Utah - Four Elements - Magic

Long ago, there were 4 elements. These were Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. It seems that Utah has accidentally fallen into line with these 4 elements. Most of its population lives in the Salt Lake Valley. Along the East side of this valley lies the Wasatch Mountain range. In the north, a thriving business district, world wide headquarters for a wealthy religion, even a city slash crossroads to the west. In the west lies the Great Salt Lake. Its waters are purified by salt. In the south, the famous red rock canyons and warmer climate. Anyone familiar with this description may immediately find a relationship between the 4 elements and this geographical location.
Earth - North - Pentacle - Diamond
The earth element often associated with North, immediately resembles the tall buildings, granite temples, money, monetary gain, and material wealth of this city. A pentacle is often its symbol although if one is a gambler they would easier recognize a diamond.
Fire - South - Wand - Club
The fire element is often associated with the South, immediately resembling the red rock canyons, warmer climate, energy, enterprise, animation, and growth of southern Utah. A wand or wooden stick or Club represents this element.
Water - West - Cup - Heart
The water element is often associated with the West, immediately resembling the Great Salt Lake, beauty, love, fertility, reflection, and happiness. Emotions fill the cup and are associated with our hearts. This lake lies in the west, the cup is full, and a Heart often represents this element.
Air - East - Sword - Spade
The air element is often associated with the East, immediately resembling the Wasatch mountains where in winter ambitious skiers and snowboarders aggressively and ambitiously test the forces of nature, sometimes ending in strife or misfortune. A more appropriate description of this element cannot exist. The mountains are in the east, the sword is drawn, the spade is there.

It's not often when you get another chance twice in the same day

Last night I called my best friend to catch up and find out when we would be having our next outdoor adventure. Instead I found out that his wife's mother had died suddenly and that he was spending the week in Colorado. The conversation was awkward for me, not finding the words he needed to hear and not having the ability to express my empathy. After the call, a flood of thoughts came to my mind on what I could have or should have or would have said if I had been more prepared for the news.

This morning I approached a co-worker and complimented him on his cool hat. It was a white baseball cap with a big red J. I thought it stood for J-Rod, which is his nickname. Instead he told me it stood for his brother Josh, who had passed away a just a few days ago. I had the chance to talk to him about his brother in a way that I wish I could have talked with my best friend about his wife's mother. I went away touched by the experience, hearing him talk about his brother, satisified that I had been able to say to him the things I wanted to say to my best friend.

Later on, I went to the office kitchen hoping to find some much needed coffee. Instead I found a watered down immitation being poured by a person unknown to me. This guy was obviously new in the office but I was able to strike up a conversation with him while waiting for my boss to make some real coffee. I learned some interesting things about his life as he told me about his background, hobbies, and family. I looked for a chance to tell him my name and ask him for his but never found it and walked away wondering why I was too clueless to make such a courteous gesture.

This evening while walking my dog down the street, I ran into another dog. He didn't look familiar. Another guy passed by on his bike and asked me if I knew where the dog belonged. I told him no after which he reminded me that we'd better find out because it's not right for a dog to be wandering the neighborhood like that. So we shewed the dog in a direction he seemed comfortable going and he ended up running into the yard of my neighbor 4 houses down. A friendly man greeted the dog and started to tell us that his dog liked to chew through his harness. I laughed and told him about how my dog can slip out of hers. His kids walked over and pet my dog and I found out their dog's name and shared with them my dog's name. Before parting, I introduced myself to the man, whom I didn't know, even though he is my neighbor, only 4 houses down. He told me his name and the names of his children and asked me where I lived. We both thought it was funny that he had lived there 2 years and I had lived here 4 years and we didn't know eachother until today.

It's not often when you get another chance twice in the same day...

Tarot - The Magician

The Magician has found the table of life. On the table are the 4 symbolic tools. The cup, the wand, the pentacle, and the sword. Beautiful red roses and white lilies surround him. These represent his love and purpose. He wears a flaring red cloak which represents his individuality and protects him in mastering the elements that rule he and others.

Keyword is INDIVIDUALITY. Know that everything is possible with the power of God.

REVERSE: Abuse of power. The ability to manipulate for selfish needs.

Faith in self is just as important as a faith in God. Through our individual efforts, mastering each of the 4 elements, we can achieve great good. But be careful not to forget God or leave out your love for your fellow man by using your power to manipulate others or the situation for your own selfish gain. In my life I have encountered many magicians who have mastered their trades. Some use their power in the service to others and continue to be rewarded well. Others manipulate and use their trade as a means to control others (gaining more power) or go too far breaking out trust. Manipulating others does not help us to facilitate or develop long term relationships. Ofcourse, the saying, "there is a sucker born everyday", is very true. And if we choose, we can use the power of manipulation to profit from them. Long term relationships, while often more difficult and less profitable during the short term, help us to foster trust and find opportunities to serve others.

