America is supposed to be a land where any genius can have an amazing idea, dare to dream big, and make a fortune. He can make multiple fortunes, should he dare to dream appropriately large. Why is it that the dream always seems to involve big sacks of money? Why do we always seem to insist that a person of talent should use those talents to place himself in a part of the population that dominates the economy without giving back as much as it received?

I remember when I first wanted to be a teacher. It was in ninth grade. I had had some amazing teachers in my life and they were beginning to have an effect on me. I knew I was smart and that I could be an amazing teacher. I dreamed of teaching, not money.

I even tried not teaching in my life not once, but twice. In college, I started out majoring in chemical engineering. I kept the major for a year, but I never really had my heart in it. After teaching for five years, I quit because I couldn’t stand the Dallas ISD administration’s corruption and went into the IT sector. All the time I was making great money fixing computers, I wished I was teaching. In 2002, I took a 40% pay cut and kissed my $0 copay insurance good-bye and returned to teaching.

We’ve had some hard times financially in my family since then and every now and then I ask my wife if I should quit teaching and go back to IT. She tells me no. The money is not as important as the work I do. I’ve got a chance to live my dream, and I’m so thankful that she supports me.

I wish I could say the same for my nation.

At a time when a big chunk of the nation’s best and brightest were doing complicated mathematics to rip off millions of home buyers and investors, I taught in a classroom. The ripoff kings and queens were hailed on the news for giving new life to the American Dream, and I taught in a classroom. As the wealth flowed uphill from the poor to the rich and the rich found new and clever ways to not pay taxes, I taught in a classroom. As the crooks and cons paid for Senators and Congressmen, keeping themselves out of jail with intact bonuses, I taught in a classroom. As the people in the fancy suits plunged the nation into an economic state that truly warrants comparison to past economic collapses, I taught in a classroom.

Now the same people that ruined my nation are telling me there isn’t enough money to be found to provide for the poor in health care and education. What they call the American Dream was actually a disguise for their Old World rapacity.

We need to redefine the American Dream. It should not be winning the lottery. It should not be selfish. It should not be acquiring endlessly, consuming eternally. It should not be where, in the pursuit of money, we forget our humanity and souls.

The American Dream should be where, first and foremost, we help each other out of the goodness of our hearts. There will always be crooks that cheat their way to the top. We can’t stop them. But we don’t have to sing their praises, either. We may not be able to deny them their ill-gotten gains, but we can deny them the one thing they crave at the end of the day: legitimacy. Success is not found in a bank account. It is found in the guest list at one’s funeral. It is found when you’re scattering the ashes from The Living Urn. It is found in the hearts of people one has freely helped over the years. It is found in places far, far away from conference rooms and country clubs.

Although I reach at most a few hundred students each year, I know I have done much more to make my nation great than the CEO of Lehman Brothers. Even though I have made mistakes in my career, I have caused less ruin than the CEO of AIG – even though I have not been as handsomely compensated for my mistakes as that chap. When I encourage my students to do something, I am not as the CEO of Goldman Sachs, who had his company take up market positions that would profit when his clients went bankrupt. No, when I tell my students to do something, success is not found in a cashier’s check or stock price uptick. Success is found in the smiles of their little victories.

The American Dream needs to encourage service, not profits. Only then will we gain a truer perspective of how we should live and conduct our affairs as a people. Only then will our corporate and national morals be every bit as firm and fit as our personal morals. Otherwise, the American Dream will be unfit for reality.

I just awoke from a dream in which I was at some sort of hipster hangout with wi-fi. While I sat there, sipping a hot chocolate and enjoying a respite from the chill outside, I overheard a discussion between four people. Two were atheists and the other two were religious and both were making the sad mistake of trying to convince each other through arguments.

I could tolerate the discussion passably enough as they quoted Hitchens this and Augustine that, but when one of the religionists tried to use Karen Armstrong’s views to defend his position, I had to say something. Personally, I find Armstrong’s defenses of faith to be equivalent to a court restraining order: not very solid and easy to brush aside. I’m sorry, but I would prefer a theist whose views don’t seem so close to appending the prefix a- to one’s position.

It being my dream, I could expound at length on my ideas.

“Look, all of you, quit trying to use proof from philosophical arguments. It won’t convince the atheists because they have their own arguments and they will cause doubt, rather than true enlightenment among those who believe. Argument and doubt are both injurious, and what’s the point in hurting each other?

“Here’s my proof. Yes, proof. God is love. Love is God. If you’ve ever loved, you’ve experienced God’s influence in your life. There’s the proof, with all the implications for behavior with it. Ignore it if you want, because you’re free to do so, but you’ll still know deep inside that I’m right and that love is the key to what we need to do here.

