May 16, 2020

question questions and more questions


Euclid, a mathematician from 300 bc and the founder of geometry, once said—Without assumptions there is no proof. Therefore, in any argument, examine the assumptions. I am not arguing with you in any way about anything in this “It’s Saturday.”  No way!  And don’t assume anything!!!!  Most of what I talk about has a 50-50 split (i.e. that’s about 50% on both sides I assume) as to what folks think.  Now that isn’t very decisive in deciding any argument. Such is life. Do you remember the name of that theorem?

I really like this statement of John (i.e. anybody can be a John) that I read while eating my oatmeal with half a banana on it.  John Calvin wrote, “Our faith, unless founded solely on [God’s] promise, must be continually wavering…. Faith ought properly to recline on the truth of God alone.”  Faith is different than fact or the news or what your neighbor says or what a professor says or what a non-believing friend says or rules or laws.  Faith is what you believe (i.e. not knowledge), and no one can argue that with you because it is your faith.  That is what you believe and put your trust in.  I asked the Hospice nurse, the Hospice pastor and also the funeral director when he was picking up Arlene’s body if there is a difference how believers and folks who are not believers handle death.  They all said there usually is a massive huge difference.  I can believe that! That might be confusing to some of you and also challenging to some of you.  As the old saying goes—Which side wins in your heart, mind, and soul—the one you feed the most! 

Geometry is an exact science, I think!  haha  At 16 I never really liked it and didn’t understand how it was going to help me on the farm a mile and a fourth south of Roseland, MN while I was pitching manure.  I had a pretty small world back then but a very happy world (i.e. I really never thought much about my future). Well, I did use geometry once or twice in my life but to spend a whole year or was it half a year learning it for one or two times! They didn’t know back then that now you can just goggle it. But for a certain type of engineers, geometry probably makes them a ton of money. Sooooo how do we decide what we are going to do with our life?  Good question!  Many supposedly great folks are self-taught with some help of formal education, some have a huge massive amount of formal education, others are completely self taught and some seem to inherit their ability.  Why do some folks seem to have more wisdom than others?  Why do some folks seem like they just don’t get it and others do? Why do some folks do soooo good and all of a sudden like they fall of the table and destroy a seemly good life? Why do some folks coast along and all of a sudden see the light and bingo? Why can some folks grasp concepts and others can’t? AverageJoe says—The mind is just amazing. There are a lot of assumptions here!

I like part of Solomon’s story but not his ending.  Solomon is considered by many as the wisest man who ever lived BUT why did he do such a stupid thing (i.e. change the direction of his life)?  I don’t understand that part of his story.  God said He would give him anything he wanted (i.e. in a dream).  Solomon didn’t ask for what most folks would ask for (i.e. just listen to our prayers—many folks want more material stuff and power and worldly success) but he asked for wisdom.  God gave him wisdom.  Now that is wisdom!  I like that.  BUT the second half of Solomon’s life, he fell off the table and did not use wisdom and was not a good person.  Why was that?  If the wisest person on earth couldn’t keep it together, what kind of chance do “not soooo wise folks” like me have? We are left wondering what his spiritual state was when he died. We just don’t know for certain. Perhaps he did repent. Or perhaps we are supposed to ponder his end and take it as a warning. Good question! 

I am thinking about several issues in my life that are current.  I really don’t know how important they are, but I think about them sooooo they must have some importance to me.  What I’m trying to do is forget about them (i.e. pay no attention to them—distance myself from them).  I think my life would be much better if I would just eliminate them from my thinking.  They just irritate me.  I can’t really fix them; they are beyond my control (i.e. these situations are caused by other folks’ thinking which is different than mine).  I don’t want to spend time continually thinking about those issues.  BUT I find that is harder to do than I thought.  They just keep popping up all the time.  A friend who I made in AZ, told me that one of the reasons he moved to AZ from the Midwest was to get some distance from some of his family.  They just drove him crazy.  He didn’t want to be around them and see and hear them all the time (i.e. get them out of his mind).  Soooo I asked him how it was working—pretty good! I enjoy my life a lot more.

We can talk and talk and talk and talk and talk but at some point, someone calls for a question in a meeting that is part of using parliamentary procedure. That means that they are calling for a vote on the matter to decide the issue and move on—maybe! Majority wins! Many times, the majority doesn’t always win.  The minority seems to have their way sometimes when they have TrickieDickie as their leader to get what they want. It depends what form of government is ruling.  There are different forms of decision making (e.g. a board of directors elected by the stockholders, congregational form where everyone has a vote, or a dictator form where the dictator makes all the decisions).  And then there is money involved!  Money can persuade folks to vote a certain way for sure. It is done all the time.  That is why lobbyist are paid big money if they are good (i.e. great back scratchers—they have their many ways). Some decisions are made under the table and most folks will never know about.  That happens. I’ll scratch your back if you scratch my back.  GeorgeTheCrook (i.e. who is a regular big rouge elephant) says—It feels oh, soooo good!

There is no question, we all have an image made by the public.  What do you think your image is?  Really! I really think that our image might be different than what we think others think our image is sometimes.  MissPerfect (i.e. who draws controversy the way steeples draw lighting) says—Don’t say that erv, I was feeling soooo good about myself.  MissPerfect, you took it very negative.  I think sometimes the image by the public might be way better than what folks’ image of themselves is (i.e. particular when folks are great).  And many great folks don’t care what their image of the public is.  They are very content and happy with who they are.  They are not trying to impress others.  MissPerfect, maybe you are too worried about your public image.  Maybe you don’t like how you perceive yourself.  I hope not.  BUT, you maybe should analyze yourself.  Question—Do you like yourself?  Are you a self-glorifying DuaneTheWorm?  A phony, a faker?  I hope not.  I have said this before, BUT a six-year old kid can figure folks out who are fakers.  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. You folks (i.e. my opinion) are good, real folks with good hearts, my kind of folks!  All of you except for one of you and you know who you are!   

