Karma is never mentioned in the Bible, not once. I suspect if karma actually existed in any form, God would have found a way to fit it in. Therefore, I will by choice believe that it is an invention of some human’s mind.
What truly exists is the punishment of a jealous holy God that will punish those who invent religions based on their own ideas. Or for that matter, people who modify the meaning of the Word he has provided.
President Reagan told a joke about a man holding on for life to keep from falling three hundred feet. He seeks help from God and He tells the man to let go. The joke is far too long for me to repeat it here so I’ll save you the time and go straight to the punch line. The man looks around a number of times and calls out, “Is there anyone else up there who can help me?”
I can understand the man’s fear. Really I can. I wrote a post explaining that the only way I would jump out of an an airplane is if the plane is falling faster than me, parachute or not. I have a very strong fear of heights. Indeed I have thought about this joke many times and initially thought I would immediately follow God’s instruction. However, as I reconsidered a number of times, I don’t know. Three hundred feet is a long fall.
I wish I could honestly say I would release my hold on that temporary solution, but I don’t think any of us really knows what we would do until we are tested under real conditions.
I don’t know if the person who wrote the joke was aware but it is a good way to think about God’s plan of salvation. There are those who tenaciously hold onto that branch, the hope of a false religion. They believe in the repeated rituals, and the murmurs of memorized ‘prayers’ taught to them by men who don’t really know God. We are taught that if we just hold onto those traditions, we will go to heaven and live forever.
I am one of those who don’t put my faith in rituals but in Jesus Christ the son of God. I let go of that false hope of religion.
My advice to the youth: let go of the branch. Do as God tells us. Place your faith in Jesus rather than the traditions began by men. It will take courage, but the end of men’s traditions is death. If you think it over, it’s only logical. Jesus has the power to save. Tradition, man’s traditions won’t.
By the way, it’s also good advice for anyone who has not accepted Jesus as their only salvation, young or old. It’s just better if you do it while young. As we grow older, we also get more set in our ways. It becomes more difficult to let go of the old ways and harder to place your faith in Jesus. As we age, pride becomes more of a factor. I was thirteen. I remember. Even then pride stood in my way. I said no many times before I said yes. And each time I said no it was more difficult to say yes.
Let go now, before you wait so long you can’t.
MCAS El Toro to Da Nang Viet Nam via Alaska and Okinawa. The trip back was a tad shorter. It just seemed longer.
It’s worth revisiting this timeless principle, and the guidance here is genuinely valuable. Cultivate gratitude. Express your thanks sincerely to those around you, and let your appreciation flow freely. Doing so will undoubtedly benefit them, yet the greatest advantage returns to you.
By the way, don’t forget to thank God. We frequently take Him and His blessings for granted. Yet when you genuinely begin expressing gratitude to Him, you’ll likely discover just how much you have to be thankful for.
Try it and you’ll likely find it causes no harm.
I am not a well-traveled person, but I have been through a few airports. Obviously, the one I have been through the most is Memphis, now Fredrick W. Smith. The first time I saw that airport was as a Marine private flying in from LAX. I must admit, considering the size of the city, I was surprised at the size and the cleanliness of it, back in 1967. I found out later that it was relatively new and the one it replaced is now for general aviation. Since that day, I have gone through the airport more times than I can count. Unfortunately, I don’t think the airport has truly kept up. I wouldn’t count it as the best or worst. It might be better than average.
It’s been over a decade since I last traveled through LAX, yet it remains my gold standard for operational excellence and strategic planning. The airport processes an impressive volume of passengers and aircraft while maintaining a remarkable track record of avoiding negative publicity. What’s particularly impressive is their commitment to continuous upgrades that keep operations flowing seamlessly. That said, my experience is somewhat dated, so current conditions may well have evolved.
I’ve been through there about ten times without any issues or unexpected delays. They have a nice restaurant right in the center with a great view. The area has developed quite a bit, so the view has diminished somewhat over the years. But when I ate there, I enjoyed excellent food at a surprisingly reasonable price.
Chicago O’Hare is a hectic hub, as you might expect. One particular visit stood out as especially chaotic. I was scheduled to arrive from Memphis at 7 p.m., but severe weather caused significant delays. We circled overhead, waiting for clearance to land. Upon leaving the baggage claim 12:30 am, I found vehicles—primarily taxis and limousines—queued two-deep along the curb.
Still, I won’t call it the worst airport. It was the exception, not the rule. Besides, it features a smart design: you step virtually from the plane onto a train. (Or visa versa). If you know the city, that’s a major advantage. I haven’t seen that anywhere else. New York might offer it, but I only passed through New York on a connection. I’ll reserve judgment on that one. Besides, I don’t know which airport it was.
