GOTCHA GRAPHICS

A while ago, I queried several people as to what the all too familiar pictures, or designed backgrounds, that usually had worded statements over them are called. They were so prolific in emails, Facebook pages, websites and digital messaging but didn't seem to have a given name. There was a void that needed to be filled.

As a quickie communication tool, I think they are interesting, a few words are meant to say a lot. I know some people who automatically disregard them. But for me, they're usually so short, it only takes a second or two to find something that makes me laugh or go aww... It's almost a game of like or don't like, witty or stupid, touching or offensive, good quote or questionable quote, funny or not so funny, not seen before or have seen before, real or fake, and so on.

I can usually sort though all the political, scriptural, inspirational, new age, old sayings, quotes, admonitions, promises, out-in-out lies, propaganda, staged photos, religious beliefs and ways to live a better life without being too reactionary, taken in or overly consoled. Some of them are rather irksome, and likely meant to be that way, while others are only true if you can distort reality that far. But for me, despite how much I enjoy the funny, the humorous, the satirical, the put downs, the cartoons, the jokes, and the idiotic, as well as those that are touching and inspirational, I still thought there should be an all inclusive name.

A friend came up with MESSAGE BOX, which I thought was quite good. But something a little more catchy would have a better chance of being a part of the main. It took some time before I came up with GOTCHA GRAPHICS. 

To me, there's a gotcha aspect to these graphic depictions whether through a joke, a spiritual moment, a quote or an extreme view. If you read it, you're already got and can be further got by what you read, particularly if it is unexpected. But the big gotcha factor is when you pass it on because you agree with it or are intimidated into being a part of a chain due to retribution or missed reward.                                                                                      

How effective these Gotcha Graphics are, I really don't know. But they're not going away. They fit with the immediate and/or succinct norm of digital communication. I like to use them just to add to or detract from what I'm saying, and also to have something to look at besides words. A well-composed photo without words can sometimes be the most effective. And of course, chances are that you'll stop to look at anything with puppies and kittens. If not, you might want to get something to soften that hardened heart of yours.

I know we live in this creative nation where most have access to the means necessary to make many kinds of Gotcha Graphics. But I wonder if whole departments aren't dedicated to their production. With the midterms coming up, I'm sure there will be even more. It's hard to sort out the conflicting claims. But as my old pastor used to say, "People believe what they want to believe and don't believe what they don't want to believe." I'm pretty sure that's not the best way to approach things, but who do you trust? So-called fact-checkers have been shown to be only agenda driven. I personally don't trust anyone, not even myself. But a couple of independent fact-checkers do seem to be fairly consistent and substantially documented. Time will tell.

Some claims are at best misguiding and at worst a reflection of deep-seated hatred and ignorance, or an unchallengeable absolutism. But they usually look like, act like and quack like ducks so are rather obviously fowl. It's the Gotcha Graphics that make future claims, promises and predictions that are much harder to dispel or believe. It is hard to penetrate circular logic, or what has been taken from a special dispensation. Where are the fact-checkers when you need them? ...But I can see how documentation would be a problem.

There's a lot of ways to be got. The point might be that a response is evoked, a moment of clearer focus one-way or the other. I don't think you need to use mental, spiritual or emotional contraception, but it's probably wise to filter what is being absorbed. Especially, if it just doesn't look or sound right, or if it leaves you far too smug and satisfied. But if you begin to see these representations as Gotcha Graphics, you might just have the kind of protection you need.


BONUS GOTCHA GRAPHIC

CREDITS: BUZZ FEED, HUFFINGTON POST, THE ENDLESS FLOW

THE GREAT AMERICAN SHOOTOUT

Well now, that was a lot of kerfuffle. I'm speaking of the so-called standoff between the heavy-handed representatives of the unrecognized federal government and the self-appointed militia who were looking for the fulfillment of their paranoid conspiracy theories. It was the perfect storm of ideology, guns, flags, cows, AR 15's, distortion, media show casing, political rhetoric and the occasional reference to God. This is generally really good stuff with the potential of historic remembrance, but they never got to the good shootout part. You know, the one where actual bullets fly, people are hurt or killed, media stories are valiantly dispatched, supplies and re-enforcements are sent in, diplomatic peace efforts are thwarted, and Hollywood is already starting to write the ending to the movie.  

