Are you selling a product or a feeling?

The more I look at advertisements, not many companies actually sell their product or service anymore.  They promote themselves by trying to make you feel a certain way.

Anheuser-Busch did a great job of this.  Showed how one of the partners Adolphus Busch endured immigration travels, fitting into a new land,  and many other hardships to finally meet with Eberhard Anheuser.  Both of them, from Germany.   The commercial wasn't selling a product as much as it was creating  feeling inside of you to associate with their brand.  Watch it here.

84 Lumber...produced a commercial so controversial that had nothing to do with lumber that Fox refused to air it.  You can watch it, and I highly suggest you do, here.   Am I more inclined to shop at 84 Lumber now?  Yes.  But how do I know they aren't doing other shady or unethical stuff that I'm not a fan of?  I don't.

I remember a few years ago that Chic-Fil-A had some controversy.  Mike Huckabee claimed a Chic Fil-A day.  It was supposedly promoting free speech after word got out that the founders of the restaurant chain supported "traditional marriage" that many people deemed as anti-gay.  I don't want to get into the Chic Fil-A side of things.  But lets be honest...the majority of the people that were there did not show up for freedom of speech.  I showed up, I was anti-gay at the time as well.  But when I saw the hoards of people (when I say hoards I mean hundreds if not thousands),  I was disgusted.  See, they've had freedom of speech rallies before.  And not many people show up.  It wasn't until it was about "traditional marriage/anti-gay" stuff that all the people showed up.

Why do I share that one about Chic Fil-A?  That's when I decided that if the sandwich is good, eat there.  If it's not, don't.  Don't pick and choose where you'll shop based on one small aspect of a business.

Do you have a good product?  Sell your product.  Sell your service.  And on the back end, make ethical business decisions.  Maybe that's why I was always a shitty salesman.  I tried to sell the product to much.  Because ultimately, that's what you are buying.  And when you really get down to it, there's really not that much you actually "need".   Zig's not really wrong in his line of thinking....but dang it sounds manipulative.  Sounds greedy.  Sounds like it's all about the sale and getting people to like you.  Intentions are everything.  Do you care more about the people you are selling to or do you care more about getting the sale?

I see all sorts of commercials and advertisements.  Many use veterans or military families uniting to promote their product.  All those things are great...but why are you doing those good deeds?  Is it all to promote your product and make sales?  Or what if we all went around with our good deeds pinned to our chest.  So everyone knew how great we were based on what we'd done or do for others.

I see it in "christian" bookstores and retail chains.  Poor quality merchandise being sold at high prices because it has a bible verse inscribed on it.  The one that sticks out to me the most was a tool kit.  A TOOL KIT!  It was extremely poor quality but it was being sold and most likely purchased because of the bible verse.  Like somehow it makes it the "christian" choice.

Create a quality product or service that meets the needs of the people.  Do that.

I happen to believe that the more we have that we don't need, the more problems we create for ourselves.  More to come later on that thought....

Good Job Patriots.

I was pulling for the Falcons to win Super Bowl 51 and had about as much confidence as rooting for the Eagles to win.  Granted, the Eagles did beat the Falcons this year.

Early in the game I said the falcons need to be up at least 35-7 before they can even begin to think about getting comfortable.

But congratulations Patriots.  You deserve that win.  I don't care how you feel about Tom Brady, you better get over any feelings you have of negativity and accept him as the greatest quarterback to ever play the game of football.  There is no question.  None.  I hate saying that.  But the dude is legit great.  To overcome a 28-3 deficit in the third quarter.....That's unprecedented.

But Falcons....c'mon.  I know you are a young team.  And you are a good team.  But you will forever be known as the only team ever in the history of football to blow that big of a lead in the Super Bowl.  Even if you would have snuck that one out in overtime, people would be more impressed by the comeback than you pulling that win out.

Experience and excellent knowledge and execution of the sport is what won this game.

I was really pulling for a Falcons win.  Oh well.

What's the point of it all?

I look around and see all our "stuff".   Not just me personally, but across America and many developed countries.

I used to dwell on this a lot but yesterday it seemed to come back all to clear.  There was no guilt involved.  There was no sense of urgency to sell everything and give to the poor.  It was just thinking about how awful it is.  And more of a "why?" is this the way it is then a what are you going to do about it thinking.