When connecting through DFW Airport, brace yourself for a challenging experience. On three separate occasions, I barely made my connections, coming dangerously close to missing my flights each time. The gates consistently closed just as I was boarding. This proves particularly problematic when transferring between domestic and international terminals.
Atlanta receives my lowest rating, primarily due to my personal experiences there. While I acknowledge that worse airports likely exist, I haven’t visited them to compare. Every time I’ve traveled through Atlanta, my plane has been positioned at one of the terminal’s furthest gates. Adding to the frustration, my luggage consistently arrived even later than I did. Thankfully, I no longer have occasion to fly into Atlanta.
I’d like to know know what really happened. Then again, that would likely put a bull’s eye on my back wouldn’t it. But then who would be those wanting to silence me? I’d really like to know.
Note: auto spell correction sometimes gets it wrong. Originally it changed my spelling of assassination because I dropped an s. Sorry, I did not notice it right away.
The prompt has a false premise. I would not even consider getting a tattoo for any reason or at any time.
I find them digusting!
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I saw a sign that defined a coincidence as God working undercover. It is a thought. Many times we mark things up as coincidence that might be miracles. On the other hand, I suspect there are things we claim God did that were really simple coincidence. Just because God foreknows a thing does not mean he caused it. To be sure, sometimes when things happen, I become convinced that it is because God is punishing me. The truth is, mostly I don’t know.
I am very fascinated by the concept of coincidence, both in my personal life and in history. The D-Day invasion, if you closely study it, is a long list of coincidences. Or, perhaps they are caused by the hand of God, beginning with the weather. Had it not cleared on 6 June, the whole thing might have been a total disaster. I suspect Gen Ike would be one of the first to call it an act of God. On the other hand, most of the German leaders would fuss it was a horrible coincidence.
Certainly, I have had my experience with coincidence. I guess, for the most part, they were to my benefit. Some were perhaps to my benefit though I thought not at the time. must admit that God has been very good to me.
I guess there was one weird time that made me seem like the smartest computer field engineer on earth. They had been working on the thing 4 days and the customer was threatening to tell our company to just take it out.
As I was in route on the plane, there all sorts of things going through my mind, wondering what the problem might be. I was not told in advance of the symptoms so I suspected I would not do any better than the 4 previous engineers.
It is a long technical story, however, the sort story is, I told the engineers on sight to use a screwdriver to tighten some screws instead of hand tight. They objected. They logical, I had to admit, to this day.
They tightened the screws snug and 3 minutes later the computer came to life. The truth is, I’m not a genius, though I certainly appeared to be. The truth was, coincidentally, I saw the same problem a couple of weeks earlier. I knew how to fix the problem because I had fought for hours with the same problem for many frustrating .
The hitch, as I think back over the situation, I should have faked having a bunch of trouble fixing it. A. It would have made me look smarter, because I made the problem look too simple. I never even picked up a tool or a piece of test equipment. I mean, if it was that easy to fix. I didn’t need to be so smart. B. It made my predecessors look bad. I fixed the problem in three minutes. Why were they unable in four days. Actually, the bunch of them were likely better engineers than me and quickly they had egg on their faces, which, in a way, made my company look bad. C. I really wish they would have described the problem to me on the phone. I could have given them the solution more quickly and they would have been the heroes.
As mentioned before, I do have a curiosity about coincidences. The Bible speaks of many that I will like to discuss firsthand when I get the opportunity. And also there are the ones that occurred during the Revolutionary War, and WWII. It has increased my curiosity over the years.
Because of this curiosity, I have written a book that explores the idea of coincidence. It is called, “The Coincidence Theory,” in which a pair of Los Angeles detectives try to solve crimes while dealing with seemingly impossible coincidences.
If you would like, you can order the book from Amazon.com. Just look up Ben Rhodes and The Coincidence Theory. I won’t mind if you look at a few more of my books too, more than 35.
I have written on this many times before, without the prompt. I will likely write on it many more times. It’s one thing that cannot be overly stressed. Reason being, most of what most people learn will be from reading. When a person can’t read, or reads poorly, it will become a serious learning disability. Those that read well, read rapidly, and read with comprehension will always have the advantage over all of his peers.
Writing, speaking, math and science are all foundation subjects. However, it all starts with reading. Don’t get me wrong. History is very important but history is learned primarily through reading. That makes reading more important than history.
More importantly, it permits the truth to be easily hidden from those who can’t or won’t read.
As my aside, bear in mind, the importance of selecting the school for your children one of the most important decisions you will make for him. It makes your ability to make that choice very critical.
Even more so, anyone given the task of teaching reading should be immediately replaced if he doesn’t do it, regardless of why.
It was the first week of boot camp by one of my drill instructors. “Never own more than you can carry on your back.”
At the time, it seemed so, so foolish. Over time, I realize it was me who was foolish. You see, if you own too much stuff you will realize that it will be your stuff that will own you.
