The Paradoxical Commandments

Similar versions of this poem have been attributed to Mother Teresa and Dr. Kent M. Keith. I don't know who originated it, but read it anyway... Below the text is a video of Ted Nugent giving his own extravagant performance, complete with a extra commandment. Watch it anyway.

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.



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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Remembering my prison sentence

Photo courtesy of Gipics

I have recurring dreams. There are two or three of them that recur every few years. One involves walking, then running, then losing contact with the ground and flying or leaping in huge, light bounds. Another of them involves a mad scientist using giant flies to turn the whole world into excrement. Not sure of the meaning (if there is any) to those dreams, but the subject of today's post is a third recurrent dream.

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Every so often I have this strange, unsettling dream in which I remember being imprisoned as a teenager for a year for having gotten in a fight and hit the wrong guy - some VIP's son or something. The particularly disturbing part is the fact that the dream/memory is so vivid that upon waking it seems as if the memory remains. I dreamed this dream this morning, and when I woke I had to spend a couple of hours perusing my memories of those years trying to figure out if I'd really been in prison or not. Again, I'm not sure of any meaning to this dream, but it reminds me of Paul's constant reference to servitude and imprisonment, both corporeal and spiritual, throughout the New Testament. For example:

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Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16; ESV)

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For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1Corinthians 9:19f; ESV)

Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Practice these things

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9; ESV)

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The first part of this citation (Phil 4:8) is so common and beloved that it overshadows the verse following it (Phil 4:9). In the second verse, Paul is saying (again!) to use him as an example - this
time an example of virtue. Bold man! But there is more! He is also saying not to simply think happy thoughts about virtue, but to actually do virtue - to be virtue just like Paul. Reminiscent of James:

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:22; ESV)

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How is it that Paul got to be so bold? He lets us in on the secret later in Philippians (another very popular and beloved verse):

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13; ESV).

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Gandhi's 7 deadly sins

Yesterday I was reading something and saw Ben Franklin quoted as saying, "The best thing anyone can do for the poor is to make them unomfortable in their poorness."  Thought that was interesting.  Then today in my reading, I ran across this from Mahatma Gandhi - his list of seven deadly sins:

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wealth without work

pleasure without conscience

knowledge without character

commerse without morality

science without humanity

worship without sacrifice

politics without principle

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Boldness was Paul's modus operandi

Photo courtesy of Lawrence OP

I mentioned in a post a few days ago that I was impressed with Paul's boldness in 1st Corinthians:

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. (1Cor 11:1-2)

The thing that is so astoundingly bold is that Paul is saying to use him as an example of how to be like Christ! But boldness is Paul's M.O.:

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus." And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:29-31)

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Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. (2Corinthians 3:12-13)

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And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. (Philippians 1:14)

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Zero Tolerence=Zero Intelligence

...And while we're talking about skewed Industrial model education ideas that don't exist in the homeschooling environment, Zero Tolerence is for zeroes.  Kids being expelled for accidently having a pocketknife with them when they come to school.  Come on!

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My older brothers and my father were all able to carry pocketknives (a really useful tool) with them everywhere they went - even to school.  I didn't carry a pocketknife with me at school, but I don't think I would have gotten in trouble if I had.  One of the elders in my church has told me that he took a shotgun to school in his backpack for show-and-tell.  The membrane between the school environment and the rest of the world was extremely permeable, and did we have stabbings and shootings?  Nope.

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The first known school shooting in the U.S. (according to Wikipedia) was UT Austin in 1966, a terrible event with incredible casualty and mortality.  It took until 1999 and Columbine High for any U.S. school shooters to surpass the 1966 Austin masacre.  And while we're looking at the statistics, notice that the number of high-casualty school shootings in Europe (think rigorous gun control and liberal social policy) is nearly twice that of the US - and that is not even including the horrific Beslan Russia hostage crisis, in which government tanks and commandos killed 385+ people!  But that is sort of a tangent. 

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My point is, we didn't have these problems before the 1960's, and Zero Tolerance certainly was not the protective agent.  We have much tighter control of the interface between schools and society now, but much higher incidence rates of serious violence.  Zero Tolerence is not the solution.

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Zero Tolerence is just PC-speak for "We don't want to have to think about the circumstances and make a reasonable judgment on a case-by-case basis"  Does it seem like a good thing to model unthinking, unreasoned behavior in our school officials?

