Flashes from the Eternal Semaphore

Flashes – The Power of, Reliability of, and Majesty in, the Law

Exclamation Mark Frank Crane begins our discussion with an absolute flash of brilliance from the Eternal Semaphore:

“I am law. I am Nature’s way. By me comes order, unity. In my hand, I hold three gifts: health, happiness, success. I am more clever than the cleverest. I am as old as God. I am the secret of goodness; I am the horror of sin. I am the eternal path, and besides me, there is none else. Without me, men wander in the labyrinth of death.”

Do we understand what Frank Crane is trying to communicate? Nature is ruled by law, God executes actions according to law, and justice and mercy can be served without compromising either. Law is eternal, and nobody can escape the power and majesty of the law. Consider another truth when understanding the majesty of law:

“Give a man a chance, and you will often find him equal to the occasion.” – The Majesty of the Law (Short movie 1910).

What is the potential of a man; nobody but God knows for sure, but through obedience to the law, that man can become more than he ever thought possible. I am listening to M*A*S*H 4077, episode 18, from season 9. This is the episode where two buddies come in wounded, they enlisted together, they got injured, and the buddy discovers he has leukemia. In the same episode, Father Mulcahey is expecting a visit from a Cardinal. Two men were given a chance, faced with difficulty, who both rose to the magnitude of their stations. What is Nature’s way; law. R. W. Alger is quoted:

“Laws are silent assessors of God.”

Father Mulcahy 2 When the law is described, Leo J. Muir provides five words that are inseparably connected to describing what law is:

“Eternal; Immortal; Immutable; Irrevocable; Inexorable!”

Looking back to Rome, how was Rome able to achieve greatness; they wrote their laws down and posted them above everyone’s head to symbolize that no one is above the law. Writing down laws was nothing new, but holding everyone accountable to the law equally was unique in human history. On this single principle, Rome rose in glory and failed ignominiously; everyone was accountable to the law equally. Senator, pauper, soldier, general, no one could escape the equality under the law. How did Rome lose their empire; Ceasar held themselves above the law. At the second that law was to be applied unequally to the various classes of citizens in Rome, the fall of Rome was set in stone.

Flash forward a couple of thousand years, what do we find; the law is no longer the supreme entity governing civilized behavior. For the cost of a lawyer, all laws become rubberized, twistable, and not applicable to those with enough money. More than that, the tools of law, police officers, are not treated to the same laws they are enforcing, and the Monday morning quarterbacks strip them of their initiative, ability, and dignity. Gavel

The USA Today calls this Monday Morning Quarterbacking “transparency.” As a point of fact, USA Today credits their actions to George Floyd’s death. The officers involved in the George Floyd debacle followed standard and acceptable policing procedures. George Floyd died from the drug combination in his system and his own stupidity. Yet, the officers have been harassed into jail, their lives destroyed, their families ruined, all because the George Floyd inanity “looked bad” to the same media who hold themselves above the law. The same laws that magically did not apply to Michael Jackson, politicians like Hillary Clinton, or even the Bidens and Romneys. The media harps and complains when the rules are applied equally to them, and then harps and complain when the law equally applies to causes or people the media protects. What destroyed Rome was the failure to equally apply the law to all citizens regardless of job, title, and friendliness with reporters. H. W. Beecher sums the problem nicely:

“Expedients are for the hour, principles for the ages.”

Laplace also pitches some additional power for consideration:

“Truth and Justice are the immutable laws of social order.”

What is most often missing in modern society, any country globally; truth and justice are the laws of good social order. Calling upon Frank Crane again, we find more consideration upholding the majesty of law:

“Truth is the logic of the universe. It is the reasoning of destiny; it is the mind of God. And nothing that man can devise or discover can take its place.” The only constraints that you have on your income and advancement potential are those you place ...

What are the constraints upon a mans potential; look to the laws that man will obey. Going back to Rome, Julius Caesar was but one of the more notable of Rome’s emperors; what moral laws did he obey; not many. What social laws was he willing to follow; few to none. Is it any wonder he was stabbed? Modern society has the term “Arkancide,” it was invented to describe all the mysterious deaths, accidents, and happenstances that occur to people close to the Clinton political machine. True, nothing has ever been proven, and neither President Clinton nor Hillary Clinton has ever faced justice, and I am not casting aspersions. Merely noting there are a lot of incidents that need full and complete explanations, and transparency and accountability appear to be dodged by the Clintons at every turn.

Not that these two are the only politicians needing to face a judge and jury to explain and expound the whys and wherefores, merely noting they are definitely in the top ten of those needing to come clean about their actions while supposedly being “public servants.” Hence the point of laws and the power in obeying the law. When those who need to explain and expound come clean before the law, this concludes the speculation and truth and justice are meted to those needing it.

Image result for grace and truth came through jesus christ | Law quotes, Lovely quote, Words Think of the great questions in modern society where truth and justice would solidly end speculation. JFK’s murder, Epstein’s “suicide,” TWA Flight 800, Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson, etc. Yet, for all the world, the truth remains missing, and questions rightly remain. What is the power of law; the ability to publish the truth. Consider the wise words of Rousseau:

“Truth is the most precious of all blessings; it is the eye of reason.”

Radcliffe detailed the same semaphore a little differently:

“There is no progress in fundamental truth. We may grow in [the] knowledge of its meaning, and in the modes of its application, but its great principles will forever be the same.”