Somebody posed a question about killing another to maintain your lifestyle and how it flies in the face of Jesus and his teaching.  

Let's look here in 1 John 3 16-18,  "By this we know the love of God: that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  Whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, but closes his heart of compassion from him, how can the love of God remain in him?  My little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth."  

Whoever has "stuff" and sees someone in need  and doesn't help,  John the Evangelist questions the love of God in them.  Think about that.  Those of us that claim to Love God with all our hearts and believe in the gospel of Jesus but live lives of excess.

I can't help but think this means exactly what Jesus says
it means.  We've distorted this verse to keep us comfortable.
It very much is about selling everything.  

I'm not bringing this up so we all judge what others give or don't give.  Most of us reading this were born into privilege.  We were born into comfort.  This is all we know.  So it's not a guilt trip.  It's a wake up call.  But you know something?  I don't know what to do or how to go about doing it.  There is enough wealth in American Christianity to wipe out world hunger.  I promise you that.  So what are we waiting for?  Permission?  Who's going to give us permission?  Who told us that life was about going to school, getting an education, get a job, buy a house, get married, have kids, save money, work for 40 years and retire.  Who made that the standard?  Honestly...that sounds really nice.  I can see how if we were born into that we'd think that it was our calling in life.  To be the best at that.

To switch gears...how many of us were brought up right into the church.  I wonder if Jesus were to visit the church today and all of it's wealth...I wonder if this is what he would say?

Take a look here, from Luke.  "When crowds of people came out for baptism because it was the popular thing to do, John exploded: “Brood of snakes! What do you think you’re doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to deflect God’s judgment? It’s your life that must change, not your skin. And don’t think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as ‘father.’ Being a child of Abraham is neither here nor there—children of Abraham are a dime a dozen. God can make children from stones if he wants. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it’s deadwood, it goes on the fire.”

 The crowd asked him, “Then what are we supposed to do?”

 “If you have two coats, give one away,” he said. “Do the same with your food.”

 Tax men also came to be baptized and said, “Teacher, what should we do?”

 He told them, “No more extortion—collect only what is required by law.”

  Soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”

He told them, “No shakedowns, no blackmail—and be content with your rations.” "

It's pretty clear in the bible that Jesus is "anti-excess".  That the basic needs of all people are more important than anyones excessive lifestyle.  For most of us in America and developed countries we have our basic needs met.  We have basic needs stashed away for when we run out of basic needs.  We have money stashed away if we deplete all our basic needs.  We have so much excess it's ridiculous. What are we holding onto it for?  What are we afraid of?

I'll be very honest.  I look around the very room I'm sitting in.  I don't want to sell my guitars.  I like my guitars.  I know I can't play all 5 at once.  But if you put a starving kid next to my guitars and gave me a choice, I'd choose to feed the starving kid every time.  But the truth is...there is a starving kid next to my guitars.  They just live in another country.  And I can't see them.

I see my bikes.  I like riding my bike.  But I could feed a lot of kids if I sold them.  Why do I assume someone else will?  Why do I value my enjoyment of bike riding more than I enjoy feeding and housing hungry humans?  Why am I more important?  Who am I?  I've done nothing to deserve any of this.  Even if I did work hard for it...who am I to think that my comfort is more important than anothers.

So many people say this unwillingness to help the hungry and poor is a result of the "fall".  But it seems to be one of the only "sins" that they don't want to fix.  Because it potentially involves losing your comfort.  When did Jesus say he wants you to be safe and comfortable?

I would imagine that giving everything you have up for the sake of meeting the basic needs of others is difficult.  But I would bet any money it's worth it.

I'm beginning to think that heaven isn't a place you go when you die.  But it's here on earth.  When we begin to start doing the things Jesus said to do.  I would imagine something changes in us that lets us see the world a little bit differently.  That heaven is in your heart and it is a feeling of deep happiness and love.

Big or small...it matters not.

Picking up from where I left off yesterday.  That whole going to food when you are depressed and want a dopamine hit.

Even if you follow a healthy diet and your go to food isn't really at odds with your body, it's still not helpful when it comes to mental disorders.  What do I mean?  Having six pack abs or a keg for your belly is irrelevant.   Depression doesn't see a figure.

I battle the same way as anyone else.  When I eat because I'm depressed I know I don't really need the food.  Even if the food isn't really hurting me in the same way, it's still fucking with my mind.

