Its been weird.

For 34 and a half years i was just in startled/shock/100% coping mode. Now my mind seems to have more energy, its also questioning things that im sure people with normal up-bringings do far earlier on in their lifetime. Im sure alot of my views sound very childish – i understand why though. I havent a clue why im here. Some people say you choose your life. I dont like the idea of a GOD. I dont like the way HE GETS THE CREDIT for all the work i do. Im here because im a damn strong person, not because GOD saved me. Also… if he has some control over my life why did he/she let all that SHIT happen to me??? They arent letting that happen and then getting the credit for me surviving it !!! ALL THE EFFORT AND DETERMINATION IS MINE, NOT SOME BLOODY HIGHER POWERS.

Anyway at the moment im feeling more like i chose this existence – it was a challenge I WANTED. The idea that we choose our lifes before we come here makes far more sense to me. This fits in with how ive always been pushed to the edge on so many occasions – coincidence??? I dont think so!!  I chose such a crappy existence, maybe i wanted to learn mental strength and compassion for others – maybe you can only truely learn this from a dark place.  

This is how i currently feel. It will be intresting for me to look back in 3 months time and see if my views have changed.

Starting today and continuing through New Year’s Eve, Something Offensive will be unveiling its official TOP 50 MOVIES OF THE DECADE list.  (Referring to the 2000s here, McFly.)  We’ll provide our brief, individual explanations for each selection as they’re posted.  Readers are encouraged to comment on the films, ask questions about why we chose what we did or ask questions about the films themselves, and finally, to offer up their own suggestions for great films released these last 10 years.  And once we’ve revealed our five favorite stories of The Oughts, we’ll post the entire list for your perusal.

The list was composed by way of an overly complex voting process not even Taos or I comprehend.  All we know for sure is that these are movies we endorse  with hooker moneys.

Before we break any cineastes’ hearts, know it skews more toward populist fare.  Also:  all foreign films require subtitles + the original language audio track. Don’t even bother if you’re unwilling to go this route.  We’re linking a trailer with each entry; be forgiving of the non-American ones as their international trailers are often terrible.  One final caveat:  the list was conceived and completed prior to Avatar.  Cameron’s pic is a stunning experience that should be seen by everyone, but it simply couldn’t be included at this time.  But fret not.  After the holiday cheer begins to subside, there’ll be a subsequent list featuring the 3-D Na’vi and other excellent works that didn’t make this first cut for whichever of a variety of mysterious reasons.

So then, let us begin…

—

(trailer)

David: I think what makes Assassination so powerful is all that it suggests.  Poetry in pictures and song, of menace and tragedy.  Grueling suspense wrapped up tightly in the hungry stares of its distressingly rummaging actors.  Though its pace and narration may seem double-edged, the presentation nevertheless lingers cautiously, treading through a memory haunted and forgotten.

Taos: A delectable character study. Enhanced significantly by Nick Cave’s enchanting soundtrack. Do I need to mention Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt too???

—

(trailer)

Taos: Probably more symbolic of a younger psyche. Still, its impact on my quarter-life self is more than enough to receive a nod. One of my favorite non-scored soundtracks.

David: I think Taos and I are in agreement here. While the film has and continues to endure a not fully warranted backlash (I’m guessing thanks to the pandering, middling tide of Searchlight-esque labels arguably setting back the American independent movement), it has its obvious limitations. But placing all the bullshit aside, Garden State spoke to me at just the right moment in my life.  It sent me looking for better movies and considering a career making them, too.  I am left grateful.  Also:  Natalie Portman!  Natalie Portman, Natalie Portman, Natalie Portman.
…
Natalie Portman.

—

(trailer)

David: The discovery of Park Chan-wook, transitioning here from a skilled filmmaker into a full-blown artist.  (Does that sound cheap?  Forgive me.)  The frame is knicked in spots; a regrettable flaw fleetingly mars its end.  But Park finds, or more accurately, shares with us for the first time his voice beyond an EP.  Shocking to most, the director excavates something primal, both within us and in our classical literary roots.  And yet something new protrudes.  Old versus new, East/West, comedy/tragedy, right & wrong–therein lies Park’s cunning: the tension of conflicts.

Taos: Just your straight-up revenge fare here. Severely overshadowed by Oldboy, and I find that good.

—

(trailer)

Taos: This is what Scorsese won on? Aside from Jack’s overacting, it was good, but Aviator was so much more deserving.

David: Scorcese and writer William Monahan make fresh an already exciting concept in redrawing The Departed’s appreciable if less knowing predecessor (Infernal Affairs; but let’s not distract ourselves with a trite Venn diagram dispute).  I do think its irreverence ultimately gets in the way of its staying power, but Scorcese and crew’s execution is formidable.  More movies should feature Vera Farmiga.

—

(trailer)

David: My second Hirokazu (following the delightful After Life), the director approaches his material with honest restraint while still finding wonder in life’s most overlooked of places.  Along with the effort of a terrific child cast, more immediately, Nobody Knows conveys a human quality often forgotten in the politics of adulthood, something that will deeply affect those with little ones close to their hearts.

Taos: I too do not know. Have not seen it.

—

Be sure to come back tomorrow to check out part 2!

So last night my mind  was pondering many thoughts, as I usually do. It’s usually goes on to topic’s like  life and death, but somehow death more than life. But I tend to hyperventilate when I think to much into the fact that – at the end of the road it’s gonna be – EMPTY. There’ll be nothing nada zilch!!! I know that people have the belief that God will take them to stride in his kingdom of heaven. I like the idea of that too but nearly every night I think, “When I dye will it be like when a Tv  doesn’t work and all your left with is static?” Yes I tend to converse with my head on the topics of death and the afterlife( if there is one).

