The carnage wreaked its vengeance on those they led into war.  The dying and dead lay about them and blood flowed over the land.

They eyed each other, swords drawn, knowing for one or both that this may be the last few moments of existence.

One looked around him and saw his comrades no more.

He realized he forgot why they were even here on the field of battle.

His eyes met those of the other warrior and there was no fear in either one.

He flung his sword to the ground and said, “I shall have no more of this.  Let thy will be done.”

The other warrior was surprised at the surrender.  He too turned and felt the wrath that had displayed its fury.

It would be an easy kill, thought he, but my opponent is no coward as I saw him fight.

He surveyed the landscape and looked at his enemy.

“I too have had enough.  Go in peace.”

Words penned by sleepyeagle.

The words Sleepy Eagle wrote gave me pause for reflection and I thought about my life and the lives of others and the statement holds true to my experiences.

No one gets away with anything.

We may not go to jail.  People may not discover.  Somehow, someway, misdeeds always come back in one form or another to haunt.

That is how we learn.

Life itself can be a prison for those who transgress.  Paranoia and fear strike those who know in their hearts they have done wrong and realize the punishment is yet to come.

Remorse and regret helps, like getting an early release for good behavior, but the punishment still awaits.

We refer to it as “punishment” but in reality it is an awareness of the disturbance we created on a spiritual plane as it comes back to visit us.

….”It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”….Crowfoot

Words spoken by a man who comes from a peoples who learned by studying life itself and living among that which was created.

How can the wisdom of such as these be ignored?

They were inspired and taught by the greatest teacher of all, life itself.

It is a thought that many do not appreciate.

For those, I say ignorance is not bliss.

……..Currents of maybes don’t bother to wake anymore when I call them.  Torrents of not gonna happens have bought one way tickets home.

The words above I refer to as inspiration and they were written by Forrester McLeod.

I like the words.  It represents peace of soul to me so I thought I would borrow them and share them with you.

I have faith.

My faith is not of this world or those who occupy it as I can’t really trust them with my soul, can I?

Not as long as there are questions of self preservation and positioning yourself to be at the front of the line when God calls.

Many people claim they don’t like to see another suffer or hope the recently departed don’t go to hell or they desire a little coin or fame, so they pray.

They can do what they will, but I do not see the benefit of that prayer to God or man.

A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, a hand in friendship and a strong back to help lift a burden will do more to help fellow man than a prayer will if one desires to be truly helpful.

Letting the love shine will ease the pain for so many.

Why pray for someone after they died.  If he or she is an adult, the state of his or her soul is already established, you would think.  Nothing will change that.

I am thankful for the opportunity of being here most days.

And the days I am not thankful, I ask for a little brain peace to help me through.  The act of doing this usually starts the brain peace process going as it focuses my mind on something else beside my own misery.

Does my way work?

I do not know.  I have an appreciation for what is and I think that I don’t or cannot understand that which caused it all.

I am very skeptical of those who claim they have the answers or constantly quote verses from old books .  Those who spent so much time reading the old books and obsessing on them they have taken the time away from living, and that is what we are here for, to live.

I understand as much as we are all alike, we are not.   I try and understand those who do not think like myself.   After all, I may be wrong, so I would wish to be understood and have compassion shown to me.

That is the Golden Rule, a simple truth that is much spoken of and rarely acted upon.

There have been so many sappy books written about the Son of Man that it boggles the mind.

It started with a legend that someone decided to document and before you know it, there stands God in the flesh, suffering to pay for all the hideous deeds we cursed humans can imagine.

He is on guard fighting the Devil and protecting all his children who die every day and suffer anyway.

So who is Mr. Christ really?

I dare say few know and there is speculation he may not have existed at all but is a merging of a few other personalities who lived at that time.

Seeing that I or many others living on this planet have yet to see a man walk on water, raise the dead, come back to life after three days on a slab, feed thousands with a basket of fish and a few loaves of bread and turn the water into wine without the use of illusion or trickery, it appears very possible that the Son of Man probably did not do these things either.

He was a free man living in a land where freedom was only for the privileged few.

He bowed to no one and told it as he saw it.

He railed against the scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites and praised the Samaritan.

He had no use for dogma and healed on a Sunday.

He taught forgiveness.

He knew better than to judge and encouraged his followers not to judge either as no one can know perfection.

