<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> and the marketplace<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> increasing violence in the streets<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> violence as our prime entertainment source<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> in movies, on TV, in video games . . .<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> --loss of restraint and civility:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> fist-fighting on airplanes<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> at school board meetings<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> children’s soccer games<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> threats and insults on social media<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> --a news headline:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> ‘Billionaires’ wealth surged during pandemic’<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> Half the world’s wealth belongs to the top 1% <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">In our world in the 21<sup>st</sup> century, God has become a non-issue, something to perhaps give a nod to one day of the week—or once a year; but otherwise not actually having an effect on lives. God is ignored.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Whatever you consider to be God’s name or how ‘he’ should be worshiped, it is understood that ‘a god’ represents to humanity all that is good. Losing awareness of our God (by whatever name) brings with it, the loss of focus on ‘the good’ . . . and little by little evil creeps in until it becomes overwhelming.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">God doesn’t need us, but we need God in order to remember ‘The Good’.<o:p></o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-42906368019829925172022-04-26T05:59:00.005-07:002022-05-31T13:34:48.577-07:00Malhuman Acts<span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Day after day, as I watch the news of Ukraine, tears roll down my cheeks.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I don’t invite them and I can’t stop them.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I feel a measure of guilt for having a comfortable world with an inability to render any aid.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">(A few dollars? Even hundreds—but what is that in the face of such need?)</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">My tears come because I have learned empathy and compassion—it is what is required of us to be human.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">It sensitizes us to feel others’ pain.</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Those who lack those qualities commit malhuman acts. Putin’s troops are trained to slaughter innocent people; children, women, old people as well as men in uniform. He orders the bombing of hospitals, schools, living quarters, buildings marked ‘CHILDREN’. In areas which they invade but cannot hold, they stealthily plant booby traps where people will walk and shoot captives with hands tied behind their backs. They rape and torture women before killing them, and some when they don’t kill, wish they had. It is total depravity, equal to the Nazi horrors of WWII. Russia had no particular enmity against Ukrainian culture, Putin simply wanted the territory and moved in with his armies. This man is evil! It was blasphemy for him to be pictured blessing himself for the cameras in a church at Orthodox Easter.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I borrow a paragraph from my earlier blog of September 13, 2014 titled ‘Malhuman’. . . “we search for words with which to describe them and their deeds—all our strongest words seem inadequate”; they have transgressed the boundaries of civilization. It is inaccurate to call their actions ‘beastly’ or ‘inhuman’. Beasts instinctively kill for survival but don’t commit these horrors; humans act through conscious choice. They can’t rightly be called inhuman (lacking human identity) or unhuman (not resembling or having qualities of human beings) for these are heinous actions <i>consciously </i>chosen by humans. . . choices arising out of pure evil. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">I’ve searched dictionaries for the word <i>malhuman, </i>and I get ‘no match found’. I can’t understand why it is not in our lexicon. I offer it as the word which best describes what we are witnessing.<o:p></o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-89234985638975137552022-03-26T08:38:00.001-07:002022-03-26T08:38:53.946-07:00of Serious Thoughts: Putin's War--The Hand of Cane<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2022/03/putins-war-hand-of-cane.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: Putin's War--The Hand of Cane</a>: Ukraine wants to be part of NATO. NATO is the alliance of democratic nations who agree to mutually support each other if attacked by a...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-22961996671791802732022-03-18T11:01:00.000-07:002022-03-18T11:01:06.232-07:00Putin's War--The Hand of Cane<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Ukraine wants to be part of NATO.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">NATO is the alliance of democratic nations who agree to mutually support each other if attacked by a rogue nation.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Putin does not want Ukraine in NATO and has chosen to call a war to mercilessly attack Ukraine to prevent its joining.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">This is not Russia’s war, it is Putin’s.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Putin controls his nation’s communications so Russians don’t have access to the truth.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The US and other NATO</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">nations are doing all they can to support Ukraine short of sending troops—as that would trigger WWIII.