Saturday, November 29, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Our Pre-Thanksgiving Tradition
For the past seven years, we've had a tradition of getting together with our friends Sara and Paul on Thanksgiving eve, enjoying some yummy appetizers and good wine. This year, we had to bump up our get-together by a few days but we had as much fun as always. Paul even had the Christmas music cranking to get the holiday spirit started.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
From the Mind of Mike
I am getting tired of the coverage of the "needed" economic bailouts. The "Big Three" went before Congress yesterday to plead for economic help. They cried that thousands of jobs will be lost if they don't get help soon. They had the gall to ask for $25 Billion of our money.
What's wrong with the country? My guess is lack of personal responsibility for starters. Why do people think the government will solve our problems? THEY cause our problems!
I have included some highlights from the commencement speech to the 1978 Harvard graduates by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. If you have not read it, please do. You can "Google" Solzhenitsyn's Harvard Address" and find it. This post may look lengthy, but please read it.
"When the modern Western States were created, the following principle was proclaimed: governments are meant to serve man, and man lives to be free to pursue happiness. (See, for example, the American Declaration). Now at last during past decades technical and social progress has permitted the realization of such aspirations: the welfare state. Every citizen has been granted the desired freedom and material goods in such quantity and of such quality as to guarantee in theory the achievement of happiness, in the morally inferior sense which has come into being during those same decades. In the process, however, one psychological detail has been overlooked: the constant desire to have still more things and a still better life and the struggle to obtain them imprints many Western faces with worry and even depression, though it is customary to conceal such feelings. Active and tense competition permeates all human thoughts without opening a way to free spiritual development. The individual's independence from many types of state pressure has been guaranteed; the majority of people have been granted well-being to an extent their fathers and grandfathers could not even dream about; it has become possible to raise young people according to these ideals, leading them to physical splendor, happiness, possession of material goods, money and leisure, to an almost unlimited freedom of enjoyment. So who should now renounce all this, why and for what should one risk one's precious life in defense of common values, and particularly in such nebulous cases when the security of one's nation must be defended in a distant country?
Even biology knows that habitual extreme safety and well-being are not advantageous for a living organism. Today, well-being in the life of Western society has begun to reveal its pernicious mask.
Western society has given itself the organization best suited to its purposes, based, I would say, on the letter of the law. The limits of human rights and righteousness are determined by a system of laws; such limits are very broad. One almost never sees voluntary self-restraint. Everybody operates at the extreme limit of those legal frames. An oil company is legally blameless when it purchases an invention of a new type of energy in order to prevent its use. A food product manufacturer is legally blameless when he poisons his produce to make it last longer: after all, people are free not to buy it.
I have spent all my life under a communist regime and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either. A society which is based on the letter of the law and never reaches any higher is taking very scarce advantage of the high level of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relations, there is an atmosphere of moral mediocrity, paralyzing man's noblest impulses.
It is almost universally recognized that the West shows all the world a way to successful economic development, even though in the past years it has been strongly disturbed by chaotic inflation. However, many people living in the West are dissatisfied with their own society. They despise it or accuse it of not being up to the level of maturity attained by mankind. A number of such critics turn to socialism, which is a false and dangerous current.
I hope that no one present will suspect me of offering my personal criticism of the Western system to present socialism as an alternative. Having experienced applied socialism in a country where the alternative has been realized, I certainly will not speak for it. The well-known Soviet mathematician Shafarevich, a member of the Soviet Academy of Science, has written a brilliant book under the title Socialism; it is a profound analysis showing that socialism of any type and shade leads to a total destruction of the human spirit and to a leveling of mankind into death
However, in early democracies, as in American democracy at the time of its birth, all individual human rights were granted because man is God's creature. That is, freedom was given to the individual conditionally, in the assumption of his constant religious responsibility. Such was the heritage of the preceding thousand years. Two hundred or even fifty years ago, it would have seemed quite impossible, in America, that an individual could be granted boundless freedom simply for the satisfaction of his instincts or whims. Subsequently, however, all such limitations were discarded everywhere in the West; a total liberation occurred from the moral heritage of Christian centuries with their great reserves of mercy and sacrifice. State systems were becoming increasingly and totally materialistic. The West ended up by truly enforcing human rights, sometimes even excessively, but man's sense of responsibility to God and society grew dimmer and dimmer.