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282
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Socialization in Homeschooling

One of the most frequent responses we get when people find out we are homeschooling our children is something along the lines of, "But what about socialization?" This is usually accompanied by a concerned frown, as if the speaker actually has our kids' best interests in mind and is concerned we are steering them wrong. They often look as if they are really saying, "You poor darlings!"  What a load of malarkey!

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First, most 'socialization' in both public and private industrial-model schools is actually 'anti-socialization', being taught the worst sort of wrong socialization practices (like interaction within a large, homogenous peer group with minimal supervision or accountability, accommodation to mediocrity, acceptance of relativist liberal dogma as fact, racism, etc...). There is always the exception to this rule - the public-schooled kid who excels and becomes an outstanding scholar and a fine adult, but such cases are so rare and noticable that the exception just proves the rule.

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Second, it's easy to get positive socialization as a homeschooler. Our social activities include:

• Church
• All of our kids are participating as a group in judo, swimming, and baseball
• Each of our kids is participating individually in either golf, tennis, or gymnastics.
• All of these activities involve different types of social interactions in different contexts and different groups.
• There is also an excellent homescholer's organization in this area. The group facilitates specialized classes (chess, Spanish, etc...) as well as field-trips and play days.

So, in summary, please stop asking me about the so-called "socialization issue" with homeschoolers. I'll put my homeschooled kids up against anyone in any sort of social situation!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Tacitus on Otho and Piso

Photo courtesy of Mharrsch

Here's more of Tacitus' delicious use of language - on the subject of the post-Nero Caesars.

Piso was in his thirty-first year. His reputation was better than his fortune. His brothers had been executed, Magnus by Claudius, Crassus by Nero. He himself after being long in exile was a Caesar for four days. Hastily adopted in preference to his elder brother, the only advantage he reaped was to be killed first.

and...

None of his murders pleased Otho so much as this. On Piso's head, as on no other, they say, he gazed with insatiable eyes. This was possibly the first moment at which he felt relieved of all anxiety, and free to indulge his glee; or perhaps, in the case of Galba and of Vinius, the recollection of his treason to the one and of his former friendship with the other troubled even his unfeeling heart with gloomy thoughts, whereas, Piso being an enemy and a rival, he considered it a pious duty to gloat over his murder. Their heads were fixed on poles and carried along with the standards of the cohorts side by side with the eagle of the legion. Those who had done the deed and those who had witnessed it vied with each other in displaying their bloody hands, all boasting of their share—some falsely, some truly—as if it were a fine and memorable exploit. Vitellius subsequently discovered more than 120 petitions demanding rewards for distinguished services rendered on that day. He gave orders to search out all the petitioners and put them to death. This was from no respect for Galba: he merely followed the traditional custom by which princes secure their present safety and posthumous vengeance.

Dude had his political enemies killed, rose to power, then had the 120 people who claimed to be the assassins killed instead of rewarded! That's low!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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Why organized church?

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.  Now I commend you because you remember me in everything and maintain the traditions even as I delivered them to you. (1Corinthians 11:1-2; ESV)

I came across this in my reading the other day. Paul is saying to use him as an example of how to be like Christ. What a bold statement! But Paul knows he is not a perfect example, so he is saying to imitate him only so far as he imitated Christ. But how are they to know how well Paul imitates Christ?

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The only way is by reading the scriptures (or by asking another apostle, but we don;t have any of those still at hand). But if we can just read it ourselves and imitate Christ via the scriptures, what do we need Paul's example for?

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Because sometimes we just need a concrete example. The message is: Imitate other Christians in so far as they imitate Christ.  Sort of reminds me of:

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24-25; ESV)

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Ephesians 4:29; ESV)

Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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X-Files time warp

Photo courtesy of Nino Smile

It happened today - I turned old!

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No, it wasn't a birthday or anything like that. I was watching X-Files with my kids and there was an interview with producer Chris Carter in which they mentioned that the original air date of this episode was in 1994.

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That's fifteen years ago!

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How did that fifteen years go by so fast? I guess it's no wonder that the most recent X-Files movie was so incredibly lame - with 10 some-odd years between the end of the series and the second film, how could they keep the momentum? But seriously! X-Files was 15 years in the past! And I first watched them when I was out of college!

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Patrick Parker, is a Christian, husband, father, judo and aikido teacher, Program Director for a Cardiac Rehab, and a Ph.D. Contact: mokurendojo@gmail.com or phone 601.248.7282

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