Take a Brake

My Car's Brake Pad

(In my best Golden Girl Sophia Petrillo voice)  Picture it... Friday, September 14...I'm making my way to the park for my 3 mile run.  I pull up to my normal parking space and try to come to a stop.  My foot (and brake pedal) hit the floor.  My car keeps rolling.  Luckily, I wasn't going fast and there was nothing in front of me.  I was able to come to a stop using my emergency brake.  When my brake pedal hit the floor, I heard something that sounded like metal hit the ground.  I'd find out later it was my brake pad (shown above) or what was left of it anyway.  

I spent the entire weekend trapped in the house.  My mechanic was not available until Monday.  I had all sorts of plans.  They were all promptly canceled. I spent the entire weekend confined to my home like Lindsay Lohan or Martha Stewart (minus the sexy ankle bracelet).  In the hours that passed, I think I did more cleaning, organizing, and DVD watching than I'd done in the entire last year.  

During this sequestration, I also had way too much time to think.  It was painful at times.  In the week following the brake pad incident, I couldn't help but notice how rusty and greasy and gross it was (yes, I kept it lying around on my desk...don't judge me!).  To me, it looked exactly how that weekend at home felt.  Then it kind of clicked... The "brake break" was a good thing!  I'd finally come to realize that I needed that weekend.  I needed that moment for my world to stop spinning.  I needed the noise of being social to quiet.  I needed to face some things that I'd been ignoring.  Had I not been forced to stop, my personal revelations may have taken months to surface.  

As cliche as it sounds, sometimes we really do need the world around us to pause...the sports, the movies, the bars, the clubs, the parties, the dates, and the rest of the social butterfly routine.  Taking an extended moment to acknowledge our feelings, desires, fears, hopes, and dreams can be invaluable.  It can be invigorating.  It can be life-saving.  

The Bottom Line:

The next time you have to slam on your brakes, consider this...Sometimes the only way to get a break is to hit the brakes.  Remember, a break isn't a bad thing.  Not taking one can be.

Humans, Muhammad, and 100 Other Devils

Muhammad

Prophet of Islam

Muslim protesters all over the world are decrying the fact that Americans are disrespecting their religion and the "prophet Muhammad".   It's curious that as with every other religion on Earth, many people in the Islamic faith pick and choose which of their religious beliefs/laws they will adhere to.  I've grown tired of hearing how Islam is about peace when Muslims burn and destroy the world around them.  Religion (of any kind) has never been about peace.  It has always been about power.  Men, women, and children are killed, discriminated against, harassed, denigrated, shamed, manipulated, brainwashed, molested, lied to, subjected to war, and betrayed.  All this as a means to gain power.

It's about time people wake up and realize that there is only one way to god. The way to god lies within.  Your relationship with god is not a weapon.  It's not a tool.  It's not a pardon.  It's not an excuse.

The Bottom Line:
Jesus, Satan, and Muhammad all have more in common than people would like to admit.  The next time you sit down in your church pew, kneel at your local mosque, dance around the aisles, or "fall out in the spirit", consider this...

Religion was created by men, for men, to control and destroy men.

There is nothing godly about that.  

البشر، محمد، و 100 أخرى الشياطين

Muhammad

Prophet of Islam

محتجون مسلمون في جميع أنحاء العالم وشجب حقيقة أن الأميركيين عدم احترام دينهم و "النبي محمد". انها الغريب أن كل دين كما هو الحال مع آخر على وجه الأرض، كثير من الناس في العقيدة الإسلامية انتقاء واختيار أي من معتقداتهم الدينية / القوانين التي سوف تلتزم بها. لقد نمت أنا تعبت من سماع كيف أن الإسلام هو السلام عند المسلمين حرق وتدمير العالم من حولهم. الدين (من أي نوع) لم يكن أبدا عن السلام. فقد كان دائما عن السلطة. وقتل الرجال والنساء والأطفال، للتمييز والمضايقة، تسيء وأحرجت، التلاعب، غسيل دماغ، تحرش، كذب على، التعرض للحرب، وخيانة. كل هذا كوسيلة للوصول الى السلطة.

ولكن عن الناس الوقت تفيق وتدرك أنه لا يوجد سوى طريقة واحدة لإله. الطريق إلى الله يكمن داخل. علاقتك مع الله ليس سلاحا. انها ليست الأداة. انها ليست العفو. انها ليست عذرا.

خلاصة القول:
يسوع، الشيطان، ومحمد جميعا أكثر شيوعا مما في الناس يرغبون في الاعتراف به. في المرة القادمة التي تجلس في مقعد كنيسة الخاص بك، يركع في المسجد المحلي الخاص بك، والرقص حول الممرات، أو "تسقط في الروح"، والنظر في هذا ...

تم إنشاء الدين من قبل الرجال، للرجال، للسيطرة وتدمير الرجال.

لا يوجد شيء إلهي عن ذلك.