We could have had all of this and more but apparently some "supporters" didn't like the clear statement of beliefs that Cliven Bundy espoused, which was MLK's fault because he hadn't finished his job. Given that he was assassinated, I really doubt if the finished job would have been to Mr. Bundy's liking. So history once again turns around and bites us in the ass. There's no entertainment value in the idea that "patriots" can say any stupid, ignorant or false thing they want to say about people with a different skin color, religion, political affiliation, language, culture or class. As Renault said to the police in Casablanca, "Round up all the usual suspects." ...i.e. the show is about to end.

Despite having the entertainment of a fierce and glorious battle being ripped from me, I had to think of what could of been. The mystery of someone who doesn't recognize the federal government but certainly likes to be seen and parade around with the U.S. flag. A ginned up militia fresh from the Army-Navy store and machine gun practice goes up against law enforcement agents that haven't learned anything from their Waco "just because I sad so" debacle. 

The possible link of Cliven Bundy to Al and Peg Bundy sends me reeling and any association with Ted Bundy would be over the top. You can see how these things have so much potential. Reporters could have been embedded in the cattle herd to get those up close and personal stories of capture, dislocation, and betrayal. I was particularly looking forward to the Mad Cap adventures of the medical units. There still could be a reality show that comes from this. It seems only right. 

In reality, it's probably no more than some crazy old coot who likes to hear himself talk who fired up the "my way or the highway" crowd with familiar rhetoric about an antiquated concept. As disappointed as I am, I still can sympathize. The Federal government is a bully in a lot that they do. Mainly because they are so big and what they say is the final word. I personally would eliminate some unnecessary departments. I'm just waiting for Rick Perry to remember which ones they are. 

But in the mean time, it looks like everyone picks and chooses what laws to abide by and which ones to ignore or outright disobey. Of course, my selection will always be better than yours. The lying season for the next presidential election has already begun. The current political mentality is to be in control of enough of the government that you can do anything you want. So, there is a real possibility of another Great American Shootout. I hope this time they get it right. ...Otherwise, it's back to watching reruns on the Hallmark Channel.

BONUS PIC

Credits: The usual suspects ...and Cody.

FIFTY SHADES OF OF BROWN

At one point, I thought Fifty Shades of Grey was a book about the complete line of neckties at Brooks Brothers. Boy! Was I wrong on that one. As it was, the book mainstreamed porn for the unwashed masses. You can imagine the number of husbands that had to feign surprise. ....I imagined the number of wives. Exactly how kinky do you have to get to not be bored with sex? ....What is number 51? There seems to be a lot of questions in this area.

Don't take it the wrong way, this post is not about S-E-X. You can read on with comfort. ...Or maybe disappointment. If so, I understand.

This is about the title for a collection of thoughts and antidotes from my life on the Colorado prairie. After some struggle, I knew I had to steal the title, as titles can't be copyrighted. Fifty Shades of Brown fit better than The Prairie Woman that I first thought to go with. Gone with the Wind would have been good if I was just telling about my quonset hut. Les Miserables, if it was about my marriage. Other considerations were, Chuck of Brown Gables, A Tale of Two Houses, A Tree Doesn't Grow Just Anywhere, The Hitchhiker's Guide to Keep Going to Denver, A Portrait  of the Artist as a Old Man, and of course, Far from the Madding Crowd. 

So, Fifty Shades of Brown it is.

