Spinning the Circles

Many years ago a friend of mine invited me to become a part of a multilevel marketing business, a chance to start something on the side and provide extra income.  This wasn’t some get rich quick scheme and would require effort and acquiring new skills to become moderately successful. 

One of the first skills was learning to ‘spin the circles’, my friends way of saying that you had to stand in front of an audience with a chalkboard and invite them to share their dreams, dreams which were in fact goals worthy of extra effort needed to start their own business and join your group.

A random sampling would include new cars, home improvements like remodeling the kitchen, fancy jewelry, travel to exotic vacation spots and so on.  Inevitably there would be one person who was above ‘material things’, a person who dreamed of ‘World Peace’; the perfect beauty pageant answer that said absolutely nothing.  This individual wore a holier than thou smirk as if to say he was satisfied with a twelve year old beater and didn’t appreciate being challenged beyond the 40 hour work week; life was more than filling a toy box with more toys.  Next!

This came to mind as I went over the lessons shared at church yesterday.  During Sunday School we’d talked about  Miracles and how they were presented in the New Testament.  Class members shared some of their experiences which they considered to have been miraculous to some degree.

One brother had been involved in what could easily have been a fatal traffic accident; but for the ‘grace of God’ he some how survived and was able to regain full use of his body.  Another talked about a relative who’d been given six months to live after being diagnosed with cancer; but two years later is cancer free.

An older brother added to the discussion by mentioning that when he purchased tires for his car they came with a sixty thousand mile warranty.  He paused and formed his next thought carefully, “If I’ve calculated correctly…, I only need to purchase one more set of tires based on how many miles I drive a year”.   Now that’s a sobering thought; recognizing the inevitable ‘jumping off place’ as you approach mortality’s finite limits.

But what about those who die unexpectedly; step in front of a fast moving truck or have a sudden heart attack?  How do these individuals plan out their mortality, or does finality enter into the equation as they meander through life much as a leaf blown hither and thither?

I should mention that the last hour of study was tied to a General Conference talk given by Thomas S. Monson,  Guided Safely Home, wherein we were challenged to figure out our ‘purpose’; an extremely broad topic requiring a bit of thought.  

Depending on what level of ‘purpose’ you were thinking about the answers could be as trivial as obtaining a new car, better employment, writing a best selling novel or..., the top prize, exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom sitting in the presence of our Father in Heaven.   What level of ‘purpose’ was/is worth altering your life style choices?  

If you wanted to improve your relationship with your wife or children what would you consider doing?  If you wanted to become successful at work how would you go about improving your chances?  If you wanted to improve your relationship with God what have the prophets told us?

The more I thought about the lessons, putting the two together as I contemplated my own ‘purpose’, it came to me; these lessons had been presented much the same as ‘spinning the circles’, not much different than multilevel marketing. 

I’m no spring chicken and recognize the time limits placed on my mortality.  What do I wish to accomplish with the time given me; assuming I don’t step in front of the proverbial truck or have that unexpected heart attack that takes me before I’ve planned my own funeral?

To ‘spin the circles’ and grow your own business you needed to find out your prospect’s short term, mid range and long term goals.  These goals must be strong enough stimulate a prospect into acting upon them.  If you couldn’t bring out a worthy challenge then the likelihood of bringing the prospect on board were greatly diminished. 

I remember hearing about a fellow who when asked what he might do to improve his lot in life responded, “Hey, I’ve got a television and a six pack of beer; what else do I need?”  Not everyone will respond to an invitation to grow.

I’d love to have a new truck with all the bells and whistles.  My house in Buffalo is coming along; but wouldn’t it be great to have top of the line appliances instead of entry level Sears?  I’ve been slowing down my hours in business intentionally as I get closer to retirement; wouldn’t it be great to have some kind of supplemental income other than my police retirement and social security?

My creative writing has slowed down; isn’t it worth a little extra effort to share some of the thoughts that are lined up in that fog of a brain?  Spending more time at the temple, to be fully immersed in scripture study gaining a better understanding of what the Lord would have me do; that would be the sweetest thing of all…

A tune from Fiddler on the Roof invades my thought process.

…If I were a rich man,
Yubby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dibby dum.
All day long I'd biddy biddy bum.
If I were a wealthy man.
I wouldn't have to work hard.
Idle-diddle-daidle-daidle man.
Lord who made the lion and the lamb,
You decreed I should be what I am.
Would it spoil some vast eternal plan?
If I were a wealthy man.

