Government: A Dangerous Servant

The best government of any type is instituted amongst mankind for the benefit of mankind, signifying that legitimate government in and of itself that is created by man must not be allowed to subjugate the people and thereby take away their inalienable rights of life, liberty, and their freedom of conscience.  It thereby is important to recognize that the primary reason why any legitimate government is created in the first place is for the common good of the people, that is to say, when communities begin to develop, there is a need for social order as well as a protecting mechanism created for the best interests of that society.  All this is to the good, until such time, that the government, begins to see and behave in a fashion in which it believes that it really wasn't created by the people to serve the people, but instead is a force of its own, in which the people, or at least a broad swath of the people must be subservient to its function, or face the consequences which imperil their freedom in virtually all aspects. 

In point of fact, the people should never forget that they are sovereign to begin with, for before formal societies were developed, the people were free to do as they so wished and accepted by default the attended risks of doing so, thereby the governments so created by the people were, in fact, delegated by the people to do so, but in no respect, have the people, no matter how clueless or subverted that they may have become, surrendered their innate right to be rulers of their own lives.  This signifies that a government must at all times, be a true representative of the people, in which, the government is guided by natural law which it must answer to, for if the government itself, does not respect the higher law, than it will devolve into despotism, which makes the people subject to arbitrary and thereby unfair law.

Today, we live in a society, in which we are in theory governed by laws, in which the highest written law of the land is the Constitution, but if, in fact, the Constitution is some sort of living document, which signifies that rather than being immutable, it is indeed mutable by subjective judicial interpretation as opposed to legislated approved amendments, than society exists in a world in which today something may be legal and right, but tomorrow it is illegal and wrong, and vice versa.  None of this would exist if above all things, all laws were to conform with natural law to begin with, along with fact that government should not be an institution that behaves as if it is the final arbiter and distributor of basic freedoms and rights, that all are entitled to by birth.

Unfortunately, truth be told, government no longer resembles a servant to the people, whatsoever, but instead has aggrandized unto itself all sorts of power, including massive control of virtually every aspect of a given individual's life, so that, we live in a society which is unequal in the application of law, justice, freedom, and opportunity, thereby benefiting the few at the expense of the many, with government protecting and enabling the few to the detriment of the many, with the mass of the people, trapped in a society that in exchange for a modicum of protection and opportunity from such a government, live lives of quiet desperation, never once realizing that their inalienable rights have been illegitimately stolen from them.

Rich Man, Poor Man, Christ

There are all sorts of ministries that treat the word and wisdom of Christ, in all sorts of manners, from "prosperity ministry" to serving the poorest of the poor, of which, no doubt, all of these have merit of some sort of various strengths, but not too surprisingly, the message often being preached is more in conformance to that ministry's convenience as opposed to something as straightforward as the truth.

It's a mistake to believe, that Christ was ever really a true friend to the rich and powerful, for virtually every activity or action that He did contradicts this, for we read in Mark 10:25 that "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."  This saying implies quite strongly that the problem lies not so much with money or richness in and of themselves being evil or wrong, but that the distraction or the lure or the importance of money and richness will divide a person's mind, so that they will be reluctant to part from it, for money and richness is a form of power, of legacy, and of security, which few will willingly give up, for anyone or anything.  This is the very point that Christ makes, that the rich and successful are entwined within a world that makes them comfortable, and therefore find no real compelling reason to ever want to leave such, whereas those that lack material assets or opportunity, have a hunger for something beyond them, and are more than willing to drink from that sacred well that finally quenches their thirst.

This signifies that those that preach the message that faith in Christ, or good faith in general, is the foundation that will lead to material prosperity miss wide the mark, for that, most certainly is not the message that Christ brought and should not be the message given to the flock.  The belief in our Messiah should never be a belief that is representing in one way or another, that Christ alleviates all material suffering, or that a strong belief in Christ will mean a good job and good money, for that isn't the message of Christ at all.  Christ never was and never represented a worldview, that said, in effect, he who believes in me andthereby follows me, shall receive worldly possessions and worldly praise, instead the message was as written in Mark 1:17: "And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men," making clear to his chosen disciples towalk straightaway from fishing for fish, or similar, and follow He that will satisfy far more than a physical hunger in your stomach, and bring far more prosperity to your spirit than you could ever possibly get from the coin of the realm.

When you take a look at the ministry of our Messiah, he came not to serve princes and principalities, but on the contrary, to serve those that had little or no voice in the day-to-day affairs of politics, commerce, or organized religion, but hungered instead for the truth that would set them free from the delusion that worldly wealth, worldly honor, worldly pleasure, or worldly power, were the answer to the question that stirred their souls.  Christ always and forevermore champions those that devote themselves wholeheartedly to the cause of worshipping their God with all of their heart, and treating their neighbors as they would wish to be treated themselves, thereby making them rich in the richness of Christ, for the truest treasure of them all, that neither rust, thieves, or moth can touch, is in the bosom of our Creator, whereas those that amass their treasure chests on earth, will find that their coins are completed counterfeitedbeyond this earthly plane.

The Ivy League Nonprofits and their Massive Endowment Funds

The Ivy League University system consists of eight northeastern universities, of which, three of these, Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, have the largest endowment funds of any higher education institution in America, indicating that these nonprofits have built up substantial amounts of real wealth, with Harvard's endowment fund currently resting at $37.6 billion dollars.  To get somewhat of a perspective of how much money these Ivy Colleges have in aggregate, zerohedge.com reported that the endowment amount for all Ivy League universities is currently: "equivalent to a full-ride scholarship for all Ivy League undergraduate students for 51-years, or until 2068."

While it makes sense for these schools to be nonprofit in the sense that they are providing a known public benefit, there are massive advantages in regards to taxation and federal aid for those schools by virtue of being nonprofit.  For instance, nonprofits are eligible to receive both State and Federal grants, as well as State and Federal student loan guarantees for tuition and similar.  In addition, these colleges have massive endowment funds that are permitted to invest into whatever they so desire to do without mandated outside supervision or restraint, in which, unlike ordinary taxpayers that have to pay capital gains on short as well as long-time profits, these universities pay no taxes whatsoever to the state, local,  or federal branches of the government.  Not only does this allow money to grow at a much more rapid pace because none of their gains are penalized by taxes, it also pointedly means, that investment decisions need not take into account tax consequences, a massive advantage these nonprofits have over individuals as well as corporations that are obligated to pay taxes on their investment gains.