I’d love an afterlife. Means there is some life someway or the other to live for. But my biggest fear is Dying just to  know that there’s nothing but static emptiness. I wonder how many of you have actually stared at a TV when it’s all static and fuzzed up. If you stare into it for to long your eyes start seeing images and you vision gets blotchy. You’d go mental watching it for more than a couple of hours, but a whole AFTER LIFE!!! Now do you see how paranoid I am about aging! 

We’ll back to the point which was lost even before I wrote up the second sentence. I was pondering last night , about how people identify there teen years. And they all fall in a couple of categories. They ranged from Parties, Finding your first Love, High School Drama, and getting into all kinds of trouble. And as much as I love hear other peoples stories about how they smuggled booze to camp, when it  actually comes to me to share my war stories, I have nothing!  

I have never fallen in love, I went to a couple of parties but with my strict curfew, I left before the real partying ever started. I was never into High School gossip, and the only bad thing I did was graffiti  a massive violin on my maths table cause I hated it so much, that when the teacher finally caught me out I balled my eyes out cause I felt so guilty.

Only I could manage to miss the “teen” experience, whilst I’m still in it!!! But I have a lot to blame for it. Being the youngest in the family and being a female was tough on me. And I’m not trying to be sexist , but for me , that was the main problem. When ever there was a party I couldn’t go to it was because I was to young and cause “It’s more dangerous cause you’re a girl.” -GAH! I can even hear my mums thick spanish accent whilst I’m typing it up! As if  murderous rapist was going to kidnap me from my friends house who lives 5 minutes away , where we were supposed to be watching movies and eating crappy pizza. But as my mother always justified her argument with ” But they showed it on CSI not last week!” 

 And I didn’t date cause A- I wasn’t allowed  to and B- My father brought me up warning me  since the age of 5 that if I was to bring a guy over to the house, A nice armed shot gun would be waiting to greet him. Very reassuring DAD!

So I was just a mellow  kid, not really popular but not a social outcasts either. At school I was always sitting where the popular kids were, but not actually sitting with them. And  I was always reading. My mother is a  massive Book worm and therefore the magic of gene’s! The only thing that got me credits to sitting within the cool crowd, was that I could sing.

 I sang at school assemblies and Concert Nights.  Singing at school is tough. You can either be teased about it for trying [and failing in front of your peers of course]. Or being admired by your peers and being able to sit where the cool crowd sits(But again not actually with them.) So that was me , but I never got to do what most of my friends could do. So I decided since I have 5 months till my teenaged hour glass breaks, I will try and accomplish all the things I  wanted to do but , couldn’t.

So I made a List called  “10 things before 20″

#1 Getting my license.

SHOCK – I know. Most kids when they turn 16 , run to the motor registry office and get there license. But me ,no. I’ve had a slight fear of driving ever since I was around 15 when I was in a Go-kart crash. No major injuries or anything. I was all my fault (although I tell others otherwise). I was the only chick there and want to beat the boys and well thing it through. Really fast Kart, Stupid cocky 15 year old me, Sharp turns. You get the picture. Well I’ve decided to get my L’s and man up cause I am not going to be in my 20’s and not know how to drive. So thats top of my list.

#2 Join some form of sport.

And I was going to add at the end “and enjoy it.” I like sports, I think there fun, and a great way of exercising. What I don’t like- over competitive people who get really rough, mean and well ….feral. I did netball for a year in high school and loathed it. I loved training cause we played friendly but on the actually competitions. =[ Lets just say, I'm a lover not a fighter. So I want to do a form of sport preferably something where it's just me so that the competitive nature doesn't come out 

#3 Host a house party without  your parents permission.

If that doesn't say Ultimate teenage experience I don't know what does! I've always been very civil and courteous about having guests over , but for this challenge I have to throw, civil and courteous out the window. And to be honest, I'm kinda scared ....

#4 Kiss and Tell.

Remember when you'd go to a party and meet this cute guy/girl and you'd make out and then never see them again but you'd brag about them to your school friends for weeks to come.  Well  if you don't remember , or like me never have had that experience  then cool - I'm not alone, and for those who remember -SCREW YOU! Jokes!  I plan to have this experience in the next 5 months, but who with? Only time will tell....

#5 Eat a Wagon Wheel.

I added this in solely because I've never had a wagon wheel , and when I tell people I haven't they look at me like I've just dropped a baby. So I must have a wagon wheel before I'm 20!

#6 Have a food/ paint/water fight.

I've had both a food and water fight, But hopefully plan to do a paint fight somewhere around my birthday day. I personally think every one should be in do any of the 3 or all 3 at any stage in there lives. Great laughs and instant memories.

#7 Have a slumber party.

As I mention about the strict parents thing. They wouldn't let me stay at my friends houses overnight. Only my cousins, which is still cool,  but it's always left me with urge to host one. And a really cheesy girly one too. Think of Jennifer Garner in "suddenly 30."

#8 Prank call any of your friends.

I could never do this on my own I always had my Friend help me out cause I was hopeless. I have a terrible Guilty-o-meter.  As soon as she'd see me on the point of snapping out of character she'd take over and save me.  But now I've got to learn to fend for myself, and prank on my own.  =]

#9 Make someone a mix tape/CD.

Most preferably a CD. After watching one of my favorite movies “High Fidelity” for the 6th time, I’ve grown to appreciate that a mix tape, takes a lot of effort , for it to actually  mean something to the person your giving it to. Like they say in the movie, “You’ve got to start with a hit to catch their attention, the 2nd has to as equally as good …” So in the spirit of christmas I’m gonna give out a mix tape.

And finally the toughest for the last

#10 Ask you biggest crush out AND get rejected.

I’ve never fallen in love. But thats okay. Don’t start writing sympathy cards yet. All will happen in due course. But one of the most frequently talked about topics when asked to remember “teen-hood” is love.  And how hard it was, especially with hormones going nuts. Oh and Sex Ed. I still shudder at those awkward classes. The birds do it, the bees do it.  The whole thing about being part of the teen experience is to go through “changes”. 

