Provocative Quotes From George MacDonald

I have never concealed the fact that I regarded him (Geo MacDonald) as my master; indeed I fancy I have never written a book in which I did not quote from him.
-- CS Lewis

Man is not made for justice from his fellow, but for love, which is greater than justice, and by including supersedes justice. Mere justice is an impossibility, a fiction of analysis … Justice to be justice must be much more than justice. Love is the law of our condition, without which we can no more render justice than a man can keep a straight line, walking in the dark.

Because we so easily imagine ourselves in want, we imagine God ready to forsake us.

Anything large enough for a wish to light upon, is large enough to hang a prayer upon: the thought of Him to whom that prayer goes will purify and correct the desire.

Low-sunk life imagines itself weary of life, but it is death, not life, it is weary of.

I learned that it was not myself but only my shadow that I had lost. I learned that it is better ... for a proud man to fall and be humbled than to hold up his head in pride and fancied innocence. I learned that he that will be a hero, will barely be a man; that he that will be nothing but a doer of his work, is sure of his manhood.

ShiftHappens

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Don't Ask; Don't Tell

Had Shakespeare been alive today, he would not have written, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players,” but, rather, “All the world is a couch, and all the men and women merely patients or psychoanalysts.” Whether it is a crisis in your marriage, with your children, your finances or difficulties on the job: never fear, Super Therapist is near!

“You are a ___ (sex, booze, adrenaline, religion, etc.) addict, have issues with mother or father or both, weren’t breast fed, weren’t potty trained properly, have ADD, have anger/fear/rejection issues, are a narcissist, a sadist, a masochist, a fundamentalist, a dualist, have a case of arrested development … and your mother dressed you funny.”

After diagnosing your issues in an instant, they will just as quickly and nonchalantly tell you how to solve them: “You need to go to this 12-step program, need 10 weeks at that rehab facility, should go to my therapist (that should send off warning-bells right there), read this book, go to such-and-such support group … then take two Zanex and call me in the morning.”

The mind-boggling thing is, you didn’t even ask them for their advice!

How is it that so many people see themselves as expert therapists or psychologists? What is it exactly that qualifies these people to tell you what your problem is, other than the fact that they stayed at a Holiday Inn? Easy. They were struggling with an issue, went to Amazon.com to search for books that would help regarding their issue, found one, and now—to everyone with a hammer, all problems look like nails.

Part of the challenge for many people is that they feel that they are supposed to help you … suppose to give you advice … suppose to quote the appropriate Bible verse. If you are such a person, consider the following quote from Henri Nouwen:

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares." +

As I know all 5 people who subscribe to this blog quite well, I know that you are not running around giving advice. What inspired me then to comment on this social phenomenon? Interestingly, it was a young lady sitting next to me on a flight home from Africa who introduced herself by saying, “Hi, my name is—I will call her Ms Transparency (MT)-- and I was sexually abused by my uncle, when I was 10 years old.” She then proceeded to not only give me the lurid details but also ask me for my advice.

MW: I don’t have any advice.

MT: Well I think my healing will come from sharing with others … it takes a village, ya' know.

MW: What if the village is filled with idiots?

MT: That's rude.

MW: Maybe so.

MT: Don’t you think people should be open about their struggles?

MW: Sure … With their therapist or minister.

MT: I believe there is a collective consciousness today that will help us all evolve and be transformed to a higher level of being.

MW: (Thinking to myself, Man, I bet she has just been dying to take that line out for a spin) So, you have read Carl Jung?

MT: Who?

MW: Never mind. I have an idea. Rather than dwelling on what happened to you, why not focus on the person you wish to become?

MT: I need to be healed first.

MW: Okay. What or who is the Standard of Health? What does a healthy person look like to you?

MT: Someone who is honest about her issues.

MW: So your Standard of Health is a person with issues?

MT: Well … it is a person who is honest about where she is at.

MW: But my question is not about where you are at: my question is about who you want to become.

MT: (silence)

Anyway, it amazes me that people are so quick to either tell a perfect stranger where they are “at,” or to give advice to a perfect stranger.

My advice? Don’t ask, and don’t tell … unless you are paying for the advice, or being paid for it!

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2008

The Laffer Curve

What happens when taxes are lowered, what happens when they are raised: The Laffer Curve. Enjoy. Discuss.

Some Differences Between Being Twenty-five and Fifty-five

The great thing about getting older is that you don't lose all the other ages you've been. ~Madeleine L'Engle

A man's age is something impressive, it sums up his life: maturity reached slowly and against many obstacles, illnesses cured, grief’s and despairs overcome, and unconscious risks taken; maturity formed through so many desires, hopes, regrets, forgotten things, loves. A man's age represents a fine cargo of experiences and memories. ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wartime Writings 1939-1944, translated from French by Norah Purcell

I recently received an email from a person who was wondering why I had written essays on turning 30 years old and another on turning 40, but nothing about turning 50. I wrote back that it took 5 years for me to figure out what in the world happened!

When I was 25, I took myself quite seriously. I was a man with a mission and both the man and the mission must be respected. Now that I am 55, a day doesn’t go by that I don’t laugh at myself.

When I was 25, I was going to accomplish Great Things with my life. Now, I simply hope to do good work, while having some fun.

At 25, there was the posturing and posing of the worldly wise man, the spiritual sage who had answers for everyone else’s doubts and questions. At 55, I realize that there are very few satisfactory answers to any of life’s important questions: there is only faith, hope and love … and that is enough.

At 25, Truth/Orthodoxy was the Be-all and End-all to me: I had it; you needed it. At 55, I have discovered that, however important Truth is, Jesus laid his life down for people, not for theological systems.

When I was 25, conflicts were always experienced as tsunamis. “Put up the barriers, grab the women and children … get to the high ground!” Now, at 55, most conflicts are experienced as an afternoon rainstorm. “This too shall pass.”

At 25, I thought that as I grew older I would grow wiser and more mature, in a linear fashion. At 55, I discover that I am mature over here, immature elsewhere, and wise here, foolish over there. Some days, my past pulls me out of the present: other days, my future pulls me forward. I am 25 and 55 and 15 … all at the same time.

When I was 25, I began thinking of health and fitness, so as to live as long as possible. Now, at 55, I do not believe gaining a few years of longevity is worth forgoing an extra glass of a fine wine with my 10-ounce fillet mignon (medium rare), and then enjoying a flaming crème brûlée

At 25, I wanted time to speed up. At 55, I sure as heck wish it would slow down … to a crawl.

At 25, I thought of 60 as “getting on up in years.” At 55, I don’t think you are a seasoned old geezer until around 80. Once I hit 80, I bet that will change.

At 25, I despaired of my youth, as people frequently impeached my ideas because of it. At 55, I despair of my age, not because people listen to me or not, but because the years ahead of me are far fewer than the years behind, and there is still so much I want to accomplish and experience. The despair increases daily, yet I do not allow it to cripple me: rather, I use it as a motivating force to live in the moment, savoring life, love, possibilities … and being above ground!

Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2008

Celebrity Endoresements of Presidential Hopefuls

Ten Provocative Quotes From Kierkegaard

During the first period of a man’s life the greatest danger is not to take the risk

People understand me so poorly that they do not understand my complaint that they do not understand me

Once you label me, you negate me

Love does not alter the beloved, it alters itself

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced

There is nothing with which every man is so afraid as getting to know how enormously much he is capable of doing and becoming

Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are

The highest and most beautiful things in life are not to be heard about, nor read about, nor seen but, if one will, are to be lived

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself

If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!