Both authors are semaphoring the same message and provide clarity of reason to denounce the falsehood that the US Constitution is a “living breathing document.” This constitutional republic’s foundational principles of the American experiment are not living or breathing but are alive only through our continuing growth of knowledge in how we apply the principles. Only those who would destroy the law talk of the principles as “living and breathing,” easily changed,” or “plasticized” into any shape to justify the application of law to let the guilty free and punish the innocent. Law Cartoon # 6402 - ANDERTOONS

Cast your mind upon the first amendment to the US Constitution, also the first of the rights discussed in the US Bill of Rights:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Why is this the first right in the US Bill of Rights; without this right being acknowledged by the government, the executors of government would have zero restraint before forcing people to believe what they choose them to believe. Communism in China requires the CCP member to carry their “little red book” close to their hearts. Mimicking and parroting the twisted ideals of Mao, who learned them from Marx. Equally as important is the final phrase, the “right of the people to PEACEABLY assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances [emphasis mine].” Tell me, how often have riots been “peaceful petitions for grievances to be redressed” in any of the recent years? I repeat only for emphasis, when you block traffic, start fires, yell, scream, destroy property, etc., you are no longer “peaceably assembled” you are a terrorist group, and the total weight of the law should come down upon; you! Ravi Zacharias Quote: "Justice is the handmaiden of truth, and when truth dies, justice is ...

Consider all the “criminal justice reform,” “bail reform,” and other legislated and judicial chicanery foisted upon the American citizenry. Surely Colton and Joseph Parker are semaphoring an urgent message:

“Truth, like light, travels only in straight lines.”

“Falsehood is in a hurry; it may be at any moment detected and punished. Truth is calm, serene; its judgments on high; its king cometh out of the chambers of eternity.”

Leo J. Muir asks a question worthy of deep consideration, “Why this rigorous inflexibility of law?” The answer should be apparent, especially when considering Rome and comparing America’s growth and current deterioration, “The immutability of law is the assurance of progress and the guaranty of justice upon the Earth.” The US Constitution cannot be an easily plasticized document and still be a foundational bedrock of this constitutional republic. A stone cannot be like silly putty, a non-Newtonian fluid. Solid one moment, flexible another, shatterable, and resilient. Laws cannot be a law and be shapeable and moldable to a situation, for then it is no longer a law, but a good suggestion applicable only to specific situations and people. Is the point clear? truth : alcoholism

William Ernest Henley, in his immortal poem, “Invictus,” declares this immutable truth poignantly in the final stanza:

“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.”

The entire poem Invictus is a declaration of the majesty of law, the power of law, and the reliability of law. Obedience of law does produce fruit or consequences for choices made, and in that choice and consequence cycle comes the justice and mercy of the law. Once, I was asked, when I step before the bar of God, for a final judgment, do I want a lawyer or an advocate? I do not want a lawyer, for a lawyer only plays with the law. I want an advocate who knows the law, is aware of my good and ill choices, and can plead my case as if my fate was worth the universe’s weight. How would you answer, and why? Do you understand the role of law better? What will you do right now to honor the law, even if in honoring the law you must loyally oppose those who are twisting the law for personal gain?

Knowledge Check! Let me be perfectly clear; I abhor the suffering the Ukrainian people are experiencing in the strongest language. I denounce the actions of Russia in creating violence. But, Zelensky is using the excuse of a Russian invasion to destroy the laws of Ukraine and create a dictatorship. These actions are as reprehensible to me as the invasion of Ukraine! Yet, if the American citizenry does not awake and arise, using the laws currently written, we too will see ourselves in a similar position. Where the laws of America are twisted out of shape and then used as a cudgel to beat the American spirit out of her people, and destroy the last bastion of freedom on Earth. The saving grace for America is her laws, and her citizenry needs to demand that all are equal under the law, for the innocent to escape and the guilty to be punished.

Let us now understand the role of law and thank “Whatever gods may be” for the immutable power of law!

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images. Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Flashes – The Law of the Harvest

Exclamation Mark Consider a well-known truth that never appears to be fully understood, does a man sow thistles and reap strawberries? Leo J. Muir’s book, “Flashes from the Eternal Semaphore,” lists this as the fifth semaphore, and of the six semaphores, this one is probably my favorite to discuss. Not because I am sowing rocks and reaping corn and beans, but because I often sow rancid vegetables and reap garbage, then wonder why I cannot improve my harvest. As the writings on flash four stated, “Thy speech betrayeth thee,” I am a slow learned and generally only really grasp things after experiencing some consequences that would kill others. As we discuss the Law of the Harvest, please note I am not here to convince or convert, merely to help myself. If you find value in this topic, join me, teach me, that we may both then learn more perfectly.

The law of the harvest is straightforward; many farmers know this law cold, “You reap what you sow.” If you sow lima beans, you do not raise grapes. If you are sowing carrots, you cannot harvest apples. No matter how many times you plant them, Cheerios do not sprout a doughnut tree; I know as I planted a LOT of Cheerios. Bubble gum, when planted, never grows into a bubble gum tree; my mother lied!

Yet, with this mindset, many people, myself included, become depressed, disconnected from reality, and mentally unstable. Thinking, oh, I can sow gossip and truth, and equity and justice will be shown to me. I can tell lies, cheat, steal, then become rich, famous, and never have any negative consequences. I can take and plant some cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, etc., in my body and remain healthy, strong, active, and never suffer mentally, emotionally, or spiritually. The law of the harvest doesn’t work like this, yet, this remains the greatest living lie. Quotes About Reaping What You Sow. QuotesGram

From the eternal semaphore comes the following:

“Be NOT Deceived! [emphasis mine]”

Now, consider how many people drink alcohol and expect not to suffer a hangover. Consider the people consuming vast amounts of sugar, in all its various forms, who think they will never suffer diabetes, become overweight, or suffer any consequences from all that sugar. My aunt is a great woman, fantastic artist, amazingly kind and generous person, and a chocoholic. She never thought about the consequences of consuming chocolate because the research shows chocolate is healthy; she never could overcome the mental illness she suffered from that the chocolate was a comforting influence. Her family mourns her passing!