Additionally, money is a definitely a form of power, and with their endowment funds at such massive amounts, this would signify that these respective universities will pretty much have their way in regards to how they are or are not treated by their surrounding community, for money often tips the scales of justice in the favor of those that have access to lots of it, as opposed to those that do not. 

This said, an honest inquiry suggests that the good governance of a nonprofit would want to ask the question as to how big an endowment fund should be allowed to grow, no matter its supposed benefit and supposed good for the public, without some sort of restriction or obligation to spend or divert at least a percentage of said funds yearly to the benefit of the common people who are not attending the institution to begin with, but are part of the public square in American life.   

Not only is this a reasonable question to ask, it should be asked, because an institution that exists to benefit its own class of people, essentially, is by definition, bypassing a significant amount of the swath of the general public that are entitled to the basic benefits of the largess that a nonprofit institution has amassed over an extended period of time, which will continue, in theory, for perpetuity.  Nonprofit universities have an obligation, especially those on the massive scale of these Ivy League schools, to respond to: "Vox clamantis in deserto" or the voice of one crying in the wilderness which is Dartmouth's school motto.

Freedom of Conscience

All of our freedoms really come down to one very basic question, which is, should the state ever have the right to take away our freedom of conscience, or is the state created so as to assure individuals that their freedom of conscience will never be abridged.  While certainly there may indeed come times when in even the most liberal of states, such as America with its Constitution, in which freedom of conscience will be at loggerheads with state needs or laws, this then represents the true test of how much freedom of conscience an individual does or does not have, and no state should lightly take away one's conscientious beliefs, for to do so, can easily devolve into a state of tyranny.

For instance, a soldier given an order to perform an act of questionable morality, or a police officer under instructions to shoot into a defenseless crowd of bystanders, cannot and should not be permitted to argue in a court of law, that they did what they did, because they were dutiful agents of the state following orders from their superiors, and thereby be excused from any punishment.  The problem with this type of reasoning is twofold, one in which the perpetrators of the crime argue that they have a duty to obey orders, without questioning the morality or true legality of such, which consequently makes it far easier for this type of injustice to be perpetrated again and again, in addition to the fact, that it should not be an appropriate or defensible excuse to lay the blame on one's superiors, for to do so, negates an individuals' responsibility to answer for their own actions, which have caused wrongful harm.

This means, that each of us is gifted with a freedom of conscience that therefore our highest duty to that conscience is to do right, especially when doing right prevents a wrong, even if having done right by an act of conscience,  might consequently result in something that could well be debilitating to that person who performed that righteous act.  This clearly means that to do wrong, when you know that something is wrong, cannot be morally justified as the correct act to do, just because it may subsequently involve deleterious results for yourself.

It must be said that the whole point of freedom of conscience, is to have the freedom to do right in obedience to that conscience, yet, individuals each and every day, clearly know that they are doing wrong and do so quite willingly anyway.    It cannot be emphasized enough that the greatest freedom for mankind is to know what they ought to do at any given time, whether that individual thereby chooses to do what they ought to do, is something that ultimately only they can answer to or for.  Each of us is born with a freedom of conscience, in which, there are those whom drown it out with drugs and drink, some with bad company, some ignore the voice, some hear it but obey it only erratically, and some whom are unerring in their obedience to it.  That freedom of conscience that each of us has is inalienable and gifted to us by our Creator, and should under no circumstances be breached by the state or its agencies.

Our National Established Religion

The First Amendment to our Constitution is clear, that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," in which most people would judge that in today's America that this is true, for the judicial and legislative assaults against religion, has meant that especially in the public square, most particularly public schools and government property, that God is a footnote of history and relevant to virtually nothing in the day-to-day activities of the state. 

But that isn't quite true.  In fact, there is a national established religion in America, which is atheism, and while the semantics of whether atheism is a religion or not, cannot be answered for a certainty, it is fair to state that a non-belief in God, is definitely a form of belief, so that atheism, is de facto the belief that there is no God, and that therefore man is the measure of all things.

This means when governmental laws or judgments are passed, specifically precluding prayer to God, or a moment of silence for God, or the public symbols of religion from the Bible are declared unconstitutional forms of the national government supporting or aiding the establishment of a religion, in which, these symbolsof God's presence and meaning in life,  are touchstones for three of the most prominent religions in the world: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, than rather what has occurred, is the invalidity of a traditional belief system, being replaced by the established religion of atheism as protected and promulgated by the state.

It might seem strange that in America, religion is considered to be by many governmental institutions to necessitate a wall of separation between the two, with apparently the only acceptable part of religion remaining, being that one is entitled in their own private space to worship God or in the sanctuary of their church, but everywhere else, that is the public sphere, it has become for all intents and purposes prohibited and replaced by the non-belief or atheism.

The reason that the state has consistently assaulted religion over the past fifty years, comes down to the fact that man cannot serve two masters, and the state does not wish or desire to compete against God, for the Bible is quite clear, that we can only have one master, and that the correct master is our Creator, and our Creator alone.  This means that in situations in which citizens are conflicted as to what to do or what to support, the state does not want to have a divided loyalty from its citizens, and consequently has gone out of its way to trivialize religious worship as worthless, stupid, illegal, and antiquated.

The state most definitely is at war with religion, although this war is one of attrition, and the taking away of the privilege of the freedom of worship from each and every citizen, bit by bit, for the government knows that they cannot swoop in overnight and disband religious institutions without creating massive havoc , blowback, and dissent from its citizens.  This government is well aware that the more ignorant each succeeding generation is about religion, and about their religious rights under the First Amendment, that the easier it will be to essentially banish religion from the public square, and thereby all legislative and judicial decisions will be reasoned via secular thoughts with no consideration of God, whatsoever, in conformance with the national established religion of America which is atheism.

No Way out

The Civil War should have made it clear to the rebellious Southern States that those that lose at the legitimate ballot box, should suffer greatly for their resort to arms against their lawful National government, and to a certain extent, those in the south did indeed suffer greatly for this civil war, but rather disappointingly it did not take long for those of the upper echelons of southern power and class, all white, to once again take the reins of their States, and to specifically assert their sovereignty over their respective States, in which, though the Federal government had passed specific Constitutional amendments, granted all citizens, irrespective of their class, race, or former servitude, full Constitutional rights, that in effect, these were dead letters within these States, to the disgrace of the National government, tarnishing the last full measure of devotion given by the Union cause, but in an era in which States had significantly more sovereignty than they have today, not completely unexpected.

