November 12, 2003 8:34 P.M.

Stream of Consciousness

I took the above photo of the yellow chrysanthemums on my patio, a few days ago. I used Adobe Photoshop to fade the edges.

This entry is a stream of my thoughts. I commented to my son recently, that since I do not write the type of journal which records everyday happenings in my life, people really do not come to know me.

He replied to the contrary. �I think people can know you very well, because you write your thoughts. They may not know what you are doing, but they know how you think.�

That�s a little scary. Because, the things I do, are fairly mundane. But my mind never stops. I am always searching for clarity and understanding; and I have pretty decided opinions on many issues.

That can ruffle feathers. So I have tried to be cautions about letting my �stream of consciousness� flow out upon the written page.

I don�t think that will change much, because I am not a confrontive type of person, nor do I savor rejection. However, I do feel the urge to begin to share more of the things that are significantly meaningful to me.

I have grown and mellowed a lot over the years.

I used to guard my understanding on most subjects, inside neat little boxes. I have come to realize that it is indeed not the �subjects�, but my understanding of them, which often was inside the box.

It has been very difficult for me to �step outside the box� in some areas. But, I think a growing person must constantly guard against insularity and constricted thinking, if growth is to take place.

The normal experiences of life as such, are designed to �blow up our boxes�. We are placed in this world, not to be safe, but to grow. Sometimes the greatest relief comes only at the point of surrender and relinquishment. Then we can handle expansion.

In childhood, our lives are built by establishing box upon box; line upon line, precept upon precept�and this is a good thing. Children must have boundaries and disciplines. �When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.�

It is a good thing when we are able to use the boxes of our childhood as stable stepping-stones to reach a place where we have a broader view.

The danger lies, in not having a value system as the basis of our understanding. Someone once said, �A person who believes anything, knows nothing.�

I love this from �The Message Bible�: Proverbs 1:7

�Start with God - the first step in learning is bowing down to God. Only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.�

I saw the film �Luther� last night. One of the actors in the movie spoke this line; �The sermons we preach, are the lessons we are learning.� I think I said this same thing in a previous journal entry. It is so true.

By the way, it was a great film. So is �Radio.� Go see them both if they are in your area.

One final thought.

I recently heard an interview with the French author of �Who Killed Daniel Pearl�, Bernard Heni Levy. His book discusses Anti-Semitism and Anti-Americanism at great length.

He says Anti-Americanism is the �magnet of the worst� in this area of the world; that people who hate America do not hate us because of our BAD qualities�they hate us because of our GOOD qualities. They hate our freedoms. They hate the freedom and advancement of women. They hate our enjoyment of social activities, which they consider evil. The author said that these people he met in his research, who killed Pearl, had largely never met Jews or Americans. They just hated them in principle.

My thought: Isn�t almost all hatred of �peoples�, based on ignorance?

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