The law of the harvest is a stern warning and an incredible promise.

“He that soweth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

The pattern is evident for those struggling who sow goodness, kindness, and happiness. Hold on; your harvest WILL come, and it will be glorious. In the same breath, those sowing hate, envy, strife, malice, greed, and so much more, your harvest is also coming, and I feel awful for what your harvest will be. For the law of the harvest comes with a profound sentiment:

“God will not be mocked.” Frederick William Robertson Quote: "You reap what you sow - not something else, but that. An act ...

I promise, there is a God, an atonement IS available through His Son, and the Holy Ghost is real and powerful. The enclosed sentiment in the Law of the Harvest remains my comfort when harvesting the bitter fruits my heart grows. Yes, many times, I quake for the thought that I desperately need to find a way to raise a better crop on the stony ground of my heart. Long have I prayed for a change of heart, for a line from Stephen King’s “Pet Sematary” rings forever in my mind:

“The soil of a man’s heart is stony ground. A man grows what he can, and he tends it. ‘Cause, what you buy is what you own. And what you own… always comes home to you.”

If you get nothing more out of this flash than the need to change fertilizers and seeds, all with an eye to improving your harvest, I have accomplished my goal. Confucius is quoted as saying, “Our headstrong passions shut the doors of our souls against God.” What great counsel, our passions are the seeds, the consequences are the fruit, and the law of the harvest governs whether we will have a harvest to enjoy or curse, and we choose how to value that harvest.

Bear with me a moment; I might have lost a few of you. Let me explain. As a kid, we often had gardens, and I was regularly on the working end of a hoe killing weeds. I cursed those weeds; I despised every second I wielded that hoe in the garden. My cherub-like demeanor was nowhere to be found working those garden rows! Then came the endless days of harvesting, canning, storing, and eating that which could not be stored; I still was NOT a happy person. Ever eat zucchini for weeks on end because that horrible stuff reproduces like rabbits in perpetual heat whose water is full of Viagra? You reap what you sow. #bible #liveBigly #life #affiliate #quote #inspiration #message #world # ...

That is the point; when the harvest comes, and a harvest always comes, we choose how we value that which is being harvested. My father tried hard to teach me this lesson, but all I ever saw were the endless hours sweating in a kitchen preparing jars for canning, the blisters from hoeing the weeds, and the time spent doing that which we would eventually purchase in cans as winter dragged on and on. I could not see any value in gardening, so the blessings of the harvest were lost on me. Headstrong passions blinded my eyes to the blessings of the harvest, and I cursed the day I was conceived. Confucius is correct, and I have witnessed the problems with headstrong passions interfering with the Law of the Harvest many times since.

I am also experiencing the truth from Cicero:

“A youth of sensuality and intemperance delivers over to old age a worn-out body.”

I would add, an intemperate youth also yields a worn-out mind! Having observed this as a youth, I thought I could escape the problems of being intemperate, and I can honestly proclaim, I was wrong! Since my youth, I lifted objects heavier than practical; I gloried in the strength of my body and pushed it to the absolute limit many times. What am I reaping; I was disabled by the time I was 30. I am now older but not wiser. I still want to push my boundaries without regard for consequences and wind up on the floor, in hospital, or mentally unable to think properly for weeks on end. As a kid, when my parents were told of one of their kids being punished (a not infrequent occurrence), they regularly said, “Well, he brought that on himself.” To quote Ray Stevens, “Yeah, I Did!” I did bring on myself the harvest of intemperance and am delivering a worn-out body and mind to old-age. There are lots of seeds we plant and many different types of harvests we reap. When valuing the harvest, choose wisely how you evaluate the crop. #everything #you #do #say #choice #soon #later #quote #lessons #learned #life | Lessons learned ...

Pliny, more famously known as Gaius Plinius Secundus, also known as Pliny, the Elder,” was a Roman author, naturalist, philosopher, and naval and army commander. He is quoted as saying:

“Lust is an enemy to the purse, a foe to the person, [a] canker to the mind, a corrosive to the conscience, a weakness of the wit, a besotter of the senses, and finally a mortal bane to all of the body.”

Lust is regularly only thought of as an intense sexual desire. This type of lust definitely fits what Pliny is warning about; however, lust is also an overwhelming craving, unassailable desire, and intense eagerness or enthusiasm. Yet, many might not fully grasp the semaphore Pliny is flashing; Henry Wordsworth Longfellow might be easier to understand:

“The blossoms of passion, gay and luxuriant flowers, are bright and full of fragrance, but they beguile us and lead us astray, and their odor is deadly.”

Henry Giles and John Howe are both flashing the same message, trying to capture our attention and teach the same lesson:

“The passions are at once tempters and chastisers. As tempters, they come with garlands of flowers on brows of youth; as chastisers, they appear with wreaths of snakes on the forehead of deformity. They are angels of light in their delusions; they are fiends of torment in their afflictions.”

“Sensual delights soon end in loathing, quickly bring a glutting surfeit, and degenerate into torment.”