As humanism in its development became more and more materialistic, it made itself increasingly accessible to speculation and manipulation at first by socialism and then by communism. So that Karl Marx was able to say in 1844 that "communism is naturalized humanism
I am not examining here the case of a world war disaster and the changes which it would produce in society. As long as we wake up every morning under a peaceful sun, we have to lead an everyday life. There is a disaster, however, which has already been under way for quite some time. I am referring to the calamity of a despiritualized and irreligious humanistic consciousness.
To such consciousness, man is the touchstone in judging and evaluating everything on earth. Imperfect man, who is never free of pride, self-interest, envy, vanity, and dozens of other defects. We are now experiencing the consequences of mistakes which had not been noticed at the beginning of the journey. On the way from the Renaissance to our days we have enriched our experience, but we have lost the concept of a Supreme Complete Entity which used to restrain our passions and our irresponsibility. We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life. In the East, it is destroyed by the dealings and machinations of the ruling party. In the West, commercial interests tend to suffocate it. This is the real crisis.
If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most out of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one's life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it. It is not possible that assessment of the President's performance be reduced to the question of how much money one makes or of unlimited availability of gasoline. Only voluntary, inspired self-restraint can raise man above the world stream of materialism.
It would be retrogression to attach oneself today to the ossified formulas of the Enlightenment. Social dogmatism leaves us completely helpless in front of the trials of our times.
Even if we are spared destruction by war, our lives will have to change if we want to save life from self-destruction. We cannot avoid revising the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him? Is it right that man's life and society's activities have to be determined by material expansion in the first place? Is it permissible to promote such expansion to the detriment of our spiritual integrity?"
What's wrong with the country? My guess is lack of personal responsibility for starters. Why do people think the government will solve our problems? THEY cause our problems!
I have included some highlights from the commencement speech to the 1978 Harvard graduates by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. If you have not read it, please do. You can "Google" Solzhenitsyn's Harvard Address" and find it. This post may look lengthy, but please read it.
"When the modern Western States were created, the following principle was proclaimed: governments are meant to serve man, and man lives to be free to pursue happiness. (See, for example, the American Declaration). Now at last during past decades technical and social progress has permitted the realization of such aspirations: the welfare state. Every citizen has been granted the desired freedom and material goods in such quantity and of such quality as to guarantee in theory the achievement of happiness, in the morally inferior sense which has come into being during those same decades. In the process, however, one psychological detail has been overlooked: the constant desire to have still more things and a still better life and the struggle to obtain them imprints many Western faces with worry and even depression, though it is customary to conceal such feelings. Active and tense competition permeates all human thoughts without opening a way to free spiritual development. The individual's independence from many types of state pressure has been guaranteed; the majority of people have been granted well-being to an extent their fathers and grandfathers could not even dream about; it has become possible to raise young people according to these ideals, leading them to physical splendor, happiness, possession of material goods, money and leisure, to an almost unlimited freedom of enjoyment. So who should now renounce all this, why and for what should one risk one's precious life in defense of common values, and particularly in such nebulous cases when the security of one's nation must be defended in a distant country?
Even biology knows that habitual extreme safety and well-being are not advantageous for a living organism. Today, well-being in the life of Western society has begun to reveal its pernicious mask.
Western society has given itself the organization best suited to its purposes, based, I would say, on the letter of the law. The limits of human rights and righteousness are determined by a system of laws; such limits are very broad. One almost never sees voluntary self-restraint. Everybody operates at the extreme limit of those legal frames. An oil company is legally blameless when it purchases an invention of a new type of energy in order to prevent its use. A food product manufacturer is legally blameless when he poisons his produce to make it last longer: after all, people are free not to buy it.
I have spent all my life under a communist regime and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either. A society which is based on the letter of the law and never reaches any higher is taking very scarce advantage of the high level of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relations, there is an atmosphere of moral mediocrity, paralyzing man's noblest impulses.