The problem that the white elite of the south had, after their ignoble defeat, was that they lived in a society, surrounded by a massive multitude of "freed" black men, women, and children, that they were no longer legally allowed to enslave, in which these former slavers, were aware of their freedom, but lacking property, education, and employment, blacks were still quite exploitable by those agents of the State.  For, if the power within a given State, is held in the combination of the policing arm, the justice arm, and the employment arm, in an era in which a significant amount of wealth was created through agricultural efforts, than those certain people, fused in purpose, could still create a society in which though blacks would no longer be slaves, they would still be subservient to the purposes of those that controlled their freedom, with nowhere for blacks to turn to for sanctuary.

This meant that blacks were subject to all sorts of specific laws, known as "black codes", and blacks that were needed to labor in the fields, were often put into a position of powerlessness, in which, their options came down to either working in the fields under the most unfair of labor contracts or suffer imprisonment for vagrancy or similar, and even being in prison, would still mean working in the fields, as uncompensated forced labor.  No matter how it played out, because blacks had no power as well as no voice, they were stuck in an endless cycle of work in which their labor was never paid enough for them to have any real property of their own, with nowhere to go, nowhere to escape, and since they were no longer owned as property, were treated with even more disdain by their white overlords, since they now had less obligation or reason to take care of them.

All of the above basically means, that it doesn't much matter what the law of the land says or means, if in effect, those that are supposed to benefit from it, or to be protected by it, do not. Further to the point, those that are defeated should never be allowed to have meaningful places, once again, in the power places of their community, for a leopard does not change its spots, and therefore a mere pledge of allegiance to the United States of America, from an unrepentant Southerner was effectively as hollow as their self-delusional Lost Cause.

The Ultimate Delusion

Mankind has made great progress over the last two hundred years, if not in their spirit, at least in the material and practical things that so many of us take for granted such as electricity, ease of communication, tools, and knowledge.  The problem is that mankind has advanced to the stage in which so many at the top feel that they truly are the masters of the world, of which those, of great insight and great intelligence, have consciously shunned aside the Master of it all, in the ultimate hypocrisy that these privileged elites need bow down to nobody and that man is indeed the measure of all things.

But whether man is truly the master of it all or not, can easily be answered by the results that we see in this present day world in which we are surrounded and overwhelmed by such things as violence, drunkenness,  abuse, greed, injustice, hate, war, troubles and tribulations.  Sure, there are pockets of love, charity, and consideration, but these are the exception and almost never the rule, as mankind seems preordained to see the world in the most selfish dog-eat-dog light, and even at the very top of the material chain, it's ego v. ego.

Sadly, despite everything that mankind has mastered and accomplished, we still see in essence the exact same results since time immemorial in regards to life and death that are produced, in the sense that what is born here, dies here.  Yet, so many, don't even have an inkling or a desire to contemplate that if earth represents nothing more than known beginnings that have known endings, than certainly there must be something beyond this material plane, because what is transitory cannot now and never will be the signature point of what consciousness really represents. 

In point of fact, the end of all sorrows can lie only in a dimension that is eternal, with truth, justice, and love its abiding stars, and all this has been written into our hearts by the very hand of God.  Unfortunately, so many people here on earth do not want to listen to that voice, because they enjoy, while the going is good, the things of this earth, which constantly entices them and draws them in, or if not exactly enjoying it, they take pleasure in the wrongs that they commit, because it amuses them, but whichever way that the wind blows, there comes a time when the wind is stilled, and each of us stands naked and exposed for what we really are, no matter our belief or unbelief.

Still, we can take solace in knowing that there are some people, not necessarily religious in the common sense, that follow the joy within their soul, and provide to their fellow brothers and sisters, compassion, selflessness, and love, and these very people whether they have profess their love of God or not, by their fruits are known by God. 

It is vanity of vanities, the deception of the age, to believe, to really believe, that this staging ground of earth, is the be-all and end-all of existence, as opposed to what it really is, a testing ground, determining indeed whether you have the "right stuff", and those that fail to recognize or acknowledge this First Point, suffer from the ultimate delusion that will entrap them into endless cycles of birth, death, and re-birth, until they recognize that theirtrue immortality only comes from the knowing of and the desire to re-unite wholly with their Creator.

Helping the Poor amongst Us

Most people at least mouth the words that they would like to help the poor, it certainly sounds noble and is noble, in word and deed, if actively pursued, yet, although much progress has been made especially in the poorest countries of the world, the amount of poverty, right here in the richest nation the world has ever known, is stubbornly high, despite governmental efforts to alleviate that poverty.  The best demonstration of this poverty is to look at the rate of poverty of America since the mid 1960s in which as reported by the washingtonpost.com, the poverty rate has generally not dropped below 11% or exceeded 15% over the last fifty years, with federalsafetynet.com stating that: "he U.S. poverty rate dropped to 13.5% of the population in 2015," which represents that: "43.1 million Americans were in poverty," and that the average poverty rate for the last thirty years was 13.5%.

To put it in perspective as to how rich America is, it's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita as estimated by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for 2016 was $57,436.  Additionally, as reported by financialsamurai.com the average net worth per person was estimated to be $301,000 in 2014, and the median net worth per person was estimated to be $45,000.  It is this enormous difference between average and median that begins to explain why America has so many people that are in poverty, as an average is merely the net worth of each person added up and then divided by that number, whereas the median represents, the halfway point in which half of the people are above the median and half of the people are below the median, so when there is such a huge discrepancy between average net worth and median net worth, this signifies that there is massive gap between those that have lots of money as compared to those that have very little of it, and that lack of that money, represents poverty

.

Quite clearly, this also represents, that the taxation policies of the United States, as currently constructed and legislated, have done a rather poor job in the re-distribution of monies to those most in need of material assistance in America.  Additionally, it also represents that all the bureaucracies and all the agencies that have been created to help the poorest and most vulnerable around us have been ineffective in alleviating the massive amount of poverty that should not really exist in America.

The biggest determinant of why people are poor, is the fact that those that do not work, for whatever reasons, have no income, and those without income, are completely dependent upon the state or charity or family relations to aid them, to wit, that aid is woefully short of allowing these Americans to have things that so many of us that for granted which are: basic healthcare, shelter, food, fundamental education, and safety.