I used to say we had only two seasons, brown and browner. But with all the climate change, it looks like I might be adding brownest. We had to get a new garage door. I thought for sure that I would go with a  green color. Red was considered, but I knew that it be bit much by the community standard. You should only stand out in discreet ways. (farm equipment is exempted) However, not all follow that and thankfully so. My neighbor up by the highway has a red shed that tells me where I need to turn. Not sure what I'd do without it.

But since we'd have to wait and pay extra the color we wanted, we chose from a select few colors, all shades of brown!! ...Of course. ....Why not? I was pretty sure that it would blend in. I guess that's why tractors come in green, red, yellow and blue. You'd hate to lose one just because you couldn't see it. For the same reason, most everyone has black cattle. BTW, the calves are coming right on schedule even if spring isn't. So far, we're not experiencing any climatic changes in reproduction. I guess that actually was a sex reference. Sorry!

Here is an excellent photo essay of the prairie along the 100th meridian. It's not Colorado, but the look is similar. I recommend viewing it in full screen. From The New York Times, Life along the 100th Meridian.   http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2013/12/08/magazine/08greatplains_ss.html#

The corn turns to brown. The wheat turns to brown, perhaps a golden brown but still brown. Pinto beans are white before they turn brown. Even the green hay eventually turns brown. That seems to be the cycle of life out here. The remains of lives past are brown. Perhaps more attention should be paid to these warning signs.

For me, and perhaps for them, brown is the color of freedom. All the various shades, of which there's at least fifty, form a vast space and opportunity that says not a lot of people want to live here. But you have a chance you may otherwise not have. That doesn't mean everything will work out or it will last. It just means a way of life that is consistent with the Republican Platform. They might want to rethink being red. I hear that brown ties are making a coming back.

Regardless of the undue amount of dust, wind, flies, dryness, pesticide, heat, weeds, herbicide, snakes, storms, skunks, mice, cold, mud, hornets and countless bugs that can't be identified, I'm pretty content. .....But if the sky ever turns to brown, I'm out of here!  

WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS WITHIN WORLDS

It's normal to have an ever expanding world as you grow up. Then experience, reading, education and travel can further expand that world once you are on your own, if you let them. A big area is our understanding about God in this world. For me, the error here is when we chose from all we know and experience to form a world that is by design more comfortable and of necessity, excludes others or/and has some concept that explains their participation in your world. Most of this is determined by how colored your glasses become and how big your blinders really are.

Examples abound all along the spectrum. Of late, there has been singular concepts about God that eliminate him altogether or say there is no need of him. Some militantly want to show that God doesn't exist by saying there is no evidence for anything metaphysical, all can or will be explained by science and reason even to the extent of creating their own fundamental legalism.

Yet, believers don't share in a common theism as seen in mono and poly. Mono being what you get after being out with poly. They further confine what God is to a sectarian ideology, a dogmatic theology,  a traditional understanding or an emotional experience. To note, the confining of God should come with some caution. Some say God is confined to a sacred text, some say to a revealed revelation (which coincidently was given to them or their group), some say God is confined to those who claim to speak for God and some say God is confined to personal guidance. Using "some" this much is really fun for some reason.

There are those who really stretch the imagination by saying that God is on a totally other plane and man's experience of him on Earth is only incidental at best. Somehow this is comforting? Others say they have an intuitive knowing of God that doesn't need to be explained or defended. They avoid academics and tradition in order to sublimely rest upon their mystical laurels.

It seems that having THE ANSWER is terribly important in this matter. Yet few voice the possibility that man is not capable of understanding the answer. Apparently, it is better for him to assume such wisdom and justifiably go after, or defend against, anything that is different, militarily or otherwise. It is far too convenient to be who you are in your world, especially if you eliminate, ignore or explain away others in their worlds. 

Here's a guess, and not necessarily an informed guess. Mankind does a lot better with a God of love rather than a God of retribution. Yet, there is something alluring about damnation, boils, famine and a really big flood when it comes to early Old Testament motivation seminars. ...Now get out there and sell that manna.