But lets be honest, puberty is a bitch. All this time we’ve grown a trust in our bodies, that we know what’s going on and we’re in control of it. And what does it do, IT GOES ALL HAY WIRE ON US! Things are getting longer or for some not long enough, and chests are either increasing in size, way to fast for us to comprehend or like most poor girls, there patiently waiting for some sign of growth. And don’t get me started on acne. 

And as soon as these changes happen, people start to realize. Boys start to realize. The realize  that your not  just the chick who would challenge the boys at basketball every recess. In a small amount of time your status changes from “basketball buddy” to potential “Girlfriend material.” For some people it just works for them [mainly cause they won the lottery in the gene pool]. You can identify these people as the “cheerleaders” and the “Jocks”. And  for all us poor souls who are merely average,  aren’t given the time of day. 

I’m from Latin american Decent and thankful didn’t have any “major” dramas, when it came to puberty but I had friends who one year was flat as a pan cake and she came back after the summer suddenly a double D. And of course the boys in the school just went crazy over her. And I was always envious at the fact she didn’t even try and she instantly got the attention of all the boys at school. 

Doesn’t that always seem to be the case. Girl likes boy. Boy likes her best friend. And being the good friend you never tell anyone that you actually like them first. So every time your around them you fake a smile but your  getting crushed up inside every second your with them.  But thats got to change. I can’t go into my 20’s being afraid to leap for a possibility in anything and that includes love. I know most of you are wondering why I put ” and get rejected” into the task. Well considering that this will be the first time I’ve ever done this, I can already suspect that I’ll be horrible at it. Knowing me I’ll get so nervous and get a nervous twitch whilst I’m talking. But that’s not the point. The point is to actually do the task. So that fear can finally leave me. And if it goes the way I can imagine it (horribly) I can always compare the future “ask outs” to the first one.  Just like when you secretly try wine for the first time as a teen, it’s disgusting, but after the next couple of times you try it, It’s really nice.

But right now I’m not into anyone at the moment. Hopefully some guy crosses my path in the next 5 months. But no rush. I still have to mentally prepare myself.

Should be interesting.

And I encourage every one who is about to make there own list of things to do before turning into the new decade.

And let me know what would be on your top 10 list. =]

144 days to go.

It sure has been a while since I checked in. I want to let you all know about the new and exciting things that are occurring. Monday evenings 9-10pm est I will be once again doing my own show called; “Get Connected”. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mcssradio/2009/12/08/ministry-of-common-sense-spirituality-radio (917) 889-3705 (If you would like to be a guest on the show, please write me at my web site below) I am always looking for positive, uplifting guests with intersting topics)

Please feel free to check the show out, tune in. There are live shows all week long 7-9 cst.  The ministry also does a Sunday evening service with Rev. Norbert and Rev. Bee for those who need a spiritual uplift.   http://mcssradio.com You will find everything you need to know on the site as well as my own.

Enjoy and thanks for visiting.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  ~Anne Frank

MY SOUL FRIEND/MATE THEORY

first of all im going to explain my theory on what a and who a soul is ….

a soul is the life force of all life … it is the deeper you the real you … your bodys energy source .

yur soul is those little voices in your head .. those deep gut feelings we so to often ignore ..

..it has been proven that us humans only use about 20 to 30% of our tottal brain function … have you ever wondered what the hell all the rest is about its isnt dead brain matter .. it has the same electical pulses the rest of our brain does … and what miracles are hiden in those unused parts of our brain .. cant we have the abbility to all be telepathic.. could we move furnitrue with just our minds .what secrets do we possess .

the purpose of the soul is to seek a higher level that what is here on earth .. a heaven if you need to think of it like that …our souls only learn what we teach it .YEs i belive in re-encarnation .Yes our souls have memories they bring to the next life … your dreams are not all just imaginary ideas … there the visions from our past your soul remebers .the soul is like a sponge seeking out lessons to better ourselves .the soul is born as a pure soul and eventualy dies as a pure soul this can take

i belive that the birth of a New soul comes from the death of unborn babies

then what we call intilectualy disabled children is incorrect .. infact it is a new soul born pure and the soul has yet to learn about life ,about humans ..about good and bad .. happy n sad .. the soul begins as an empty vessel and it learns as we go throu our lives these children are special they are brand new souls ready to learn … theys ee the world so inocently ..not corrupted by life around them .this is why we nurture them more so than a child with “normal abilitys ….

we simply continue to progress thou life the soul taking in what we feed it good or bad …. and we will keep comming back until the soul has become pure once again ..normaly by the time someone desides to go aoul searching ..its usualy becasue they have lived many times and finnaly realise that the soul is your very essence in life ..look after your soul and youll be looking after you

what is a soul friend …..who is a soul friend

from the time we are born they say ( no idea who they are ) but they say we choose who are parents are and we do it for a reason ….. sometime we never know the reson for our silly mistakes but it has happened and we need to deal with it as best we can …..life is about feeding the soul ..its in basicly every religion looking after your soul …. takeing care of yourself . the after life ..so who feeds and nurtures our souls who teaches it new tricks and new ideas … well its the people around you who do ….. we often meet most people in our life as just passers by … but then there are friends …. people who we share some simmilar life ideas with ….we form a closness with them a bond and a friendship begins .. we laugh .. we love … we test our friendships boundrys … all at the same time our souls are beign taugh lessons .

why do some friendships last for years while others dont

because every soul has its own journey to travel .we sometimes meet a soul friend that lasts only a breif time … we feed our souls what they need then we simply part and move on to the next soul friend to leanr from them ..it is societys and its beleifs pushed on us .. that in order to part or move on from friends we neeed to fight or have some kind of dissconection from them ..when ina ctual fact all you have done is learnt what was needed and now time to move on … why do you think sometime we get bored with our friends … or we just dont feel the same way about them anymore … yet its not becasue you hate them or detest them you have simply grown out of each other and are taking diffrent paths in life …. yet we seem to have to put on some kind of fan fair fight display to end the relashionship we once cherished … simply becuse our paths are diffrent .