Sooooo what are high standards?  Really, they have to be different for different folks, don’t they?  Do we even have different high standards different days or when we do different things?  Don’t different churches have different high standards?  Do different businesses and schools, and families have different high standards?  Do politicians in the United States of America have high standards? Does anyone really care about high standards? 

If the odds are in your favor, I guess your chances that you will succeed are much greater.  Would you agree?  I think the probability is much greater than when the odds are not in your favor.  Soooo why do many folks think they can constantly beat the odds; the probability is not in their favor (i.e. they take a shot in the dark, a regular crap shoot).  The majority of the time they are going to lose.  Now that is factual.  BUT it appears that many think they are always going to win and they are not.  Why is that?  I don’t get that.  Explain that to me.  Businesses hire high paying folks to predict the chances of success and they aren’t even always right.  And these are highly trained and educated folks.  BUT the probability of success is much greater with this type of advice.  BUT if someone is selling you something, maybe, they are not very objective ‘cause there is money in it for them to tell you that it will work and they will make a buck!  You think that ever happens? Some call it greed!  Some call it good business!

I had a friend say to me the other day—That person is a fruitcake.  I didn’t say anything, but I agreed.  If I think that and she thought that, probably others think that tooooo. We are probably in the majority, maybe. haha  Soooo I had a business friend tell me about her negative feeling about one of her clients.  I know this client and had the same feeling.  If she and I both have this feeling, I guess others have the same feeling, maybe.  Flip the pancake.  I had a business person/friend call me recently and talked to me very openly and sincerely about Arlene’s death and how I am doing.  He told me that we have been on his prayer list (i.e. he said he’s a list guy) and I still am but now just different. I think he’s a class guy. I told a couple of business men/friends at a deck party that night about this.  They both know him and said—He’s a good guy. Soooo if we think that about him, I guess others do toooo, maybe.  Sooooo here is the conclusion of the matter—If those folks act like a duck, walk like a duck, quack like a duck, they are probably a duck!!!!

I was struggling with figuring out the dynamics of my hot spot on my phone as how it was communicating with the wireless copier.  I got it to work but really didn’t know what I did to make it work.  Then while jogging one morning, I started to think like a tech person, no, more like think like a wireless copier that had to connect to a hot spot (i.e. programmed to think a certain way).  You believe that?  ANYWAY, I figured it out and when I did, it all made simple sense.  It just didn’t work when I was trying to make the wireless copier think like me.  I had to think like the wireless copier.  Sooooo, question, you think it would help if I would try to think like other folks/you guys instead of trying to make you think like me?  Maybe you are just simple sense once I figure you out! haha

I question you and myself!  I recently got a call from a resident assistant from Arlington Place, the place where Arlene spend her last months of her life.  This person was on break and wanted to know how I was doing.  We had a great conversation.  It was such a surprise to me.  I have told you how impressed I was with the staff there.  I thought outstanding.  I told this person that I miss the staff; they were like part of my support group. I told this person that they sure uplifted my day with their call.  Soooo I question you and myself--Can you and I call someone who would be just surprised we cared about them?  I think we can.  What do you think?  That is what I thought.

GeorgeTheCrook asks—Have your ever been or now am a good person?  Have you ever been or now am an idiot?  I was talking to a friend the other day.  He mentioned that a 90+ year-old mutual friend just talked to him.  My friend told me—I remember him as not a very pleasant guy when he was younger but now he is the nicest guy.  I remember him exactly the same.  We both questioned why he changed?  SusieQ says--Sooooo there are folks who are sorta kinda idiots when they are young that aren’t idiots when they get older (i.e. do you accept that theorem).  Soooo do some folks who are really nice when they are young become idiots when then get older?  Sooooo I called our 90+ year-old friend and asked him if he is a nicer guy now than maybe 30 years ago—He said—"No, I don’t think soooo. I think I was always a nice guy.  I think folks stay the same as they were when they were young.”  Soooo there you go! You heard it from the horse’s mouth!

I read in the paper soooo it must be right—If you want to get better, improve your game!  I also read this—I don’t wish stardom on anyone. When I hear someone say, “this guy is a star,” I say good luck.  I think he was saying that stardom or thinking you are a star, screws up the person; very few can handle it.  I also read this—Al of these events in my life are part of my story and who I am now.  Ok, I realize that many of you don’t understand any of this stuff (i.e. 50-50 split), many of you will understand part of this stuff (i.e. 50-50 split) and many of you will understand all of this stuff (i.e. 50-50 split).  That is just the way it is.  And most folks don’t even know what they understand! Crazy maybe! Some of you folks are stars in my eyes.  I have told many of you this before.  Why you are stars in my eyes is that you continue to stay humble even though you are stars.  You are special folks.  Most special folks don’t know they are special.  My Daddy, Chester, would say to me—erv, great folks don’t need to tell others they are great, everyone knows it.  If folks have to tell others they are great, they aren’t great!  And that ain’t no geometry theorem!

Have a FUN day my friends unless you have other plans. (-:

erv

MyFriendJean says--Either you run the day or the day runs you.

No comments:

Post a Comment