It is almost universally recognized that the West shows all the world a way to successful economic development, even though in the past years it has been strongly disturbed by chaotic inflation. However, many people living in the West are dissatisfied with their own society. They despise it or accuse it of not being up to the level of maturity attained by mankind. A number of such critics turn to socialism, which is a false and dangerous current.
I hope that no one present will suspect me of offering my personal criticism of the Western system to present socialism as an alternative. Having experienced applied socialism in a country where the alternative has been realized, I certainly will not speak for it. The well-known Soviet mathematician Shafarevich, a member of the Soviet Academy of Science, has written a brilliant book under the title Socialism; it is a profound analysis showing that socialism of any type and shade leads to a total destruction of the human spirit and to a leveling of mankind into death
However, in early democracies, as in American democracy at the time of its birth, all individual human rights were granted because man is God's creature. That is, freedom was given to the individual conditionally, in the assumption of his constant religious responsibility. Such was the heritage of the preceding thousand years. Two hundred or even fifty years ago, it would have seemed quite impossible, in America, that an individual could be granted boundless freedom simply for the satisfaction of his instincts or whims. Subsequently, however, all such limitations were discarded everywhere in the West; a total liberation occurred from the moral heritage of Christian centuries with their great reserves of mercy and sacrifice. State systems were becoming increasingly and totally materialistic. The West ended up by truly enforcing human rights, sometimes even excessively, but man's sense of responsibility to God and society grew dimmer and dimmer.
As humanism in its development became more and more materialistic, it made itself increasingly accessible to speculation and manipulation at first by socialism and then by communism. So that Karl Marx was able to say in 1844 that "communism is naturalized humanism
I am not examining here the case of a world war disaster and the changes which it would produce in society. As long as we wake up every morning under a peaceful sun, we have to lead an everyday life. There is a disaster, however, which has already been under way for quite some time. I am referring to the calamity of a despiritualized and irreligious humanistic consciousness.
To such consciousness, man is the touchstone in judging and evaluating everything on earth. Imperfect man, who is never free of pride, self-interest, envy, vanity, and dozens of other defects. We are now experiencing the consequences of mistakes which had not been noticed at the beginning of the journey. On the way from the Renaissance to our days we have enriched our experience, but we have lost the concept of a Supreme Complete Entity which used to restrain our passions and our irresponsibility. We have placed too much hope in political and social reforms, only to find out that we were being deprived of our most precious possession: our spiritual life. In the East, it is destroyed by the dealings and machinations of the ruling party. In the West, commercial interests tend to suffocate it. This is the real crisis.
If humanism were right in declaring that man is born to be happy, he would not be born to die. Since his body is doomed to die, his task on earth evidently must be of a more spiritual nature. It cannot be the search for the best ways to obtain material goods and then cheerfully get the most out of them. It has to be the fulfillment of a permanent, earnest duty so that one's life journey may become an experience of moral growth, so that one may leave life a better human being than one started it. It is not possible that assessment of the President's performance be reduced to the question of how much money one makes or of unlimited availability of gasoline. Only voluntary, inspired self-restraint can raise man above the world stream of materialism.
It would be retrogression to attach oneself today to the ossified formulas of the Enlightenment. Social dogmatism leaves us completely helpless in front of the trials of our times.
Even if we are spared destruction by war, our lives will have to change if we want to save life from self-destruction. We cannot avoid revising the fundamental definitions of human life and human society. Is it true that man is above everything? Is there no Superior Spirit above him? Is it right that man's life and society's activities have to be determined by material expansion in the first place? Is it permissible to promote such expansion to the detriment of our spiritual integrity?"
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Fireproof
Lauren and I had not been out to the movies in a long time. In fact, we both had trouble trying to remember the last movie we saw in a theater. There is no real reason why other than we had better things to do.
This changed when we heard about a movie that, although it is not considered a major release, it is still a "must see" for all (which is why we've seen it twice). It is considered an independent release, but not an "indie" in the way hip culture sees them (i.e., it probably won't be screened in Cannes or Aspen).
