Curse Not The King

Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter. Ecclesiastes 10:20

In his lecture The Game of Life, Neville Goddard (Neville) quotes Ecclesiastes 10:20. This wisdom was given to man over two thousand years ago but how many know this? How many adhere to it?

In modern times, some teachers have warned us about the dangers of gossiping. My father used to tell us that we were to say nothing if we had nothing good to say. It’s the same teaching – curse not the King. When we do, we are creating negative energy which is not beneficial to anyone. In fact, such negative energy does harm to the creator of the energy and to others.

On occasion I have pointed out to those who railed against the government and what they should be doing, that the government has no money and that it is us, the taxpayers, who fund whatever the government does. In this same lecture Neville said, “The government has no money and can only give what it takes from our pockets.”

The Game of Life is full of many such nuggets and is worth reading and studying.

Here is the link to Neville's The Game of Life: http://realneville.com/pdf/the_game_of_life.pdf

40th Wedding Anniversary

August 29, 2009 was my 40th wedding anniversary. Forty years. I have been married for 40 years. When I married my wife I never thought about how long we would be married. Back in those days the thought of divorce never crossed one's mind. It was a given that one would be married for life, and that whatever challenges arose would be faced and overcome together. Things seem to be quite different now.

Were there challenges? Of course. They are part of life and we just dealt with them the best we could. We did not attend a "how to deal with challenges" course, so we did our best, and things have turned out quite well. We have three wonderful sons, and as we have grown older together, we have come to understand each other better and have grown closer to each other.

Is there a secret to a long marriage? No. There are no secrets. Unless it is to decide to stay married for life and to work things out.

The Solution Is To Make More Money

While here, you must pay the price of living in the world of Caesar. You may criticize our politicians and protest any raise in taxes, but you will continue to be taxed. All you have to do is learn the art of prayer and make more money.

I am reminded of a story told of the late President Kennedy. It seems his father - who had, in one generation, made something like four-hundred million dollars - complained that his children were spending too much money. At a banquet, President Kennedy said: "The only solution to this problem is for father to make more money."

- Neville Goddard in his lecture The Secret of Prayer

I find it very interesting that Neville, a Christian mystic well-versed in the Bible, would recommend using prayer to make more money. The majority of Christian preachers and teachers downplay the importance of money in our lives, and their followers often mis-quote the Bible to support their views. Such individuals seem to have forgotten that two of Jehovah's most-beloved, King David and Job, were exceedingly blessed in material possessions.

Strawberry Fields

After the rib fest last Saturday, my wife and I went strawberry-picking. This strawberry field is within Ottawa's city limits.

And here is a photo of my wife with her basket of freshly-picked strawberries. They were delicious.

Rib Fest in Ottawa

Last Saturday June 27th my wife and I, and our son Alan went downtown to enjoy some tasty ribs at Ottawa's annual rib fest. Here are some photos for your enjoyment.

Chinatown Ottawa Canada

My guess is that most major cities in the world have a Chinatown. Here are some photos of our Chinatown here in Ottawa.

Ahhh... so good! One of my sons and his friends loved to go here and my wife and I went with them once. We ordered too much food and couldn't finish it all. The owner said to me, "your eye is bigger than your stomach."

And here is an Indian/Pakistani grocery store in Chinatown! They probably also sell space food.

A Burger Joint and More

My wife and I got into this restaurant on the fourth attempt. The previous three times we tried to with our son who told us about it. This location is on Bank St. in Ottawa. We were given coupons for free milkshakes a couple weeks ago because they were under renovavations when we showed up.

They serve a great burger in a great atmosphere. And you could have almost anything your little heart desires on your burger. Where is it written that you should have only the traditional toppings on your burger? I had the Jamaican Jerk toppings. And yes, it was spicy. And great.

There are several locations of The Works in Ottawa.

The following picture was taken from my window seat at The Works.

We Are All One

We have been told to think well of others and given various reasons for doing so - it's the "right thing", the "Christian thing", and other reasons were given to us. But no reasonable or logical explanation was given. At least not to me.

But since no one wants to spend any time whatsoever with the Devil, el Diablo, we did the "right thing", just to be safe. Most of the time anyway.

Neville Goddard explained the reason very well in his 1968 lecture Imagining Creates.

Neville said, "When you imagine for a seeming other you are blessed, for there is no other and you are giving your imaginal gift to yourself."

There is no other because we are all one, from the same source, parts of the same whole, and connected to each other where it matters the most - spiritually.

So when we wish others well, or think well of others, or see others doing well, we are giving positive and beneficial energy to a part of the whole of which we are a part; and if a part of the whole benefits, the whole benefits, and every other part of the whole also benefits.

Therefore, every time we imagine something positive for someone else, we are actually giving our self a gift. Isn't this wonderful?

I Don't Text

I don't text.

I got myself a cell phone about two years ago. I thought about getting one for about a year. One of the questions I had was, who would I call? I was getting along quite well without one and it struck me as odd that so many people had so much to say all day long. What were they talking about? What was so important that it couldn't wait?

I finally looked into it and got one just for the hell of it, I suppose. I made sure that I got the most economical plan, a pay as you go plan. If I don't talk, I don't pay. How's that for a deal?

I hardly ever use my cell phone. I use it to make and receive the occasional call. OK, I admit, it is convenient. But I could never talk as much as some seem to do. They talk while they walk, drive (very dangerous), shop, commute, you name it, they talk while they do it. Non-stop talking!

As for texting, I tried it to see how it works. I sent a message to my email address. A short message. It worked. That's all I wanted to know. I understand it has its uses and can be very useful in business and in personal matters. But it seems to me that it is overdone.

Who hasn't seen grown men and women walking along the sidewalk, or in offices, or in restaurants, or elsewhere, busy reading messages, or replying to them, on their Blackberries? Is this multi-tasking? An irrational concept anyway. What can be so important that it has to be dealt with immediately? Is world peace at stake? Are they putting an end to world hunger?

We all need to step back at least a little bit from all the hustle and bustle, the unreasonable rush to get things done, and slow down. Take time to think, relax, read, watch a movie, go to the movies and get some popcorn and coke, snooze, call people you love, go for a walk but only if you feel like it, instead of cooking pick up Chinese for dinner, and goof off. You will live longer and enjoy it.

Maybe someday I will get into texting. If I do, it will have to be for a very, very good reason. But for now, I don't text.