He taught that the self righteousness of man was nothing as compared to the entity that is responsible for creating life.

He did not have patience, but lashed out at those who made a mockery of God, as evidenced with him taking a whip after the money changers.

Mr. Christ was a warrior who knew when to let it out and when to stay his hand.

He was not a murderer or killer and desired peace for all and knew in his heart it was not to be.

He realized they would get him because he was the biggest threat they had encountered.

The sheep started to follow the Son of Man and they could not have that.  Nor for his blasphemy against those who claimed to have an audience with their maker.

Mr. Christ was an unknown phenomena.  An intellectual with guts and compassion.

He did not want to be God nor is he.

That is how the other side won for the last 2000 years.  Making claims that the Son of Man likely never made.

The few parts that ring true you rarely hear about as it condemns those who say they follow in his footsteps.

I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t want to die drunk or stoned.  You never know, if there is an afterlife and if it is really good, who wants to be drunk or stoned?

I think the same could be said for people with broken hearts or other emotional traumas which leaves their souls deflated and barely alive.

I believe many of these people can see better days on earth.

There was a fellow walking in the mall with his mom one day.  He looked to be in his twenties and clearly mentally retarded.

He said “Hi” to everybody he saw and nary a response.  He didn’t wait for a response, but kept on going,  until he met me.

His head was bobbing up and down and his right arm was in that funny position with his hand up like a claw.

“Hi”, he said, walking by without waiting for a reply.

“Hi,” I answered and added, “Looks like your having a great day today!”

He took a few steps and then realized someone actually answered him.

He and his mom both turned to look at me with smiles on their faces.  He was so excited he started doing a dance.

Life is beautiful!

The preacher had all eyes focused on him.  The spotlight was hot,  there was sweat on his brow and crocodile tears on his cheeks.

In front of him sat a 98 year old geezer in a wheel chair looking like it was his last day on earth.

“Come on Lord!  Heal this God fearing man!”

A voice rolled through the building.

“REALLY?”

“What was that?” the preachers eyes were bulging.

“SO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD KOWTOW TO YOUR DEMANDS?”

The preacher’s tanned complexion turned to a ghostly white and he blubbered, “Yessir”.

“WHAT WERE YOU DOING LAST NIGHT PREACHER?”

“nnnnnothing sir!”

“I SEE IN YOUR HEART YOU LIKE LITTLE BOYS.”

“Nnnnoooo.  I mean yes I but not like the way you are thinking!”

“WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT OLD BUZZARD IN THE CHAIR DIDN’T LIKE BOYS?  MAYBE I PUT HIM THERE.”

“I never thought about it before,” the Preacher wailed and this time the tears were real.

“I WAS JUST KIDDING HA, HA, HA”

They took the preacher away in a little white coat with extra long arms they could tie behind him.

The geezer in the wheelchair died.

We all know that the greatest gift a person can give another is his or her own life.

The second greatest gift that I can think of is forgiveness, the real thing.  Not the “I forgive you” and have it thrown back at you later.  That is bait, not forgiveness.

Many people are waiting till they die to see if they are forgiven or not.  What good is it then?

I find it easy to forgive and mean it.  There have been a few times in my life when it took an extreme effort.  Time usually won the battle and my resistance to not forgiving abated.

When forgiveness is given, something comes back.  Not from the other person.  The gift of peace as anger and hate are no more.

Usually people who cannot forgive allow the other stuff to eat away at them, rage incarnate.

For those who desire a “master” and are fool enough to bequeath their freedom and dignity to another, they will receive their reward.

That is one aspect I like about the man from Galilee.  He was no man’s pawn.

He was the most famous non-conformist who lived and he didn’t drive a hawg and drink himself stupid while poppin’ pills to do it.

He didn’t need an army to follow him.

He didn’t need “backers” as there were precious few to go around, that were willing.

He just did.

I like that kind of person.  True grit, when the going gets a little fearful, he says it must be so.

I don’t believe all that is said about him, they made him an idol.  If we compare him with what happened to Michael Jackson and Elvis, they were bigger after they went than before, when many considered them both to have been has beens.

I assume the man from Galilee was at the top of his game when he left, but then again who knows?  There were many thumbs down at his Inquisition.

I like the mental image of a solitary figure walking on the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

I can almost imagine what he is thinking, for the moment it is peace.