Taxonomy

Taxonomy is a system or technique for classification, a method of doing things.

Someone got started doing things a certain way and it must continue, “we have always done it that way.”

I remember hearing General of the Armys and there has not been many of them, Douglas MacArthur, address the congress after he and President Truman had their disagreement and the General decided to retire from military service. In the speech, thunderous applause from the congress, he said, ”There is no substitute for victory.”

At that time, if he had been allowed to defeat the North Koreans, Chinese... while we were strong and they were weak, we would not have the threat in that part of the world with which we will deal sooner or later. But, closer to home, victory in everyday living. Not surrendering to addictions, bad habits. Satan knows your weaknesses, KNOWS YOU WANT TO BE POPULAR, does not care how he captures you, just as long as he is successful.

Happiness in life is physical, emotional, and spiritual. Your physical happiness is mostly dependent on your health. Mine, is a lifetime of dealing with healthcare professionals in hospitals, clinics, private practices. It is very rare for any practitioner to ever question you about your eating habits, and nothing is more important. The patient just wants a pill to solve any problem. 5% of the world's population, mostly America, Europe, use 55% of all prescription drugs. Latest numbers, 2007, $287 billion spent on prescription drugs, $900 million spent by Big Pharma for lobbyists. $7.5 billion spent for joint replacements, mostly hip and knee replacements due to one thing only, overweight . As you age, your food intake should be less and less. Eat from a saucer not a plate.

Your intellectual happiness, emotional stability, comes from keeping your mind active and alert. The greatest joy of living at any age, particularly old age, spiritual security.

The tomb in which Christ was placed after His crucifixion and from which He was resurrected, was not important to the early Christians. The greatest sermon ever preached, Apostle Peter, (Acts 2) the resurrection story. All history is based on one event, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The eclismic experience totally changed His disciples, those who knew Him best, and, with the exception of Judas, all became martyrs of faith. Thomas crossing the Himalayas to die in Madras India. Mark, fleeing naked from the garden to die in Alexandria, Egypt. Bartholomew, skinned alive in Armenia, Luke hanged from an olive tree in Greece, Peter crucified upside down in Rome. John, the youngest, in whom Christ entrusted his mother, died an old man, exiled on Patmos.

God does not need us, we need Him. He could have sent the two and one half million, children of Israel to the promised land in fiery chariots rather than humbling them for forty years in a desert. Most had rather be humbled in a land of milk and honey. Humiliation is a humbling experience and God uses humiliation to humble most of us. These same people led by Moses from bondage, saw with their own eyes the humbling of Pharaoh, the drowning of 600 chariots with horses. All sin begins with pride. Lucifer, beautiful prince of heaven, chief musician, rebel, left heaven with one-third of the angels. Lucifer is only mentioned once in the Bible (Isaiah 14:12) but he has too much influence on our lives, controlling the universe allotted him by God, and limited by God.

We learn early “not to rock the boat”, that charisma, going along to get along, is the usual taxonomy for the world, flesh, devil. Preachers stand in pulpits knowing full well, that most of the people to whom they are talking are just going through the motions of “religious experience”... after all, “there may be something to it.” From the banker to the educator, to the construction worker; a system of compromise.

Life is a matter of mind discipline. God warned Adam, not Eve about the “no-no tree.” Adam, the first hen-pecked husband was supposed to be in charge. Parents, teachers, lawyers, doctors, want everyone to like them. When you cease being objective, when you start being subjective, you lose the battle.

Thank God for parents interested in training their children, chores done correctly, penalties for lying, cheating, stealing. My father, although a farmer, not a brain surgeon, wanted things done correctly, with honesty. Away from my home the first time, university, working in the cafeteria, I found rat infestation beyond comprehension, in the storage areas. Even then, I was well read, knew about populations destroyed by rats. When I reported the problem to my supervisor, he said, “that is not your job.” And so it goes, education systems, healthcare systems, financial and political systems.... best example in the world, Sgt. Shultz, Hogan's Heroes, “I see nothing.” This is why, at the pharmacy of an army hospital, I reported contamination in prescriptions by a “wiki-leaks type” disgruntled enlisted person, and nothing was done. This is why I became unpopular as a medical officer, for reporting treasonous acts such as alcoholic doctors-nurses, much incompetence, the ever-present taxonomy of political-correctness.