The Letter A

If you read Conspicuous By It's Absence, you now have your answer. Remarkable, yes?

Conspicuous By It's Absence

While I reel in the insanity of my country's actions, let me offer a diversion. Examine all numbers between 1 and 100; there is something conspicuous by it's absence. It is overt and it is obvious--once you know what it is. Until you do, this question rates as a first class brain teaser. Rereading "No More Than Four," (6-17-16) may extend your normal, everyday perception, and aid in solving the riddle.

All Is Vanity

"Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity." Ecclesiastes 1:2

I totally admit it. The following list is a sop to my ego. Every once in a while I update the roster of countries that have visited this site. I had set 5 as the number of new countries to trigger when I would update. Today Costa Rica dropped in and there have actually been 6 new visitors (Bahamas 7-20-15 UAE 11-19-15 Latvia 4-29-16 Bulgaria 5-17-16 Qatar 6-2-16 Costa Rica 7-3-16) since the last update. (Grinding Gears 6-12-15)
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I couldn't finish this yesterday--it seemed too trivial. This morning I got on and saw that Kuwait had also visited yesterday. Two new visitors in a day (after 4 years) is a statistical anomaly. I am going to take it as a sign that it is okay to indulge my ego. Here is where we've been:

Australia--Austria--Belarus--BAHAMAS--Belgium--Brazil--BULGARIA--Canada--Chile--COSTA RICA--Columbia--Denmark--Finland--France--Germany--Georgia--Greece--Hungary--India--Indonesia--Iraq--Ireland--Italy--Israel--Jamaica--Japan--Kazakhstan--Kenya--KUWAIT--Kyrgyzstan--LATVIA--Lithuania--Malaysia--Mexico--Netherlands--Pakistan--Philippines--Poland--Portugal--QATAR--Romania--Russia--Serbia--Singapore--Slovakia--Spain--South Africa--South Korea--Sweden--Switzerland--Suriname--Taiwan--Tanzania--Thailand--Turkey--UNITED ARAB EMIRATE--Ukraine--United Kingdom--United States--Venezuela--Vietnam--Zambia--Zimbabwe

Through investigation I have discovered of the 10 largest country's in the world, (by land mass) numbers 8 and 10 (Argentina and Algeria) have inexplicably remained "at large." I am going after them. Why? First and foremost, motivation...sometimes it has to be manufactured. Second, why not try and cover the globe? Third, I can make a game of it and have some fun. It certainly isn't the intent of the blog, but there is no reason it can't be a by-product.

NOTE: I am going to have Gwenn add a link to a song on this post, but am going to go ahead and publish now. [not sure what her availability is] The game is, who can guess what the song link is going to be? Enter your guess in comments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6UAYGxiRwU

Don't Believe Me?

For those who might have viewed Tuesday's post as gibberish, please read the following quote from Martin Rees: "In the beginning there were only probabilities. The universe could only come into existence if someone observed it. It does not matter that the observers turned up several billion years later. The universe exists because we are aware of it."

Beyond the fact that Rees is a PhD, his resume is overwhelming. Google him yourself. Read all about him. Point being, I didn't rely on him, or anyone else for that matter, to create the post. I actually stumbled across his quote this morning. I thought, "AHA!" here is a cosmologist/astrophysicist saying the same thing as I did on Tuesday. Perhaps his resume and viewpoint will bolster my argument.

Do I feel it necessary to bring in "expert testimony?" Not in the least. But my fear is you might. That my lack of credentials might be an impediment for you. The bottom line is this; I'm talking to your heart, not your head. If you are of the opinion that God can be captured by the intellect, I do not believe this site will be of value to you. (but thanks for stopping by!)

Subtlety

By all accounts esoteric gnosis acknowledges this material plane of existence as the 'grossest.' Not gross in the ick! sense, only that it is dense. (crowded closely together, compact--hard to penetrate--difficult to understand) And this physical manifestation is dependent on the appearance and supposed realism of duality. Up, down, forward, backward. However, there seems to me sufficient evidence to argue this logic.

Begin with the idea of none. (no one, not one, nobody) It would seem rational to suppose that 'none' existed before one. Even the very definition states,"no one." Still, it wasn't until the concept of 'one' arrived, that 'none' came into creation. There was no juxtapostion, no contrast for 'none' to exist. Osho put it this way: "The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never."