It doesn't make sense to narrowly or broadly place God in this world, neither seems to cover all that needs to be considered. Nor should anyone who can materialistically account for what is attributed to God, ever believe that God was not genuinely involved. The thing with God is that he gets to be God. To understand the all of God, you might need to be another God or be really, really, really Godlike. 

My "ungodlikeness" has been apparent for quite a while now, but I do look back at my messianic period with great fondness. If I could only walk on water again. Those were the days. Since I'm not making final judgements like I used to be able, I'd like to speculate on what some claim. I remember a CEO of a bank in the infamous bailout saying that he believed they did GOD'S WORK. Well of course he did. Someone with that big of an echo, just like so many others with similar claims, has no embarrassment. When they are the all and should have it all, no other conclusion can be made.

What seems a little more believable to me is that God is involved with that CEO in whatever way God choses. I'd like to believe that God's concern and love has the same necessary and appropriate application in everyone's life. That however might not be the case. But for now, I'm going to go with it. Call me naive'. 

I just don't think God treats the current Pope or Billy Graham or any iman or spiritual teacher or rabbi different than any child in this world, dying from starvation or not, Moslem or Christian or Buddhist or Jew. I don't think I have to make comparisons to anyone  else in the mainstream; politician, business  person soldier, factory worker, teacher, farmer, doctor and etc. It comes out about the same.

Rather than for your team to win a super bowl (Would it have hurt Manning to just believe that Seattle might not care about Omaha?), it seems we would be better off praying to see more of what God is really doing and being open to all the places he is able to bless with his goodness, even if they don't meet our expectations. This is not to say that God doesn't care about our wants, needs, problems, pains and concerns. I just think he reserves the right to sort them out in the context of our real lives according to what we most likely can not understand. 

A few more speculations. Chances are that God doesn't only exist in your world. Chances are God is not exclusively on your side. Chances are that God doesn't belong to a political party or endorse a particular ideology. Chances are that God doesn't belong to any particular church, temple, synagogue or mosque. Chances are that God can be in worlds within worlds within worlds and do just fine. So why all the hostilities, violence, hate campaigns, intolerances, militant attitudes, ignorance, self aggrandizement and etc in his name?  

I think there's some pretty good reasons to be more content with the way God is in our world and in the world of others. A better world of understanding can't be all that bad. If you need to be ugly about something, do it in your own name. I'm thinking of trying it myself.


BONUS PIC

CREDITS: WeknowMemes, HuffPost, the happy world of neon lights

THE WINDS OF CHANGE

At this time of life, I hoped to be very grumpy and set in my ways. But I never settled down on anything long enough to take ownership. I've been warned all my life about being inconsistent, standing between two opinions, being lukewarm instead of hot or cold, being of two minds, and sitting on a fence. I'm sure there are more ways to express that sentiment, but I think you get the picture.

Okay, so I wasn't that big on decisiveness and commitment. I suppose that's why I've always had a fondness for the expression, "If you can't be with the one you love, love the one you're with." I could stand on principle only so long then I got really, really tired. Practicality usually won out. But not always. Sometimes, I had to admit that I didn't want to be that principled in the first place.

Yet, after all of these years of frogging around, I'm rather happy to be where I am. Sure, I miss some of the things that where particularly formative and fun. Oddly, their meaningfulness is still with me. So, it's not as if I jettisoned everything each time I moved onto something else. Besides, that would have taken too much energy, spiritual and otherwise.

While mucking through the middle ground, I noticed some things. Like I didn't need to worry so much. What? Me Worry? I should have learned that lesson when I was reading MAD magazine. I can worry enough on my own, but I surely didn't need to worry about all the crap that everyone thought I should. I've met some VERY serious people. But I finally figured out that their supposed concerns didn't matter to me and quite frankly, I don't think they really mattered to them either. It seems we can feel rather important with minutiae. 