In order to resolve our persistent poverty problem, one could rail against the system, or one might do better to simply look at their own mirror, and recognize that each of us has a responsibility to be a good neighbor to our brethren, as well as for government to help level the playing field specifically for those that are discriminated upon and thereby impoverished, and instead provide fair access to good schools, fair play in the justice system, as well as fair opportunities for employment.

The responsibility for taking care of this disgraceful amount of poverty in America, though, really rests in the hands of those that recognize that each of us has a call of duty, to help the poor, and the best way to do so, is to be forthright in action, in faith, in courtesy, in patience, and in caring; for each of us is born into this world vulnerable and dependent, and not all have been graced with loving parents and the necessary tools to enable us to grow and to be productive, which is why we must do our share to lend a loving hand and to put our good faith into good action.

Sin and Weakness

In our modern, more secular world, words such as "sin" are to be avoided, and words such as "weakness" when applied to our choices, are often excused.  Instead, we are led to the false belief, that what we are is what we are, human frailties, unfair circumstances, peer pressure, dysfunctional families,  and that we shouldn't have to take full responsibility for our actions in life, but this type of thinking is fundamentally wrong and fundamentally flawed.

Each of us is most definitely responsible for our own lives, for we are all individuals, gifted with free will and free choice, no matter what the circumstances are that we face, it therefore is up to each one of us, to make our best choices day by day.  Those choices that we do make do define us as human beings, and always those choices and decisions are within our hands, so the determinate as to whether those choices are indeed the right ones or not, separate those that have strong will from those that do not.

The temptations that we face each day are ours to conquer, to boss, or to concede to, in which, many people give in to temptations that they know explicitly and implicitly are wrong, but they want to indulge themselves for whatever reason, of which most of those reasons stem from weakness of the mind, or weakness of the body, or weakness of the spirit.  So often there is this basic incorrect thought, which says "just this one time", but every time that you give into that thought, that weakness grows stronger within you. 

It's a mistake to say to yourself, that "I will just go with the flow", for dead bodies and objects have no choice but to go with the flow, because they have no strength to do anything else but that, whereas, human beings have both strength of mind and strength of spirit, to fight against the flow, if they so choose to do so. 

The defeat etched into so many faces, comes not from not trying, but comes rather from trying not, and instead giving in to things that they know are morally wrong, foundationally wrong, and have no good purpose in it, yet believing somehow, that what they have done will not have a material impact upon their life, but God is not mocked, as there are no shortcuts to His throne, for all that cheat here on earth, have cheated themselves from Heaven.

You cannot sin in this world, except from weakness, as always the choice of what you do or say at any particular moment, is yours to make, correctly or not.  If, for example, you don't like some of the things that you do, stop doing them, for if you don't stop yourself, it will just keep reoccurring.  The reason that we have so much repetition in life is for the very purpose, of correcting or confirming our behavior, for things not corrected, will repeat ad nauseam, until they actually are corrected.

The weakness and the troubles that we complain about, are there to remind us, that we have room to grow, room to improve ourselves, and trials to overcome, all made easier, if we demonstrate the strength in character to do so, knowing always, that God is our bedrock to lean upon, and our very present help in trouble.

Liquidity Crisis

Those that have money like to put that money to use by buying and investing in such common things as real estate, bonds, and equities, in which, more years than not, these investments appreciate in price, and because most people equate a stock that ends the trading day at $100/share to have the same value, (i.e.  as a $100 bill in their hand), we have a strong tendency to take all of our assets and equate them to their monetary value, believing implicitly that they are worth that amount of money and therefore if we magically had to liquidate our assets, they would be worth their present value in dollars.  While the foregoing certainly makes sense, it definitely would not be true, in times of an intense crisis, which invariably happens, often unexpectedly from time-to-time.

When looking at the stock market, most days for most stocks, there isn't any real news, yet, these same stocks somehow are able to trade up and down each day, as if there is news, still for the most part, on non-event days, most stocks stay within a fairly narrow trading range, which usually is depending upon that particular stocks' typical volatility, within the basic range of the direction of the market that day.  All this serves to sell the illusion that stock prices, as well as bond prices, as well as housing prices, are stable, sensible, and take into account all the information that is available, so the pricing of such is market efficient.

What is often overlooked, is that significant global events can have an incredible impact upon investments, for instance, if North Korea was to drop a nuclear bomb on NYC, there would be a massive crisis, so too, unexpected economic events, such as a major country, for instance, China, were to take its currency and re-evaluate it significantly either up or down against America's dollar, doing so, could easily create financial havoc, which would take a period of time to sort out.  Then again, a catastrophic natural disaster that took out a major city such as Tokyo, would also equate to enormous financial upsets.  Additionally, markets that appear to be humming along naturally can crash, unexpectedly, in just one day, as the Dow Jones crashed just over 22% on October 19th, 1987.

In today's world, interest rates have been at historic lows for a decade, which means, that investors of all stripes have had to find other avenues to make money on their capital, as opposed to parking it in cash instruments such as CDs, with certainly two of the most prominent areas of investment, being real estate and equities.  Additionally, in order to make money on investments, many sophisticated players use leverage, or the borrowing of capital at these same historic low rates, to "boost" their returns on their investments.  In addition, there are ETFs which have been created for the purpose of juicing their returns by advertising that they represent 2x or 3x returns of their underlying asset, such as the S&P 500 index. When everything is going up or is fairly stable, everybody is happy, but things don't always go up, and things can change within very short periods of time.

When, indeed, a crisis occurs, as it invariably will, all those that have leveraged up, are trying to find the exact same exit, and when the selling ratio far exceeds the buying ratio on investments, the new stabilized price of that investment, is akin to catching a falling knife, and thereby those assets, those prices, that people and institutions have assumed are solid, will instead be seen to be far more ethereal than ever imagined or feared.

Labor Productivity v. Wages

America is the world's richest nation, still growing, still getting richer, but the average American might not even notice, or if they do notice, notice that they are falling further and further behind the curve, to wit, as reported by the nytimes.com, the net productivity of the total American economy has since 1948 consistently grown, but the pay for the production/nonsupervisory workers in the private sector which had been essentially in lockstep with that productivity growth, unitl the mid 1970s, has in essence, flat-lined since that time. 