What do you regret from your youth as the first tastes of passion’s deadly fruits? Let me speak plainer; of course, you remember your first time in love, the rush of passions start, and the heartbreak of closure. Do you see the seeds of passion and the harvested fruits as beneficial or deadly? I know my answers to this question and understand more fully why modesty, chastity, and virtue are to be honored, respected, and cherished. You choose how you evaluate your experiences. You reap what you sow | Everyday quotes, Peace quotes, One word inspiration

I currently work with a person who curses their ex-wife in the vilest language imaginable, yet, they praise their child in the same breath and bless the day they came into their life. What seeds are being planted in the child, the co-workers, and society? Will the bitter fruit be understood and evaluated as good? Time will tell. Byron summed this semaphore perfectly:

“Vice digs her own voluptuous tomb.”

Of all the advice given, I wish I had observed the following more perfectly, and while I do not know the author, many have semaphored the following message in one form or another:

“Shun the obscene!”

A long time back, exactly when escaped me, I watched a comedian who told some off-color stories for the audience’s amusement. Those seeds bore some of the most pernicious weeds in my mind, choking out life and pleasure, goodness, and all things clean and kind. Killing those weeds is a constant exercise, some would classify as futile. But, I have chosen differently and fought those weeds desiring something better, and the fight continues. I do not find swearing, debauchery, lewdness, immorality, perversion, and such amusing anymore. When I came to myself, I cleaned out a LOT of entertainment, removing books, magazines, music, movies, and more in an effort to cling to the good and shun the obscene. I had to re-learn lessons from childhood.

Now I look back on those mistakes, those seeds planted carelessly, and the bitter and thorny weeds I now fight and wish I could help others understand the same lesson I learned. Not shunning the obscene leads to problems immeasurable. In the US Navy, I had a good acquaintance who went to a party, was slipped a mickey, and woke up having been raped by another female. I counseled my friend to report this event and get tested. My friend declined because she “did not know if she liked it or not.” I mourned my friend that day and many days after as she experienced what happened after not shunning the obscene. Before she revealed her true self, her rapist was a person I respected and who was removed from military service for other actions. But the crime of rape went unreported, a sad commentary indeed! John Howe was absolutely correct:

“Sensual delights soon end in loathing, quickly bring a glutting surfeit, and degenerate into torment.”

My friend’s experience in the US Navy always brings a poem to mind courtesy of Alexander Pope:

“Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
as to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”

The truth of the matter remains permanently etched upon our souls or consciousness, “You reap what you sow.” We inherently know this truth, and then become sidetracked by temptation, which comes in the forms of misery, depression, beauty, emotions, and more; wrapped in shiny foil, the fruit inside is always bitter, but the first bite is a temptation that over time becomes that which we would have died to avoid. Robert Southey, the English poet, semaphored this message thusly:

“They who engage in iniquitous designs deceive themselves into thinking that they will go so far and no farther. One fault begets another; one crime makes another necessary. Thus downward they go into the depths of guilt, which at the commencement of their career they would have died rather than incurred.”

Question Can you relate to your experiences with planting and harvesting? What are you teaching and semaphoring? Dr. Johnson adds a comment worth remembering: “The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.” While Dr. Johnson is correct, there is a “Balm in Gilead,” there are chain cutters available through repentance and a path back. There is a reason to hope! Not speaking religiously, nor am I here to convert anyone to any religious flavor, merely to alert those needing it that there is a way to clean your mind and heart, that your future may produce a better harvest. Even if you might have to harvest garbage for a while as the ground cleans itself of the impurities dumped into it. Mr. Muir quotes Simons, a reference unknown, regarding the path:

“Impure thoughts awaken impure feelings, lead to impure expressions, and beget impure actions, and these lead to imbecility both of body and of mind, and to the ruin of all that is noble and pure in character.”

We who have survived youthful transgressions understand this path perfectly. Note, we live in an age of severe iconoclasm, where every day, we are bombarded by attacks on established beliefs by institutions built for the sole purpose of tearing down others. Who cannot replace their depravity and destruction with anything wholesome, good, pure, or worthwhile. Where beliefs of religion, societal norms, and institutions representing the living and breathing were destroyed for the wanton pleasure of the iconoclasts. The age of the iconoclasts began with the 1960s, and nothing built since is worth the pain and suffering we are experiencing now. Worse, those iconoclasts from the 1960s are now teachers and professors, elected leaders, and their legacy of destruction stares them in the face while they laugh and take pleasure at your suffering. Quotes About Reaping What You Sow. QuotesGram

With each successive generation of iconoclastic behavior, the succeeding generations are a factor of 10 worse than their parents. Think of how many generations have come and multiplied this abhorrent behavior into society. Is it any wonder as a society we are in the mess we are in, where criminals get off, the victims are repeatedly punished, good is heralded as evil and evil for good. But, I promise there is a “Balm in Gilead,” there is a path forward that leads back to life, growth, happiness, goodness, and a morally upright society. Shunning the obscene is the first step!

Knowledge Check! We must be the generation that begins the repair job from the iconoclast’s destruction. The ravages inflicted upon us will require re-learning, embracing hope, building faith, and acting charitably through faith and hope to act charitably first to ourselves, then to our families and friends, and then to the broader societies we all live in. Whether you embrace a religious community or not, the imperative to “Shun the obscene:” the need to sow better crops to reap a more desirable harvest valued by others is universal. Not to create fervor and fanaticism, but to create a people dedicated to improving ourselves and after improving ourselves to improve the world around us.

May we all enjoy a better harvest is my hope!

