A Day Unlike Any Other Day

A Day Unlike Any Other

I could feel the dryness of my eyes from
The lack of sleep that eludes me when I
Should be its captive. I can barely see the
Sun through the mist and fog that surrounds me.

Yet, I awake and I know that it is unlike any
Morrow that has ever welcomed a new day to any
Soul that has ever asked why. There is no reason
That can explain other than the wonder of the moment.

I ask myself again must I walk in a cloud of darkness
And ignorance that is unable to open the clear light
And brightness of truth. Why is there war, hunger, and
Suffering in a world so full of wealth that it should not know want?

Truth and knowledge may not always be as simple as
Seeing a light that illuminates our path through the dark
Shadows that obstructs our way. It is easy to listen to an answer
That prevents our consciousness from knowing wonder and awe.

Yet today is a day unlike any other because that dryness that
Has deprived our consciousness of light now illuminates it with
The wonderment and awe of that star shining in each of our hearts.

© Senex Magister

The Demon Within Me

The Demon Within Me



It is hard for me to think
Without the thought of another.
It is hard for me to see
Without her eyes to guide.
It is hard for me to feel
Without the tenderness of her touch.
It is hard for me to believe
Without the consciousness of her heart.

When I was young and whole,
She taught me how to smile and laugh.
When my hand moved where they shouldn't be,
She smiled with a gleam that brings sweetness to one's heart.
When I asked her to speak and tell me the truth,
She opened my heart to something new.
When I was alone and knew not what to do,
She came into my heart and filled it with joy.

I live a life now that is broken in body, but
Her love is pure and clean.
I know of sorrow and grief of what can not be, but
Her breath and smell brings hope to one's soul.
I cry and complain with a heart so torn, but
Her presence shows me God's grace and love.
I moan and sigh with the pleasure of youth because
Her beauty and softness keeps me whole.

Who do I speak of when my dreams do not know?
She is the spirit that gives life and love.
Who do I speak of when I can not see or hear?
She is my friend who holds me close and dear.
Who do I speak of when I am sick and hurt?
She is my soul mate who cares for me and keeps me sane.
Who do I speak of when I feel lost to the world?
She is my wife whose selflessness has always shown me the way.

©Senex Magister

Brian's Multiple Sclerosis Resources

A Look At Living With MS

A Personal Look at Living with Multiple Sclerosis

I am not sure that there is anyone who can truthfully say that he or she does not live with a personal demon whether it is of our own making, Man's, or nature itself. The tragedy, at least as far as chronic diseases are concerned, is there is an attitude of indifference in the general public of what doesn't affect me doesn't concern me. This past weekend I went to our local Borders Book Store with my wife because she had a few last minute items she wanted to pick up to complete her Christmas shopping. Access and mobility was an almost complete impossibility for anyone with a disability that limited their mobility. I asked the General Manager of this Borders Book Store if he was aware of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) which he said he was. Then I challenged him to explain what possible rationale he had to indicate that this store was in compliance with the ADA. I told him that I could not see how it was from the heavy doors at the entrance which anyone confined to a scooter or a wheelchair would be unable to open on their own to the displays in the middle of the central aisle which would be difficult for the most able of individuals to maneuver around. This General Manager ended our conversation by saying that I would have encountered a much different situation if it wasn't less than a week before Christmas. I know that a store like Borders is a retailer and this is probably its busiest time of the year but is that justification to ignore the needs of some of our most needful citizens?

This is what the Justice Department has on its Web site in explanation of the ADA:

The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a Federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in everyday activities, such as buying an item at the store, going to the movies, enjoying a meal at a local restaurant, exercising at the health club, or having the car serviced at a local garage.

To meet the goals of the ADA, the law established requirements for businesses of all sizes. These requirements went into effect on January 26, 1992. Businesses that serve the public must modify policies and practices that discriminate against people with disabilities; comply with accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities; remove barriers in existing facilities where readily achievable; and provide auxiliary aids and services when needed to ensure effective communication with people who have hearing, vision, or speech impairments. All businesses, even those that do not serve the public, must comply with accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities.