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">We all know this much.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">What calls for a closer look is that a world war would immediately become a nuclear war. The world stockpile of nuclear weapons is estimated to roughly be 12,700 warheads. 90 percent of that is held between Russia and the US in more or less equal amounts. Do we realize what a terminal danger this world is in? We have created the possibility of destroying the earth as we know it!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">In Deuteronomy 30:15 God’s words are quoted as: “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so your children may live.” Living by God’s laws is simply, ‘Do to others as you would want done to you’. Later Jesus added, ‘Love your enemies’. Living by God’s laws promises life; opposing those laws spells death. . . and that is true, whether or not you believe in a God.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The Bible story of Cane and Able tells of older brother, Cane, who out of jealousy, kills his brother Able. It is a cautionary tale.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">On March 16<sup>th</sup> Pope Francis led a meeting of students in St. Peter’s Basilica at which he read a beautiful prayer by Archbishop Battaglia:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">“Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, we implore you to stop the hand of Caine; enlighten our conscience, let not our will be done, do not abandon us to our own doing.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Stop us, Lord, stop us, and when you have stopped the hand of Caine, take care of him also. He is our brother.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Forgive us if, not content with the nails with which we pierced your hand, we continue to drink from the blood of the dead torn apart by weapons.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Forgive us if these hands that you had created to protect, have been turned into instruments of death.”<o:p></o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-7621285928524996542022-02-24T04:42:00.000-08:002022-02-24T04:42:16.276-08:00of Serious Thoughts: Death With Dignity<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2022/02/death-with-dignity.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: Death With Dignity</a>: This past month has brought me to consider the issue of Death with Dignity. Twenty days ago my sister Marian, my only sibling, died....B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-71628032569158143812022-02-20T18:09:00.095-08:002022-02-25T14:57:07.476-08:00Death With Dignity<p> <span face="Calibri, sans-serif">This past month has</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">brought me to consider the issue of Death with Dignity.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Twenty days ago my sister, my only sibling, died. We were very close; when at my Connecticut home (across the driveway from hers) I visited with her daily . . . the doctors say she died of Corona although she was vaccinated and boosted—I believe a broken heart was the responsible underlying cause. In those few months, she had lost her daughter, her home, her freedom and her husband.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">She and her husband lived on the farm that she and I grew up on. It had been in the family through 4 generations, 132 years. They moved in with Mom following my Dad’s death in the early 1980’s. Their children had married or moved away but often gathered ‘on the farm’, first with grandchildren and later great-grandchildren. Sometime around 2000 their oldest daughter moved in with them as her husband had died and her only son married. That daughter looked after them for their last 10 years when Parkinson’s disease limited my sister's normal abilities and for the last 5 years she walked with a walker but her mind was clear and she became an avid reader. For this last year, each week I got several large-print book for her from the library. . . and she read every one. Her favorite author was Mary Higgins Clark, followed by John Grisham then James Patterson. The reading helped her tolerate her confinement.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">This past June, the daughter living with them died unexpectedly. From that point on everything seemed to go wrong . . . During that summer her husband was twice rushed to the hospital but first they could not find the problem. The next time he was near death; he was found to have an embedded tick and was diagnosed with lyme disease. He pulled through but his previous vigor was diminished—yet he was still independent. They had a series of home health-care workers. Their two remaining children began to talk of a nursing home for them (neither lived close to the farm). They did not want to go. He was adamant, but to their two children, my sister remained passive By Fall, they finally acquiesced to their suggestion. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The intent was to have them share the same room in the couples wing but the lack of an available space placed them temporally in different rooms in the ward. Soon she was transferred, expecting he would join her. But he began spiking high temperatures and was several times sent to the hospital—finally diagnosed with failing kidneys. He was often quarantined so at times my sister could not even visit him. January 2<sup>nd</sup> he died—alone.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Of course my sister was shaken, but strong. She attended his funeral Mass and the dinner following. There, she was alert and conversational, enjoying seeing all the family and a few friends. I had long visits with her for several days before returning to Florida (where I stay for the winters). She seemed OK but I could see the depression moving in. The weather was bad, she urged me to “go back where it is warm”. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">In 2 weeks I got the call that she was in the hospital and expected to die. I got an immediate flight, but on arrival I couldn’t see her, she was under Covid restrictions. She hadn’t wanted extreme measures to prolong her life so when she reached the critical point she was removed from nourishment and fluids in preparation for her expected death. At that point the hospital allowed one and only one, person per day to say their good-by . . . I was third; after son and daughter. I give the hospital credit for allowing a visit, but by the time I saw her, my sister was already gone. She was unconscious and unresponsive, with a morphine drip in her arm. Her mouth hung open and there was an oxygen tube in her nose—why? Was that keeping her hanging on? . . . but she had already left us, there was no response to human touch, she wasn’t ‘alive’ any more yet the end dragged on a few more days. She was alone at the time of her death. We treat our animals better; quietly putting them to sleep when the possibility of recovery is gone. I believe that should have been available for my sister.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">And this is the story that brings me to the issue of Death with Dignity laws which allows one who is medically terminal the opportunity to say good-by to loved ones while still able to communicate.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">What is Death with Dignity—also known as the Right-to-die? Very simply, it is an end-of-life option to allow a physician to assist in hastening the death of a terminal patient. In the U.S. it is the state, not the Federal Government which determines allowability.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The-Right-to-Die movement emerged in Oregon in the 1990’s. It began as a citizen’s initiative in 1994. In 1997 Oregon enacted the Death With Dignity Act. It faced much opposition and was brought to The Supreme Court. In 2006 The Federal Government lost the case against the Oregon law, thus allowing other states to make similar laws.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">At present there are eleven states in which ‘medical aid’ in dying is legal. In alphabetical order they are: California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Every minute of its existence, the medical field strives to interrupt the course of disease or disorder to improve the quality of the life of its patient. That is not considered an 'act against God's will'. To strive to give dignity to one's dying is to honor that person's life . . . and so honors God, the author of life.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-21342736019640105682022-02-08T15:06:00.001-08:002022-02-08T15:06:38.691-08:00of Serious Thoughts: God Beyond Knowing<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2022/01/god-beyond-knowing.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: God Beyond Knowing</a>: This month I write of my works of fiction. My two novels, although very different, are connected to my firm belief in a God beyond my ...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-60162614493900313972022-01-18T10:49:00.000-08:002022-01-18T10:49:17.737-08:00God Beyond Knowing<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">This month I write of my works of fiction.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">My two novels, although very different, are connected to my firm belief in a God beyond my knowing—this theme was presented in my first blog eight and a half years ago Aug 19, 2013—the long poem ‘Un-Named God’.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">That poem encompasses all that I write about.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I often make references to Teilhard de Chardin who saved my faith and enabled me to embrace ‘Mystery God’.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Teilhard foresaw religions moving out of the static state of absolutism and into a dynamic evolutionary world view wherein religion and science are seeking, by different paths, the Truth of our existence.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">‘The Stations’, my first novel is about an artist commissioned to create Stations of the Cross for a proposed shrine. It has an allegorical quality in that the artist must plumb the depths of his soul and challenge the establishment to give new meaning to an old church symbol in the face of resistance from the conservative arm of the Catholic Church. The artist shares Teilhard’s vision of the need for humanity to expand our vision to find sacred meaning in the secular world. Many of our religious symbols have become static and inert—thus idols. Symbols need to be suggestive and speak to us of where we are in our development so they come alive with insightful perceptions. Much of our world resists transformative change. The search for new meaning in religion is not a denial of historical spiritual tradition; it’s each era’s attempt to reach closer to Truth (which cannot be reached, only approximated). New knowledge is always built upon the old with the understanding that it is the way we grow. Not denial; rather a transformation to incorporate elements of an ever-changing world.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">My new novel, ‘The Conflagration’ carries the theme of transformation. The old world is nearly destroyed by a nuclear WWIII at the end of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century. The shock, that near world destruction actually came to be, is enough to awaked the survivors to realize war is never the answer and they see the need to recognize the planet as One World. Their descendants cooperatively abandon war and embrace universal values to assure continuation of the species; shaping their choices by relying upon the demands of sustainability and guided by global ethics. The protagonist is in effect a ‘time traveler’ from the 21st century and we watch as she resists, then gradually adapts to the new world and is haunted by the question “Was the Conflagration inevitable?” For her Masters thesis she looks back at the signs of danger that were there for all to see yet were ignored.