“And as for the Old Testament, here’s the key to understanding that book and reconciling it with the New Testament. Nowhere is it written that the Hebrews were righteous as they left Egypt. In fact, Moses says quite the opposite. The acts they perform are not those of the righteous, but of the wicked sent to destroy the wicked. The good never destroy the wicked: they always flee from it. Abraham was righteous – he left where it was wicked. Joseph fled from Potiphar’s wife rather than contend with her. Elijah sequestered himself from the wicked Israelites. They were righteous, in contrast to most of the rest of the people around them.

“The wicked destroy the wicked, the good depart when they cannot help the wicked become good. It is true among so many faiths, not just Christianity, because it’s a law of the universe. Mohammed left Mecca and its wickedness. Gandhi would not lift a finger in violence, but prayed for his enemies to recover their senses. Jesus spoke his words and then, being done with his work, died. It is the same with anyone else that initiates a great change in the world: Gandhi died after bringing independence to India. Mohammed died after cleansing Mecca and instituting the faith he believed in. In my own faith, Joseph Smith sealed his testimony with his blood, but only after he had established the faith he believed in. So it is with anyone truly seeking after perfect love that creates a new way.

“For those that follow in those ways, we do not argue. We testify of the truth of our ways and then provide instruction on how to better live with them. Take it or leave it, but it’s the right thing to do. Discovering love is discovering truth. Science teaches us that we do not ignore truth, but we bend or abandon whatever preconceived notions we have in order to accept that truth and everything it implies. When I discovered truth, I accepted it and changed my life to live with more love in my life. I could have done otherwise, but I would not be living in harmony with the laws of the universe.

“Did you learn nothing from Lao Tzu? Did you learn nothing from the Bhagavad-Gita? If you did not read them, then do so, for they have much to offer us. Lao Tzu teaches us to seek harmony with the universe. The Gita teaches us to abandon our passions and inertia and live our lives in doing our duty – in so doing, we find harmony with the universe.

“When we love each other, we are discovering what it is like to let God help us in our lives. When we surrender our imperfections and seek to love more perfectly, we approach greater harmony with the universe, which is what all true religion teaches us to do. Where there is destruction, there is wickedness. Where there is peace, there is God, meaning there is love.”

Having finished what I had to say, I awoke, leaving their world. Therefore, I gave the people of some world created from my dreams a new way to live. May it help them to find true love and harmony with their universe.

This is going to be a rant. I thought about what I’d like to say as my last words before I died and I realized I wanted more than just a pithy sentence. I plan to dish out the last wit and testament when I kick the bucket, should I be within earshot of anyone, but I have a lot more to say than that.

Hence, this rant.
Continue reading →

I’m taking a break from album reviews tonight to remember my friend Greg Hewlett, who passed away recently. In high school, I was more metal and he was more pop, but we were really good friends. He was diagnosed with cancer almost 30 years ago and fought it ever since.

But he didn’t just fight it… he moved beyond it. He earned 25 patents for his inventions after earning a graduate degree at MIT. More than that, though, he fulfilled our voting him “most likely to succeed” promises by always finding the silver lining to his problems. When his leg was amputated, he talked about being able to go skiing on one leg. He was always smiling and we didn’t really know his problems. He was aggressive about finding that silver lining.

He inspired me even back in junior high. I’m glad to have known him and I know I’m going to meet him again. Greg, you showed me that there is always a way to find a smile if we just see things clearly.

This documentary has been playing on LinkTV, but you can watch it all online with 1:15 at the beginning with a reference to Santo, the great originator of the social crusader Luchador, at Snag Films.

While there are brief scenes with strong language or adult situations, the movie itself is one that demands to be seen. It follows five masked wrestlers that fight against social injustice, poverty, pollution, and despair. Each has a different calling, but all take on the wrestling mask to empower their ideas with an identity that is immortal.

When masked, each man becomes a superhero not because of any set of powers, but because he puts his heart towards a goal and does not let any setback cause him to give up. The mask and costume enables each one to be tireless in his efforts.

I loved the documentary and the way it shows that anyone can choose to access a massive amount of positive energy. No matter our circumstances, we can always make a choice that changes our lives. These men show how to make that change for the better.

Taare Zameen Par is a wonderful, wonderful film about the importance of loving children, even if it means accepting their mistakes or letting them get their hands dirty. I found it powerful and emotional and loved every minute of Aamir Khan’s excellent film.

You will not want to watch this without facial tissues nearby. Have 2 boxes, just in case.

The story focuses on a young child with a learning disability, but in a broader sense, it takes a look at everyone caught up in the world. It’s a celebration of caring, of great teachers, and, above all, the arts. It was hard for me to watch the child suffer so much at the beginning, but I held on because I knew Aamir Khan was making a movie about redemption and celebration – no Rang De Basanti ending here. For those that haven’t seen that movie, it had a sad ending. For those that have seen that movie, you know “sad” is a gross understatement. No, Taare Zameen Par is, in the end, a happy film with a great sense of humor.