….

some fiends we meet can last for many years even our hole life time …. it has nothing to do with a better or stronger bond ….. you have met another soul in life whos path is simmilar to yours . your going in the same life path direction

who and what is a soul mate

each lover we have is a soul mate ….. we leanr much from each of them throught our time here ,both good and bad ….

relashionships end becasue we are simply on diffrent paths in life ………but as time passes after the end of a lover ..we look back to see the lessons we have learnt.some are small and some are life changing .are we just us aor a vessel for a living soul i often wonder sometimes ….

some humans are lucky enought to meet another soul on the same path as them at the exact same time … its pretty rare and such a blessing for those two lovers this is why we all crave to search out our soul mate …. we will all meet our soul mate when our souls are closer to being pure and in each life we do meet them but we pass them by ……. ignorence .. greed … . we need to stop searching and just let it happen …. but not let it run our lives … love and be happy with the soul mate you find now … there is a reason why you met them … we are all soul food for each other .i belive we are surounded y the same souls each life we live .. we dont have the same body but our souls live on …

do you ever get that feeling like youve met before

or that there is just something about a person you just cant put your finger on…..

chances are you have met them before in a past life …

Author and conservative political commentator Dinesh D’Souza has released his new book, “Life After Death: The Evidence” and claims to have found proof of the afterlife. James Adler of Newsweek, who calls D’Souza a “Christian apologist”, has published an article about the book. Adler has said the following;

Ghosts, mediums, and miraculous cures by the intercession of saints play no role in his argument, which draws instead on quantum mechanics, neuroscience, and moral philosophy

Interview with Fox

Happy Holidays to all.

It sure has been a while since I checked in. I want to let you all know about the new and exciting things that are occurring.  Monday evenings 8-9pm est I will be once again doing my own show called; “Get Connected”.  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mcssradio/2009/12/08/ministry-of-common-sense-spirituality-radio   (917) 889-3705

We will be discussing the Akashic Records this Monday the 7th with my special guest Robin Richardson. http://www.yourpsychicgirlfriend.com

We are excited about having you join us this week as we discuss our topic and take mini readings.

Tune in!

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  ~Anne Frank

Heaven.
What is heaven?
A place in the clouds, where everything is filled with light and hope?
A place of happiness, joy and relief after a long, difficult life.
An imaginary place.
Because only the ‘good’ may come about it.
I hope to see you there, but we both know where we’re going.
Who needs eternal salvation if you have your whole life to live sinfully satisfied?
I have no expectations of seeing that bright paradise-because after all, there is only death after life.
Try to tell me otherwise in your desperate attempts to find solace in the ending of this world, but tell me this-how comforting is it really if you know that heaven is not where you belong?

A young woman caught between life and death… and a funeral director who appears to have the gift of transitioning the dead, but might just be intent on burying her alive

A conversation I had with my father

The points that we’ve discussed:

We have missed out of equality in all ways and didn’t understand what equality entails at all.

If we look at this world no one can deny that there is a lot of suffering going on, war, starvation, prostitution, human trafficking, animal abuse to name a few. And yet we remain inactive, we justify our numbness by using our religion, or statements, as this is just the way it is and we aren’t able to change anything.

Religion

We exclude all that are not willing to follow the same set of rules as we do whether in our culture, or our belief systems. Whether it is within our families or our circle of friends. We are not willing to include all being it’s all depending on the set of rules one is following. This doesn’t make sense when we would take all in consideration we won’t exclude anyone.

It has been written in the bible that we are created in the image and likeness of god, when you take another look at the fact that there is so much suffering in this world god must be a allowing this and therefore must be pure evil and we are made in his image and likeness so we are evil and allowing suffering to exist.

It also has been written in the bible that: “The root of all evil is the greed for money”, so its not money in it self but our greed for it, that what we all have in common what we have become in fact. If you don’t have money you want it and if you have money you want more of it. Money has become our real god, our love for money governs this world. And in this we exclude those who are suffering that are starving to death because we are too greedy to consider each being equally.

Arguing about whose responsible?

We accept and allow it so we all, each one individually are responsible.

Pointing fingers at others, blaming others doesn’t make sense and it will not move your self to establish change. If your room is a mess and you reason about whose to blame or responsible your not getting your room cleaned that’s common sense. You will not go argue about whose to blame if you want to have the room cleaned you will do it yourself.

Change

Another justification to hide behind is that we believe that we can’t change anything by ourselves we are only human, we believe that one person can’t change anything, each one individually is responsible so each one individually must stand up and take self responsibility for their actions. Common sense.

Facing what is here!

We are hoping that one day it will be paradise on earth somewhere in a future without even willing ourselves to face what is here, denying it. We humans are not really capable of facing what is real in front of our eyes.

We numb ourselves down with entertainment; we reward those who entertain us with huge amounts of money and those who are teaching our children we reward with a minimum wage.

That shows us already how we prioritise our need to entertain ourselves above LIFE those who are new in this world and those that are yet to come. We don’t honour them; no we disregard the children by not doing everything possible for all children to have equal opportunity during the time that has been given to them on this earth.

Instead Numbness rules entertainment remaining inactive has become the disease. The good man remain inactive while millions suffer has become the real evil in this world.

Equality

Equality is the key to life, if you want a good life for your children and exclude the ones of your neighbour and the ones that are starving to death every 5 seconds, you don’t honour life but you honour your self interest, greed, comfort above all other things.

Equality is the key to a dignified life for all. Without equality we manifest a world as it is today.

