Not Very Enlightening

There are some words that we probably need, but they do not exist.  One that comes to my mind is:  endarkening.  This is the opposite of enlightening.  It means making things much worse in a cosmic sense or, more specifically, leading toward political or national armageddon.  (Since I assume this is MY word, I think I should be entitled to supply MY definition of the word.)  For example, "The extreme partisanship of the current Congress is endarkening."  Usage may evolve further.

What God Is

Somewhere -- I wish I could remember where (maybe Ken Wilber ?) -- I read a story about a conversation between two men (or two people -- it doesn't matter).  It went like this:

Person #1:  Do you believe in God?
Person #2:  What else is there?

This seems, to me, to be the best explanation for what God is.

Love and Marriage

Here are some words of wisdom for people whose lives (or childrens' lives) don't turn out exactly as planned.  Helen, who was a friend of mine long ago, once said, "All of my children fell in love, got married, and had children,  . . .  but not necessarily in that order."

I Know How You Feel

I've always felt that for someone to say "I know how you feel" is rather presumptuous.  No, I feel like saying, you definitely do NOT know how I feel.  How could you possibly know how I feel?  How could anyone (except me) know how I feel?  I can appreciate the generally good intentions that people have when saying this, but it still bothers me.  I think that people should find other ways to express empathy.

Once, when I was talking with a coworker in the hallway, I mentioned how much this phrase bothered me.  She said that, yes, it bothered her a lot, too.  Only then did I remember that she was a transgendered person -- a woman who was formerly a man.  Wow.   Here was a really great example of the point I was trying to make.  After all, how many people could possibly know how she felt?

Mixed Messages

All the while I was growing up, I felt like I was getting mixed messages.  One set of mixed messages was that, on the one hand, everyone needs to get married; on the other hand, all married people are miserable.