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">(Although a work of fiction, all references to issues of the 21<sup>st</sup> century or earlier, are researched and accurate.)</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-70008719092402861482021-12-22T06:17:00.000-08:002021-12-22T06:17:06.907-08:00of Serious Thoughts: December 2021<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2021/12/december-2021.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: December 2021</a>: With this December blog I wish to introduce my new work of fiction, The Conflagration, just published by Amazon . The synopsis on th...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-13303060581182757792021-12-20T13:48:00.000-08:002021-12-20T13:48:36.874-08:00December 2021<p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">With this December blog I wish to introduce my new work of fiction,</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The Conflagration,</i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">just published by Amazon</span><i style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">.</i><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">The synopsis on the back cover reads:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;">Toward the end of the 21<sup>st</sup> century, a mature young woman dies and is cryonically preserved. She is found 300+ years later in the Antarctic when the earth has entered a new era. The planet and environment have largely recovered from the climate crisis and WWIII—the global nuclear war at the end of the 21<sup>st</sup> century that nearly destroyed the planet and became known as the Conflagration.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;">The remnants of humanity who survived, emerged with a new consciousness and vowed, collectively, to never again engage in war. Over the following centuries descendants of the survivors recaptured the knowledge, skills, and technology needed to create a new world with eyes toward unity, sustainability and collective consciousness to become a humanity never before realized.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"> Sydney Constance Thrasher awakens to this new world. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNC_i9zxL0TfeK9ScvAyroEybbpBDa-2PBI0NUGBDamA7WhjWj0VZCCHTRyuqX7_sL1iUqV63esaNYu_oogGlV4V74ymBzrTMhmULSo6nWc-vmSdhWFlPEpeUoY3D9RTSyww744nzJ4gRJqVTOUvH3iVAVccaoXdg8ZHkPUbKAdzIMEntuuU0VHpvgHQ=s1396" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1396" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiNC_i9zxL0TfeK9ScvAyroEybbpBDa-2PBI0NUGBDamA7WhjWj0VZCCHTRyuqX7_sL1iUqV63esaNYu_oogGlV4V74ymBzrTMhmULSo6nWc-vmSdhWFlPEpeUoY3D9RTSyww744nzJ4gRJqVTOUvH3iVAVccaoXdg8ZHkPUbKAdzIMEntuuU0VHpvgHQ=s320" width="206" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">As I sat thinking about how difficult it is to conceive of a world without war, my thoughts went to the ancient past . . . What merchant, plodding the miles of the silk road with his ladened camels, could have foreseen modern transportation, with trucks and airplanes transporting goods across nations and the world in hours and days? What scribe painfully copying word for word his Holy books could have foreseen computers spewing forth pages and whole texts in seconds? </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">So too it is hard for us, surrounded with wars and violence to foresee a One World of peaceful cooperation, having abandoned war—but it is worth trying to envision. Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of a devastated world . . . humanity finally having learned that war is never the answer!<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">In the story, Sydney Constance Thrasher first awakened in utter disbelief which turns to anger and morphs into depression; we watch her slowly adapt to the reality in which she finds herself. Eventually she is offered an advanced education; for her Masters thesis she is haunted by the questions, ‘Was the Conflagration inevitable?’ <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">In the story, while world conditions and issues of the 25<sup>th</sup> century are fabricated, all references to material from the 21<sup>st</sup>century and prior are researched and accurate.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"> <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0.5in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 7in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-23035252367298735062021-11-29T18:05:00.000-08:002021-11-29T18:05:17.134-08:00of Serious Thoughts: Need for a God--Real or Invented<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2021/11/need-for-god-real-or-invented.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: Need for a God--Real or Invented</a>: Years ago I heard a wise man say, “I believe there is a God, but if there isn’t, we’d have to invent one.’ I didn’t immediately ‘get i...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-12646967446278379452021-11-21T19:34:00.000-08:002021-11-21T19:41:36.194-08:00Need for a God--Real or Invented<p> <span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Years ago I heard a wise man say, “I believe there is a God, but if there isn’t, we’d have to invent one.’</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I didn’t immediately ‘get it’.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">I thought he was just being flip—but the</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">thought stayed with me.