If you’re a teacher, involved in the arts, or a current or former child, you will want to see this film. I’d give it a PG because of some brief cursing of swears and the fact that things are really hard on the protagonist. For a great treat in your Netflix queue or local Bollywood movie store, get a copy of Taare Zameen Par and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

While at an AP Art Strategies conference today, I realized that although science presents an unflinching view of the world, it is often beyond the capacity of most people to understand at first encounter. The same can be said for many subjects that purport to tell us exactly what is around us – or that fail to provide answers about the big questions. Arts help us to come to a better realization and understanding of these grand concepts. Even though the arts can be mistaken in a view they adopt, even that mistaken view can aid in approaching the deeper secrets of science. The arts give us a context for analogies and metaphors so that we find ourselves more able to learn with the arts as aids.

I was lucky enough to have good parents. Like me, they were human and fallible, but they taught me with love and that made all the difference. They taught me to seek truth and to let that truth change my life. Even as I advance through my years as an adult, I see more value in what they taught me with each day. I am very thankful for the things my parents taught me, and I hope and pray that I honor them in the way I keep their teachings. Should I make a mistake, the fault is mine because my parents taught me to do better than that.

If anyone should think they are unfortunate in who their parents are, look to the great peacemakers and what they taught. Let them be your parents. Strive to honor their teachings. When you falter, do not make an excuse for your mistake. Simply resolve to continue striving so that mistake is not made again. But continue to seek out the words of the teachers of peace as regular fortification against the hate and lies of the world. As my parents taught me to do, seek truth and let that truth change your life.

I’ve started on reading the words of Gandhi, and I’m amazed at how similar his views are with mine. For example, love. We both agree that love is a force that binds all souls together, just as physical forces bind all matter together. Neither of us can prove love exists in anyone’s heart but our own, but an honest person must admit that he or she does know what love is.

Right away, we see that love requires an element of truth: for a love story to be real, it must involve truth for one and all. Any lies will serve only to destroy that love. A lie requires either living a second life trying to cover up the lie or dealing with revelation and betrayal: neither way is good for the heart, but the second way is better than the first. Therefore, to truly know love, abandon lies, including lies we tell ourselves to justify our sins.

And what are sins? Gandhi had this list that summed them up well:

Wealth without work
Enjoyment without conscience,
Knowledge without character,
Business without morality,
Science without humanity,
Religion without sacrifice
Politics without principle

Rather than list them off, one by one, as in the Law of Moses, Gandhi provides a catalog that requires one to look deep into one’s life and examine it. Find these things that are without and change them so that they are with what they should be with. The solution is within us all, when we are ready to experience it.

I should say that writing things like this is effective, even if all they do is reinforce the wisdom and truth others have communicated to me. If I can repeat over and over again the encouragement to be loving, honest, and faithful, I can strengthen those characteristics in me. If others read this and begin to see a positive change in their lives, then so much the better. I invite anyone else reading this to join me in teaching others this message.

When we remove the sins from our lives, our love becomes more perfect and more pure. Along with our increased honesty, we become more able to experience faith on behalf of those we love. They say things, and love tells us that they are true without any other available proof. I cannot prove that my wife loves me, but I know that she does. Together, we have faith in each other. During our hard times, we rely on that faith to keep our love whole.

Love cannot exist where there is violence, and violence is more than physical or verbal abuse. Violence can be the expectation of an immediate change. Love is not immediate change. True love is as patient as the river, as steady as the wind, and as long-suffering as the rain. When we want to see a change in those we love, we need to be as the river, the wind, or the rain, and also be ready to forgive the one we love so we, too, should be forgiven: the one we love is also wanting to see us leave behind our faults and for that, we need forgiveness. The tools of change are prayer and fasting and soft words. With anything stronger, love departs and anger makes itself present. Anger can cause immediate change, but those changes are lasting only if they’ve broken something. And who would want to be a cause of a broken heart?

So this is why I choose to fast and pray and use soft words. If the change I desire to see does not happen right away, that is natural and I need to be as the river, the wind, and the rain: never failing, always there.

I had a marvelous dream last night. In it, I was with some friends and a German-speaking soldier entered our room. He was injured badly, and we all helped him to recover. He later left, thanking us for what we’d done for him. Later on, I was with a group of refugees under a bridge somewhere, huddling for warmth. The soldier reappeared and told me he had orders to kill us all. “What shall I do?” he said through bitter tears.

I said, “Alle Menschen werden Brüder,” my clothes turned completely white, I opened my arms without fear, and prayed that what I said, which means “All men are brothers,” would affect him.

He threw his gun away and embraced. We both cried with joy and I felt the glow of brotherhood surround us all.

Love is the answer. It really is.