There are many theories as to why this is so as well as explanations as to why this gap is not nearly as steep as reported in the media, for instance, that the wages of employees should take into account those that are of the white collar workforce, which are more educated and hence more skilled and necessary, along with the fact that employees receive benefits in the form of health care which do not directly show up in their wages, which should be considered as a form of compensation and so on and so forth.  But even with these additions, or considerations, wages while increasing somewhat since the 1970s are far below the actual output of the productivity of those workers in total, notwithstanding.

A significant reason why this is so, comes down to the fact, that the globalization of world trade, has taken what use to be labor done in the United States, and outsourced that overseas in which those overseas laborers are compensated at a much lower wage package, while simultaneously eliminating those jobs in America, which reduces both workers, equivalent opportunities, as well as wages paid, domestically, but increases the productivity of those companies.  Additionally, private sector labor unions have been in a steep decline since the 1960s, signifying that labor "negotiations" are more commonly done not by unions against management, but individuals against management, in which, the individual has little strength in numbers or power, whatsoever, to receive fair or appropriate compensation.  Further to the point, productivity and profits are well up for America corporations, indicating that those that control the compensation and hiring practices, are the chief beneficiaries of this increased productivity which they have aggrandized unto themselves with compensation and perks that have never been better, demonstrated by the widening gap between not only the very rich and very poor, but the upper class and the middle class.

In point of fact, in fairness, when labor productivity goes up, which it has been doing year by year, those that labor for it, should see their compensation rise at a similar percentage, but this has not been done over the last two generations, in which, America has regressed back more to the era of robber barons, and thereby the oligarchs control the show, in which they demonstrate this by outsourcing labor whenever and wherever they can to willing nations, that need employment for their people.   Also, corporations work hand-in-hand with the semantics of State "right to work" laws which suppress wages by eliminating or trivializing union membership or activity, in addition to unfair legislative and taxation laws which benefit the mega-corporations and the connected, while burdening the middle class with the actual payment of real taxes.

Those that are in control of capital have an unfair advantage over those that need to labor so as to sustain themselves and their family, and when the government does little or nothing to level the playing field or even actively works against laborers, those that labor will be subject to exploitation, and exploitation is always good for profits, and good profits is always good for Wall Street.

Public Employees and their Lucrative Pensions

Local, city, State, and National governments, have a fiduciary duty to do what is right for the public, that is specifically their taxpayers, but have over time, devolved into simply taking care of their own, for rather that seeing their responsibility to serve their citizenry, instead they see their duty more as milking what they can for themselves, and thereby passing off huge taxpayer liabilities onto future generations.  While just about everyone wants to make a good salary, along with a desire to see their future secure, in reality, with the exception of  the few private sector jobs that have pensions, most private sector employees are not covered by pensions whatsoever, but instead must fund their own retirement through their contributions to a 401K as well as other similar retirement funds which may or may not be matched dollar by dollar, by their employer, along with a portion of their salary being mandated to be paid into the Social Security system, which, will in theory, help provide these retirees with income after age 65 or so, depending upon when they elect to receive their benefits.  So, in short, private sector employees will receive some compensation from Social Security, which they have been compelled to be a part of, in which, as reported by the fool.com, for the average Social Security recipient at age 66 the monthly payment, "averaged $1,404." 

On the other hand, pensions for those in the public sector, can reach up to 70% or more of their previous salary, payable for the rest of their life, with often times, health benefits, and depending upon the State, exclusion from even paying State income taxes.  This means, when discussing how much a particular public sector employee makes, such as $50,000 per annum, that this amount only tells a partial bit of the story, for when you are also entitled to another $25,000 to $35,000 or more a year, depending upon your length of service, with a State such as Arizona, paying a wage replacement rate of 43% for those that have worked 20 years, while maxing out at 73.60% at 32 years, this equates to a very nicepension at age 65, the full retirement age, or, if elected, a smaller percentage if they decide to receive their retirement monies earlier.

The main difference between private sector employees v. public sector employees, is that the private sector employee has to, in most cases, fund their own retirement, with, if they are fortunate, a portion of that being matched by their employer, and even though they have paid into Social Security, those that are of the millennial generation, will be fortunate, to get anything other than their own contribution back plus a reasonable rate of return for their contribution, and in any event, will fall far short of the current public sector generous pensions.  The public sector employee's pension is so generous because private sector companies have an obligation to keep their house in order, while public sector compensation packages, are voted upon, approved by, and granted by public servants or boards that want to take care of their own, and do not much care whether it is viable over the long term or not.

The solution to all of this public sector employee pension nonsense is to eliminate the pensions and replace them with comparable packages that are the equivalency of present day 401K plans as well as Social Security plans, with legislation passed which allows that equivalency.  This might mean that public sector employees would need to be compensated at a present day higher rate, which would be a fairer way of having current taxpayers compensate current public sector employees, rather than burdening future generations with the bill and virtually receiving none of the corresponding service.

There is only one Ultimate Truth

Within every one of us, is an innate desire to find the truth, to find the meaning of life, to find the purpose of it all, for some, this has been drowned out by the cares of their world, or ignored, or cast aside in the pursuit of other things, but none of that can dismiss our innate desire that will not rest till it finds that truth, of which, there are not a multitude of truths, for if that was the case, than they would forever be at war with one another, but just one ultimate truth.  That said, some people will insist that there must be more than one truth to account for different cultures, different religious faiths, different races, different ages in time, and so on and so forth, but again, that is a fundamental error in human reasoning and justification, for there is just that one truth, the same for everyone at every time, now and forevermore.

To find that truth should be the ultimate purpose of life, for all other activities, at best, are something less than the pursuit of that truth and thereby are the mere foreshadowing of such truth; then again for many, they are not even on the right path or of the right mind.  This does not mean, nor does it signify, that for each of us, our greatest duty is to sit in quiet contemplation each day, in our pursuit of our connection to God, though, that most definitely is a worthy thing to do and desire, but that isn't necessarily our calling, or our reason for being.

What we should be doing, through insights granted to us by wise voices, or insights gifted to us by wise books, or through insights we have discovered through our own pursuits, is listening and obeying such voices, which help to direct or to re-direct our efforts in this world.  For the very things, that so many people spend inordinate amounts of time and desire on such as their pursuit for or of: wealth, honor, power, lust, are all transitory, of which none are eternal, and most of these are selfish in their quality and their purpose.  On the other hand, attributes such as: self-control, patience, goodness, joy, peace, generosity, and love are the very things that are long lasting and eternal, for these virtues are those that resonant most within the heart of God, for they are the same characteristics of God.