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Recently I have returned to that thought. It seems that in the 21<sup>st</sup> Century, as a society, we’ve lost touch with God; God has become irrelevant. When, by law prayer was eliminated from classrooms and public assemblies, the idea of God gradually faded. That isn’t to say that all thoughts of God have disappeared, but its place in society’s consciousness had been relegated to the back seat, whereas it was once front and center.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">In the time when references to God were common-place, many people would say grace at meals and prayers at bedtime—that is now a rarity. Before radio and TV, it was fairly common, especially in rural areas, for families to gather round a table as a family member read from the Bible. In 1912, at the realization that the Titanic was sinking, the ship’s string ensemble spontaneously began playing ‘Near My God to Thee’—that would never cross the minds of people today. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">We can’t<i> know</i> God because God is so beyond our human understanding. It is worse than unfortunate that so many different ways of attempting to grasp what a God must be and what One would want of us, led to different images, definitions and demands which led to conflict and division. None of the images can capture God.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">Whether God is, or is not real, our understanding in the contemporary world is that God represents the source of all that is good and desirable . . . all hope, truth, love . . . the vessel of all goodness. Ergo the opening statement, ‘if there isn’t (a God) we’d have to invent one. <i>We </i>need a reminder, an incentive to continue striving for the good. Only if good surpasses evil will the planet continue.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">As thoughts of God have faded from our awareness we have seen an escalation of dangerous and destructive behaviors. On the large scale: explosions of violence and vandalism during peaceful protests; political polarization where each side flatly rejects anything proposed by the other; widescale polluting of the planet; increasing presence and threat from nuclear weapons; terrorism in the form of suicide bombers and individuals with assault weapons opening fire on innocent strangers and vehicles driven into crowds. On a smaller scale: a willingness to close eyes to facts and fabricate alternative ‘truths’; airline passengers attacking flight attendants over being told to mask up for public safety; brawls at sports events—both professional and little league; school board meetings interrupted by parents shouting and demanding changes in the curriculum . . . a general demise of civility.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;">The general public seems to accept this as ‘the way things are’ and not realize it is in our hands to change. We need God; either embraced as real, or ‘invented’ by a return to intentionally seeking ‘the good’.<o:p></o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-77529720912848910802021-10-29T04:05:00.000-07:002021-10-29T04:05:37.346-07:00of Serious Thoughts: Taliban & Genesis<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2021/10/taliban-genesis.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: Taliban & Genesis</a>: Now that the Taliban has returned to power in Afghanistan, girls over 13 are once again denied education and all women’s freedom is restri...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-77354627328839520892021-10-27T19:10:00.000-07:002021-10-27T19:17:40.222-07:00Taliban & Genesis<p> <span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Now that the Taliban has returned to power in Afghanistan, girls over 13 are once again denied education and all women’s freedom is restricted.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">There, women and girls are regarded as chattel to be controlled by men.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">That was the ‘norm’ of all history prior to the 20</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">TH</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Century.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">As humanity gradually inches toward enlightenment, we now see horrible mistakes make in the name of ‘progress’.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> --historically, kingdoms sent adventurers to find and conquer ‘new lands’; then, subjugating the natives, claimed the territory for their far-away monarchs. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> --in the 1600’s, an emerging ‘industry’ was designed to capture and restrain dark-skinned humans, then transport them across the ocean to sell them to white slave-owners.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> --in the mid1900’s, a nation perceiving itself as ‘superior’, rounded up other humans deemed ‘inferior’; then devising a ‘final solution, gassed and burned them in incinerators.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Ever since the earliest institution of government, women were not included. That position came to be known as: Patriarchy—a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded. In our time the Taliban demonstrates that.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">In general, men and women have different fundamental perspectives on life. Individually, points-of-view vary across the spectrum, but taken as a whole, males tend to value power and control; while females value nurturing and compassion. Each perspective has its value, but it was patriarchy that determined the unfolding of civilization. By having excluded the ‘female voice’ from participating in shaping the world, our world has become distorted. That is not to suggest either voice is superior . . . the problem came from males believing their voice<i> was superior,</i> and disavowed the female voice.