Flashes – How is your quest for JOY coming?

Bobblehead Doll Long before I read Leo J. Muir’s book, “Flashes from the Eternal Semaphore,” I knew I wanted to find joy. But, I was stuck; what is joy and how do I identify joy were my first two obstacles. Yet, from many sources comes the following, in many different forms:

“Man is that he might find joy.”

What is Joy?

An appeal to the dictionary confuses joy and happiness, forming part of the problem where understanding joy is concerned. The closest definition for joy coming from the dictionary is to define joy as an ecstatic feeling, pleasure, or deep satisfaction. But, if a person goes around chasing a euphoric feeling, they will be disappointed in pursuing joy. If we consider joy as not an emotion but the result of an unexpected event that creates feelings of peace and contentment, then joy is more fully understood, but the quest for joy becomes more challenging to pursue. How does one pursue an unexpected gift?

Christians, and some Jews, share a description of joy as a “good feeling in the soul, produced by a visit from the Holy Ghost (Spirit); thus, joy is felt as a consequence of a visit from another being. However, unless you pursue education into those religions, you still might not fully grasp what joy is and why we seek joy so ardently. One of the most straightforward descriptions for joy comes from the writings of Pope, an English author from the 16^th century who wrote:

“Reason’s whole pleasure, all the joys of sense, lie in the three words –health, peace, and competence.”

Hence the pursuit of joy is gaining health, peace, and competence. So we can conclude that joy is found in possessing health, peace, and competence, as a consequence or good feeling stemming from achieving these three items. Now, I know someone will get bent out of shape here; what if I have poor health, how can I pursue joy? The answer lies in understanding peace and competence as co-equal parts of health.

Recently on YouTube, I watched an amputee discuss their amputation, health, peace, and display their competence. One could argue that losing a foot is poor health, yet this person glows with good health for having joined health to peace and competence. By the same token, I know several people who possess poor health, are depressed from not finding peace, and are not competent. While working with mental health patients, I met a person in a wheelchair who cannot walk, can barely speak, and this person chooses to live on the street in misery. This person has plenty of money for an apartment but chooses to live on the street eating from garbage cans in abject misery. Thus, we can see the need for combining health, peace, and competence to obtain joy. One might even define joy as a consequence of choices that build a life. However, and this is critical, the feelings of joy are internal!

Imperative to understanding joy as a consequence is the need to grasp that joy is an internal feeling of ecstasy, delight, and wonder while dependent upon health, peace, and competence. We cannot understate this importance nor overstate the criticality of joy to the combination of health, peace, and competence. I have met very depressed people who possess competence but cannot find joy. I have met people with great health and who are miserable. Possessing one or two of these components does not disqualify you from obtaining joy or pursuing joy, but lacking all three will not produce joy in any quantity or with any staying power. Joy is not an event in life but a collection of events from life, where “everything just clicked.” 50+ Joy Quotes - a Perspective on Life | iCreateDaily | Quotes

Finally, it must be expressly noted joy is not an emotion; thus, joy cannot be chosen from a list of emotions to fit circumstances. Since joy is not an emotion, this is where happy and joy are most often confused. If an external event occurs, and health, peace, and competence are not present, happiness, not joy, is being felt or experienced. If health, peace, and competence are present, and the feeling of joy swells inside, independent of all other factors, then joy is being experienced.

Case in point, in the US Navy, I served in a toxic working environment as a highly competent sailor. I possessed health and, through inner strength, enjoyed peace inside myself. Frequently, I would experience joy, even though external elements and environments appeared expressly designed to “make me miserable.” By choosing to disallow an external event to choose my emotions, peace was mine, and joy was a consequence. Joy Quotes 3 | QuoteReel

Another English author from the 16^th century was Edward Young, who concluded the following:

“On the soft bed of luxury, most kingdoms have expired.”

What is happiness?

The definition of happiness is as convoluted as the definition of joy. Consider the following: “Any state of being, having considerable permanence, in which pleasure predominates over pain.” Yeah, that’s going to help a person understand! Sarcasm aside, the definitions of happiness also include some interesting aspects for consideration: fortuitous aptness or fitness, grace, beauty, and felicitousness. Happiness is also the quality or state of being happy, as if that actually helps.

Happy, the root word of happiness, is defined as cheerful, willing, possessing good luck or fortunate, a marked pleasure satisfaction, or showing the same. What the dictionary skips, and the elements needed for understanding happy and happiness, is that being happy relies upon external factors and is a choice. We choose to emote happy or happiness based upon external forces, societies, people, events, and environments. Spread Happiness Quotes. QuotesGram

Steven Aitchison is quoted as saying, “Happiness begins with the decision to no longer feel sad.” Is it clear that happiness, like all emotions, is a choice? The importance of choosing our emotions cannot be understated, and many of life’s biggest problems would disappear if we chose better emotional responses to external stimuli. Aristotle provides the final word on happiness:

“True happiness comes from gaining insight and growing into your best possible self. Otherwise, all you’re having is immediate gratification pleasure, which is fleeting and doesn’t grow you as a person.”

What is the difference between Joy and Happiness?

