Monday, August 31, 2009
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Searching for the Garden of Eden
I went to one of my closest friends wedding's last night, and I heard something said in the homily that has been resonating in me ever since I heard it. "that the blessing of marriage was a gift of life that was present before the fall of man" Think about that for a second, because it dawned on me that we can learn so much about happiness now from what God originally intended for us in Eden. John Paul II would always speak about Jesus proclamation, "In the beginning it was not so," So what was in the beginning that is so important. What did God originally intend for us in Eden that is so important.
I want to offer two area's of life that were "in the beginning" that we need to learn from. Number One, "Marriage"- The love between man and women. "In the beginning" there was no disconnect between "Language" (What we say), and "action" (What we do). In marriage, we say "I will love you faithfully forever," so we have to live that in all our actions, to be a constant gift to the other person. This being a "gift" effects everyone, because living and thinking about others (selfless love) is the only path towards happiness. This "self-gift" is not only about sex, its about all the One thousand small ways that we can serve our spouse everyday, but also in sex, the message is clear, "In the beginning" words and actions were connected, Adam said to Eve "I will give you 100% of myself" with his words, and his actions bore witness to this proclamation. This is why birth control is so wrong, because its not true. The husband says to his wife, "I will give you 100%", but with contraception you are holding back the very essence of yourself, the ability to create and to give. (Not everyone can have and raise children people say, this is true, I will cover this next week.)
The second area that was "In the beginning" is "work". Before the Fall, Adam would have had to have worked to support and "be a gift" to his wife. So Work was something that was present in the life of man before the Fall, meaning "work" is a gift. Think about it, if a person had all the money in the world, and decided to stop working and just relax for his entire life, this would not be a recipe of happiness. In fact, it would probably be a recipe for disaster.
We can learn so much from God's original intention for us, marriage and work are just 2 of the gifts that were present before the Fall, and they speak about a theme that is a key for us. "Self Gift". The more our marriage and our work reflects an attitude of joyful service the more happy we will be. But we can't wait until everything is "perfect" to have this attitude. We have to start now, in almost any form of work, we can have an attitude of "Joyful service", and just for today, may we be a "cheerful giver" to our spouses.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Victor Frankl Quotes
I stumbled upon these quotes from Victor Frankl over the weekend, and they are extremely powerful. He said he received so much consolation as a prisoner to see other prisoners giving their last pieces of bread to other hungrier prisoners, that he concluded mans freedom and responsibility were the two gifts that no one could take a way from us under any circumstances, they were ours alone! I love his idea that we have a statue of liberty on the east coast and a statue of responsibility on the west coast.
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way."
"Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibilities. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."
"Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way."
"Freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibilities. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast."
Monday, August 17, 2009
Governments make for Cold Mothers, and Cold Fathers
I don't like writing about politics on this blog, because we get too much of it everyday from the media, but I do like writing about culture, and the health care debate involves our culture, so I wanted to weigh in. When ever I speak with someone that supports President Obama's health care plan, the common answer that people give, is that Health care is a right. That no society can exist when people are denied the care needed to stay healthy and truly pursue happiness. As always I respond, I completely agree, 100%. The debate becomes, how do we achieve this. Its funny, I wonder sometimes if supporters of the current health care reform believe that people who oppose the current reform don't want that for all citizens?
Our basic physical needs to survive are food, clothing and shelter, its amazing how these are not considered even more of a "right" than health care. But imagine for a second that everyone of the above items was a "right" that the Government supplied. The answer is, we don't have to imagine it, it has already been tried. Visit Croatia sometime, and ask the people if they enjoyed "Government housing"? Visit Cuba or Russia and ask the people if they enjoyed, "food rationing" The obvious answer is they didn't, it was horrible. But that doesn't mean their original premise wasn't correct, "People need food, clothing and shelter, how do we best take care of our people,"
So what does work? The American experiment works, even with all its shortcomings and failings, it works. Because it harnesses the strength hidden within each of us. I would propose 3 reasons that it works much of the time, Competition, Families, and individual rights.
The title of this Post is that Government makes for cold mothers and cold fathers. But here's the good news, mothers make very warm mothers, and fathers make very warm fathers. The more we promote and strengthen families the less food, shelter, clothing, health care, and education will be an issue. But not everyone has a family? and even in strong, loving families, the basics are often not available? These are both true, and this is where individual rights and the human touch comes in. If we want a better society, we need better people, not more programs. Wouldn't it be great if we could make a tax deductible charitable gift to pay for a poor families health care. Then instead of a bureaucrat giving care, its a fellow citizen, who gives, and whose heart expands in that giving, making the world better just in the act of giving!
