Hi Bobby,

               I am sorry - that was sad thing to have happen. It is hard to
make sense of life, murders - war - hatred, but these are human caused
events. At some ppoint there was turning point at which things could have
gone down a different path. We treasure life seeing it as good and death as
bad - this propensity towards making a value judgement makes things either
undesirable or desirable. When in truth they simple exist. Death is not
really any diferent than birth - where are souls  before they are born? -
this of course no one ever fears where they come from - so its not a big
thing. Caught up in the present seems to be the only state of conciuosness
we can relate to. Birth-life-death - past -present -future. Placed in a
concept like spring/summer/fall/winter for plants - which would make life a
continous circle rather than linear progression with a beginning and end.
Birth, life and death being simply in other realms of time and space from
each other. We can't see the yet to born nor the already departed - doesn't
make any of them any-the-less real. I think this is what referred to as
esoteric stuff. Makes your brain hurt. LOL

                                        Brightest Blessings
                                                Trisha



> Trisha,
>
>         The poem below encapsulates my thoughts. I wrote after a young man
> I knew shot two of my friends. One died and one lived. The young man will
> be in amental institution for criminal for the rest of his life.
>
>
>                 The Luck of the Draw
>
>
>         A good man is shot, a bad one lives
>         People ask, "What gives, what gives?"
>         Floods destroy precious memories, while some folks waste theirs.
>         People say, It's unfair, it's unfair!"
>
>         What is it that  picks and choses,
>         Where one wins and one loses.
>         Where children die and killers go free
>         What will be, will be?
>
>         I've ponder hard the face of fate
>         The wonders of love, the destruction by hate
>         Why, oh why, I cry and contemplate
>         The reasons behind what we call fate.
>
>         Goodness is not a coin of this realm
>         Nor evil is naught  to turn the helm
>         The reason appears to me in awe
>         So simple....the luck of the draw
>
>         The luck of the draw brought me this way
>         The luck of the draws knows my last day
>         The luck of the draw is  fate,  ahh, "Yes!"
>         The luck of the draw, no more, no less.
>
>
>                                         Bobby G. Greer
>                                              3/22/98
>
>
>
> >Hi Bobby,
> >
> >        I have to concur with you -at least partially -
> >
> >> If I thought a Higher Being pre-ordained my CP, someonelse' MD, etc. I
> >> could not respect such a being. As Rabbi Kushner says in "Why Bad
things H
> >> appento Good People" God put is some degree of "slippage" in creation.
> >That's
> >> the "luck of the draw" and as I once said in a poem "Play the cards you
> >are
> >> dealtand don't whine". That's my own" raisson d'etre"
> >
> >
> >        I am awed by the whole creation of a being process. We can't
> >replicate that. To create something as complex as a being and go thru
each
> >of the cell mutations flawlessly is mind boggling. I am not surprised
that
> >when created inside another being, subject to what that being does and is
> >exposed to - that glitches occur. I do not view any of that - what other
> >people call illness and disabling conditions as anything other than
normal.
> >You are asking something many times more complex than a engine to
function
> >flawlessly. If I thought a higher being had deliberately orchestraed
Amber's
> >CP or my abuse - I would loathe that being from the bottom of my heart
and
> >certainly could never respect it - surely a God would have better things
to
> >to than be a petty tyrant who maimes and tortures. Surely such a being
must
> >be the ulitmate Evil.  From where I stand the Gods have given us all we
need
> >to live our lives and love and care for each other without requiring
their
> >constant intervention like a nurse maid. Hopefully they have better
things
> >on which to focus than my life. Its a endless Universe. How egotistical
to
> >think Gods have nothing better to do than think of me. Of course
organized
> >religions are not for the people who think only for people who must be
told
> >what to think and how to act. Its much easier to be told how to be than
to
> >accept responsibilty for one actions and have to think them out. The
problem
> >with life is the fact people are spoon fed what to believe thru religions
> >and in our soctiey that includes Hollywood version of what life should.
> >Mindless sheep!! True value systems encourage a person to thinks thing
thru
> >and come to conclusions based on their experiences and ability to
question -
> >blind obediance is required only by those whose ideas won't stand  up in
the
> >light of scruteny.A true God is so far beyond human comphehension  and
Gods
> >of humnas resemble the humans - strengths and weakeness - autocratic
petty
> >tyrants that require unthinking obediance. Modern religions are big
> >usiness  - and if they don't have followers they will bite the dust. They
> >are no different than Chrysler, Ford,Cadillac or MicroSoft. Of course
those
> >all have their followers too. LOL
> >
> >                Brightest Blessings
> >                       Trisha - who has never managed to do the sheep
thing