Of a truth for certain, confusing Joy and Happiness leads to despair, misery, and failure. Please keep the following clearly in mind; happiness is external. Happiness is based on situations, events, people, places, things, and thoughts. Happiness is connected to your hope. Believe it or not, the following observation is not religious thinking, faith builds hope, hope builds charity, and charity is nothing but an outward action of an inner commitment (faith). Happiness is faith and hope expressed for everyone to see. Put the words in any order and use a thesaurus. The result never varies; happiness is a consequence (resulting from) of faith and hope combined into action, and others might call that action charity. Quotes about happiness

If further questions arise about distinguishing between joy and happiness, please review the above definitions where I have attempted to clarify the delineation. One essential factor in pursuing peace is time to reflect, which promotes peace and distills into competence. Competence breeds from education (formal and informal) applied over time and understood through reflection. Peace is stability, mental calm and derives from reflection and additional education (formal and informal). Health can be physical, mental, and spiritual, but of these three, mental and spiritual are more important than physical health. Again, when combined, independent of all external forces and environments, joy is the consequence, not happiness!

Please allow me to point out something truly obvious when a person wishes you joy, they generally also include happiness as an addition to their blessing. For example, the Whitney Houston song whose lyrics claim:

“I wish to you joy and happiness. But above all this, I wish you love.”

Thus confirming that joy and happiness are two distinct and separate entities. The US Constitution allows and encourages a person to pursue “Life, liberty, and happiness” as inalienable rights.” Joy is not included! Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying:

“The US Constitution doesn’t guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself.”

The Quest for Joy

The quest for joy begins with education (formal and informal) as a building block for competence and to begin the process of finding peace. While influenced by external factors (drugs, alcohol, disease, viruses, bacteria, etc.), health requires mental and spiritual inputs and is not content without peace. Choosing to accept physical limitations is part of building mental and spiritual peace, and the human body cannot long survive without mental and spiritual health and peace, but the body can long endure physical health problems if mental and spiritual health remains. Meme Quotes » Happiness

Another truth becomes evident when questing for joy, “Joy dwells in the ordinary.” Consider this for a moment; a person gives another person a flower. Ordinary, simplistic, and yet this giving provides joy to the giver and receiver. How swift and fleeting is the happiness of Christmas, where the gifts are generally more extravagant, costly, and luxurious, but a simple flower can spark a world of memories.

Why bees & biodiversity benefit from indigenous wildflowers My granddaughter, a toddler at the time, and I took a walk. She found a wildflower in the midst of thousands of other flowers on this walk which was important to her. Upon our walk concluding, we pressed that flower into a book. The time spent with her remains a cherished memory for me, and when I see wildflowers, the memories of this walk and flower pressing come back readily. Truly, joy is found in the ordinary!

Elbert Hubbard reminds us that:

“Ozone and friendship will be our stimulants – let the drugs, tobacco, and strong drink go forever. Natural joy brings no headaches and no heartaches.”

Why; because natural joy combines health, peace, and competence into a powerful force. No further stimulation is needed or wanted. Bulwer Lytton provides the best flashing sign for contemplation:

“We lose the peace of years when we hunt after the rapture of the moments.”

What will you sacrifice in the quest for joy, the peace of years, or the rapture of moments? One of the most miserable people I have ever met chased rapture in the moments and could not understand why chasing momentous euphoria did not lead to anything other than the chase for more rapturous moments. Like any drug, the mind and body build a resistance to the drug over time, and more and more of the drug is required to obtain a similar experience. Be the drug sugar, chocolate, heroin, cocaine, tobacco, alcohol, etc., the pattern is the same, and the consequences are the same. Depression, anxiety, addiction, destruction, call the consequences what you will, chasing the rapture of moments is death.

We conclude with the following from Robert Louis Stevenson, may his words ring out on our journey for joy as a beacon and a sounding board to base decisions upon:

“He has achieved success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much; who has gained the respect of intelligent men and the love of little children; who has filled his niche and accomplished his task; who has left the world better than he found it, whether by an improved poppy, a perfect poem, or a rescued soul; who has never lacked appreciation of earth’s beauties, nor failed to express it; who has always looked for the best in others and given the best he has; whose life is an inspiration; whose memory, a benediction.”

May your quest for joy be fruitful!

Flashes – Conquering Self: The Best and Last Victory

Mumble March 14^th is National Pie Day! I celebrate a lot of life with food. We begin the second flash with Plato, “The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.” In looking around, the worst things we see originate in failing to accept responsibility and refusing to conquer oneself. Consider the alcoholic or the smoker; nobody had to pressure them into their vices, nobody poured drinks or cigarette smoke into their bodies, but psychologists declare alcoholism is a disease, and smoking is the fault of cigarette manufacturers. Really, or are these addictions merely failure to conquer the enemy within.

I am not judging anyone; you are free to believe what you will. I am making an observation, and the observation is founded upon both personal experiences and the sciences of addiction and addiction recovery. The best addiction recovery programs teach one how to begin to conquer oneself. No other changes to a person’s psychology occur, except becoming free from an addictive substance. Take Da Vinci, who said, “You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself!”

Suppose both Plato and Da Vinci are to be believed. In that case, we can know for fact the truth behind addiction recovery and psychology and the lie behind addictions being a disease — the Hollywood myths being perpetrated against society, that conquering self is old-fashioned, unpopular, or trivial. Consider your favorite movie or TV show, preferably one glamorizing drinking, smoking, or other behaviors anti-self-control. Using an example, M*A*S*H 4077^th often featured heavy drinking of what was supposed to be alcohol but was water. One star from the show reported that had they drunk as much as the show reported them drinking, they would have died or been severely injured.