Without equality we destroy life, we abuse life, we abuse innocent beings, children, animals, the water we drink, the air we breathe.

We are such fools.

Equal money from birth to death is a basic human right!

Equal money for all is a practical interim solution to establish change so all have an opportunity to a dignified life. Equal money is a basic human right simply because you are in this world, you are here.

           On October 30, 2009 Newsweek writer Jerry Alder  released an article titled Heaven Can Wait. The article was picked up by msn.com and was the main story advertised throughout the day on Monday, November 2. Anyone who logged out of their hotmail account or just visited msn.com would see a big banner asking, “is there life after death?”

           I read the article by Mr. Alder and my heart broke for him. Despite the blatant denial of any belief in an afterlife, his last paragraph shows his desperate desire to exist after death. He reminded me of the rich ruler Jesus talks to in Luke 18:18; he’s heard the truth and just can’t accept it. His pain is one we hear every day. However, while the world is crying out, begging to know what happens after death, Christians have been shockingly silent in providing the answer.

           Why is that? Why are we so silent about death? Why do most people in the Western World avoid the topic of death altogether? Well, the world struggles with two main issues:  the absolute certainty of death and the complete uncertainty that follows death.

           Besides the irony between the certainty of death and the uncertainty that follows, Americans prefer to ignore the reality of their impending deaths by flooding their culture with artificial death. We watch TV crime shows, war movies, and play violent video games. However, when the show is over, we know the actor is alive and well. Also, if we die in a video game we can simply press “restart.”

           Death has lost all permanence in this artificial world we’ve created for ourselves. While I am extremely grateful that we no longer have to bury our own dead and that we now have morgues which care for our loved ones’ bodies while we prepare the funeral, I also fully recognize how uncomfortable I am at funerals because seeing a dead body just freaks me out. Because of our isolation from death and the deluge of artificial death, death is no longer a part of life. In fact, death interrupts life.

           The reason we are so uncomfortable with death is because when we face it, we are reminded of our own mortality. We are reminded that no matter how hard we try, we will die—it is certain and unchangeable.

           There is good news though! For Christians, there is JOY and GLADNESS that comes with the certainty of death. In his article, Mr. Alder lets slip a very telling hope humans have. He mentions how tragic it would be for his son to come back as anyone/thing other than his son. He doesn’t want reincarnation or contact with the dead. He wants to hold his son! The glorious Christian message and proclamation to Mr. Alder is that those who trust in Christ and His resurrection will be personally resurrected to live again in the New Creation with Christ!  

           The Resurrection from the dead has been a foundational belief of Christianity since Christ’s own resurrection from the dead. Check out John 11:25-26:
                     “Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he   die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you    believe this?’”

           What wonderful news! The Christian hope of a resurrection body is inseparably connected with Christ’s resurrection from the dead. You can’t have one without the other! If we believe Christ rose from the dead, then we can have absolute hope in a physical resurrection with Him as well! (Romans 6:5, 1 Cor. 15:12-22, Phil 3:10-11, 1 Peter 1:3-6, 1 Thes 4:13-18).

           For a long time I struggled considering a physical resurrection from the dead. In my childish mind I imaged heaven as something more like a spirit world than a physical reality. Consequently, I didn’t joyfully look to life after death. I wanted to serve Christ with all of my heart, but I wasn’t sure how much of me would remain after death.

           Then one day my pastor pointed out to me that Romans 6:5 plainly teaches that Christians will be raised the same way Christ was! Check out Luke 24:38-40. Jesus makes it a point in this passage to make sure the Disciples know He is real, in the flesh, and resurrected! We have the promise that will be resurrected in the same way.

           The Church should joyfully proclaim this message! People are not only curious about death; they are terrified of it. Like Mr. Alder, people need real answers for what comes after death. Although bookstores and cable TV have hundreds of speculators and even ghost chasers tossing out claims about the afterlife, people need real answers. Who can give them the Christian message of hope except for Christians? However, most people sitting in the pews (and possibly behind the pulpit) are just as afraid of death as people in the world.

           Before we can proclaim our message of hope, Christians need to recognize that it’s OK to accept our own mortality. When we do, we will be able to live more freely and joyfully than ever before (Check out 1 Thes 4:13-18!).

My heart breaks for all people like Mr. Alder, who desperately ache for news that there is life. However, I’m extremely excited to let everyone know that there is hope! Jesus destroyed death in order to give us the joy of life now and forever!

1 Corinthians 15:54-55  When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

In the first half of 2010, HarperOne brings you two different books on life after death, both penned by medical doctors, but taking very different approaches to the subject.  To avoid any confusion between the two books, we’ve created a comparison chart between EVIDENCE OF THE AFTERLIFE (Jeffrey Long) and AFTER LIFE (Pim van Lommel).

>> Click here to view and download the comparison chart.

After Life
A Scientific Approach to Near-Death Experiences
van Lommel, Pim
Hardcover
On Sale: 5/4/2010
ISBN 13: 9780061777257
$25.99 / $33.99 Can.