Now, let us take it a step further. I have made claims in other posts that God is nothing. (no thing) This is not sophistry! As one example, New Science editor-in-chief Jeremy Webb has compiled 25 articles from various authors to create a book entitled; "Nothing: Surprising Insights Everywhere from Zero to Oblivion." I have not read the book, although I have glanced at the Introduction. A portion of what it says is; "The word nothing is applied in all manner of settings and in every case reveals a different aspect of reality. Can something really come from nothing? Why do some animals spend all day doing nothing? What happens in our brain when we try to think of nothing? These are all questions scientist have asked and gained intriguing results."                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
 If science feels 'nothing' is a worthwhile topic, ('...and in every case reveals a different aspect of reality.') am I wrong to explore it? Of course not. So, as I was saying, God is nothing. And just like none and one, nothing cannot be understood without something. A distinction, a differentiation, must be made for 'nothing' to be understood. Hence creation, life, and eventually, you! God is the no thing that is dependent on the some thing for His very existence--and vice versa. As I proposed in the story White Bird: "You cannot separate Creator from Creation without certain chaos. You render the former impotent and the latter inanimate. Both are essential, one to the other."

Now, I get that the whole idea is counter-intuitive. To think of something defining the nothing of which everything had it's origin, is subtle beyond words. But if there is a "God," would we expect less? If a finite mind dare gaze at the Infinite, what does one imagine? And would the furthest reaches of his imagination move more than a nano-meter on the cosmic scale? If so, should that deter him? Or are the whispers of eternity an echo of the spiritual fecundity a mind cannot suppress?

Nothing was everything until something emerged. Everything was nothing until something diverged.

No More Than Four

There is something utterly unique about the number four. Do you know what it is? Take your time and think about it. Take days if you have the discipline. It isn't something arbitrary or open to speculation. There is only one answer that fulfills the 'utterly unique' criteria. So, lets see how much thought you give this question before you look for the answer. (given below)

This is the type of attitude I need you to bring to this site. You must develop the ability to see beyond what you have been conditioned to see. That something 'utterly unique' is contained in these posts specific to you. If I'm not putting up new content doesn't mean your answer (or next step in the process) hasn't already been addressed. Make use of the archives. The 'arrow of time' is convenient for human understanding, but is irrelevant to God.

So, if you haven't already been exposed to this fact about 4, it is unlikely you will ever look at the number in the same way. Similarly, after a visit to this site, you wouldn't look at yourself in the same way, either.


                                                                                      ANSWER
One: has three. Two: has three. Three: has five. Four: has FOUR! Five: has four. Six: has three. Seven: has five. Eight: has five. Nine: has four. Ten: has three. Eleven: has six...got it now? [letters = number]

Kick 'Em When Their Down

You are predisposed to, "blame the victim." This is known as the "Just World Fallacy." (Melvin J. Lerner and Carolyn H. Simmons 1966) Coupled with 'affect reaction' and 'negativity bias,' the difficulty in maintaining emotional balance is a daunting task. Be that as it may, I have suggested a way of handling it. G-G-G. But you have to put in the work.

Remember as a child the 'connect the dots' books? By following the dots one was able to produce a picture (drawing) of some animal or object. What was once a vague outline became something tangible. So it is with G-G-G. You have to connect the dots. Even when the outcome (picture) is murky, or in question, follow the dots! (there are now 360 of them)

Millions of years of evolution isn't something we can wave a stick at and, presto!, undo. Still, I have provided the quickest, most efficient way, of rewiring your neural net. Laugh at it, disparage it, revile it, but for God's sake (and yours) try it! If the last 'G' (God) is abhorrent to you, leave it out. Work with Gift and Gratitude. (the last G is simply a bonus anyway) But 'work' you must.

"Cognitive theories of emotion posit that affective responses may be shaped by how individuals interpret emotion-eliciting situations. This study tested whether individual differences in interpretation bias (i.e., interpreting ambiguous scenario's in a more negative or positive manner) independently predict trait resilience and depression in medical interns. Those with a more positive interpretation bias had a higher trait resilience and a 6-fold decreased depressive symptom risk during internship. The predictive power of interpretation bias for decreased depression symptoms held over and above initial depressive symptoms, demographics and trait reappraisal. Assessing positive interpretation bias may have practical utility for predicting future well-being in at risk populations." (see; Positive interpretations bias predicts well-being in medical interns. Birgit Kleim, Hanna Thorn, Ulrike Ehlert 6-24-14  Frontiers in Psychology)

Here is the thing...if you are depressed, or a victim, people will eventually determine your depression or victimization as your fault! (Just World Fallacy) That you're getting what you deserve. Guess how you are going to react to that? You are going to fall further into your depressed state. I wish more than that for you. I do not wish to give you my boot, but a boost. But you have to put in the work.