Fortunately, it was earlier on that I realized that I wasn't as wonderful as I thought I was. That wouldn't have left me with much, but I also realized that I wasn't as bad as I thought. This might have been easily predicted when I found myself in so many other similar compromises. One scoop of vanilla and one scoop of chocolate please. I truly live in an Ebony and Ivory world. Being good, or just plain, absolutely wonderful, has it's own problems. But being bad doesn't have as many problems as you might think.

You take the good, you take the bad, 

you take them both and there you have 

The Facts of Life, the Facts of Life. 

As the old Chinese proverb says, "Man who stands in middle of the road gets hit by trucks going both ways." It's interesting how being wishy washy upsets so many people. More interesting is the need to agree in order to fit in. I tried that a lot. But I was never good at playing the game. Sooner or later, my real stance or disinterest would come out. Some groups were quite clear on what it took, others weren't. Then there were groups that prided themselves on allowing for a variety of stances, even to the point that wavering was evidence of thoughtful consideration. But regardless, there was pressure to agree in order to fit in, to be one of them. 

It seems I would have fit in somewhere, but I didn't. I definitely didn't fit into school, but high school was a little better as could arrive late or miss a day entirely. I didn't fit into Bible school, the Army, the various hospitals I worked at, the various churches I attended, seminary, community organizing, political campaigns, counseling, the VA and not even detox. I would like to think I gave each of them an honest try, at least at some point. The common denominator here was me. How do I know that? My "friends" tell me all the time.

Chances are that I might not get to heaven. I'm running at about 51% right now. No surprise there. Let's say I get in by some error in calculation or statistical anomaly. I still would be weary of fitting in. There's that whole thing about spewing luke warmers out the mouth. You might be able to see where this is going. Given the choice between heaven and hell, I'd pick the earth every time, with the option of visiting heaven now and then of course. I think that's only wise. 

Adam and Eve may have been kicked out of the garden but eventually, they must have said, "You know, we never really fit in there. This is more like who we really are." The good thing is, each of us gets to understand their own life journey the way it makes the most sense. There is no way that anyone can be the judge of that. You never know the challenges in someone's life, and there's no basis to assume otherwise. Unless they admit to being the asshole you thought they were ...and maybe not even then.

I can't say that there was some purpose for all the changes. I could have done differently, but I didn't. It seemed when the winds of change started to blow, I was really to go with them. I've always felt a little bit pushed along. So, I'll not be surprised when the winds of change begin to blow again. They only mean I have further to go.


BONUS

CREDITS

http://www.lyricsondemand.com/tvthemes/thefactsoflifelyrics.html

THE NEW NEXT YEAR

I always get homesick at the holidays starting with Thanksgiving and of course Christmas but not so much New Year's. Only a couple things marked the new year for me. One was the Late Night service at church where they always showed a missionary film that could give you nightmares and ended at midnight with everyone forming a circle to hold hands and sing "Blest Be the Tie That Binds" and "Until We meet Again." The other was the next day when after the parades and dinner, I usually got to be outdoors until late. I loved the isolation that could be enjoyed for most of the winter. My brother said that at one the point, only the mailman and the school bus came by as no one had to go by our house to get to theirs.

Even later on, when I could do more than go to church on New Year's Eve, I never did that much. I don't think of them as wasted opportunities as I wasn't that much of a people person to begin with. You can only watch so much. And it never came close to be exciting. More the usual over the years was me staying up to watch the coverage on TV. So, I still don't have very many feelings of anticipation  or nostalgia. After moving to the prairie, I entertained the thought of dancing naked around a fire to bring in the new year. Had I done so, I'm pretty sure the holiday would have risen to be my favorite.

But New Year's is more than parties and resolutions. It's making making various Top Ten lists of what was most important and making predictions as to what will be important in the coming year. It's an elitist mainstream exercise that predictably entertains. But beyond the usual, there is something about the new year. The most profound year for me was Y2K. I believe it was National Geographic that aired the ways various cities, cultures and peoples marked the coming of the new millennium.