The movie is titled "Fireproof" and it will make you think, laugh and cry (just ask Lauren about the crying part). It is written, filmed and produced by a church in Albany, Georgia and this is their third release since 2003. They are gaining more support from major producers now and the film quality is improving.
They still have small budgets (this was filmed and produced on only $500,000 -- small when compared to the multi-million dollar budgets in Hollywood). Their last release, "Facing the Giants" was a surprise hit and did very well with a DVD release. In fact, Kirk Cameron saw it and asked them if he could be involved in their next project, hence his starring role in "Fireproof".
I will give the quickest overview possible and I will include the You Tube link for the trailer. It's not in all theaters, but their website (http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/) can help you find one near you. If it does not come to one near you be sure to wait for the DVD release.
Caleb Holt (Cameron) is the chief of the Albany firehouse. Their code is "Never leave your partner, especially in a fire." Yet, Caleb does not see the smoke rising in his marriage that threatens to catch fire and consume it.
He and his wife are not talking and are quickly growing apart. He is ready to call it quits until his dad comes with a challenge, a book called "The Love Dare". It involves a 40-day process to restore true love to marriage and life. Caleb half-heartedly accepts and in the process finds a renewed passion and love for his wife, but is it too late?
Watch the trailer, see the movie and be inspired!
(P.S. Before watching the trailer clip, be sure to pause the our playlist music at the bottom of the page so they're not competing.)
Monday, November 3, 2008
Blog Quiz I Have To Take
Mike's Answers...
Ten Years Ago I was…
1. Working for Enterprise
2. Living in Fort Myers
3. Driving an old Chevy Lumina
4. Was in my 20's
5. Single
5 Things on Today’s “To-Do” List
1. Make my wife laugh her head off
2. Continue reading my 12th book of the year (reached a goal!)
3. Clean the house
4. Pay the bills
5. Get to bed at my regular hour
5 Snacks I Enjoy
1. Apples
2. Baby Carrots
3. Cookies
4. Leftover Halloween candy
5. Chips and Salsa
5 Things I Would Do if I Were a Millionaire
1. Give huge anonymous monetary gifts
2. Start a business to ensure I don't sit around the house
3. Make smart, long-term investments
4. Enjoy some great vacations
5. Make sure I keep my core values
5 Places I Have Lived
1. Brighton, Ma
2. Scituate, Ma (Twice now)
3. Whitman, Ma
4. Naples, Fl
5. Various other central Florida towns
5 Jobs That I Have Had
1. Customer Service Rep
2. Job Placement Recruiter
3. Enterprise slave, um, rental agent
4. Admissions recruiter
5. Assistant Manager of Little Caesar's
Ok, I have to tag someone to take this and I choose Kim and Aaron Uden
Ten Years Ago I was…
1. Working for Enterprise
2. Living in Fort Myers
3. Driving an old Chevy Lumina
4. Was in my 20's
5. Single
5 Things on Today’s “To-Do” List
1. Make my wife laugh her head off
2. Continue reading my 12th book of the year (reached a goal!)
3. Clean the house
4. Pay the bills
5. Get to bed at my regular hour
5 Snacks I Enjoy
1. Apples
2. Baby Carrots
3. Cookies
4. Leftover Halloween candy
5. Chips and Salsa
5 Things I Would Do if I Were a Millionaire
1. Give huge anonymous monetary gifts
2. Start a business to ensure I don't sit around the house
3. Make smart, long-term investments
4. Enjoy some great vacations
5. Make sure I keep my core values
5 Places I Have Lived
1. Brighton, Ma
2. Scituate, Ma (Twice now)
3. Whitman, Ma
4. Naples, Fl
5. Various other central Florida towns
5 Jobs That I Have Had
1. Customer Service Rep
2. Job Placement Recruiter
3. Enterprise slave, um, rental agent
4. Admissions recruiter
5. Assistant Manager of Little Caesar's
Ok, I have to tag someone to take this and I choose Kim and Aaron Uden
Sunday, November 2, 2008
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