So often, so many, feel life cannot be better than partying within the moment, but ever single party has not only a beginning but also an end, no matter how grand that party might have been.  In fact, the more that your life is built around satisfying yourself, especially to the exclusion of all others, the more that you will seek the substitutes for real love all in the pursuit of the gratification of your ego, in the mistaken notion that such substitutes will actually be effective over the long term, when they never are. 

The satisfaction that you really need, has not changed from your inception, which is oneness with God, and until you embrace wholeheartedly your Creator, you will fall and fail again and again, for all that is, is God, and while God has no issues with your free desire to play and to enjoy the things that He has created, your forgetfulness of Him, demonstrated by self-aggrandizing behavior, will impede you in your progress and vision, so that the fear, the loneliness, and the unhappiness that you inevitably experience, all come from your inability to embrace the lasting truth of God, for the end of all searches, begins with Him.

The Internet is a Two-Edge Sword

People use the internet all day, every day, through all sorts of devices, such as their computer, laptop, net-book, tablet, or their smart phone, and the internet is a wonderful gift to the consumer of such, for it allows one to communicate, to research, to get directions, to get information, and to engage in all sorts of activities.  That said, there is a general sense for most people that the internet is somewhat similar to a conversation that is between two friends, in which, even if there are other people present, if one modulates their voice or positions themselves just so, that they can still have a real conversation with an absolute minimum amount of that conversation or the substance of it, being compromised.

However, unfortunately, the internet is different, and even those that have taken measures to obscure, anonymize, or to protect their presence, are in actuality up against foreign as well as domestic enemies that have unseemly amounts of money, power, intelligence, knowhow, and desire to obtain whatever that it is that you are doing on the internet.  In addition to those foes, there are "friends" or even neighbors, that are tempted to want to know the activities that you are doing on the internet, and the bottom line is that if all, or the majority of your emails, chats, photos, videos, social media posts, website visits, are being noted, collated, and analyzed, your entire life, as to who and what you actually are, has basically been disclosed, and as information is most certainly a form of power, one has become compromised.

This really means that the most salient thing about the internet is not all the wonderful things it can do for you, but in actuality, to recognize how your sovereign life has, for all intents and purposes, been reduced to living under the constant monitoring of entities that have powers deeper and more intrusive than you could ever conceive of. That said, while it is difficult to turn back the sands of time, that is to say, the prying of the state into the privacy of their citizens, it can be done, if the people along with their representatives, judicial system, and the corporations that currently aid and abet the state in their desires, fight back against the mindset that all are guilty and those that process and collect such data, have the right to do so against their own citizens.

For most people, the internet is so important to them, even if they suspect that most of their data is subject to being monitored, they would continue to utilize it, because it is an integral part of their life, just like breathing.  While on the one hand there are laws that protect citizens from snooping by other citizens, on the other hand, our present-day government seems immune to such laws,  and consequently collects everything on everyone, even though the government is reluctant to admit such, and when pushed to edge calls upon  the egregious excuse of the need to protect and to defend our national security, while in reality, recognizing that such a tool essentially allows the state to monitor and to exploit its population for its benefit, along with the mega conglomerate corporations that enable them in their ways.

We are co-creators with God

God is the First Cause of everything, He is the Alpha and the Omega, of which, each soul on this planet, that is to say each human being on this good earth, was created by God, and gifted by this same God with free will, so as to best engage and conduct their lives per their own choosing.  We are not God's little playthings and God is not our puppeteer with us as His little puppets, as we do indeed have free rein to do anything, without any limitations whatsoever.  However, as in everything that we do, there are consequences, so that, those that believe that there are not consequences for their actions and for their thoughts, will find to their dismay or not, that there most certainly are, and unlike human beings or human institutions, which can be "gamed" or fooled, or tricked and so forth, God knows all, and His knowledge is never to be successfully trifled with.

We are created in God's image, as we are indeed God's children, and as His children, and having been created in His image, the things that we do, most definitely have meaning, signifying that everything that we accomplished that are fruits of the spirit, such as forbearance, faithfulness, cooperation, charity, and love, these all, as you do them, help to make this world a better place, and for having done so, we have helped to have created a better world, here and now, as well as creating stepping stones for our fellow brothers and sisters to step upon in their path to oneness with He who is everything.

This means that the things that we do, wrong or right, have real meaning and purpose, and while none of us, here on earth, are perfect in our actions and in our thoughts, we nevertheless are either adding to the ineffable goodness of all that has ever been created or we are not.   Those that take wrong paths, will if not already self-evident that their pathway is wrong, have to either turn around and thereby get onto the right path, or fight their way through their mistakes so as to make good on their errors, not because God condemns us, but because those that have not the characteristics of God, cannot fully embrace God, for oil does not mix with the pure natural streams of God, and thereby these pollutants cannot ever reach God's infinite pool of crystal clear water.

On the other hand, each action and thought that you consciously make that are in harmony with God's thoughts, help not only those that you associate with on this plane, but help you to achieve closeness with God, because you are actively behaving in a manner that is after God's pure heart.  This does indeed mean that the right things that you help to create, makes you a true co-creator with God, especially because while given a choice or many choices, you have chosen the better or best one, and this indeed will never be taken away from you. 

God has everything that He could ever desire, God is complete, yet having gifted us with freedom and free will, God's heart yearns for us to return back to Him, and when having voluntarily mastered our tasks, no matter how long, no matter the difficulties, error, and confusion, we will return as His worthy children, co-creators that are delighted to rest ourselves, once again, in complete harmony as part and parcel of God, Himself.

They crucified Christ, so why would you expect better?

While Jesus the Christ represents many different things to many different people, from mythology to the ultimate reality, what nearly everyone agrees upon is that Jesus was a very good person, for he was renowned for healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and His profound incisive wisdom.  Jesus was hardly a rebel, or even a real threat to any of the principle players in Rome, yet, the one thing about Jesus, is that He was never a man to cede ground for the convenience of religious or secular authority.  So too, Jesus paid little attention to the religious or political winds of the day, but went about His business, wherever it might take Him.