Lastly, Competition. this is not a dirty word. When a person makes an investment in their house, do they only get one quote? No, in order to drive the price down, you should get multiple quotes. The most basic reform needed is to open of the purchasing of health insurance across state lines, we should try and fill the market place with as much competition as possible and this will lower the price all the way around.
George Bush should have realized before going into Iraq that public opinion was waivering big time, and he should have listened to the American people. The prideful thing to belive and say is, "I know what's best". Clearly he didn't. America is saying the same thing to President Obama, I have a feeling he will take the same path as George Bush, "I know what's best". The same thing will happen, people will stop supporting him, because he doesn't listen. He will not be more popular if he wins this debate, but much less.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Excellent Article on Obama- Care
By JOHN MACKEY
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
—Margaret Thatcher
With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people's money. These deficits are simply not sustainable. They are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation, or they will bankrupt us.
While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:
View Full ImageChad Crowe
• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). The combination of high-deductible health insurance and HSAs is one solution that could solve many of our health-care problems. For example, Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1,800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees' Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness.
Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan's costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.
• Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.
• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.
• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.
• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.
• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor's visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?
• Enact Medicare reform. We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and enact reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.
• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Many promoters of health-care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care—to equal access to doctors, medicines and hospitals. While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?
Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America
Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments.
Although Canada has a population smaller than California, 830,000 Canadians are currently waiting to be admitted to a hospital or to get treatment, according to a report last month in Investor's Business Daily. In England, the waiting list is 1.8 million.
At Whole Foods we allow our team members to vote on what benefits they most want the company to fund. Our Canadian and British employees express their benefit preferences very clearly—they want supplemental health-care dollars that they can control and spend themselves without permission from their governments. Why would they want such additional health-care benefit dollars if they already have an "intrinsic right to health care"? The answer is clear—no such right truly exists in either Canada or the U.K.—or in any other country.
Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.
Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.
Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.
Health-care reform is very important. Whatever reforms are enacted it is essential that they be financially responsible, and that we have the freedom to choose doctors and the health-care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society
"The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
—Margaret Thatcher
With a projected $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, several trillions more in deficits projected over the next decade, and with both Medicare and Social Security entitlement spending about to ratchet up several notches over the next 15 years as Baby Boomers become eligible for both, we are rapidly running out of other people's money. These deficits are simply not sustainable. They are either going to result in unprecedented new taxes and inflation, or they will bankrupt us.
While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment. Here are eight reforms that would greatly lower the cost of health care for everyone:
View Full ImageChad Crowe
• Remove the legal obstacles that slow the creation of high-deductible health insurance plans and health savings accounts (HSAs). The combination of high-deductible health insurance and HSAs is one solution that could solve many of our health-care problems. For example, Whole Foods Market pays 100% of the premiums for all our team members who work 30 hours or more per week (about 89% of all team members) for our high-deductible health-insurance plan. We also provide up to $1,800 per year in additional health-care dollars through deposits into employees' Personal Wellness Accounts to spend as they choose on their own health and wellness.
Money not spent in one year rolls over to the next and grows over time. Our team members therefore spend their own health-care dollars until the annual deductible is covered (about $2,500) and the insurance plan kicks in. This creates incentives to spend the first $2,500 more carefully. Our plan's costs are much lower than typical health insurance, while providing a very high degree of worker satisfaction.
• Equalize the tax laws so that employer-provided health insurance and individually owned health insurance have the same tax benefits. Now employer health insurance benefits are fully tax deductible, but individual health insurance is not. This is unfair.
• Repeal all state laws which prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. We should all have the legal right to purchase health insurance from any insurance company in any state and we should be able use that insurance wherever we live. Health insurance should be portable.
• Repeal government mandates regarding what insurance companies must cover. These mandates have increased the cost of health insurance by billions of dollars. What is insured and what is not insured should be determined by individual customer preferences and not through special-interest lobbying.
• Enact tort reform to end the ruinous lawsuits that force doctors to pay insurance costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. These costs are passed back to us through much higher prices for health care.
• Make costs transparent so that consumers understand what health-care treatments cost. How many people know the total cost of their last doctor's visit and how that total breaks down? What other goods or services do we buy without knowing how much they will cost us?
• Enact Medicare reform. We need to face up to the actuarial fact that Medicare is heading towards bankruptcy and enact reforms that create greater patient empowerment, choice and responsibility.
• Finally, revise tax forms to make it easier for individuals to make a voluntary, tax-deductible donation to help the millions of people who have no insurance and aren't covered by Medicare, Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Many promoters of health-care reform believe that people have an intrinsic ethical right to health care—to equal access to doctors, medicines and hospitals. While all of us empathize with those who are sick, how can we say that all people have more of an intrinsic right to health care than they have to food or shelter?
Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges. A careful reading of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution will not reveal any intrinsic right to health care, food or shelter. That's because there isn't any. This "right" has never existed in America
Even in countries like Canada and the U.K., there is no intrinsic right to health care. Rather, citizens in these countries are told by government bureaucrats what health-care treatments they are eligible to receive and when they can receive them. All countries with socialized medicine ration health care by forcing their citizens to wait in lines to receive scarce treatments.
Although Canada has a population smaller than California, 830,000 Canadians are currently waiting to be admitted to a hospital or to get treatment, according to a report last month in Investor's Business Daily. In England, the waiting list is 1.8 million.
At Whole Foods we allow our team members to vote on what benefits they most want the company to fund. Our Canadian and British employees express their benefit preferences very clearly—they want supplemental health-care dollars that they can control and spend themselves without permission from their governments. Why would they want such additional health-care benefit dollars if they already have an "intrinsic right to health care"? The answer is clear—no such right truly exists in either Canada or the U.K.—or in any other country.
Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.
Unfortunately many of our health-care problems are self-inflicted: two-thirds of Americans are now overweight and one-third are obese. Most of the diseases that kill us and account for about 70% of all health-care spending—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes and obesity—are mostly preventable through proper diet, exercise, not smoking, minimal alcohol consumption and other healthy lifestyle choices.
Recent scientific and medical evidence shows that a diet consisting of foods that are plant-based, nutrient dense and low-fat will help prevent and often reverse most degenerative diseases that kill us and are expensive to treat. We should be able to live largely disease-free lives until we are well into our 90s and even past 100 years of age.
Health-care reform is very important. Whatever reforms are enacted it is essential that they be financially responsible, and that we have the freedom to choose doctors and the health-care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society
Monday, August 10, 2009
Simplicity, the Eucharist, Family, and joy
I love reading this website every week www.hopereborn.org, its for Our Lady of Hope Community in Florida and around the world, and its a drug and all around school of life for those that struggle the most in society. I actually visited this community when my family and I were on vacation in Florida in March, it was funny because I expected it to be like a monastery with men in full robes, etc. I was in for a surprise when one of the guys cooking dinner had tattoo's up and down his neck. I loved it, these were the worst of the worst in society, and now they are on fire for their faith.
Something really struck me from their last post, and it was 4 words that summed up their community. (Simplicity, the Eucharist, Family, and Joy).
What an awesome road map for all of our smaller communities. If we feel that we are out of sorts, those 4 words are a great path back.
Something really struck me from their last post, and it was 4 words that summed up their community. (Simplicity, the Eucharist, Family, and Joy).
What an awesome road map for all of our smaller communities. If we feel that we are out of sorts, those 4 words are a great path back.
Monday, August 3, 2009
The World's View of Marriage, and God's View of Marriage
Below are some funny quotes from celebrity's on marriage, but it makes the point well, that in the world's eye's, marriage is all about my own personal feelings, the idea that love and marriage can be part of the will is laughable to the modern mind. But nothing will lead a person away from happiness more quickly than being ruled by our feelings. I loved watching Lance Armstrong do the mountain climbs in the tour De France, he was using every inch of his will, and what a great gift the will is, but the will is not only for sports and work, its also for love. When we direct our romance to ignite proper passions to the one we should be loving, we are using our will. Have a look at the striking contrast between the saints and the celebrities.
"We were happily married for eight months. Unfortunately, we were married for four and a half years. "
Nick Faldo
Nick Faldo
"My toughest fight was with my first wife."
Muhammad Ali (1942 - )
"There's only one way to have a happy marriage and as soon as I learn what it is I'll get married again. "
Clint Eastwood (1930 - )
Muhammad Ali (1942 - )
"There's only one way to have a happy marriage and as soon as I learn what it is I'll get married again. "
Clint Eastwood (1930 - )
Da Saints:
"As the family goes, so goes the nation and so goes the whole world in which we live. " Pope John Paul II
"Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church." Pope John Paul II
"When the glamour wears off, or merely works a bit thin, they think they have made a mistake, and that the real soul-mate is still to find. The real soul-mate too often proves to be the next sexually attractive person that comes along."
"Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to. " JR Tolkien
"Marriage is an act of will that signifies and involves a mutual gift, which unites the spouses and binds them to their eventual souls, with whom they make up a sole family - a domestic church." Pope John Paul II
"When the glamour wears off, or merely works a bit thin, they think they have made a mistake, and that the real soul-mate is still to find. The real soul-mate too often proves to be the next sexually attractive person that comes along."
"Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to. " JR Tolkien
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