Intro: E5 F#5 B5 A5 G5 A5 E5 F#5 D5
E5 F#5 D5 E5 G5 F#5 D5
E5 F5 A5 B5 E5

E5 G5 E5 G5
Like walking into a dream, so unlike what you’ve seen
E5 G5 E5 A5 G5 E5
so unsure but it seems, ’cause we’ve been waiting for you
E5 G5 E5 G5
Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste
E5 G5 E5 G5 B5 A5 G5 E5
of your afterlife here so stay, you’ll be back here soon anyway

E5 G5 A5 E5 G5 A5
I see a distant light, but girl this can’t be right
E5 G5 A5 B5 A5 G5
Such a surreal place to see so how did this come to be
A5 B5
Arrived too early

E5 G5 B5
And when I think of all the places I just don’t belong
E5 G5 B5 G5
I’ve come to grips with life and realize this is going too far

(*)
G5 D5 E5 C5 G5
I don’t belong here, we gotta move on dear escape from this afterlife
D5 E5 C5 B5
‘Cause this time I’m right to move on and on, far away from here

E5 G5 E5 G5
A place of hope and no pain, perfect skies with no rain
E5 G5 E5 A5 G5 E5
Can leave this place but refrain, ’cause we’ve been waiting for you
E5 G5 E5 G5
Fallen into this place, just giving you a small taste
E5 G5 E5 G5 B5 A5 G5 E5
of your afterlife here so stay, you’ll be back here soon anyway

E5 G5 A5
This peace on earth’s not right (with my back against the wall)
E5 G5 A5
No pain or sign of time (I’m much too young to fall)
E5 G5 A5 B5 A5 G5
So out of place don’t wanna stay, I feel wrong and that’s my sign
A5 B5
I’ve made up my mind

E5 G5 B5
Give me your hand but realize I just wanna say goodbye
E5 G5 B5 G5
Please understand I have to leave and carry on my own life

Back to (*)

(**)
G5 D5 E5
Got nothing against you and surely I’ll miss you
C5 G5 D5
This place full of peace and light, and I’d hope you might
E5 C5 B5
take me back inside when the time is right

E5 G5 E5 A5 E5 B5 E5 C5 2X E5

E5 C5 A5 E5
Loved ones back home all crying ’cause they’re already missing me
C5 A5 E5
I pray by the grace of God that there’s somebody listening
E5 C5 A5 E5
Give me a chance to be that person I wanna be
(Who are you?; I am unbroken; I’m choking on this ecstasy)
E5 C5 A5 E5
Oh Lord I’ll try so hard but you gotta let go of me
(Unbreak me, unchain me, I need another chance to live)

Interlude: E5 A5 G5 C5 B5
E5 G5 F#5 A5 G5 B5 A5 B5
E5 G5 F#5 A5 G5 C5 B5 E5 2X
F4 E5 3X

Back to (*),(**)

Today we are travelling to South America and Japan. One journey I will take only once, the other I can’t wait to take again.
The Colombian road movie Los Viajes del Viento has two strengths that make up for many of its conventional traits: It never descends into a too typical South American sentimentality and it has the luxury of taking place in a geography that is seldom seen on films. The story is about an old, taciturn accordion master who recently lost his wife, and the young boy who may be his son. The old master wants to travel across the entire country in order to give back his accordion to his master. As legend will have it, he once won the instrument in a duel with the devil. The boy sees apprenticeship with the old man as his only possibility to make something of himself and thus follows his unwilling companion stubbornly through some spectacular landscape and hairy situations.

While beautiful to look at, the film didn’t really stand out in any particular way. You could substitute the old accordionist with, say, a kung fu master, or a literature professor, or any old sage with a special gift to impart on the young, and the basic story would pretty much be the same. And in the history of films, God knows this has been done again and again. The accordion only really comes to the fore in an early duel with a younger braggart in a music contest. Like the rapper’s duels in Curtis Hanson’s 8 Mile, the accordion contest consists in psyching out one’s opponent by rhyme and insult while sticking to the chosen accordion tune. It may sound far fetched, but this part of the film really worked.

The travelogue, or road movie, is often an excellent way of highlighting a country’s geography and supporting the local tourist industry. Often, the tourist industry will help finance the film if the country is represented as a series of tourist vistas. This being Colombia, I’m not convinced that the ploy will be entirely successful, but we, the audience, win anyway. Especially since most of us will not get the chance – or take the chance – of visiting the country, I can’t think of a better way to be able to experience Colombia’s breathtaking natural vistas than in the comfort of the cinema chair, where the most immediate danger is an aneurysm triggered by some popcorn-munching moron by our side.

Ultimately, the film is worth seeing for its depiction of nature and the very varied geography – or geology. The stone formations towards the end were a sight to behold, as was the endless salt flats, the village built almost on the lake itself, and the Indian village atop a mountain. I have not seen exactly these sights before and felt fortunate to witness them in this way. The film also strikes up some laconic humoristic moments and I did chuckle a time or two. As for the main plot, I didn’t feel that it resolved itself entirely satisfactorily, but, as is my habit in these posts about films that most have not yet seen, I shan’t be spoiling the end here. The titular symbol of the travelling wind has a double bottom, referring both to the literal wind that has shaped the country and the various wind instruments. There is a scene where the wind blows through a piece of wood with a whistling sound, perhaps telling us that the tradition of these men has its roots in nature itself, in a time before Man, and that all we contribute are complications of that theme.

Hirokazu Kore-eda has made some seven films, not including his TV-work and some short films. Unfortunately not all of these are readily available in the west. His first film, Maborosi, an Ozu-style examination of a young widow trying to find a new lease on life after the loss of her husband , had a limited international run. But it was his second feature, the often wonderful After Life, which made him into a household name, if that house was an art house. (Yes, I know, bad pun…) In 2001 he made Distance, perhaps inspired by the gas attacks of a suicide cult in Japan; the Aum cult’s nerve gas attack on the city’s subway system. Then came Nobody Knows, which got a wider release and was nominated in Cannes and won a number of Asian awards. The story of a group of children left to their own devices after their mother takes off, was a masterpiece of naturalistic acting. Kore-eda directed over almost two years, and the children visibly live in the film. There are scenes in Nobody Knows that should break most hearts that are not already irredeemably broken. In 2006, two years after Nobody Knows, he made Hana, about a samurai who doesn’t really want to be a samurai. He is no good at fighting and wishes he could spend his days helping the poor people of the village in which he takes up residence. His very latest film is Air Doll, about a blow up sex doll that turns human Pinocchio-style. I have not seen this yet, but those that have, comment that it is remarkable in that the film never is exploitative, nor even is interested in the sexual aspects of this offbeat story. The film is more about what it means to be human and the innocence of the non-human in comparison. The first thing the doll learns after becoming human with a beating heart, is to lie.