However, for both religious and secular authorities, there are often no greater perceived threats than a man that is not subject to being bought or being compromised and Jesus; above all else, was a man of uncommon integrity.  This meant, that the most powerful Jewish leaders, such as the Pharisees, where quite concerned about Jesus and His representation to their people, which because the Pharisees were not only of a sect that had specific religious traits and dogma, they had also made a pact with the Romans that basically allowed the Pharisees to rule their own, without much Roman meddling, and to them, this Jesus distinctly made them quite uneasy, so that they desired strongly to have him silenced, if Jesus would not cooperate with them, in which He did not.  The Romans, on the other hand, cared little for the religious formality of Jews in general, just as long as the Jewish leaders kept their people in order, but a threat to that order, or the proclamation that someone such as Jesus claiming to be a King was not something that would be tolerated by the Romans.  While the "trial" of Jesus was a sham, as well as his conviction, so too, the punishment of crucifixion for Jesus was completely baseless, but Rome was pragmatic, and believed that it was better to kill those that might instigate riots and rebellion than allow such to gain traction and power.

This then meant that Jesus was indeed, beaten, mocked and severely scourged by Roman authorities, before being made to march to his own death by crucifixion, all done within a very short period of time, so as to effectively eliminate any insipient rebellion of an alternate king or rival to Roman power.  The fact that Jesus was crucified, when He was actually innocent of the charges against Him, and had not only preached the good word, but had helped and healed many, was a gross travesty of justice.

Today, we live in more civilized times, or it is said that we do, and many declaim the bad things that are done to them, great or small, unjust, or unfair, or just plain wrong, but even those protesting this most vociferously and with good reason, are often, in one way or another, flawed somewhat or significantly in their character, and my goodness, remember that they beat and crucified Christ, so having done that to Him, what justification do we have to expect any better for us?

This is not to say, that injustice should be our lot in life, as it really should not be, but rather to remind ourselves, that we live in a fallen world, signified by the fact that even those that have come to save us from ourselves, are physically killed, though unbeknownst to many, they do Rise.

Police are Legal Gangs

What is a gang?  According to National Institute of Justice at nij.org, gangs are: "Whose members collectively identify themselves by adopting a group identity, which they use to create an atmosphere of fear or intimidation," as well as "Whose purpose in part is to engage in criminal activity and which uses violence or intimidation."  While it is true, that the police are actually instruments of the state and thereby are not criminals, by definition, it is also true, that there are police that in their actions and in their behavior, most definitely, are criminals, using both the color of their guard to shield themselves effectively from prosecution, as well as because police are an instrument of the criminal justice system, are in almost all instances, no matter how egregious, no matter how outrageous, protected by that same justice system from retribution or prosecution.  This means, in effect, that police know that whatever that they do, they will in virtually all circumstances, not have to suffer from prosecution for their actions, making them in most cases not legally liable for their behavior, so that, in effect, they are above the law, even though the onus is most definitely on police, at all times, as representatives of the state, to abide by the law, both in spirit, and in fact.

The fact that police officers have virtual immunity from prosecution, signifies that in the streets of this country, safe or not, low income or not, minority or not, that police can go about their business in whatever manner that they so see fit, knowing that the unwritten code, will protect them at all times, no matter the circumstances of what actually occurs.  It would be one thing, if all of this freedom for the police, produced effectively safer communities, with less crime, with less divisiveness, and so on and so forth, but, in fact, when the arm of justice, is allowed to do what it so desires, it breeds contempt by the common man, especially those of lower socio-economic levels, for police, for justice, and for this country that thereby belies the liberty and freedom that America professes so proudly.

Not too surprisingly, when you arm police to the teeth, as well as recruit police from military backgrounds and ranks, you have gotten yourself, an armed militia, extremely well trained in the usage of firepower, in which, in virtually all circumstances, the police will have the highest ground, and their targets, will not.    Further to the point, when the usage of deadly force, or the instigation by police so that their "reasonable" response to such is deadly force, is in actuality, whatever the police deem it to be, than the firing by police upon civilians, armed or not, dangerous or not, necessary or not, has already been written by their active trigger fingers.

Those that declaim about how much we need the police, because it is the police that keeps us safe, that they are the true blue line separating us from outright anarchy, and so on and so forth, usually do so, because they come from a place in which police do not target them, nor their families, nor their friends, nor their socio-economic level, but come the day, when the police roam their neighborhoods and their schools, with guns-a-blazing at them, they will live to rue their narrow-minded bigotry. 

In point of fact, country upon country, that are similar to America in GDP and its justice system, have police forces that do not shoot, that do not kill, and that do not target their own citizens with lethal force.  For instance, as reported by theguardian.com, the combination of England and Wales had a total of 55 fatal police shootings in the last 24 years, which equates to just over two per year.  Additionally, Finland had six bullets fired by their police in total for the entire year of 2013.  The difference between these countries and America demonstrates an incredibly deep divide and is proof positive that America police are insanely aggressive and violent in their behavior toward those that they have sworn "to protect and to serve".

Finally, as reported by mappingpoliceviolence.com, "Police killed at least 102 unarmed black people in 2015", in which, "Only 10 of the 102 cases in 2015 where an unarmed black person was killed by police resulted in officer(s) being charged with a crime, and only 2 of these deaths …resulted in convictions of officers involve." This signifies that over 90% of the time, police are "justified" in killing unarmed black civilians, this, in an era, when it has never been easier for police through cameras, through hi-technology assistance, through contacts, and through surveillance, to already know or presume who the likely unarmed civilian is before he is fired upon, meaning that there isn't any real exigent need to take final "justice" into their own hands, yet they do it, again and again.

Our Natural State is Spirit, not Physicality

We live in a material world with specific natural laws that go along with living in that world, so too, with our physical features, many people engage the world, believing that through their physical senses, that is all that there is, however, intuitively we know that the physical never has been, and never will be, and could never be, the be-all and end-all of existence.  This would signify, that those that devote all of their time, energy, and thought to the physical realm, have veered off of the straight and narrow path, and are instead in their devotion to the laws that govern mortal life, trapped into the mistaken belief, that the satisfaction and happiness that they desire so badly, can be achieved within their mortal frame. 

In point of fact, which cannot be emphasized enough, we are spirit, encased within the physical, for a short and finite period of time, so that those that recognize such, will look upon earthly life as something fundamentally different than those that can not engage or comprehend this concept.  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with embracing your physical being and its attributes in a manner in which you are dedicated to maximizing your efforts to make this world better for your having been here, for having worked hard and thereby accomplished good things while also being selfless and charitable in your efforts, there are many more that don't really have a conscious clue.

