Jeffrey Davis

I started out the last post about the lyrics and video of the Black Eyed Peas hit, “Where is the Love”, with other than loving motivations. Luckily, that post allowed me to find within myself some hidden prejudice that I, until now, have justified.

I began that post with the intent of providing a disclaimer that though I love the message of Love that this song communicates and how well it portrays the simple yet insurmountable effects of a society centered around Love, I did not agree with all of it’s insinuations…particularly the theological one in the chorus.

Then, it hit me. What kind of a disclaimer is that? I disagree with someone, so what? Does that justify a disclaimer?

Hell no it doesn’t!

What it does do is expose my own prejudice and discrimination. It’s ironic that I came to this awareness and then, in a conversation with some friends later that evening, that very topic came up among us.

I find that it’s easier for me to be accepting of other people’s views and ideas when they have nothing to do with religion…Christianity in particular. I wonder why this is. I mean, I want people to see God the way I do (i.e. God is Love), but not because I want to be “right”. Rather, it is that I experience so much freedom and love and joy from this way of living (or transformation into this way of living) that I want others to experience it as well.

Why then, I wonder, do I find myself judging others who have a more traditional and legalistic view of God?

There is only one possible answer…I’m a hypocrite.

Luckily, as seems to normally be the case, Love has exposed this in my life and now I can allow myself to be changed in this area by Love.

Care to share any areas that God (Love) has brought about change in your own life recently?

On the way home from the gym today I heard the Black Eyed Peas first big hit, “Where is the Love”, and for some reason, really listened hard to the lyrics. Here they are (watch the music video at the bottom of this post):

Verse 1:
What’s wrong with the world, mama
People livin’ like they ain’t got no mamas
I think the whole world addicted to the drama
Only attracted to things that’ll bring you trauma
Overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism
But we still got terrorists here livin’
In the USA, the big CIA
The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK
But if you only have love for your own race
Then you only leave space to discriminate
And to discriminate only generates hate
And when you hate then you’re bound to get irate, yeah
Madness is what you demonstrate
And that’s exactly how anger works and operates
Man, you gotta have love just to set it straight
Take control of your mind and meditate
Let your soul gravitate to the love, y’all, y’all

Chorus:
People killin’, people dyin’
Children hurt and you hear them cryin’
Can you practice what you preach
And would you turn the other cheek

Father, Father, Father help us
Send us some guidance from above
‘Cause people got me, got me questionin’
Where is the love (Love)

Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love (The love)
Where is the love
The love, the love

Verse 2:
It just ain’t the same, always unchanged
New days are strange, is the world insane
If love and peace is so strong
Why are there pieces of love that don’t belong
Nations droppin’ bombs
Chemical gasses fillin’ lungs of little ones
With ongoin’ sufferin’ as the youth die young
So ask yourself is the lovin’ really gone
So I could ask myself really what is goin’ wrong
In this world that we livin’ in people keep on givin’ in
Makin’ wrong decisions, only visions of them dividends
Not respectin’ each other, deny thy brother
A war is goin’ on but the reason’s undercover
The truth is kept secret, it’s swept under the rug
If you never know truth then you never know love
Where’s the love, y’all, come on (I don’t know)
Where’s the truth, y’all, come on (I don’t know)
Where’s the love, y’all

[Chorus]

Verse 3:
I feel the weight of the world on my shoulder
As I’m gettin’ older, y’all, people gets colder
Most of us only care about money makin’
Selfishness got us followin’ our wrong direction
Wrong information always shown by the media
Negative images is the main criteria
Infecting the young minds faster than bacteria
Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema
Yo’, whatever happened to the values of humanity
Whatever happened to the fairness in equality
Instead in spreading love we spreading animosity
Lack of understanding, leading lives away from unity
That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ under
That’s the reason why sometimes I’m feelin’ down
There’s no wonder why sometimes I’m feelin’ under
Gotta keep my faith alive till love is found
Now ask yourself

[Chorus]

Sing wit me y’all:
One world, one world (We only got)
One world, one world (That’s all we got)
One world, one world
And something’s wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something’s wrong wit it (Yeah)
Something’s wrong wit the wo-wo-world, yeah
We only got
(One world, one world)
That’s all we got
(One world, one world)

So, with the Black Eyed Peas I ask, “Where’s the love yall?” I especially like the first verse. Does anything stand out in the song to you?

Technorati Tags: love, Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Jeffrey Davis

What if the everyone in the whole world operated solely through the lens of LOVE? What if we screwed payback, vengeance, and justice? What if we kicked petty differences to the curb? What if an eye didn’t require an eye?

A new Nickelback song, “If Everyone Cared”, is what we’ve been talking about for a long time. Here’s the chorus:

“If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we’d see the day, when nobody died”

True, this song has more of a political tone (when you watch the video), but the message is the same.

Death is the GREATEST illusion of them all.

Technorati Tags: Nickelback, If Everyone Cared, Love, Jeffrey Davis

Satellite Trucker

Originally uploaded by JSDavis82.

Genius! Pure genius.

If I was an OTR trucker, I’d have a set up like this on my rig.

I snapped this photo with my cameraphone the other day on I40 around Stewart’s Ferry. Kudos to the ingenuity of this trucker.

Yep, that’s right, I have the magic answer to weight loss. Would you like to know it? First, permit me to voice what it is not.

I was up early enough this morning to catch nothing on TV but infomercials. One such infomercial was about, you guessed it, weight loss. Some guy from some tv show some two decades ago was talking about his magic answer that led to his loss of some 200lbs.

Blah blah blah.