This lengthy introduction is spurred by my absolute satisfaction with Kore-eda’s penultimate film, made in 2008, and shown this day in the BIFF-festival. Still Walking is perhaps the first perfect film I’ve seen this year. I really can’t find any faults with it. The only film coming near it in quality is the Swedish Burrowing, which I spoke of in a former post. The two films have in common that they are influenced by other directors. In Kore-eda’s case, the spectre of Japanese master, Yasujirō Ozu, is present, but not overwhelming, while in Burrowing, Terrence Malick is perhaps an even more present godfather.

The majority of Still Walking takes place within 24 hours, but including the epilogue, the time covered is three years. The real scope of the film, however, reaches much longer, as both the past and the future is so implicit in these 24 hours, that the film nears an almost general understanding of the human situation, particularly our place in the everlasting links between generations, from the very first to the last. I was most impressed by the way in which the director achieved this generality from a very specific time in a specific family.

A man who has just lost his job brings for the first time his wife, who is a widow, and her son to the annual family reunion. He clearly is not on good terms with his mother and father; “you should call your mother more often“, the father tells him. “I can’t stand listening to all her complaints“, the son answers. The father is a retired doctor who feels useless and socially in a no-man’s land, as he hasn’t anyone to continue his practice, and therefore must still play the role of village doctor himself, even though he is not up to it.

Seemingly, much of the reason for the family’s strained relationship, is that the eldest son lost his life in a drowning accident many years before, while saving a young boy from the waves. This son was the father’s favourite, and is in hindsight made to have represented the hopes for the family’s future. Every time the conversation begins to run more or less easily, the mother mentions some details about the dead son, and the family is thrown back into non-communication.

The reason for the reunion, is indeed that it marks the anniversary for the son’s death. Also present here is a sister with her husband and two children, who the father finds noisy. We can only assume that had the dead son had any children, they would be just as noisy. This is a film where I don’t want to tell much about the plot, as much of the enjoyment comes from gradually piecing together the dynamics of the family and just what has gone wrong in their lives. It is never -apart from the death of the son, which paradoxically has brought them together – the big, life-changing events that make these people be who they are, what they have become. Kore-eda is a master in communicating much bigger truths by very small movements and glances. Sometimes he lets a phrase linger a bit longer than necessary in order for us to grasp not only the context of the phrase, the feeling behind it, but its consequences, insignificant as they may seem before we have the entire picture.

It’s a cliché, but movies is really a universal language. I almost can’t think of better ways for us to see the common humanity between us all, than by immersing ourselves in works by masterful directors like Kore-eda. I felt more recognition in this film than in any Hollywood work I can recall. Nothing sudden or life-changing happens in the film, yet I felt a wiser person after having seen it, perhaps even wanting to be a better person. In this film, the characters don’t have “arcs”, as they evidently teach in Hollywood script classes. The characters that we observe become persons more than characters, and persons, for the most part, don’t suddenly learn something or change just because they have attended a family dinner, even though a number of American Thanksgiving films want us to believe this. They go on with their lives, as best they can, or maybe not even that.

What makes the film magic to me is also a consequence of the characters not only being oblivious to their shortcomings that we as spectators can detect in them, but that they actually go on living as if there never was anything particularly important about the day we have spent with them. They just go on, or as the film says in its title, they are still walking. (This phrase also comes up in a song the grandmother insists on playing on an old record player, and which she says she has a special relationship to. The song so subtly illuminates something of the past of the characters that we don’t quite grasp it before a shot of the grandfather doctor’s later reaction. The world of memories and forgotten times that comes into light here is staggering).

The only hint of sentimentality in the film, is when the unemployed son’s voiceover comments on what has happened in the three years since the family dinner. The words are spoken very matter of factly, but that very restraint is heartbreaking in its seeming neutrality to the lives that are commented. I would love to present the importance of the grandmother’s speech about butterflies and how that speech is reproduced later on, but this is such an integral part of the experience that I must leave it for the individual viewer to assess.

Not only is Kore-eda a master of presenting the social interaction and directing the actors into an almost completely naturalistic style, also his setting of the story deserves some mention. The film is shot in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, a seaside town with streets climbing upwards the mountainside from the sea. Seeing the wonderful locations, I couldn’t help but think of the kind of streets so typical of Studio Ghibli films, particularly Whisper of the Heart. There just is something very magnetic to me about this kind of setting, some serene quality that helps convince me that this site is ideal for the family home, a piece of childhood we all will always carry with us. The lack of the typical features of the big city helps the film to achieve a feeling not only of timelessness, but of placelessness. While very much a Japanese setting, the feeling is more general, of the kind of place that we find beautiful in hindsight, but that we had to move away from. The reasons probably felt important to us at the time, but any place we have lived in our formative years is bound to hold the ghosts of our younger selves in some way or another, still offering us possibilities of who we could have been had we by chance chosen differently.

Again, all this essaying runs the risk of making the film sound as if it could be boring. It is not. In fact, there are many scenes with a wonderful understated humour, not least in the comments by and about the grandmother and grandfather. As in any real grouping of human beings, be it a family or a group of friends, there is humour to be found in familiarity. Kore-eda, being concerned with reality, has the gift of finding the humour that springs from a common humanity, from recognition, even in the idiosyncratic. The actress You (yes, that is her stage name), who played the irresponsible mother in Nobody Knows, here gets the chance to use her quirky personality in a role that never seems as it is an imposed vehicle for her brand of acting. Her presence and comedic (her voice makes me think of a Japanese Meg Tilly) timing is so strong that when she leaves the film, we suddenly feel that we have been deprived of a comforting presence in what is, after all, a scary situation; reality. Or as close to reality as we want to come.