While there are many errors that mankind makes, the greatest error, starts with the self, and often that error fundamentally comes from a belief, that our own aggrandizement, in all of the attributes that are reflected in this: such as honor, wealth, lust, gluttony, selfishness, and power,  are what we must achieve in order to have lasting happiness, but that happiness, no matter how long we are able to remain on top, is both transient and certainly finite; to wit, upon our physical death, when we are stripped of our physicality and exposed for what we really are, which is our natural state of spirit, we will recognize to our eternal dismay, that having spent our time and energy on selfish pursuits and selfish desires, that we have indeed built our house upon sand, and such a foundation, has no lasting power, in addition to the harm that has been done to others, all of which we cannot escape from when we are exposed fully to He who is Truth, Justice, and Love.

Each person upon this earth, has a responsibility innate within them, to search for the Truth, and that Truth will indeed set you free, for there is not an infinite amount of truths, or a relative concept of truth, but just one Truth, and those that believe not in this, will be reminded of that which they already knew, intuitively, that we all are of the same substance of one Truth, one Spirit, one Family, one Being, with one inclusive God.  

We are immortal, therefore we cannot be our physical body, for the physical comes and the physical goes, instead, we are what we have always been, pure spirit, formed by our Creator, it is our natural state, it is what we truly are, therefore we are indeed created equally, and this earthly existence, is our proving ground, in which each day by our actions and by our thoughts, we decide who and whom we shall serve, for we do indeed reap what we do sow

The Failure of Nuremberg

Most people are familiar with Nuremberg, not for having seen or read about the trials themselves, but from the very famous and well received motion picture, "Judgment at Nuremberg," which itself was adapted from the television drama of the same name.  The basic premise of Nuremberg is that the Germans, specifically, prominent German military  personnel as well as prominent  German political figures from the losing side of World War II, were tried at Nuremberg, by the Allies after the war had ended.  Not too surprisingly, when the victorious side is prosecuting the defeated side, such a trial, no matter how fair it actually is or how fair it is perceived, is almost by definition, not going to be fair, and further to the point, resolves little or nothing, as the deeds each of these specific men were accused of and/or convicted of, to a large extent, were essentially convictions of "ex post facto" laws,  well meaning or not, legitimate or not, with the intended result of death or imprisonment for those that a cynic might simply state, were being convicted for being on the losing side of a war in which both sides committed atrocities, but only one side were tried and convicted for it.

At best, the Nuremberg trials, or the Nuremberg show trials, was a step forward in progress, signifying that manmade laws within a sovereign nation or during times of war or civil strife, are not necessarily legitimate, no matter how they are written, constructed or exercised, if they violate fundamental human rights of the individuals or groups of people subjected to them.  This would indicate than that those that conduct violations of fundamental human rights, cannot then hide behind their country's sovereignty, their country's laws, their uniforms, their obedience to orders or directives, or expedient circumstances to exculpate themselves, though, they might try.  This, in short, would be a very important and fundamental step in seeing that basic fundamental human rights could not be violated, and should they be, would be subject to appropriate prosecution.

Since, the Nuremberg trials, all sorts of international tribunals have been passed and agreed to, some in which virtually every nation participates, some in which a majority of nations agree to, and so on and so forth, however, any document so created is only as good as its enactment in the real world, and when one exists in a world in which there is one more equal than others, that is one superpower, and there are none to oppose such, no treaty, no international tribunal, no international justice, and no international law, will be effective, without that country participating wholly and without special considerations or set asides for that superpower. 

So that, despite organizations such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), if the United States does not ratify to it, which it has not and thereby cannot be held accountable to its conditions and rules, then this document is unjust in its application and thereby wholly ineffective on an international scale.  A world in which one country, or a group of countries, is never held accountable for war crimes, because they are above the law, means that trials such as Nuremberg, are virtually empty of moral value or moral suasion, for essentially what Nuremberg proves above all else, is that that those in power, that those that hold the strings, are held accountable to nobody and no one on this good earth, for the strong preach the word, but run riot in what they do.

Hebrews 13:8

We read in Holy Scripture the following from Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever," which clearly makes the statement that Jesus Christ is immutable, just as God is immutable, that is to say, God is not changing over time, and neither is Jesus Christ.  Yet, Jesus came to this good earth as a babe, and there is not a doubt, that as all humans that are born into the flesh, he did change, from a swaddling babe to an adult man over a period of normal time, so too, his attributes, his intelligence, his gifts, if not changed, if not developed, were not for a certainly held inert in the power of a helpless babe, thus it could be strongly argued that they were developed, and that they were learned, so how can me make sense of this particular Biblical passage?

The best way to look upon this is to understand that because we live in a physical body, and that body changes, is that when this passage states that Jesus Christ is the same, always, it cannot possibly be referring to the body, whatsoever.  So then, what must it be referring to?  In this case, it can only be referring to the Christ, the power animating Jesus, and it is this consciousness which is at one with the Father, at one with our Creator, that Jesus is attuned with, so that there is no error in his behavior, there is no wrong in his actions, because Jesus has become part and parcel of the Holy Trinity, of the Son as the representation of Jesus on earth, the Father as the Alpha and Omega, and the Holy Spirit, which quickens the physical body on earth as well as being in principle the mind of that being.

If this interpretation of Hebrews 13:8, is correct, it makes it far easier to understand not only the meaning of immutability of Jesus Christ, but also opens up the very door that each of us has been gifted with, which is that each of us has the capacity to attune ourselves with the Godhead, so that we too can "do all things through Christ...", and so that we too are indeed children of the Most High God.  The confusion that so many make, is to see the body as the be-all and end-all of humanity, when in fact, the true nucleus of our physical body is not the physicality of it, but the mind, which is activated by the Holy Spirit, which does indeed come from our Creator who is immutable.

The pattern that Jesus shows us, is that those that get wrapped up in the flesh, will miss the forest for the trees, that indeed,   they get caught up in the tragedy of life, of its beginnings and of its endings, of its justice and its injustice, of its evil and its good, never once comprehending, that as real as that might seem to them in the flesh, it is just a shadow of a play of a testing of our own choosing.  Jesus the body was crucified, and that body did die, but Christ rose from the dead, to awaken us from our own mindless mortal slumber in the hopes that we would see Christ for what Christ really is, unchangeable, immortal, all knowing, and beyond time and space, for there never was a time when Christ was not, and there will never be a time when Christ will not be.