I don't know if Borders Group, Inc. has conducted itself within the limits of a federally mandated law or not, but I do believe that there is a difference between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law. I also believe if corporations like theirs showed greater concern for Americans who, out of no fault of their own, have fallen victim to a debilitating disease or accident that it would have a beneficial and not a negative impact on their business. It is sad to see that Ebenezer Scrooge is still alive and well at Borders Book Stores in 2007.

Is It Good Or Evil?

I sit and think that tomorrow will be a better day than the one trying to find its twilight in the sadness and gloom of a spirit who knows no difference from the light of day or the darkness of night. Does knowledge bring light that illuminates the soul of man that enables him to say what he has done is good? Then is ignorance an evil reflection of the same soul that allows its true nature to be so clouded from reality that it will never know beauty and pleasure for what they are? When we are told that one who worships Luna is the personification of all that is wrong in the world of man, is this the divine inspiration that we have prayed would change the face of every malicious thought that has ever entered human consciousness. If we are told that one who worships Daemon has been endowed with all revealed truth, do we follow that leader to where ever he says we must go? Aren't truth and ignorance, right and wrong, as well as goodness and evil that easy to distinguish one from the other.

What Is Evil?

Having qualities tending to injury and mischief; having a nature or properties which tend to badness; mischievous; not good; worthless or deleterious; poor; as, an evil beast; an evil plant; an evil crop.

Having or exhibiting bad moral qualities; morally corrupt; wicked; wrong; vicious; as, evil conduct, thoughts, heart, words, and the like.

Producing or threatening sorrow, distress, injury, or calamity; unpropitious; calamitous; as, evil tidings; evil arrows; evil days -- Evil speaking, speaking ill of others; calumny; censoriousness -- The evil one, the Devil; Satan; Syn. -- Mischievous; pernicious; injurious; hurtful; destructive; wicked ; sinful; bad; corrupt; perverse; wrong; vicious; calamitous.

Anything which impairs the happiness of a being or deprives a being of any good; anything which causes suffering of any kind to sentient beings (It's a hobby...); injury; mischief; harm; -- opposed to good.

Moral badness, or the deviation of a moral being from the principles of virtue imposed by conscience, or by the will of the Supreme Being, or by the principles of a lawful human authority; disposition to do wrong; moral offence; wickedness; depravity.

But evil is actually so much more than all that. It is wickedness, malevolence, the desire to do people wrong. It is to take power for yourself at the expense of others, and then using it in the most ruthless and vile of ways. It is hurting people for no good reason at all, horrifically destroying their lives and then jumping up on down on their corpses. It is tying damsels in distress to railroad tracks and then twirling about in a moustache and black cape. It is hate and wrath and rage. Sound good? We thought so. So let's begin.

The Benefits of Being Evil

That definition is good for the basics of evil, but doesn't really get into the benefits. For being evil is truly a lifestyle unto itself. By embracing the forces of evil you can gain power beyond your wildest dreams. You can become one of the richest people on earth and then use that wealth to bring about the misfortune of others. You can crush your enemies in the most ruthless and vile of ways all the while unhindered by such weaknesses as remorse or guilt. You can be a ray of darkness in an otherwise unbearably sunny day.

Those are not the only benefits, however. By becoming a servant of darkness you can also engage in widespread plans of world domination. You can destroy the world with the method of your choosing and then jump up and down on its corpse. You can tie damsels in distress to railroad tracks and then twirl about in your moustache and black cape. Yes, by choosing evil you can truly walk down the street with pride, and watch small children run screaming from your presence.

But wait, there's more! If you act now you can also gain vast influence over the minds of men. You can learn great supernatural powers capable of killing at a glance and causing people's heads to explode. You can summon up terrible armies of the undead to then send against the town of your choosing. You can even become immortal should you wish, and are willing to sacrifice your humanity. There really is no end to the benefits, so why not join today?

