A Pilgrim’s Odyssey

Into The Wilderness

I just saw a trailer for a new Tom Hanks movie, News of the World. It looks awesome. He plays a retired soldier after the Civil War traveling the west who is paid to tell dramatic retellings of the news and current events. Along the way, he meets a young girl who was captured and raised by Indians and after being rescued, is on her way home to family when her party is attacked and she is found by Hanks character, Capt. Jefferson Kyle Kidd.

Some unsavory characters don’t want that to happen, and adventure ensues.

It got me thinking what is wild? And what is civilized?

I have a copy of my picture of my grandma playing in the dirt during the depression. Was she wild? Was she civilized? Her writing was exquisite and her ability to care for her home and family during all times unmatched.

Who did God pick to announce the coming of Christ’s ministry, a wild one, John the Baptist.

God calls us from the wilderness. In the wilderness, we find God.

Good Shepherds

Yesterday we talked about bad shepherds and then last night congress passed a 5,600 page bill that none of them read. It was no doubt a tasty pork sandwich to donors, lobbyists, and foreign governments that make the families of Senators and Congressman rich. Oh, and $600 each for Americans. I guess that is how much they see small businesses being destroyed and other consequences of government dictates is worth.

But enough of that. Christmas is in 3 days. Let’s talk about Good shepherds. Those that had the honor to be witnesses to the Christ child, invited by a host of angels.

False Shepherds and A Reckoning

We are being led by false shepherds. We saw a couple of great examples this weekend of what David Mamet warned of Friday, government officials doing stupid things with no accountability.

But there will be a reckoning, and we talk about it today, on The Pilgrim's Odyssey.

An Alligator and Glengarry Glen Ross

The alligator was savory, and the words of David Mamet prophetic.

And we ask the question, "What are the consequences to government, when government is stupid and people die?"

Herby-K And Christmas Planning

In Shreveport today teaching a class and had lunch at Herby K’s, a seafood joint, and I mean joint, in the best of ways, a classic hole in the wall where nothing changes and the food is awesome. Famous for it’s shrimp Po'boy sandwich, I had fish and shrimp etouffee. I think it sits about 20 people tops and then a patio on the side for the rest. A favorite of the American Pickers, Mike and Frank, it has been around since 1936!

Saw today Dr. Fauci recommended kids don’t come home to see their parents this Christmas. Screw that. (That’s all I say lest I really say what I think.)

Here’s what I would like you to do with your Christmas Holiday:

Remember why we have Christmas in the first place, a child was born. Do it somberly, reading from scripture, no technology anywhere.

Plan your upcoming year. 2020 has obviously been crazy. Take charge, what do you want to accomplish, what things will you stand for?

Build up your faith community. Get stronger, don’t remain divided if you are, keep standing strong if have been.

Remind yourselves that America is and has always been different - land of the free and home of the brave. We have not always lived up to it, but that is who we are. Act that way.

Will You Go Into The Unknown?

A childhood visit to the George Rogers Clark National Park set my imagination in motion. Life was to be lived on the edge, settling frontiers and taming the wild.

Clark breathed his own breath and lived the life of a trailblazer. He was willing to go in the unknown.

The unknown is scary. A willingness to follow our inner calling can lead to ridicule, scorn and sometimes ruin. But we all die, we don't all live.

Breathe After My Own Fashion

I like yesterday’s quote from Henry David Thoreau so much I want to dig a bit deeper into it today.

But before I get to that, a bit more from Throreau:

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life. And see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

Get focused on death, you’ll forget to live.

Thoughts like these take me back to years ago when I left on my motorcycle journey. The smells of the road still linger, things you ignore from a car, plane, or train. Especially in the morning or at dusk, the smell of dew on the grass, a setting sun and fresh rain. It is alive, you don’t need or want to be anywhere else in these moments.

“I will breathe after my own fashion.” That is the America spirit, or at least what America should be. It’s a risky ideal, a thin line between selfishness and the daring greatly to the be all that we were created to become.

It’s worth the risk. And if we lose it, we may never get it back.

The Mandalorian and Thoreau, Where Is Your Line?

“I was not born to be forced. I will breathe after my own fashion. Let us see who is the strongest.”

― Henry David Thoreau, On The Duty of Civil Disobedience

 

When You Are Out Of Tune

I’ve been working this week on The Ladder UPP University. A teachable site where I’ll be offering free and low-cost training on the topics I talk about here on The Pilgrim’s Odyssey.

This week I have been focused on what will be a free, introductory course: Improving Self-Knowledge and Awareness.

It is so easy to get caught up in what other people are doing that we lose sight of ourselves, and our power to choose what we become.

One of my greatest influences on learning from the voices in my head was the great psychiatrist, Carl Jung. His writings taught me to think better and dig deeper into who I am. Today, we discuss some of his best quotes on listening to our inner voice and becoming who we were meant to be.

From the great Carl Jung:

“Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.”

“The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.”

"Through pride we are ever deceiving ourselves. But deep down below the surface of the average conscience a still, small voice says to us, something is out of tune."

"I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become."

"The privilege of a lifetime is to become who you truly are."

Peasants, Stay Home! While We Feast

“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue then they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.”
― Samuel Adams

“The true source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think... Let us dare to read, think, speak, and write... Let it be known that British liberties are not the grants of princes or parliaments.”
― John Adams

Let me start by saying, Covid is real. It kills people. It should be taken very seriously. Why did I do that? Because in the world we live in, it seems if you have an opinion that differs from the powers at be you need to preface your opinion, “no, I don’t want people to die.”

How did we end up with politicians doing things like closing down a small business by banning outside eating, while allowing a huge Hollywood production across the street to have a huge food tent? It might have something to do with the two quotes above.

Regions, states, cities, small towns, and communities are all different. Yet, citizens are limited and ultimately not trusted to make decisions for themselves. Combine this with a culture where if you have the “wrong” opinion you are silenced, it is a dangerous place to be.

People ask, “why do you questions masks?” I don’t question masks, I question how masks are used and where they are used. I question the data and how it is gathered and how it is determined. Well, I ask questions. And when people get defensive and angry when you ask questions, well, I get nervous. So should you.

Casinos open, churches closed.

Schools closed, Wal-mart open.

Small businesses shut down, big-box stores open and thriving.

Leaders in state capitols and big cities setting standards for small towns and rural communities.

Different opinions shut down and ridiculed.

When they dine in their mansions without masks, remember, they are treating you like peasants.