‘Neutralizing’ John Lennon

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

This thoughtful and relevant Whitehead column quotes John Lennon:  “We’re not going to draw children into a situation to create violence so you can overthrow what? And replace it with what? It was all based on this illusion, that you can create violence and overthrow what is, and get communism or get some right-wing lunatic or a left-wing lunatic. They’re all lunatics.” 

To me, this shows the depth of John Lennon’s sophistication and the growth of his insight into the human condition. Violence so you can overthrow what, and replace it with what?

Today, as we all sense the on-coming massive changes, fear builds in those who cannot surf the change while living in faith. That fear leads them to listen more and more obsessively to their chosen savior, left or right. And just like clockwork, before they know it, they’re living in hatred, because they were operating out of fear, and therefore to that extent they’re acting like lunatics. Pray God that we remember not to become lunatics ourselves.

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Two lessons from Zimbabwe’s past and present

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

My friend Jim sent me (and the others on his list) an extremely interesting article titled “Zimbabwe: A Fresh Start.” (To read it, go to http://www.kitco.com/ind/Field/nov112009.html.) With others, Jim thinks that the U.S. dollar is going to “go Zimbabwe.” Maybe so, maybe no. History is rarely predictable, and almost never apocalyptic. But, who knows, maybe this is one of those times. One would hope that the economic gurus would be able to see a danger so obvious. In fact, it is inconceivable — literally — that they would not. On the other hand, think of all the things obvious to us on the ground that is apparently opaque to the experts in finance, politics, industry, the “news” media, etc., etc.! We’ll see. My interest in this story centered on two aspects scarcely mentioned: One is the unanticipated consequences of activism, and the other is what we might call Southern Christianity.

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Robert B. Clarke

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

Robert Clarke, shadow and alll

Robert Clarke and I met virtually (i.e. by email) about a decade ago, through English author Colin Wilson, who was a friend of each of us. Hampton Roads published Robert’s first book, The Four Gold Keys, though I wasn’t the one to edit it. The following year, 2003, I traveled to England and made a point of having a day with Robert before going off to do other things.

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The Threshold to the Other Side

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

From http://www.damninteresting.com/the-threshold-to-the-other-side, via a friend.

The Threshold to the Other Side

Written by Jason Bellows on 24 April 2006

Light at the end of the tunnelThe phenomenon of near death experiences (NDEs) are as old as life itself, and to some people they are spiritual and moving tales that affirm a life after death, and interpreted as indisputable proof of the existence of god.

For any not already familiar, in the west most of the NDEs contain some basic points, where a person who dies floats out of the body, and looks back at the remains from a point above. The period of this external watching varies in time from a few seconds to more than an hour.

There is a generally a feeling a weightlessness. Almost invariably the deceased succumbs to a second stage, of being drawn to a tunnel with a clear, white light at the end. Sometimes they are drawn in by a gentle, deep voice, sometimes by the beckoning of loved ones, and sometimes by an indescribable urge. Sometimes they reach the light, and sometimes they do not. There is often a period of watching the events of one’s own life as a panoramic, and some report conversations with god, usually Jesus. Then, inevitably in order to come back to life and tell the tale, the deceased must return to life. The means that turns them back is variegated, but some common examples include an angelic messenger turning them back because their time has not yet come, a previously deceased family member sending them back, or turning away from the light of their own accord for the love of those left behind.

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Multi-tasking can be overrated!

Posted on by Frank DeMarco

Everything today is about speeding up, absorbing more input, operating more efficiently, doing six things at once. Now, as it happens, I have always found it easier to do several things at once, quickly — in a sort of rapid-fire time-sharing — than any one thing slowly. Nonetheless, as I observe my children’s world, it seems obvious that their world is flattening out in direct proportion to the sheer amount of input they have to deal with. 

When I saw the piece below, by my friend Dale Matthies, a talented musician,  I asked it if it would be all right to pass it along. He said, Sure, go ahead,” so here it is. On his email, he used as a subject header “monaural brain…that’s my problem”

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