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Oct. 7, 2005 Folks really need to move forward and beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks and study war no more. Every innovative teacher is comparable to the Sower talked about by Jesus Christ. The innovative peace teacher will walk amongst multitudes and scatter the fertile seed, but some seeds will fall on asphalt or cement, and be run over by skateboards or by the huge tires of SUVs, and some seeds will be pecked up by birds and broken to pieces inside of gizzards, so that no human can ever plant them and enjoy the fruits of such labor. Other potent seeds will be flushed in a torrent down the storm drain, and others will fall into pools of water and be utterly drowned. Only a few seeds will be picked up by the astute, and cultured well so that in time the teacher's peace work will come to something, rather than to nothing. Each year millions of teachers are hired to teach some specialized conventional knowledge such as Algebra One and Two, but a time-honored conventional teaching can't move humanity forward. Folks need to move forward because the old arguments just keep going and going and going like the famous Energizer Battery. Eventually, though, even Energizer batteries run out of power. The famous poetic Sower Parable about any new and controversial teacher is apt. The Parable of the Sower applies to any unconventional thought, feeling, or way of acting. There will be few converts at first. And if it weren't for the conversion experience of Saul, there would never have been the religion of modern Christianity. At least I've seen this point argued. In fact I've read that Jesus the carpenter from Nazareth never really existed. In any case, I argue that folks really need to move forward. A suffering sick person wants to be rejuvenated and healed if it is possible. Weakness, pain, confusion, destructive anger, and other powerfully negative manifestations are not enjoyed even by the raging violence-prone person. On the other hand, cleverness can work an apparent miracle. By reading many books, and visiting many education centers, and by traveling far and wide in other ways, the chance of making the seemingly miraculous discovery is increased from let us say .00007 to .07. And remember, chance favors the prepared mind. Spiritual teachers abound. Many cultures produced comparable geniuses of the human heart. When the human heart expands, one sees in reality what was suggested by the funny cartoon "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." We can sit back and laugh at the cartoon, and we can watch as the Grinch's heart gets bigger and bigger and bigger. That's a bit more messianic folklore at Christmas time. Christian Fundamentalists and other Fundamentalists can't possibly turn their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruninghooks as long as they won't reconsider that the ancient teachings they revere were simply folklore promoted as God's truth. Someone became "inspired" and made forceful speeches or wrote forceful books and this made them "divine." Maybe these persons were very smart and very charismatic and very large and formidable physically, but they were just human beings. They weren't some supernatural phenomenon. But until they get converted, the Fundamentalists won't even begin to humble themselves before this possibility and therefor STUDY other persons who also became "inspired." A more modern term is "manic." To learn more about the manic condition you should read "Myth or Madness? Mania and the Artistic Genius" which is "A Book Review of Touched With Fire: Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D." Come on! Take one step forward into the MODERN AGE! Kay Jamison presents many case histories showing how the person who is feeling manic is able to do things impossible for them to do when they feel depressed. Think of Jesus the Carpenter depressed and unable to do a day's work for a day's pay. He needs to find himself and so he goes out in the desert and fasts. This was not uncommon behavior for Jews in those days, because fasting in moderation often gets some positive results. Once out of control, however, the mania in Jesus mounts higher and higher, and even if he has charisma, and other powers he never had before, he still doesn't have his brain activity under control. He makes intriguing pronouncements, he tells cute little stories, he seduces the gullible and wins followers, and he even utters certain prophecies. But not everything Jesus does and says is consistent, and if Jesus really lived, a lot of what Jesus said was never recorded. In any case, Jesus life and ministry fits into what Kay Jamison's book talks about. That's why you should read her book! Meanwhile, humanity's need for The Messiah-Peacemaker is great. The word "Messiah" exists in our language. What are we going to do with that word? Are we just going to pretend there never was any prophet of The Messiah? What inspired King David, anyway? What was the FORCE that compelled King David to celebrate WHAT he celebrated? Even if David's God was a fiction, the man was uplifted by his own creative artistry. So what's so bad about being uplifted? The danger of being uplifted is like the danger of taking heroin. You may become an crazed