"I have marveled at the depth of his wisdom. I have experienced his goodness and mercy. I have perceived the excellence of his glorious beauty, and when I contemplate all these things I am filled with awe and wonder at his manifold greatness."

Bernard of Clairvaux

The problem that most of us have when we try to distinguish between right and wrong or good and evil is that we still simply don't know. Do I believe such a statement is horrific and unnatural? I most certainly do! It makes no difference what it is but anything that separates us from our neighbors cannot be good and beneficial to our continued existence on this planet. If our government does it, if our Faith does it, if our Pater Familias does it; we are lost in this journey of life before it has begun. When we allow Government, Faith , or Family to stand in our way of wholeness; we have also lost the wisdom of how to bring a sense of joy and wonder to the same journey we call life.

Senex Magister

Lucifera

She brings light to my world where I too
often see the darkness of hopelessness.
It is a darkness that was born out of a gloom that said
what can you do or say that has value of worth.


I was in a torment of such anguished and tortured thoughts
to believe that my efforts would be mere futility.
I cried within a soul torn between despair and hope
thinking that Iustitia had perished and taken away to Dis.


Is she to wander in her own purgatory senseless from her
failure to restore fairness and equity to the law?
The Lethe with her waters of forgetfulness will not appease
the sacrilege suffered by Iustitia at the hands of man.


The value of Justice must be cherished and loved by all
if we wish it to protect the natural rights of our shared humanity.
Lady Diana comes to wipe away my tears and bear her torch of light
to guide our path as you and I restore health and strength
to the true Lucifera of Iustitia.


© Senex Magister

It is past time to bring this war to an end and live as brothers in a world based on fairness for all of us.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism. ~Thomas Jefferson~

Bring Them Home

When Your Tomorrow Is No More

I am not normally one who would espouse the cause of Jesse Jackson because too often I feel like he is more concerned with publicity than any cause or issue about which he might be speaking. I, like many people from the Washington DC area, watched Sean Taylor's funeral on television. The death of anyone whether it is a senseless drive by shooting, a victim in an unjustified and unprovoked war, or innocence being destroyed before it had the opportunity to see the horizon of

the potential that life had to offer is almost impossible to comprehend or much less understand. When I heard Jesse Jackson speak in praise as well as the tragedy of Sean Taylor's life, I had a personal epiphany of sorts about how we have allowed violence to consume our social, ethical, or religious consciousness concerning the value of life. Read part of what Reverend Jackson had to say:

“The loss of a life is unimaginably greater than the loss of a game or a season. But the lesson is the same. We should not give up simply because of this terrible loss. We should learn from it, and rededicate ourselves from it.

What should we learn? In a modern society, overrun by guns and drugs, none of us are safe. The young and the strong are at risk, no less than the old and the weak. The wealthy cannot build walls high enough to create true islands in a sea of turmoil. There is no fireproof room in a house that is burning.

We should learn once more that America's house is on fire. Some ask why didn't Sean have a gun to protect his family. But more guns and more fire won't make us safe. We already have more guns than any other industrialized nation -- and more gun crime as well. The gun peddlers are selling a false security.

Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sean Taylor . . . the tragedies keep coming. We are slow learners. Now it is legal to own and sell semiautomatic weapons. In an age of terror, restrictions on guns are being rolled back, not increased. Police fear that they are outgunned on the streets. Pilots fear that a lone terrorist armed with a weapon bought at a gun show without a background check could take out a plane taking off or landing. The administration has trampled the Constitution when it comes to privacy and wiretaps and probable cause. But President Bush and the judges he has appointed have rolled back sensible regulation of guns.

Sean Taylor was a defensive player with an offensive flair. He intercepted passes, created fumbles, returned kicks. He knew that any good game plan requires both offense and defense. Surely, his death tells us we need a new game plan when it comes to guns and drugs. We need a smarter offense in the schools and on the streets.