Offering us only a short glimpse into these characters’ lives, Kore-eda still makes us feel as if we’ve known them for a long time. His telling of this story is so effective that, even as we think that nothing very important happens, we get to learn everything that we need in order to fully grasp the situation as well as its ramifications. All the characters are given flesh and blood and lives that are not neatly solved by a contrived Hollywood script. Still, the miracle is that we don’t miss the solution, even though we’ve been indoctrinated to expect it. When all is said and done, we can leave and know that all is not said and it is not done. In fact, the way the characters are not able to come to terms with their shortcomings, or their disability to solve their conflicts, is the very thing that gives the piece such a powerful end. After this film, I really had to take some minutes to let the credits roll before I could or wanted to move. Those were good minutes.

Sex is our most divine expression. It is innate in each of us and it is the highest form of creativity that we have in this world.

Why then do we expect so much from ourselves creatively when our sex lives are not well?  For many of us, sex is a complicated and dark confusing issue with so many wild and strange twists that we have no idea where the truth lies.  What is it we really want when we go to bed with someone?

“Want”- even the word has so many ideas swirling about in our heads, we don’t even know where to begin.

Perhaps it is time we start unpacking our misplaced, misunderstood emotions, ideas, differences, experiences and start to focus on the divine connection that we have with our creator when we have sex.

Sex: it isn’t just about humanity.

It is the closest we come to the divine flow of creativity.    Love, Meg

After Life, a 1998  film by  Japanese director Koreeda, is set in a large, shabby building,  perhaps a social services institution,  where the souls of people who died that week are processed before moving on to the hereafter.

A group of the newly dead of various ages checks in each Monday.  The employees of the institution explain  that they  have until Wednesday to choose a single memory from their lives to take with them into eternity.

Since there are twenty two  dead people being interviewed by the staff,  the first half of the film can be a bit confusing.  It is  hard to know what you are supposed to be paying attention to, not unlike the first half of life itself.

It is easy to become impatient with the contrived premise of the film (who would set up an after life like that?) or, alternatively,  to become so enthralled by the concept  (“What memory would I choose?”) . Either way, you might think  that you don’t really need to finish all two hours  of the film.

If you stick with it, however,  you slowly realize the crux of the film  is not the dead people and their choices at all,  but rather the relationship between two of the staff members who, belatedly, are figuring out for themselves what really matters.

This movie raises  important questions about the meaning of life,  the least of which is “what is your single defining memory?” It offers it own answers for some of those questions, answers that felt profoundly true to me.

I wanted to discuss this movie with everyone I care about.

AMAZING!

“Living is easy with your eyes closed.” – John Lennon

There are going to be days when we feel like slouching into our old “before we had a spiritual practice” posture.  We want to roll over and hit the snooze alarm about 15 more times.  We don’t want to take charge, take the lead, ask questions or get the job done.  We want to hide out.

I know this position well…too well. What do we do when we don’t feel we want to take the lead in our lives?

The only lead we ever have to take is the lead to give our lives over to the divine mother.

It is the only decision we have to make and if we do that she will always make sure we are taken care of.

If we don’t,  if we resist following the divine, then we find ourselves in a state of mind tangling rebellion.  We have excuses. We sip tea, listen to sad music and complain of being uninspired. If we were to follow mother, we would never lose our inspiration.

When we are busy pointing  fingers and complaining we certainly don’t get done all the miraculous things we could have gotten done in that day.  Every day we don’t follow the divine, is a day wasted.

So, on these days, and hopefully they are few, we have to pick up the torch and put it into our hands and make a commitment not to set it down.  We have to commit to sticking with our divine path even when it is tough, even when hopelessness creeps in around the corners and doubt sweeps in over our minds.  We have to hold that torch steady and not let the rains of sorrow or despair put it out.
Follow,

follow,

follow

because we aren’t in charge anyway.  Love, Meg

When we have truly let go, even death will be an adventure. It will be the ultimate curiosity in what happens next. Love, Meg

Sometimes it just happens and something articulates for you. And in this case the AFTERLIFE. This has something to do with the story of a human raised as a Martian who returns to Earth, together with the blackhole theory.

Thank you to Robert Heinlein for ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’. And Stephen Hawking for ‘Brief History of Time’ (also Errol Morris who made a great doc on it).

I believe in the afterlife. I believe there is a higher being. But suddenly heaven and hell is no longer a clear cut division, they’re levels. In the same way that the black hole is not exactly black our spirits are not exactly spirits.

When we die we get absorbed into the collective energy of those who have gone before us. Dead Monster is no longer Monster because she does not exist.

There is a dimension in the universe that we don’t see because we’re limited by our bodies. Hawking kept on investigating the blackhole because he couldn’t believe that if you drop an astronaut in the blackhole it will just disappear. He just couldn’t. And that’s how he figured out that the astronaut as we know it DID disappear but it comes back…as radiation.

The consciousness that we so hold in high regard is the one thing that every religion promises will remain after death. I’m not discounting the fact that there might be consciousness…but not of spirit or soul or anything individual. It’s impossible. Consciousness is still coming from the brain…which dies with us.

I think it’s more like particles moving together like the blackhole that collapses, sucking in that astronaut and eventually nuking it.

Am i going to be excommunicated now?

Awesome post about why these drugs are illegal. Profound ideas. Does this kind of sound like Bill Hicks a little bit? Heh yep.

Joe talks again about the history of marijuana in our country. Drugs illegal and legal.
The most interesting topic he talks about is DMT (dimethyltriptomine), the most illegal psychedelic in America. If your interested in learning more about Dmt and its affect on the human mind check out the book -DMT The Spirit Molecule- by Rick Strassman. You can also Google ayahuasca.

Enjoy

Peace
Simranjeet Singh
AiM: Kether1985