As I close my thoughts, pausing to breathe out and proclaim quietly, “Oye”..., the question remains, what is my purpose, my goal to accomplish in the time allotted me?   What will I do differently to bring about those changes necessary to accomplish my life’s mission?

More importantly, what will you do?  Will you take a few moments to consider your purpose?

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Never let facts interfere with a perfectly good lie

Shakespeare had a line in his play, Hamlet; most are familiar with, “To be or not to be, that is the question”.  Taking considerable liberties with this, “To lie or not to lie, that is the question”.  Hamlet would have been a success either way; but for today’s purposes let’s have some fun.  Brian Williams of NBC might come forward on his nightly news forum claiming he was at the performance and might have the original Playbill in his files.

What’s the big deal, everyone lies or exaggerates; at least that’s the rationalization from those who idolize Brian Williams, the leftist agenda offered at NBC and other major media outlets.  What ever it takes to get the job done; lie a little, cheat a little and if we get caught we’ll admit that it was only a miscommunication or that we accidentally forgot to include a little just like everyone else does.

“You like your doctor, you get to keep your doctor! You like your plan, you get to keep it!”  Obama said that or something similar no less than 12 times; but we have learned that Obama knew from the get go that it was a lie, that most folks would not get to keep their doctor or their original health plan.  Obama knew this prior to twisting arms to pass Obamacare.  Is telling the truth important?

Then there’s the United Nations IPCC report which intentionally left out two fairly important statements which were supposed to be in the final draft regarding Global Warming.  If you’re not up on the IPCC report, that’s focal point used by most of the nation’s leaders to justify and combat the man made global warming crisis.  (It’s sometimes referred to as the man made global warming hoax since that is a more accurate assessment of this scheme to redistribute wealth on a global scale.)

1)     “None of the studies cited above has shown clear evidence that we can attribute the observed climate changes to increases in greenhouse gases.”

 
2)     “No study to date has positively attributed all or part of the climate change to man–made causes”

And yet the U.N. continues to push for a global government based on impending catastrophic events which will certainly befall humankind due to man made global warming.  Based on intentionally misleading IPCC reports, would this be considered a lie?

Internet search engines can find most anything; but when you find what is offered can anyone be assured that the information supplied is of any worth?  Looking for graphs and charts regarding air pollution turns up some interesting; useless but interesting charts. 

There were so many charts on CO2 levels as to be a bonanza; that is until you figure out that the ‘settled science’ on CO2 being the cause of global warming isn’t settled.  CO2 isn’t a pollutant at all; in fact it is a required component for plants to grow.  Turns out the increase in CO2 is helping plant life to flourish, thereby helping to feed those in need across this planet; but you won’t hear environmental alarmists talking about that little tidbit.

Then there’s the ‘climate change blame game’, which countries are at fault for the world’s miseries and how much should the ‘world court of opinion’ exact for their alleged crimes against Mother Earth and her inhabitants?

“South Africa, on behalf of a broad group of developing and poor nations, called for a show of good faith -- including for rich countries to show how they intend to keep a promise to scale climate assistance up to $100 billion (88 billion euros) by 2020.”

There were a couple of interesting charts on general air pollution which caught my attention.  It became painfully clear that cities in Communist China far out ‘performed’ cities in the United States as the worst polluters based on suspended particles in the air, nearly 10 to 1.

Why would that be interesting? 

It’s important because the so called environmental movement here in our country has been hiding, at least until recently, their close associations with communism and their desire to transform America into a pure socialist state.

“Until recently, those attacking the capitalist system as the cause of global warming were intentionally a little vague as to what will replace it if we are to solve the problem. But on Sunday in Oakland, that curtain was drawn back and the new system was finally revealed: Communism. Or at least hardcore socialism as Marx defined it — the necessary transitional phase before true complete communism (i.e. no private property, no families, no individualism). Most countries we tend to think of as “communist” actually self-defined as “socialist”: The USSR, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, for example, was (as its name reveals) socialist. I point out this detail in case anybody reading this article thinks that the “socialism” advocated at the rally was merely some kind of squishy soft-hearted semi-capitalism; no, it is the same type of socialism one finds in places generally thought of as communist.”

Wait a second; didn’t the chart show that Communist China was almost 10 times worse at polluting the planet than our capitalistic nation?  

Never let facts interfere with a perfectly good lie; that’s how the left gets away with their tall stories, their yarns and the evening news. 

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.