Early in my career, it was important for me to seek after knowledge for knowledge sake. However, often times I found it hard to find opportunities to use it. Two experiences changed my thoughts regarding this type of focus. One co-worker once stated that she didn't really care how many skills a person had. The skills were not much good if they sat in their office, rarely or never using them. Another co-worker taught me a great lesson in life as I witnessed him continually seek to use his skills to help those that were in desperate need of them. Not only did he collect trusting relationships with those in need, but he also developed the skills in a much more meaningful way, all the while improving his reputation along the way. In the end, he was rewarded even though his focus was merely use his mastered skills in the service to others. Its like magic.

Theory of Tubes

Every time my friends and I sit around the campfire on the first night of a backpacking trip, the subject of tubes enters the conversation. I quickly recognize my que to briefly discuss the theory of tubes for all to enjoy. My friends quickly roll their eyes and move on to another subject. Here is the theory.

Life is about tubes. Everything we do is about tubes.

In the morning we get out of bed. What is a bed? A blanket shaped like a tube which we put ourselves in each night. We get up, walk into the bathroom and turn on the shower. The water comes right out of a tube. We squeeze out the shampoo, which is in a tube. Next we might even relieve ourselves by pushing liquid waste through a tube or something else that is solid (see my blog about pooping). All this stuff gets flushed down a tube. I like brush my teeth with a thing shaped like a tube after I squeeze tooth paste (out of a tube) onto the brush.

Next I walk into the kitchen and open up a fridge, which contains all kinds of things packaged in tubes. I might open the milk and poor it into a glass. The milk bottle and glass are both tubes. I might then drink the milk and feel it go down a tube into my stomach compartment.

A few mornings ago, I drove to the airport in my car. What is a car if it isn't a tube on wheels? And an airplane? Definitely a tube with wings. Have you ever been in a large airport like Atlanta? The only way to get from terminal A to terminal B? Go underground and get on a tube-like train that goes through a tube-like tunnel.

Most of the stuff we use comes in a package. I was once told that a banana is the most effective package ever designed. You peel off the peel and eat the banana. A banana is contained inside of a tube. But that's a natural package. What about all the stuff we manufacture? We often unpackage subcomponents and assemble them with other subcomponents and then package them again into a component that is worth consumption. These are distruted in trucks that have a large square tube attached.

As you can see, this theory can go on and on and on and on ....

Since life is about tubes, all you have to do is talk about life and a tube will be part of the conversation.

I Voted Early

It was Friday afternoon and I found myself without transportation 2 blocks from an early voting booth. So I high tailed my unprepared self to the place, filled out the form, showed my ID, and voted. If you have read any of the previous blogs you may get the idea that McCain was my man. However, when it came right down to pushing the button, Obama became my President.

It seems to me that the poor economic conditions are so blown out of proportion by the media and politicians that we will all be so surprised when it springs back to life just like oil prices have dropped. Soon the soldiers will return from a long fought war, we can concentrate on the aspects of life that are more important.

I'm hoping to get my right to affordable health care under the Obama regime. God knows I've worked far too long for "the man" who has provided it to me at the cost of enslaving me to a corporate culture so warped that the only thing that saved my mind was a prescription to an anti-depressant.

When the election is over and we crown Obama as our new King and Savior, all of us may be able to rest more easy at night knowing that we will have our needs secure, options open, and bank accounts in tact.

Four Doors

Wearing a tattered yet comfortable knit bathrobe, Grant walked towards the front door of his stylish high rise apartment. It is a daily ritual to retrieve the morning paper. His hair was gray and bushy, perhaps the time for a trim. His long successful business career was now only a memory. And yet, as if by instinct, his curiosity to keep up with the times had not been quenched. Today, although he never knew it, would be the beginning of something new for him.

The locks on the door snapped as he turned them to the open position. The sounds seem to echo through the entire apartment. The marble tile floors were smooth and clean, yet cold. He'd forgotten to put on his slippers which were normally waiting on the edge of his bed each morning. The cold floor felt good to his callused covered strong yet aging feet. He didn't need the weather forecast to know that it was going to be an unusually cold day. He'd left the room temperature down during the night. Breathing the crisp air was how he preferred to sleep. He opened the door like usual according to the daily ritual.

