Reality

God had a reason for wanting me to see the entire world, because its only when you travel to other countries of the world, see the pluses and minuses of so many people, that you can understand many things about the human nature which binds us all together and yet keeps us apart (I traveled through 157 countries, most several times).

The ideal life is seldom lived. In spite of what you see on TV, and the bombardment of advertisements and what want you to believe, even in America, very few people have the ideal life. The ideal man would be tall, slim, blonde with much hair, very good looking, Mensa IQ, from a very wealthy, high society family, athletic, marvelous personality, totally healthy body, would have large trust fund, prosperous and pragmatic. You just don’t find many men like that, although many women have spent their lives looking for one.  Rather, welcome to the real world, the real life, where we have warts, where we are not smart, where challenges come each day. Where, in spite of the theories of evolution, our bodies and all of our “things” wear out and we are constantly having to repair or replace. Where we have the unexpectedness of disability, accidents, sickness, (the big ones: heart attack, cancer and stroke), where survival in a competitive world of money, intelligence, and popularity, is tiring and defeating. We have a tendency to “push away” those who do not understand our problems, mates, family members, friends.

To escape the problems of real living, many have resorted to drugs, both legal and illegal. 90% of all prisoners in our prisons, are there because of drugs.  75% of all children in foster homes are there because of drugs. 40% of all live births are to single mothers, usually pregnant because of activity involving drugs.  The greatest health problem results from the legal drug alcohol (1 out of 16 who takes the first drink, becomes an alcoholic). Many escape the reality of real life by sitting in front of a television set hour after hour, living their lives vicariously through “soap operas”, “American Idol”, or some other subterfuge. The opinion molders and power brokers have lived lives of fantasy through comic books (has it ever occurred to any of you that 95% of all comic books are purchased by boys and that 95% of all prison inmates are men?), madness, unrealistic presentations on television, musical nonsense on record and tapes coming constantly from automobiles, home radios, and “boom boxes”.

 My first two automobiles did not have radios, I remember the first radio in my parents home (mostly static). But these days, my driver will stop at a traffic light and some of the surrounding vehicles will offer enough radio interference to keep anyone from ignoring their presence.

In the 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, “movie” and “true story” magazines provided young girls and women to the escape of unreal lives of the “Rich and Famous” where they could live vicariously through the lives of movie stars in such magazines as Silver Screen, Screen Guide, Movie Land.  Most young women can tell you much more about the lives of Hollywood’s malcontents then they can about their own family members and ancestors. If you ask a young person, they will all tell you they expect to go to heaven when they die.  But, most cannot tell you one thing, quote one verse of scripture, from God’s word. I have had women typing for me, assisting me in various endeavors, who had never seen a Bible (two weeks ago, one of my friends at a nearby college, lost a nephew, 19, and his girlfriend, 17, instantly in a car crash. People wind up at a funeral home everyday, when they thought they were going somewhere else).

In one building I owned, there were “game machines” (Pac-Man, Asteroids, Pinball) where they would just feed quarters and spend their time uselessly. One of the biggest problems in NC before the religious community put in the lottery, was a matter of “poker machines”. Young men would stand in front of one of these machines and feed their entire paycheck to it, and escape the reality of paying bills.

About three years ago, I called a man in another state about buying some antique silver (Sheffield, silver on copper serving pieces).  I remember having been in school and having a good friend originally from that town, I asked if he knew him, he said, “ yes, everybody knows him, he was in practice here and had a large practice but he died two months ago, I will tell his wife that I talked with you”. About 30 minutes later, she called me, I remember her from school because they were married before graduation, she said, “you know, he was one of the most wealthiest professional men in this state, from his private practice and other investments, but he would not leave gambling alone, he died in a hotel in Las Vegas, and I am left to pick up the pieces”. He had found his escape from reality at the gambling table. This vice had taken over his life, family, everything.

Others, always pay the price, when one cannot face the reality of real life.  I was so aggravated when patients did not follow instructions.  Most diabetes can be controlled with diet, and most of the replacement surgery of joints etc. could be eliminated by diet. Problems on the farm, as a child, helped prepare me for the problems of life. On the farm, it was always too wet or too dry, and there was always some insect trying to eat what you had grown. Machinery was always breaking or wearing out.  Animals, especially hogs and cows, were always trying to escape their fences.

In marriage, prepare ahead of time to tolerate a mate who was not reared as you, who may not have your values of thrift, organization, or value system.  Most of this should have been ascertained before marriage, but there are always surprises.  50% of all marriages end in divorce, and 75% of second marriages end n divorce.  There is no contract involvement, that effect as many people as does divorce: children, parents, friends.  30 minutes after my first marriage I knew it was doomed because of a threat to me made by her mother.  It is a long story involving her mother's previous marriage and something which had been kept very quiet. Often, even when we have seen the “handwriting on the wall”, we feel that God can bless and sort things out.  But, it does not always happen and there are too many children reaping what others have sown. 

In the new age philosophy of modern man, with Oprah’s books, and the constant dream of finding happiness after fame and fortune, young people have lost the “narrative thread” of living life trusting God in the future like those in the past.  I believe if you had the chance to ask any person who had died regardless of destination, what he or she would have done differently while alive.  You would get the same answer from each, “trust in God”. 

God has a plan for your life, you find all the answers in the answer book, God’s word.  For centuries, the Catholics had not been encouraged to study the Bible.  Pope John Paul, encouraged Catholics to study God’s word.  It has all the answers for everything: people, prosperity, property, health, etc..  When you fall in love with God’s word, you cannot get enough. Just think what this world would be like if the opinion molders and power brokers in Washington, NY, Hollywood, elsewhere, just emphasize the two great commandments, loving God and loving one another.  It is not difficult to love God who made us, the world, and everything in it, but it is very difficult to love our neighbor as our self.

In 1935 at the Palace theatre in New York, Claudette Colbert opened in her starring role “Imitation of Life”.  One of her lines said, “Life is a whirlwind and then you die”.