It's Thanksgiving Day, 2008. Our nation, our world, our economy, our politics, our brotherhood, and perhaps even your own life, are in disarray, change, flux.
What eternal ideals and anchors remain for you? For what are you eternally thankful? What does Thanksgiving Day mean to you?
Masons | Thanksgiving | Freemasonry | Burning Taper | BurningTaper.com
I'm thankful for my wife and kids, for my job, and for my health. The rest is out of my hands. But I am thankful to be allowed a say in it, even if it is only 1/100,000,000 of a say.
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful for all my brothers too.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Oh, and I'm thankful to not have to dress the Pilgrim part in your photo and travel...
for the air I breath.....
ReplyDeletethe rising Sun
Family and brethren
my biological parents for putting me up for adoption
my parents for adopting me and Raising me.
Freedom of Conscience
Free Will
so mote it be
Thankful to be alive, thankful for the opportunities that still exist in our country, and thankful for my Masonic brothers. Also, thankful for the Burning Taper, which has been so educational, and entertaining.
ReplyDelete"It has been very good to have been a man."
ReplyDeleteMy Name Is Still Nobody exclaims: "It has been very good to have been a man."
ReplyDeleteWhy, did you finally go through with the operation?
Congrats!
If you need an operation to be human, 2 Bowl, I hope it's successful. I am pleased to be a man with all the aches and pains that comes with it. It's an experience, and everyone is entirely different.
ReplyDeleteMan herein used is a general term stated by Olaf Stapledon (hence the quotation marks), and does not indicate gender.
Dictionary definition: a human regardless of sex or age, person
To restate, "It is very good to have been a man."
I am thankful that 2 Bowl has taken a statement about thanks made in earnest and attempted to attack me with it using the fifth grade attack in reference to my gender.
ReplyDeleteIf I'd been born a woman (gender not being what Stapledon's quote from 1930 is about AT ALL) I'd have been proud to be a woman. I was not born so, and am glad to likewise be a man in the gender sense. It is about experiencing something no one else gets to, as I do not get to experience the unique experience of others. I would have recognized a great heritage in my gender including Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Ruth, Jael, Mary, George Sands, Mother Theresa, my mother, my sisters, my wife, my grandmother and the multitude of great WOMEN that have lived and continue to do so. You make it sound as if being a woman is less than being a man with your childish and misogenistic inference, 2 Bowl.
I'm glad as well that we don't worship murderers like Che Guevara and oppose dictators in this country. One recent dictator similar to Che is now removed from power. Che was a brutal murderer and coward and OPPOSED to Freedom of Conscience, of speech, and free will. Nice hero you've picked, 2 Bowl:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.therealcuba.com/MurderedbyChe.htm
"Che’s biographers consistently report that he sent thousands to the firing squad. Over 4,000 deaths are documented to have taken place in Cuba, mostly firing squad execution, in the first three years after Fidel Castro’s takeover (1959-1962). Che Guevara was one of the regime’s chief executioners during this period and is said to have acknowledged ordering several thousand" executions. All took place without affording the victims fair trials and due process of law."
Yeah, that sounds like somebody that supports 'Freedom of Conscience'.
To get more specifically on track, this thread is about thankfulness. I used Stapledon's statement "It is very good to have been a man." to point out that being thankful for the experience of living itself is the thing I am most thankful for. It excludes NOTHING and is complete, and I am extremely thankful for it all. What have we to be unthankful for? Illness? No dead person is ill. Hunger? No dead person is hungry. Debt? No dead person is concerned with bills. To be thankful is to be thankful for EVERYTHING we have, even the bad. If we own that, we will never know sorrow.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful that WS lets me post things here and information about the events at Halcyon Lodge, although he won't address them himself, this website posts the accusations of Fraud against Halcyon and theft:
ReplyDeletehttp://abelscenotaph.blogspot.com/
If the blog addressed this in article form, it would not be necessary to do so in the comment area. Of course, it will be claimed it is 'picking on' Halcyon to do so, but that is not true. It is searching for the truth, and I applaud this blog for reposting the search for truth against other lodges. Strange WS can't apply the same rules to Halcyon as he does to others. I would be thankful, W.S., if you would address this obviously news-worthy issue and the valid information offered in public records.
there is nothing to discuss anymore Nobody!
