Just bad luck! The other day, I finished re-reading Rabbi Kushner’s book “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.” The book is predicated on the death of the man’s son from an incurables disease, and his relationship with God before and after the tragedy. I found this little manuscript thoughtful and, in strange sort of way, extremely peaceful. The net result of the book is, in my interpretation, that God affords us the moral authority that is necessary to live a productive and fulfilling life but he cannot micro-manage individual situations: and rightly so. We can pray for courage, justice and honor, but we cannot pray for a lottery win or to spare the life of my dear father, no matter how precious that special man is to me. Our prayers must be to request that “Pater” be given peace. This is a very morally freeing book: who now takes responsibility for your life? You do in partnership with God. You can freely make your own moral or immoral decisions. Juxtaposed against this piece is Tolstoy’s disquieting novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych. Ivan has it all: progeny, a beautiful wife, a fantastic legal career and good standing in the community. He, however, develops a terminal illness and comes to question everything in his life. The subsequent realization is that he is not satisfied with the way that he has lived and is truly dying, with no chance of reprieve. In my opinion, the obvious message of the book is that physical life is finite and has no chance to be revisited in this form, if at all. We must, therefore, lead a life of fulfillment and joy, not a life led in the shadow of others or consumed by the values of others. In this context, consciousness is a pure gift to be embraced and our personal mission achieved: not an easy task. Knowing this, one would have to question the societal ennui sweeping the earth. Why are millions of people seemingly lost and sailing in a rudderless ship when, to be happy, we only have to make choices? Simply put: we can’t! We are so imbued with the concept of ownership and the value of things that we feel immobile: any potential choice or option, by definition, has an element of risk or loss. Countless individuals toil in pointless economic activities with the mythical belief that their chosen activity will free them: from what they are not sure. Certainly it circumscribes some concept that borders on the American Dream or the delusion of financial “success.” Many intellectuals now place humanity at a crossroads. Can we continue to live in a civilization that allots the tiniest percentage of the population the greatest percentage of the society’s wealth? The answer is a resounding “no.” Socialist countries that seek to balance extreme wealth through taxation with the general needs of the nation might be a more equitable way to achieve economic parity. Few people migrate from the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Sweden or Norway, for example. Is civilization improving or is it continuing an endless cycle of pain and suffering? Ultimately, this is a pointless question. The being that we can truly improve is the self. In that regard, we are totally in control: given that “life is fickle” and we are born with a set of givens: our sex, our skin color, our intelligence, etc. We are left with a thought by Steven Covey (1): Ineffective people live day after day with unused potential. They experience synergy only in small, peripheral ways in their lives. But creative experiences can be produced regularly, consistently, almost daily in people’s lives. It requires enormous personal security and openness and a spirit of adventure. (Reprinted from August 6^th 2013)

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Myths are a double-edged sword. They imbue every society with fear or with hope. One thrust perhaps leads you into a life of inquiry and intellectual development; while the other parry, defensively, may produce a life-long search for false gods: arguably money and power. Defensively because you can never accumulate enough of these entities: the other evening I watched an interesting speech given by a man by the name of Dylan Ratigan.  The nexus of his speech was that we get the society that we deserve (1) and, subliminally, want. So, we ultimately must change our personal paradigm if we want to change the society. He goes on to cite the example of the American volunteer army. It comprises one percent of the American population. It does the nation’s bidding in a voyeuristic, video-playing way. We watch the news with a type of detachment that has no virtual placement in our day-to-day lives. We enjoy the paraphernalia of power, the flags, the uniforms, the ceremonies over dead “heroes,” etc., but only rarely is it related to our reality. If you consider the concept of creating your own legend, exciting and dangerous portals are opened. One quickly thinks of Pandora’s Box, (2) once opened, the old reality cannot be recovered. Certainly the most impressionable demographic is comprised of young people under the age of twenty-five or thirty. They have finished school and are now exposed to the “real world.” They have grown up in a technologically-oriented reality and have been exposed to a unique part of their psyche: the part of the brain that is stimulated by gaming. The Roman Empire kept the “mob at bay” through a system of bread and circuses. To watch a gladiator fight was time consuming and appeasing: my belly is full and my desires have been satiated, therefore, no rioting today. Is gaming a good or bad social phenomenon? A curious example: Many games are stunningly realistic, violent and bloody. They give us a version of the fight or mission that is sanitized and unemotional, the only sensation being whether I have lost or won. Who joins the American military (or any military for that matter)? They are either opportunistic or patriotic. Statistically, contrary to the popularly held belief, the US military is decidedly middle-class and ethnically diverse. By extension, they can afford the smart phones, the I-pads, etc.: life being a computer-generated game. The complexity of war, of course, is predicated on reality: when your buddy is shot in the head, he is dead. The suicide rate amongst soldiers and veterans is well above those killed in combat. I posit that the transition from game to actuality is too overwhelming for many individuals. (3) To sift to a new model of living will be adventurous but difficult. Every bone in your body is pushing you to buy more “stuff,” most of which is boring and quickly discarded. In our new world, we must find a unique way to live that placates our desires and yet allows us to grow spiritually and emotionally. At Regal, we promote two very elemental concepts: you are your own real teacher (and therefore have a deeply personal responsibility for your own life) and you are beautiful and unique (regardless of your skin color or body type). If we are willing, as a human society, to discard or ameliorate old beliefs, an aura of peace will come to each individual. How do I know that I am alive? Descartes (1596-1650) tells us: Cogito ergo sum (I think, therefore I am). Each of us knows, however, that the question has much broader implications. The ancillary questions being: why am I alive and its concomitant partner, what is my mission in life? Many, many educators now promote the thought that yes you may have a meaningless job at the beginning of your career to make a living. Still, if you want to be that great dancer (and you keep your dream alive), it is achievable. And, like the remaining item in Pandora’s Box, there is always, always, hope. Singer and businessman, Jimmy Dean (1928-2010), leaves us with a thought: I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can always adjust my sails to always reach my destination. (Reprinted from July 6^th 2013)

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