addict. You may spend so much time in your uplift that you resemble Icarus. Recall how Icarus was clever enough to fly closer and closer to the sun until the sun melted the wax that held the feathers of his contraption together and the man fell to his death. The story of Icarus can be regarded as a parable of addiction. But on the other hand, feeling good is necessary to do consistently good work. When depression and mania interact, there can be serious trouble, such as homicide or suicide. People need to move forward in medicine, so that the many people who often experience episodes of superior performance are in fact able to maintain the high level of functioning without falling into rage and other negative reactions! This pertains to leaders in government, and teachers and parents as well. But at present the medical establishment relies on antiquated methods of treating manic-depressives. A modern version of Jesus would certainly be arrested and medicated after ruining a market or a church. Any idea of being "The Messiah" would be squelched. Humanity and medicine both have to move forward. Kay Jamison says this more eloquently than I can. One of her relatives I believe committed suicide in a depression. Thus she was strongly motivated to research out and write all that she wrote. But what of the fanatical Fundamentalists? What do they do to help their relatives when they suffer from a manic-depressive illness? Do they just trust in the God of their Holy Book? We're not just talking theology here. We're doing brain work. The Bible or some other Holy Book is an ancient record of real people with real brains. Certain ideas were popular, and certain persons were popular. Most ideas and most persons got left out of the Sacred Text. Today billions more people live and read some Fundamentalist tract and social pressure is put upon them to believe that this particular Tract is the Word of God or God's Messenger or Prophet. What is more likely is that this particular person was unusually charming or otherwise forceful during a manic episode or a schizophrenic episode. The modern issue is managing the human brain. This optimal brain use IS the next big step in human evoluion! Nations of human beings whose brains aren't optimally managed presently threaten to act recklessly, foolishly, impulsively, dangerously and maniacally even while saluting their Flag and praying to their God. Meanwhile as decades pass truly millions of men and women in manic flights tell people "I am The Messiah." "I am The Messiah." "Listen to me! I have the answer!" But highly trained and smart as they are, the medical doctors don't understand this topic very well. Furthermore, the fanatical Fundamentalists aren't about to help the doctors understand it! In our reckless age, some New Institute has to help people come to understand clearly what is possible for optimally functioning human brains to do. This understanding needs to be presented lucidly to parents, teachers, and older students who will soon be parents so that these adults can help their children's brains develop to become optimally functioning adult brains! Therefore, some relatively easy to read BOOK, TAPE, or MOVIE has to be published explaining what this "Messiah" theory is all about. The sensible way to produce this "Messiah" theory of optimally functioning adult human brains is to study a huge number of persons who were recognized as messianic or else were claiming to be messianic or at least were sometimes busily engaged in some inspired work during a manic or schizophrenic episode. Then by applying rational methods and creative methods such as brainstorming and synectics, the research institute will formulate a testable method for helping individuals become more messianic without going totally and dangerously crazy, so they won't get high on their own addiction and break into a market or a church and attack people. Over forty-two years of work, I've got a pretty good handle on this research myself and now I'm seeking collaborators and backers for this new peace research institute. I don't claim to have all the answers and my writing certainly is not my strongest suit. I do believe in cooperation, integration, collaboration, and certain other thrift-promoting concepts. So fanatic, you can call me names if you like, like "devil" or "infidel" but Fundamentalists have been reacting this way against inspired upstarts for centuries, and that predictable reaction hasn't ever led to optimalizing functional adult human brains. Folks really need to move forward. ------------ About the author: John L. Waters is an amateur psychologist and independent researcher on self-healing, integration, and problem-solving. John has created art, music and songs, prose and poetry, and helped people solve a difficult problem. For more information, read: John's letters of recommendation: http://members.tripod.com/johnlwaters/recommendations about John's self-healing and integration: http://members.tripod.com/johnlwaters/index.html about John's independent research: http://www.humboldt.edu/~jlw47/index.html about John's seeking an agent or a publisher: http://www.writers.net/writers/39295 Email: blueguntwo@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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