Moving from Hollywood, let us explore other areas where controlling oneself is necessary but is constantly refused. James Thompson stated, “Real glory springs from the silent conquest of ourselves.” Look at the capitals of your city, county, state, or nation; what do you find; little to no self-control and worse sarcasm when anyone who practices self-control is spotted. Catch the latest rant from Biden? 113 self control quotes to get you inspired (page 1 of 7)

Florida passed legislation asking teachers to restrain themselves where advanced topics of sex are concerned and teach the subjects they were hired to teach. What did Governor DeSantis face; scorn, ridicule, and threats of violence. Where did these bad behaviors originate; from those who practice the least amount of self-control in American society. King Solomon states without equivocation, “Who then is free? The wise man who can govern himself.”

Think about the most outrageous members of society, the pains they suffer mentally, physically, and emotionally for their lifestyle choices, which stems from their blatant refusal to practice self-control. Never forget what Victor Hugo said, “People do not lack strength, they lack will.” Mirabeau adds that “Nothing is impossible to the man who can will.” Think of a two-year-old; why are the “Two’s” considered terrible; the child is beginning to exercise personality, and personality is 99% willpower. The child has tons of will but not the intelligence to know what to do with that personality, thankfully, the child also lacks the size and strength to force their will, or the entire world would tremble.

Napoleon reported, “A resolute determination is the truest wisdom.” Olive Wendell Holmes Jr. is quoted as saying, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.” In these two pieces of wisdom hangs the test for responsible people and the aspirations of a person willing to learn and try. More to the point, they form a measuring stick for society, especially the American culture. Are we resolute and determined? Are we seeking new experiences, even if the experience is nothing more than mastering a habit that has beguiled us for too long? More, are we expecting resolution and determination from those who aspire to be elected to office?

Over the weekend, America witnessed the lack of determination and spinless lack of resolution in Vice President Kamala Harris, and the world weeps! That cackling fool must have worn her feather panties for all the laughing she did, and this is NOT the appropriate message to be sending out right now. The world needs leadership, and we get a clown and a doddering old fool who cheated an election. We need a Winston Churchill, a Ronald Reagan, an Abraham Lincoln, and we got Biden and his clowns. Is the distinction clear about who to select for elected leaders?

Is America worth fighting for? That question is too big to answer and contains a thousand variables. Let’s ask a fundamental question, are you worth fighting for? In America, you can change yourself, and in changing, you realize a totally different future than the one your parents suffered. In fighting for you, you change society in America. Are you worth fighting for?

In answering this question, you reveal both your hopes and your wishes. I believe you are worth fighting for; do you believe you are worth fighting for? What will you do today that makes today different from yesterday, that will make tomorrow different from today? The second flash is the most personal, reflecting the power inherent in each person to choose. The freedom of agency is a priceless commodity. When enshrined in law, the US Constitution, self-control or the lack of self-control will be reflected in society and national discussions Inspirational Quotes On Self Control. QuotesGram .

I cannot emphasize the following enough, the soul sickness America is suffering right now is directly tied to a lack, an absence, and a dearth of self-control. Open any news program, and the headlines scream problems with the law, war, oppression, all of these social ills find their roots in a lack of self-control. A woman stabbed her date because of the American Drone strike policy; lacking self-control, her date almost died. Another woman was hit punched more than 125 times because her attacker lacked the self-control to keep his hands to himself. Crime waves are sweeping the nation, all from a lack of self-control. America is sick, and the disease stems from individuals who refuse to exercise self-control. Self-control is strength... | Words quotes, Wisdom quotes ...

War represents a national lack of self-control. Russia invading Ukraine is nothing but self-control writ large. What is the media doing; they are cheering a lack of self-control, “If it bleeds, it leads,” has been the axiom controlling the media’s interest, which is part of the problem. Self-control does not sell newspapers, but it sure does brag and cheer for the dregs of society to act like two-year-olds in the candy aisle of Walmart. Ever notice how if the child throwing a tantrum does not get the attention, they stop; guess what happens when public shaming occurs, and no attention is paid to the dregs acting like spoiled children?

Self-control is one of those principles that many will never understand until they are forced to learn self-control. Others will never believe the problem could be resolved simply as a person exercising self-control to fix this national sickness. Yet, I promise you the answer is this simple and elegant, plus it is effective. When more people understand and cast derision and aspersions for those lacking self-control, a massive shift in liberty, rights, freedom will blossom like new dawn over the globe.

Knowledge Check! Try this as a guiding principle in your life, and watch it turn your world upside down for the better. As a foodie, I will celebrate more responsibly National Pie Day. I have a hunger to eat an entire pie right now. But I will practice what I preach and introduce some self-control, for I want, and need, tomorrow to be better than today. If celebrating National Pie Day, please enjoy responsibly. All pie recipes are gladly shared.

Flashes – First World Nation Problems

Bobblehead Doll Since Russia invaded Ukraine, no longer is the truth able to hide; America has been pursuing easy things, making America weak! Several years ago, I was in a used book store and found “Flashes from the Eternal Semaphore” by Leo J. Muir. I count myself extremely blessed to have found and purchased this treasured book! Mr. Muir explains that a semaphore is a means of using flags to send messages, and people have been using flags to send messages for a lot of the earth’s recorded history. The author declared that regardless of religion, certain truths are timeless, ageless, and failure to learn and live these truths brings destruction to civilization.

The first flash/truth is that pursuing easy things makes people weak. Consider for a moment a German proverb, “The hard is the good.” Work is an eternal principle; it does not change if you believe, or do not believe in, God, god, or gods. The need to work, to pursue difficult tasks makes boys into Men, girls into Women, and at the end of life reflects honor and dignity in a life well-lived. Yet, what do we find daily as the life to pursue, playing games, rest, recreation, and all the waste this involves.