I look back on a time when my body and mind felt like it was on the same page.  It was during a 5 day fast.  No calories the first three days and 300 or less liquid fat calories the next 2.  I've never felt better.   Fasting done with supervision can be healthy.  However, I still could't escape the release of dopamine.  The accomplishment of fasting and denying food released dopamine.  So even when I fast, in a healthy way, I get dopamine.  I know that many times dopamine isn't a bad thing.

Maybe it's that addictive personality thing that people say I should worry about....

Can't a guy catch a break.

I'm just trying to find some balance.  I love fasting.  I love food.   I won't quit.  And I'll never stop trying to be the best I can be.  Even if some days I just don't have the mental energy.

I will add....that when things happen in my life.  Whether it's emotional or situational, I try to find a reason for it.  Some sort of an explanation for what happened or how I feel.  It gives me some sort of closure or understanding.  Sometimes, whatever the reason I come up with may not even be real.  But it makes sense in my head.  

So when I share stuff.....they are only ideas.  I don't know if that's the actual explanation or not.

Food and Drug Administering

Food is a drug.  Plain and simple.  Most people choose what and when to eat based on what our brain wants instead of what our body needs.   I say most people because some people just don't have the choice of what they eat because of their economic situation.  But that's not the topic at hand today.

Have you even walked up to the fridge and opened it only to not find anything in there you want to eat?  And then did you do it again about 3 minutes later.  If you've done this, you aren't hungry.  You are looking for something to eat not because your body needs it but because your brain is saying it wants some dopamine.  So it's scanning, trying to find the thing that will get it it's hit.  Exercise also releases dopamine.   Creating something releases dopamine, listening to music you like also does and even checking of items from a to-do list.  But eating is easier.  Your brain is smart.  It wants the easiest option. It's the same reason you get on Facebook every so often.  Looking for the little notifications.  Those trigger a dopamine hit as well.  

Granted, these are all little hits of dopamine.  Nothing compared to drugs like cocaine or heroin.  But it is a drug used to help many of us get by.   We use food as the easiest option to manipulate how we feel.

I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing.  But it can become a bad habit.  The foods that many people go to for their mental health wreak havoc on your physical health.  And quite often it then becomes our physical health that wreaks havoc on our mental health and you go right back to the habit of food to help the mental health.  

It's a tough cycle to break.  I've been there about 4-5 times in my life.

Please don't think that I'm being critical of anyone trapped in this cycle.  I know how powerful our brains are.  But when we put chemicals into our bodies from the food we eat, it plays with our emotions and the signals we get from our brains.  

And even now, I know that my body doesn't need food.  But I like food.  So I eat food.  And then with the wondrousness of the food taste, comes the depression of eating when I didn't actually need to eat.

Over the past 8 or so months I've been following a ketogenic diet.  It's been fantastic.  I don't ever feel as though I'm depriving myself.  I've lost over 35 pounds and I actually have a visible 6 pack, which is cool. I just feel good overall.

However, like I said.  I still like food.  At least now the good news is that all the food I like is totally compatible with my diet.  So the physical side of eating when I'm not really hungry isn't a big deal.  But the mental side is.  

So what?  Why does Jon say that?  Why did he have to drop in that he's got a 6 pack?   Because I've never had one before!!!  And I'm pretty excited about it!

I'm going to continue this tomorrow and tell that even though the food I crave to isn't at odds with my body, I'm still not out of the woods on the food addiction part.

All Ban, No Plan

I struggled to find the words yesterday as I noticed a Facebook friend and somewhat real life friend (though I don't know them that well, but always looked to them as one of the Christians that seemed to live their beliefs) post a video about Clinton, Obama and Trump.

I'm going to pause and say I know Clinton wasn't a shining star of morality, neither was Obama.  Obama was behind 25,000 drone strikes responsible for the killing of innocent women and children.  He's no saint.  I'm not happy about that.  I still happen to think he was a little more strategic and sourced opinions and instructions from others that were more knowledgeable than himself.

But the video was clips of Clinton and Obama saying they need to tighten up immigration and borders.  Which they did.  Especially Obama.  He deported millions of illegal and undocumented immigrants.  He put plans and rolled out a vetting process that took longer and made it harder for people coming to America to get in.  All because we wanted to catch terrorists trying to sneak in.  And he did a pretty damn good job! But he never banned any countries.   As far as I know he never said to someone fleeing a war torn country who faced a real threat of death to stay home, you aren't welcome here.