The morning paper, which usually lay atop the door mat, was not to be seen. Very unusual indeed were his thoughts. This inconvenient detail was enough to make his mind wander over the possibilities of its disappearance. In his younger days, such a kink in his daily expectations may have triggered a sharp disappointing emotional disturbance. And yet now, due to the long hard lessons of life, he had learned to see unexpected events as opportunities or challenges. This morning it gave him a mission.

He stepped out into the hallway to begin his investigation. According to his cracker jack memory, each paper at his corresponding neighbor's door way was properly in place. Door 702, 753, 790, and 787 do not have the papers delivered he thought to himself. It was one of those details that most people never notice. Yet for him, this detail was easily brought out to his conscience mind to use when needed. His was the only paper missing. He is the first one up in the morning and perhaps nobody would notice if he snatched theirs. Most of his neighbors didn't have the time to read the morning paper during the week. His mind quickly calculated which neighbors were most likely to leave their paper abandoned on the door mat.

Probability can sometimes seem definitive at times. This was one of those times. Directly across from him, lived a young traveling news corespondant. He and Matt often drank together in the hot pool on the roof. It was friendship built on mutual respect. Matt often asked Grant about his political opinions. Grant was never shy about discussing them. He was also not afraid to walk over and snatch Matt's morning paper.

Suddenly Matt's Room 701 door opened. Quickly Grant was knocked over the head by an unseen assailant. Grant was stunned. As he went to the floor, he managed to catch a glimpse of the perpetrator. His mind became blurred. Soon his body gave in to the lack of consciousness.

His limp sleepy body laid for 2 hours at Matt's door. The paper was in his hand when Sandy discovered him. Both their apartment doors were open. Sandy was concerned yet annoyed. This situation did not fit in to her morning stress.

Worthy

This is a photo of James Worthy. He is a Hall of Fame NBA basketball player now long retired. As a teenager, I watched him play for the LA Lakers, protective goggles and all. This picture shows him closely followed by Kurt Rambis, another one of my all time favorite players. James has an interesting last name. Somehow it makes me wonder where his last name Worthy came from.

Wiktionary defines worthy as worth, merit, or value. One is honorable or admirable if one is worthy. If you were worthy, you might think of yourself as deserving or having sufficient worth. Long ago I thought it meant that I was somehow distinguished or that I was an eminent person.

How do we define worth? Nowadays, our worth is most likely decided by the size of our bank account. But there are many other ways to define worth or value. If you are in school, your teacher sees your potential worth as a good student. If you are at work, your boss determines your worth based on the number of tasks you can complete or by how good you make him/her look. There are many societies and sub-societies that define the merits of a person based on what some may seem as distorted or irrational values.

Are you worthy? It's a question I was asked many times by distinguished religious leaders who defined the word by a list of about 16 questions. The questions were defined to give value to a set of ideas that would support a person's loyalty to a religion. There were a few questions about belief, one must believe a certain dogma to be worthy. Another set of questions centered around sacrificing one's self by following rules not normally seen as valuable by most of the "outside" society. These were a way of setting you apart from the outsiders. There was also a question that I could never understand how to answer. It went something like this... Are you honest? How does one answer such a question? The last question of all was again, are you worthy?

Why would a person want to give up the definition of their worth to another person? Is there such a concept as self-worth? Who defines what a person feels within himself as held in high esteem? I believe that one must be true to himself and determine one's own esteem thus ignoring the merits or values that are attempted to be laid on their shoulders.

How does one do this? Perhaps it is by years of experience in becoming knowledgeable about yourself and finding value despite what others may see as a weakness. Are we made of strengths or weaknesses or are we must made up of tendancies? My old religion defined my blind faith as a strength and my doubts as a weakness. Could it actually be that I just tended to believe in the beginning and found out differently as more study was required? And yet some may say I had given into the weakness of doubt. Or is it actually possible that my doubt was a strength and that by choosing no longer to believe, I became more true to who I was, thus making myself more valuable and more worthy?

Is one required to believe in something? I've often been told that this is the case. If I don't believe in religion A, my other options are religions B, C, or D. And yet, like most others, I choose "none of the above". I know many who choose A because they think it is the best possible choice even though it doesn't quite match "in reality" what it is defined to be by the "A" authorities.

How many circles can we spin off of this subject? My only hope is that somehow some person may read this and begin to believe in themselves. It is a long hard road to go down but oh so worth it. There's that word worth again. Here I am starting my own belief system defining religious doubt and self introspection as having merit. So how about it? Anybody want to join in?

If you have a question that you'd like to discussion I will try to pick the top 16. We can then begin to measure everyone in our tribe against the bar. Once in a while, we may want to raise the bar by adding clarification to one of the question or looking at something that may set us apart from the rest of society.