I know not the source, but as a kid, I heard someone complain that the hardest and most difficult job in the world is being a person of leisure. As a kid, I had worked my fingers to the bone every day, going to bed bone-weary and mind tired. To hear this man talk blew my mind, for I would have given anything to have less work to do. Yet, during periods of unemployment, I have wept in frustration for not having a job that tasked my mind and body. In employment right now, I often look around and ask what else is there to do, for I feel like I am cheating my employer. Some call this a work ethic, I call is being responsible, professional, and honest in my dealings with my fellow-man.

A friend informed me that most people do not think similarly, and I wonder why. My friend said it was a “First-World Nation Problem.” He explained that in first-world nations, you have to go a long distance to find anyone who works like I do and thinks work is necessary. Mr. Muir reminds us, “There is no immunity from the penalty of indolence and irresponsibility.” Think of that, too much idleness, too many video games, not enough personal responsibility builds weak people, and there is no social or personal immunity, no vaccination, from the consequences.

What’s worse, First-World nations are passing this malady around the globe. We are sick from the disease of not working, akin to catching polio, leprosy, or a fatal case of pneumonia; the disease can be treated, but the effects are life-changing. You cannot achieve for your ability is curtailed. We have forgotten that “There is NO excellence WITHOUT labor” [emphasis added]. I remember assignments from K-12 that left me physically drained from the mental exertions, and I remember lazing my way through lessons; in both situations, the grade I earned was of my own creation! Believe me, my parents were exercised to see my low grades, and I had my school and home work increased to new levels to achieve learning that one lesson, “There is NO excellence WITHOUT labor.”

What do we see today? Students are allowed to graduate who cannot read, do simple math, and write their names. We see lowering standards for scholastic performance in K-12, which produces a slug of a student who expects to graduate college. Woefully unprepared people who were abused and allowed to abuse themselves during K-12 due to their skin color, economic situation, or English as a second language. What teachers do you remember from school, those who allowed you to slide, or those who believed in you, challenged you, setting high standards, and then teaching you how to meet those high standards?

I told my friend, and dear reader, I am telling you, the principle of work should not be sacrificed to “Leave no child behind.” If a person sets out to leave no one behind, they get to know their charges, work their charges, set high standards, teach how to reach those high standards, and then urge them on to new growth opportunities. Why did the school boards lower standards; they believe in growing a class of citizenry that can be controlled! Since the late 1800s, this has been the government’s intentional actions in America. Some will use their weakened minds and claim this is the dastardly work of a single political party, but the reality is that both political parties are neck-deep in the responsibility they have shirked and promoted by lower standards, and they call this “helping.”

No, do not for one second believe that this is a “First-World nation problem,” it is a problem made by conspiring men (and women) for the overthrow and destruction of freedom. They have been carefully creating a class of people who can be counted on to be controlled for personal political gain. Independent people, strong-bodied and minded people, scare those who desire to be a ruling class. Consider Putin in Russia; he wanted to rule, he has planned, crafted, killed, lied, and cajoled to rule, and he is a strong person ruling a weak people who have gotten sick on the pursuit of easy things. 117 Best Hard Work Quotes That Everybody Must See

Look at Cuba and North Korea; the people have had to be beaten and starved to weaken them into submission and keep them dependent on a strong leader. Yet, how quickly could those strong people throw off their oppressive governments if they had even 1/100^th of the opportunities their poorest neighbors enjoy. What happens in countries oppressed, the leaders become weak pursuing easy things, the people get stronger, and then the government is backed against a wall, and either the people overthrow the government, or the government is killed. Then the cycle begins again until the population is consumed by a neighbor (Ukraine being consumed by Russia) or democracy and capitalism are tried and found to be valuable. But democracy is only powerful if the law is held sacrosanct! Capitalism is only useful and helpful when the society employing it has morals, values, and is educated.

26 WORK Quotes About Hardships And Cooperation At Workplace | Brainy Readers What is weakening every oppressive regime around the globe; is a failure to honor the rule of law. The leaders pursuing easy things become weak, and their choices inevitably lead them into problems with the law. Think back a couple of years to the Chinese baby food or dog food scandals. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) blamed mid-level leaders for their roles in the scandals, but were these people really to blame or merely useful tools to help deflect blame from the flagrant and profligate rule-breaking of someone higher?

Pursuing easy things makes people weak! There is no escaping the damage pursuing easy things does to an individual and a society. Yet, how big are the entertainment industries? How expansive has the lure of taking it easy become? How prevalent have games become? An entire new technological industry sprung up to feed the appetites of those pursuing games? For a truth, Muir quotes Franklin for the following flash, “Laziness travels slowly and is soon overtaken by poverty.” How expensive have cellular phones become? How soon do those phones wear out and need to be replaced? Worse, how many politicians, Hollywood “influencers,” and hundreds of other sources exemplify not working, hide behind a “work-life balance,” or employ social media to display a life of plenty and ease without working? The only way to keep the American dream alive is through hard work!

Knowledge Check! King Solomon provided the only instruction that offers a modicum of relief and is quoted as the final flash, “In all, they getting, get understanding.” I know many people’s childhood was full of abusive relationships. From parents to teachers, to peers and government officials, you have been robbed, plundered, and the abuse is real. For all that, you remain an eternal being suffering a mortal existence. Thus, you have the choice to get understanding. You possess the power to throw off the abusers. Learn to learn. Learn to read. Learn math. Learn how to write. You hold the power, choose to exercise that power, and you will bless your life and the lives of those around you!

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