ReplyDeleteIt is in the hands of the court.
what we all say and do matter none.
period.
anyone can make any claim they want, it is then on the burden of proof. If what the Grand Lodge claims is truthful, why is it still going on and the Grand Lodge not have rapped this up by now?
Maybe the facts are not as clear as some may think, and maybe, just maybe, the Grand Lodge's claims are not as strong as they thought?
Plus when we did not "fold" when the claim came at us, the situation became a little different for them......
Like most, Nobody, of late, all the speculation accomplshed nothing but flame wars, and now that we(halcyon) are going to let the courts decide, someone loyal to the grand Lodge system is trying to get us(halcyon) to talk on line....
we(halcyon) are ready for our day in a non masonic court!
not on the blogosphere anymore, nothing is gained by it!
Court baby!
one man's freedom fighter is another mans coward and mass murderer.........
and sorry I took the word "been" as past tense. my bad....
and no, it is not picking on Halcyon, it is an issue that has been discussed to death on the blogs, and you seem to be the only one still really interested in discussing the topic before the courts weigh in? Ok...
what do you think you may uncover that has not been discussed to death?
enlighten us Nobody, please......
what do you want from this?
Why are you soooo concerned about WS's lack of interest in an agenda driven, grand lodge lackey's blogs attempt at getting Halcyon guys to talk about a court case?
not going to happen anymore.
COURTS....ok......what more do you want?
thanks for thinking of us!
and trust me, abelcenotaph is a scottish rite and royal order of jesters pawn........
he jimself gets his marching orders fro posting after his weekly jester meetings and 4 cooridinate body meeting at the valley..............
"enlighten us Nobody, please......
ReplyDeletewhat do you want from this?"
I want the truth. That is all I've ever wanted, but you and many other G.O. supporters have failed to offer anything of substance (as you do here). You were this resistant BEFORE it was in the hands of the court. I'll grant it has been argued to death, but hardly ANY information has been forthcoming from Halcyon's supporters and W.S.
If you're not afraid of the truth, then you should have no problem with its presentation. As usual, you avoid any FACTS of the case and attempt to dissuade and minimize the information from the court case offered by Abel. Who cares who he is working for? I don't even care who he is. Is the information valid or not? That's what I care about. The courts will decide, granted, but that has never stopped W.S. from commenting before, even on matters in court or going there. Why now? I think it shows bias on his part. This *is* news, no matter how you slice it.
Will I be disappointed if the G.L. fails in their bid? I am always disheartened to see brothers fail to act Masonically, and even those claiming to be brothers. If justice is served either way, there will be no tears from me. Can you say the same, or are you just blinded by your emotions? I have no vested interest in it but to see justice done, and yes, if that means the GL of Ohio fails, I want to see that.
As for 'why hasn't the G.L. wrapped this up by now', it's a pretty ludicrous question. Why hasn't Halcyon done so? Does it prove guilt or innocence on either side? Clearly, it does not.
Abel's comments are not of great interest to me nor are his affiliations. The facts (undisputed so far) he puts forth are intriguing. It would be interesting if you could display where ANY of these issues presented in the court case have been revealed at all on this blog. Halcyon's website has remained dead silent since day one. 'Just the facts.'
Of course, your hero Che says, "To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary,". I disagree with you and Che wholeheartedly. Che also NEVER fought in a significant battle! Some 'freedumb fighter'! Yes, Hitler and Pol Pot are and were 'one man's freedom fighter', I'm sure. It does not seperate them from being mass murderers and violators of human rights. You can't take away freedoms from bound-and-tied individuals denied fair trial (life being the chiefest of freedoms) and claim to be a 'freedom fighter' at the same time. It's 'double-think', and you seem quite good at it. I can see how much faith you have in the courts when you seem to worship a man who says, "To send men to the firing squad, judicial proof is unnecessary." If that's freedom, you can have it. It is not freedom, and it is not 'freedom fighting'.
"Our nation, our world, our economy, our politics, our brotherhood, and perhaps even your own life, are in disarray, change, flux."