Sean Taylor died alone with his family, but we must do this together. We need to rededicate ourselves to making America better, to getting guns and drugs off our streets, to getting crime under control.”

Sean Taylor didn't have a gun because he was on probation from an earlier incident and it was illegal for him to have a gun in his possession, but let us also remember that it was illegal for his murderer to have a gun too. I am aware that a discussion like this always ends up in a debate over the Second Amendment. To the NRA and all gun advocates in America all I can say is that I respectively disagree with how you and the courts have interpreted the Second Amendment.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."

I personally believe that this amendment states that people as a part of a well regulated militia shall not have its right to bear arms infringed upon.

I found this piece of historical trivia on the National Guard's Official Web page about its origin and history.

"The National Guard, the oldest component of the Armed Forces of the United States and one of the nation's longest enduring institutions, celebrated its 366th birthday in 2002. The National Guard traces its history back to the earliest English colonies in North America. Responsible for their own defense, the colonists drew on English military tradition and organized their able-bodied male citizens into militias."

I am not calling for a complete ban on gun ownership but reasonable regulation and licensing of guns. If it is reasonable for the state to license a driver of an automobile to ensure he or she is competant to drive, why shouldn't it do the same for gun owners? If it is reasonable for the state to require a car owner to hold title to his or her vehicle, why shouldn't it have the same requirement for gun ownership? I am not opposed to gun ownership but within reasonable constraints of the law for public safety. There will always be the exception and it would almost be impossible to do a psychological profile on everyone who buys a gun, but with reasonable regulation we can minimize the danger of gun violence to the public.

Senex Magister

It is past time to bring this war to an end and live as brothers in a world based on fairness for all of us.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism. ~Thomas Jefferson~

Bring Them Home

Forgotten Yesterdays

Forgotten Yesterdays

A yesterday can never be forgotten though
it maybe shrouded in the mist of time and space.
Memories are spiritual dreams that can speak
to us a reality that no veil can conceal from our mind.

Yesterday I met a friend in class and who would ever know that
forty two years and beyond we still knew what a friend really means.
Riding bikes, Chevrolets, Movies and Drive – In cruising we shared.
Innocence born of ignorance haunted us then and it can still delude the mind.

Yesterday I kissed the sweetest lips and realized that my innocence
had come to lift me into a realm that I never knew or believed could be.
Where was the oracle to enlighten my psyche of everything to come and
to prepare me for the joys as well as the heart aches to come.

Yesterday my mother told me not to play with guns because whether
it may be a toy or something more lethal – it will only leave the image of death.
Then Uncle Sam came and told Joey down the street it was time to
answer freedom’s call while I studied Latin in the hallowed halls of academia.

Yesterday my mother called to say that Joey died in place called Khe Sanh.
I wept for a friend not just for his death but a government that allowed
him to die and me to live. Where is the nobility when such injustice reigns?
Still to this day I look for answers when the old send the young to die.

Yesterday I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and looked into my
wife’s eyes and asked her to explain why me and why now.
She had no answers because there are none but she told me to remember that I
will have many tomorrows where others only have yesterdays from a past that is no more.

© Senex Magister

INHUMANITAS OMNI AETATE MOLESTA EST.

INHUMANITY IS HARMFUL IN EVERY AGE.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

Cicero is long dead and some would label him as conservative as GW but the difference resting in intellect and the widsom to understand the purpose of government. We were all innocent in our youths and believed our country incapable of wrong. We live in an egalitarian democracy but could you honestly tell your child that every citizen has equal access to the legal, political, and economic institutions of this nation? If your answer is no which, I am sure, it must be then the unending question of any child should follow - Why.

It is past time to bring this war to an end and live as brothers

in a world based on fairness for all of us.

Dissent is the highest form of Patriotism. ~Thomas Jefferson~