What you win them with, is what you win them to.
A phrase shared by a friend while sitting on the beach, which speaks volumes about life today.
To me it means that what you offer others – family, friends, employees – will define your relationship(s).
If you offer family unfailing love and belief, they will love and trust you, and know you will always be there for them.
If you offer friends genuine interest in what matters to them and who they are, you will be, and have, a friend for life. This is one of My Captor’s finest qualities.
If you offer potential employees more money, more vacation – more stuff – you will hire mercenaries.
On a separate note, isn’t it amazing what one can learn sitting on the beach? Reminds me of growing up in Nebraska.
And as recently posted, I’ve spent a lot of time in churches lately, running the life celebration gamut from birth to death.
And the more I listened to the various speakers and scripture readings, and compared them to today’s political ‘jousting’, I couldn’t help but think that politics is an awful lot like religion.
And I am fully aware if I made that observation during Confession, my penance would be 5 hours of Fox News and CNN, so I’m not bringing it up there. I’d rather the penance of a long bus ride next to the woman sharing vivid details of her labor and delivery, please.
Both promise a better life: religion focused on eternal life, and politics on what’s in it for you if you vote for me.
Much of modern politics is inspired by religion.
Each needs your money to keep operating, and striving for that better tomorrow.
In religion, you can find a Bible verse to justify anything. Politicians offer the ‘better life buffet’: “That’s exactly why you voted for me!” regardless of what they said last fall.
The Pope and President have much in common: Magically appearing on a balcony, and never taking questions after appearances.
And the Holy Ghost is a lot like the VP: Not totally sure what either does, but it might be important. Has the Holy Ghost been assigned the Crisis at the Pearly Gates?
Clergy take a vow of poverty. Politicians – well, never mind.
Manna from heaven, inspiring the school lunch program.
Turning water into wine, taxing the rich to pay for everything!
Cleansing the temple of the moneychangers, tougher Wall Street regulations!
Lazarus raised from the dead, free hearing aids from Medicare!
Escaping from the Pharaoh, end the filibuster!
No matter what you believe, or have done, God will forgive you. If you believe, or do, something I disagree with, I will crush you personally and/or professionally.
Walking on water, pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!
Each offers guidance on our ‘best life’: The Church with the 10 commandments; Had lobbyists been involved, there might only be 4. Sorry Mr. Clinton, they won’t budge on adultery.
But those 4 would lead to 1,231 bureaucratic regulations.
An unfortunate side effect of religion has been historical, and sometimes deadly, conflict between faiths, each believing they are “the true religion”.
Political parties also feed off divisions to maintain interest and attract investment, leading to sometimes angry and deadly conflicts.
But the ultimate similarity – and the reason for each’s enduring popularity – is offering us a chance to associate with like-minded people who share similar values.
Thriving by appealing to the most basic human instinct: The desire to belong.
To be part of something bigger than ourselves, and have a better tomorrow to hope for.
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TO ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENT OF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING SONGS/QUOTES:
GEORGE WILL Political observer
“Nonsense from high officials is nothing new. But why does it seem that, now more than ever, government officials with nothing sensible to say seem intent on proving this?”
Mayor of Simpleton XTC
“Never been near a university, never took a paper or a learned degree,
And some of your friends think that’s stupid of me,
But it’s nothing that I care about.
I can’t have been there when brains were handed round
Please be upstanding for the Mayor of Simpleton,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing and that’s I love you.
I’m not proud of the fact that I never learned much,
Just feel I should say, what you get is all real,
I can’t put on an act, it takes brains to do that anyway.
(And anyway…)
Then I’m the man who grew the money tree
No chain of office and no hope of getting one,
You’ll be warm in the arms of the Mayor of Simpleton”
Invisible Man Elvis Costello
“Meanwhile someone’s hiding in the classroom
Forging books of history
Never mind there’s a good film showing tonight
Where they hang everyone everybody who can read and write
Oh that could never happen here, but then again it might”
The revolution will not be televised Gil Scott-Heron
“The revolution will not be televised
The revolution will not be brought to you
By Xerox in four parts without commercial interruptions
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon blowing a bugle
And leading a charge by John Mitchell, General Abrams, and Spiro Agnew
To eat hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary
The revolution will not be televised
Will not be televised, Will not be televised
The revolution will be no re-run, brothers
The revolution will be live”
King for a day XTC
“Everyone’s creeping up to the money god,
Putting tongues where they didn’t ought to be
On stepping stones of human hearts and souls,
Into the land of “nothing for free
“Well the way that we’re living,
Is all take and no giving,
There’s nothing to believe in,
The loudest mouth will hail the new found way,
To be king for a day
You’re only here once so you got to get it right
(No time to fuss and fight)
‘Cause life don’t mean much if measured out with someone else’s plight
(In time you’ll see the light)’Cause the way that we’re living,
Is all take and no giving,
There’s not much to believe in,
The loudest mouth will hail the new found way,
To be king for a day”
The Queen is dead The Smiths
(I include this largely for the drum work that opens the song. Gave me an excuse to listen to it on repeat for about an hour)
“Pass the Pub who saps your body
And the church who’ll snatch your money
The Queen is dead, boys, And it’s so lonely on a limb
Life is very long when you’re lonely Oh has the world changed or have I changed?”
Very clever , Jim
Wow – this post is uniquely poignant – powerful in it’s simplicity – yet incredibly multi-threaded.
One word in this post really jumped out to me – genuine (which I agree is one of “your Captors” finest qualities). To be truly genuine is to be totally selfless which is a challenge for all of us in our fallen state. Christ humbled himself to the point of death. We are called to humble ourselves to the point of selflessness. Oh that our our politicians would be more selfless/genuine. Oh that our religious leaders would be more selfless/genuine. But more importantly, oh that I would be more selfless/genuine.
Thanks for the challenge.
Good one!