And all through this video....flashes of Trump smiling smugly are shown.  I'm sorry, this isn't the same thing.  Obama did fight for more secure borders.  Obama did reduce the number of illegal and undocumented immigrants.  All without an all out ban.  Trump....puts a ban in place without a plan in place.  If Trump has a plan to up the cap to 50,000 allowed in, why not roll it out real time?  Teach people how it's going to work for a few months and start implementing it.  Isn't that how it works already?  As far as I can tell, there was no security need for an all out ban.

Sort of like what they are doing with the ACA.  ALL BAN, NO PLAN.

It kinda reminds me of a small scale example.  A battered and bloody man showed up on at the door of a place I was staying once.  It was late.  I was young, 19 or 20 maybe.  There was women of all ages in the house and the dad was gone.   He said he was in a four wheeler accident.  But from the location he gave, there was about 20 other houses he could have stopped at.  It didn't add up.  I didn't leave him alone.  I didn't lock him out.  I sat with him on the porch and kept him calm until the police arrived.   They took care of him and got him the help he needed.  It was all I could do.

Or how about a friend who noticed all the homeless people outside of local churches in the middle of winter?  Why aren't the inside the churches?  Why aren't the doors of a place that represents the one that said "Come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest", open?   Fear?  Is that it?  Or don't you want to give up your comfort for the sake of others?  I struggle with that.  I'll be honest.  I'm pretty damn comfortable.  Don't take my comfort away.   I feel like most christians feel the same way.

I know people judge me based on what I write.  I know many times what I'm trying to say comes across as judgmental.  I guess it kind of is.  But I'll never look down on someone I disagree with.  I can never put myself on a higher pedestal.  We are all equals with opinions.

I've just been really confused lately with what I've seen come from Christians.  I grew up a Christian. I spent the first 32 years of my life going to churches.  The Christianity that's on display from America right now....is nothing like the christianity I've come to know.  It's tough to find the churches that represent Jesus.  And even when you do, they aren't perfect.  And even they still don't want to give up all their comfort.  Nor do they have too.  Because if ALL Christians lived as Jesus.....Imagine that.

But in all reality.  I still kinda feel like Trump isn't doing anything much worse than any other president has done.  He's just not shy about it.

Church. Music. And my struggles.

I really do have nothing today.  I might just share some about my youth.  One thing though, I'm pretty damn proud of myself for writing every day for almost a year now.  It's not always a home run or even a base hit.  But does it matter?  Not many people are in the club of doing something specific and planned everyday for a year.

I'm really considering church again.  But there is one problem.  It's church.  I grew up in a Brethren in Christ church and over the years I've been to a Presbyterian church and an assemblies of god church.  We landed back at the church I grew up at.  But it's changed.  It's now called The Meeting House, and while it's still under the Brethren in Christ umbrella it's not the same church at all I grew up in.  Not just the facilities either.  I haven't attended regularly at all for well over a year as I've been at odds with what I really believe.  I still am.

I still listen to the messages from The Meeting House via podcast and dang are they good.  They aren't like any other message I've heard from a church.  Yes...there's some bible talk.  But it's unlike the way I've heard the bible before.  I can get behind that message.

But I'm still struggling with the one thing that I used to love the most.....the music.   I love music.  Music moves me.  So many times I find myself so emotional when the right chords are hit.  I used to think God was speaking to me through music.   I felt like I'd be having awesome spiritual experiences.  But then I started having these same type of emotional moments with non-christian music too.  And it made me wonder, was God moving me or was it the music.  Was I in a place were we were supposed to be spiritual and I used the music to stir my emotions into something spiritual   when the whole time it was just the music?  There is science every where about what music does to your brain.  

So, crazy enough.  I was even one of the people that used to play the music on stage.  But it's something about the music that's holding me back now.

Maybe God uses music to speak to me.  That's what people have told me.  At one point in my life that would have been the easy answer.

I'm not saying it's wrong that music can be used to create a certain type of atmosphere.  If people are expected a certain emotion, a certain song can be played to help put you there.  It's done all the time in movies.  Imagine a movie without a soundtrack....it wouldn't be the same at all.   Just look at all these movies scenes with different music.  Not quite the same eh?