It is hard to imagine The Next New Year (3000) when the world crosses over into another new millennium. I know some are hoping for dystopia because that seems to be so much fun to them right now. But I don't think it will be the Hollywood or literary versions. Just like I don't think it will be utopian. Although that would be my choice. Some don't think we'll ever get to the next millennium because of the various doomsday, end of the world, everybody moved elsewhere scenarios are in play. Bible believers have had everything pretty well spelled out for some time. They just don't know when it will be set in motion.

If nothing extraordinary happens, there is no reason to believe that we can't make it to that change of date. It will be different for sure, but if the basics hold up and they are what make a difference in whatever divides, harms or threatens to eliminate us, then there is a real chance. It is only a matter of choosing Love over Hate, Goodness over Evil, Being Fed over Starving, Peace over War, Inclusion over Exclusion, Freedom over Slavery, and the many other better ways that we cling to when all else has failed. Is it possible for humankind to live better and come to the next millennium with much to celebrate? Once 2013 is in the books, we'll only have 987 years to find out.



BONUS PIC

CHRISTMAS REDUX

Dudley (Cary Grant) the angel in the classic Christmas movie The Bishop's Wife says, "We all come from our own little planets. That's why we're all different. That's what makes life interesting." Which explains a lot. Similarly, I've always thought of the Earth as the penal colony for the rest of the universe. Which explains the non-interesting part of life. It's hard to argue against a naughty and nice world.

To simplify, some take the everyone is "ultimately good" approach, at least deep down inside somewhere, while others take the everyone is "ultimately bad" regardless of any good they may do. The rest are left to some kind of sorting out approach which usually places their kind on top in whatever ways they deem important. It makes it all rather convenient.

I've met several people who say it's our differences that make us who we are. And again, they just happen to be the right kind of difference. Usually all of this is chalked up to human nature, evolutionary development or mismanaged potty training. But it is curious how we skew everything toward whatever we believe and assume that the lack of insight, intelligence, information, or illumination is involved with what others believe.

It's hard to imagine a theologian who, after years and years of study and teaching, asked, "Who is this Jesus?" Yet, he apparently did. He gets credit for uncommon honesty, even if he couldn't come up with a cosmic conclusion while others seem to, or claim to, know for sure. But what if Santa had 12 reindeer? These are the kind of questions that can keep you up at night.

                                            
I'll not go into all the struggles of faith that I've had with Santa Claus. But from when someone dressed like him, usually my dad, knocked on the door of our old country church after the Christmas program with a bag of candy for the children, to the number of presents under the family Christmas tree whose tags said, "To Chuckie from Santa" but looked a lot like my mother's writing, to the last time I watched Miracle on 34th Street, the relationship with Santa Claus (If that's his real name.) has been pretty strained. Perhaps it was all those years of trying to get off the naughty list. I'm not sure when I began to compare what Santa could do with what Jesus could. But here again, it was curious.

In a world so bent on determining what is fact and what is fiction, the categories don't seem to have changed. I think believers, agnostics, non-believers, the unaware, seekers and those who don't care one way or the other identify the majority in regard to what is beyond the way we understand ourselves. (Degrees, varieties and combinations of such are a given.) What has changed is the level of rhetoric, defensiveness, accusations, misrepresentations, and vitriol. Is it so important to be that right?

Often Christmas has been the opportunity to cease hostilities, at least for a few days or a few hours. So, even with those who thought their kind of difference was special enough to warrant the loss of life found some reluctance to push it to the limit or maybe they were just tired. I find it curious that there's such a thing as The Christmas Spirit. It's a phenomenon that has a lot of explanations. But after everything, it's still about a child being born. And that's about it, there's not much else to say. 

JOYEUX NOEL