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Bible stories tell of how people of that time sought to understand their world. They lacked science and used story-telling to explain life. Because it was only males in control, stories were heavily male oriented. We wonder how the stories might have been different if the story-tellers were women. How might a woman have told the story of Genesis</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;">? <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> If we look at Genesis (2 & 3)—the very beginning of scripture—as written, the story is told of God placing the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the center of the Garden of Eden and forbidding the human couple to eat of the fruit . . . but Satan tempts them, saying they will be like God if they eat the fruit. The woman picks the fruit and eats, then gives it to the man to eat . . . (here we see the male author blaming women for original sin . . . and thus justifying millenniums of oppression of women and establishing the superiority of the male gender) and then we see God, learning they disobeyed him, so in anger, he curses them and their children and drives them from the Garden.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Had a woman told the story in Genesis, it would have gone differently . .</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> . <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Retelling the Story <o:p></o:p></span></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> In the beginning, God placed the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden, saying to the human couple it was their choice to eat or not; but for their own good he cautioned them <i>not</i> eat it because it was the nature of The Garden to hold only the good, so if they ate of the fruit and came to know evil (it would become part of them) they would have to leave. They would then have to make their own way in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> When Satan told them that if they ate the fruit they’d know all things like God, Adam became restless. He wanted to be like God. He was curious, ‘what was this thing called evil?’ and he longed to see that world beyond the Garden. He talked of adventure to Eve, how exciting it would be to explore the unknown. She’d listen and agree that it sounded interesting, but she was more content with the garden and it didn’t seem wise to go against God’s advice. One day as they sat under the tree Adam said:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “Eve, reach up and pick me one of the fruit.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “I think that’s not a good idea” she said.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> He laughed and said, “Come on, Hun, trust me, it will be OK.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “But God said not to”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “No, God just advised against it—and how do we know what we are missing if we don’t’ try it?”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “No, we shouldn’t” she pleaded.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “Come on, if you really love me you’ll do it.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “Well, . . . I don’t know.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> “Go ahead, just pick one. That one right above your head.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> As she reached up gingerly, he said, “Great going, Hon! Now take a bite and give it to me.” She did.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> After a while as the awareness of evil seeped into them, they knew they could no longer live there. Together they walked out of the garden; God watched with great sadness as they left, knowing the tribulation ahead.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in;"><o:p> </o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-23550688641053145382021-10-08T20:10:00.001-07:002021-10-08T20:10:40.540-07:00of Serious Thoughts: Fraying Bonds of Civility<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2021/09/fraying-bonds-of-civility.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: Fraying Bonds of Civility</a>: In listening to a tape on the Buddha which quoted a phrase of his; ‘the bonds of civility are fraying’—signaling a danger to social order—I ...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-55403430574049945792021-09-25T14:27:00.000-07:002021-09-25T14:52:22.732-07:00Fraying Bonds of Civility<p><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">In listening to a tape on the Buddha which quoted a phrase of his; ‘the bonds of civility are fraying’—signaling a danger to social order—I realized that speaks to our culture.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">The bonds of civility refer to the invisible agreed upon ethics and etiquette which support civilization.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Our world is under a great many stresses . . . covid pandemic, climate change, and society’s polarization to name a few.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">They strain our ability to cope.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">During WWII the U.S. pulled together magnificently, but that unity of purpose has long since disappeared. Today we are divided, polarized, and implacable. The multiple crises are magnifying our unrest. We are in peril. The demise can be seen in everything from the increase in gun violence, to disruptive passengers on airplanes, to most pointedly—the fight over mask wearing to prevent the spread of the covid pandemic. Covid is an airborne virus which is spread by coughing, sneezing, talking, and simply breathing. It has been demonstrated scientifically that wearing face coverings sharply reduces the spread. We don’t know who is carrying the virus and masks are to protect the general population (as well as the self); it is in the interest of supporting civilization that it is done. To make it a personal rebellion, demonstrates an unwillingness to support the public good for selfish reasons. Even as a very young child during the war effort, I was aware that ‘everyone must do their part’ . . . we fail our children by not conveying that message.