ReplyDeleteIt was ever thus. Nothing new in this W.S.
2 bowl wrote:
ReplyDelete"and sorry I took the word "been" as past tense. my bad..."
That's fine, although a statement in past tense puts no impetus on the present or future. "It is very good to have been a man." Does not disagree with "It is very good to be a man." nor "It will be very good to be a man." The confusion is understandable, and the statement was a quote. It does not change future or present conditions being stated in the past tense. I am thankful to have lived, breathed, loved, hated, judged, been judged, been in error, been correct, and every experience I've under the sun in it's inexorable uniqueness. All of us have experiences that are ours alone. "It is good to have been a man." sums it up nicely.
I am thankful people are not posting irrelevant comments here.... LMAO. Keep to the post with your comments boys or head to the Corral!
ReplyDeleteWhat an irrelevant comment, Dean. My first comment was entirely relevant until attacked by 2 BOWL, and 'missed' by the watchful eye of the 'admin clowan' and not moved to the corral. Still, many of my subsequent posts were entirely on topic, and sometimes only partially. Admittedly, a few not at all. 2 BOWLS response to me was entirely uncalled for, so I apologize if I made the error of responding to his inferred accusation.
ReplyDeleteStill, I am entirely thankful to not have a brutal, unjust, and insane mass-murderer like in power (at least not after a couple of more months).
My Name Is Still Nobody is Thankful for this:"Still, I am entirely thankful to not have a brutal, unjust, and insane mass-murderer like in power (at least not after a couple of more months)."
ReplyDeleteWow, you and I can agree on something!
I'm thankful for my family, my friends, my loves, my health, my Lord and Lady, and my Brethren, and especially the opportunity to see one Raised on 5 December.
ReplyDelete2 BOWL
ReplyDelete"Wow, you and I can agree on something!"
Actually, 2 Bowl, I bet we agree on a lot more than either of us might think. We just don't seem to connect on those topics. ;,)
I do have to say that I am actually thankful for the G.O. of the U.S. and France and the B.T. I say this with all sincerity. While I do not agree with the thrust completely, I appreciate the attempt and the questions proffered by the 'unrecognized' side of matters. They do press me to consider things I sometimes had not considered, and often make me stronger in my convictions.
ReplyDeleteLike others, I might welcome the day when everyone is recognized. Until that day, (lord willing) nothing will cause me to willingly or knowingly break my vows. I have done that too much in life, and want to minimize such events.
In the matter of Brotherhood, I do not think it happens exclusively in a lodge meeting (it often does though, in my experience at least). I can treat people as I would treat a brother or sister without belonging to the same group. I can appreciate them despite (or because of) our differences. It's the differences I appreciate the most, not the similarities.
I am thankful that I was able to cause, through a round about way, for 2 Bowl Cain and "my name is still nobady" to actually agree on something.
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm at it I grateful for my family, my health and the circumstance/station in life to which I was born.
I'd be greatful for another post to get us of the surprisingly disagreeable post of Thankfulness.
ReplyDeleteI am greatful for:
ReplyDeleteBeing alive.
My wife and child.
My wife and child are alive.
My Cat and Dog and all the unconditional love they give me.
My acceptance that the opinions and actions of idiots really do not impact the building of my temple.
The M.E.A.P.R.M.M.
My friends and mentors GM Frank G. Ripel and Bro. Galbix Red.
The ability to realize that I was wrong about so many things for the last coule of years.
The ability to self-reflect.
My further journey twards Xeper.
Lastly I am greatful for my absolute break from Christianity the ability to think with a clear mind free from the fog of faith for the first time.
S&F,
BC
Dean,
ReplyDeleteTo be clear, it is not so much that 2 Bowl and I disagree as much as we don't entirely agree. As a Lockian Controversialist, I am bound to seek out the other side to all issues. It might seem aggressive, but it seems the best way to get the facts, as how someone reacts to a harshly-worded statement often garners a more honest reaction from them.
As I pointed out, my first posting was entirely sincere (as were some that followed). I reacted in such a way as to garner a response given 2 Bowl's response to me, which I found to be confrontational and out of sorts. All-in-all, I have nothing against 2 Bowl. I do not know him.