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">Society’s polarization has increased by a deliberately manufactured lie—that the election was stolen—which is being peddled as ‘Truth.’ Although proven to be a lie, it is still being supported by many. Few thing can be more dangerous to social order than a significant falsehood be loudly proclaimed as truth. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The ‘bonds of civility’ are rooted in morality. Morality is defined as: principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong, good and bad, truth and falsehood . . . leading to a system of values and principles of conduct. Morality’s roots are inherent in human consciousness, but it requires nurturing—we <i>choose </i>to keep it flourishing . . . or don’t! When we fail to choose for the greater good, we are fraying the bonds of civility.<o:p></o:p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-73357507787112601502021-08-29T19:04:00.000-07:002021-08-29T19:04:24.473-07:00of Serious Thoughts: World in Distress<a href="https://www.ofseriousthoughts.com/2021/07/world-in-distress.html?spref=bl">of Serious Thoughts: World in Distress</a>: Our world is in distress. We have experienced unprecedented life-threatening high temperatures in the 100’s for days on end. Drough...B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4350247020904290096.post-4412270192119209612021-08-29T18:35:00.002-07:002021-08-29T18:48:10.543-07:00Butterflies<p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">This month it seems that we all need some lightness . . . so I’m going with my butterflies.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I have milkweed growing near my house.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">A few years ago I noticed several Monarch caterpillars on the leaves (Monarch caterpillars eat only milkweed) and I decided to watch them develop.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">The next day when I went out to see them, there were only two left . . . the birds must have gotten them.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">I decided to take the remaining two to the safety of my house.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">In a tall clear container I put a cut stem of milkweed in a cup of water—it became their nursery.</span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"> </span><span face="Calibri, sans-serif">Each time they had eaten most of the leaves I replaced them and I watched them grow fat. </span>To my delight within the month I had hatched and released two butterflies.</span></p><p><span face="Calibri, sans-serif"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKm4pSFvHWJFEn6KbJPbrDejK6rhVfEIMhI48c3GB7JUeo_bxfKQzdEFC3CiVfvjxB6RtA1q-ov7BvHz6rEt0Ry2kxrC52wCQ4bsMX10_-W7kmcrPQSlMBHm3wZ5Mgo6WTYwVCfYQ_hMPF/s1119/FatCat.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="673" data-original-width="1119" height="146" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKm4pSFvHWJFEn6KbJPbrDejK6rhVfEIMhI48c3GB7JUeo_bxfKQzdEFC3CiVfvjxB6RtA1q-ov7BvHz6rEt0Ry2kxrC52wCQ4bsMX10_-W7kmcrPQSlMBHm3wZ5Mgo6WTYwVCfYQ_hMPF/w244-h146/FatCat.png" width="244" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">This year my daughter, Lisa, sent me a butterfly cage—who knew there was such a thing? Amazon has everything. I was lucky enough to find 8 caterpillars (one didn’t make it). I charted their time between my finding each, and their chrysalis formation. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvfoY2hS9OvnKHZfMF8InwGRNdrXDBtTCeIxXptbIE1ugxKFpHPaVzfXAeIXY9fv8NdqXQm8eXhlWAiRyZwm_zGpijSoXsKbFH5xmor9To2dtRIlo42BFft-NAs_LeVWDy3ptxBjia_CC8/s2048/IMG_0879.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvfoY2hS9OvnKHZfMF8InwGRNdrXDBtTCeIxXptbIE1ugxKFpHPaVzfXAeIXY9fv8NdqXQm8eXhlWAiRyZwm_zGpijSoXsKbFH5xmor9To2dtRIlo42BFft-NAs_LeVWDy3ptxBjia_CC8/w167-h223/IMG_0879.JPG" width="167" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">It varied from 7 to 10 days (didn’t know how old each was when found). Their chrysalises are beautiful—pale green dotted with gold beads. They emerge in from 10 to 14 days. They then need at least 2 hours for their wings to completely dry.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">After a week from the first chrysalis, each morning I awoke to check the butterfly cage. On two successive mornings there were butterflies and the others emerged throughout successive days. I allowed them the almost two hours to dry and on nice days they rode on my finger to the flowers.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1avOZviC-6WDGrf3vfOuUibeWUXfWnSjfPUVasT_bTkwRhvZqTDNPiprKx1VWpl1z4xRcW5zaZO-Yls2Vg3FDXHlxBa6XJrpFKElpGDUbBD4UpSWrbMlCgSDdVYcgStu85MF8cwFMNRm/s2048/IMG_0899.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin1avOZviC-6WDGrf3vfOuUibeWUXfWnSjfPUVasT_bTkwRhvZqTDNPiprKx1VWpl1z4xRcW5zaZO-Yls2Vg3FDXHlxBa6XJrpFKElpGDUbBD4UpSWrbMlCgSDdVYcgStu85MF8cwFMNRm/w228-h171/IMG_0899.HEIC" width="228" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">The two that emerged at night, having more than two hours to dry, were anxious and flew off as soon as they got outside.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;">It was a delightful and rewarding experience. I plan to do the same each future summer.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfV1qJhzP_qxPHL2mSgTwEAYrztVXm_-5M91JLqGjyuLA0gXtd5l2twxHwmQgR3NewhpsGv3YXHNcK5tWkTy4LFFzfKDWP7QVk8qW1QDpvY-GJC8DT4vUyp3cOWnPbWzxZFMEqDJy1QFb/s2048/IMG_1007.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPfV1qJhzP_qxPHL2mSgTwEAYrztVXm_-5M91JLqGjyuLA0gXtd5l2twxHwmQgR3NewhpsGv3YXHNcK5tWkTy4LFFzfKDWP7QVk8qW1QDpvY-GJC8DT4vUyp3cOWnPbWzxZFMEqDJy1QFb/w236-h177/IMG_1007.JPG" width="236" /></a></div><br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>B. Sabonis-Chafeehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08902900457857408679noreply@blogger.com0