He went on to say that weight gain and/or inability to lose weight is…wait for it…not your fault. “It’s due to an urge and craving that some people have for food”, he said. No crap, that’s called HUNGER, and everyone has it. He then went on to say that it has nothing to do with will power. Again, “it’s not your fault”.

I have a problem with this line of thinking. Sure, there are physical issues that plague some people’s bodies, but all can be overcome. Some (and I dare say “many”) issues are hormonal, some are not. Regardless, everyone can win with my magic answer to weight loss!

So, are you ready to know the secret? It’s a very simple formula that I’d like to pass along to you now. Ready? Here it is. Got a pen and paper?

Formula: Sweat+a Balanced Diet=Weight Loss

There it is, at no charge to you. What do you think?

Now I realize that I’ve been rather tongue-in-cheek here this morning, and I mean not to belittle those of us who struggle with legitimate physical ailments that make weight loss more difficult than for others. I’d like to stress again that regardless of your issue, YOU CAN LOSE WEIGHT!

But please, please, PLEASE don’t resort to unhealthy means of doing so. There is no miracle pill. There is no miracle diet. It requires hard work, sweat, and balanced eating. If you’d like help getting started, Body for Life, by Bill Phillips, is a great plan to begin with. I also recommend purchasing the companion cookbook, Eating for Life, as well.

“But I thought you said there are no miracle diets?!”, you might say. You’re right, I did. I don’t normally use the term diet because of what most people associate with the term. (When I do use the word diet, as in the above “formula”, I refer to our overall style of eating, not a specific fad diet.) Body for Life will teach you a balanced lifestyle, including how you eat and how you exercise — but not a “diet”.

Reminder:
It’s true that what works for one person may not work for another. There are infinite options of workouts, cardiovascular exercise routines, weight training regimens, etc. If you’re having trouble getting started, please talk with your doctor and/or a personal trainer. If you don’t have a trainer or don’t belong to a gym, I am a trainer at Graves’ Fitness Center on Adam’s Lane in Mt. Juliet (across the street from Providence Place).

This post is NOT, repeat NOT to drum up business. It’s basically a reaction against the infomercial I saw this morning that happens to reflect the general populous’ unfortunate and unhealthy perspective. However, if I can help, I would love to.

Now get out and enjoy this beautiful St. Patty’s Day.

Technorati Tags: fitness, diets, workouts, Body for Life, Eating for Life, Bill Phillips, Jeffrey Davis, Graves’ Fitness Center

Wednesday night, as usual, I was in a conversation with some friends. The question of, “what is God?” came up. All of us agreed that God is Love, but is God a person?

Are we all the essence of God and, when we are free of our physical bodies, we are returned to live forever with the person of God?

Or…

Is God Love and Love is God, meaning that the love within each of us collectively makes up God? In this case, there would be no “person” or “big kahuna” to spend eternity with.

What do you think?

Technorati Tags: God, love, spirituality, Jeffrey Davis

I tend to be a very judgmental person. There, I said it. I’m not proud of this fact, but it’s true. I often make judgments about people based on what I think I see.

The result, they confirm whatever it is I thought I saw. Have you ever done that? Of course you have, we all have. Someone rolls up in a mickey-moused up honda civic, hat on sideways, loud music polluting the air immediately surrounding the vehicle and what do we think?

I’m sure it is something to the effect of, “what a wannabe ghetto fab punk.”

The result of that personification is whatever you just projected. We see what we want to see. What might have happened if the same person pulled up beside me at a stoplight and I thought to myself, “man, that guy really takes joy in expressing himself; it looks like he put a lot of work into that car.”

I would then cease to see him as a ghetto fab punk, and would see the good — or if you prefer, the love — in him.

Do you think “Christians” simply get what they look for?

Christians believe that they “have” something that everyone else “needs”. The result, they see needy people. They believe that they are “saved” and there are many others who are “lost”. The result, they see people who are lost.

What would happen if we saw the Love of God in everyone?

The argument could be made that such is not reality, but simply what I choose to see. However, perhaps there is more to this topic than meets the eye. Not all personifications may be valid.

I dare say that if I choose to see the Love of God within every individual I meet, that I will see anything else but such. On the other hand, if I try to see someone who is “lost” in someone who is “Love”, that love will overwhelm my attempted perception of lostness.

What might that mean, I wonder?

Technorati Tags: love, spirituality, the secret, Jeffrey Davis

Nashville blogger BadBadIvy has teamed up with South Carolina-ite Heather Solos to bring you Home-Ec 101. This blog is incredibly handy for “what you wish your mama taught you.”

I’ve already used the coffee pot care post to clean some deep rooted, long standing stains in our decanter. Until now, the stains have remained the victor, but following the advice from this post, the tide has finally turned and the stains have yielded.

Check it out for yourself. You won’t be sorry.

Technorati Tags: home-ec, coffee, BadBadIvy, Heather Solos, Jeffrey Davis

“…What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your
entire life. That there’s something wrong with the world, you don’t
know what it is, but it’s there. Like a splinter in your mind, driving
you mad.”

Do those words from Morpheus in the Matrix ring true for anyone but me?

Recently I discovered something. What is this thing? It is something I’ve known my entire life…but only not. I’ve even said that I know it, but I really didn’t. It is simple really, but I make it complex. What is it? It is this:

God is Love…period

Have you ever noticed that anything beyond that simple reality is superfluous at best, if not an outright fabrication or worse.

I struggle, however, at the simplicity of this truth. My wife recently asked me, in all her wisdom, “If nothing else matters beyond that realization, why do you spend so much time contemplating those things?”. Too true. She greatly balances my type A, analytical, question asking personality with the greater picture that she is able to see.

That said, I find myself in yet another dilemma. Neo awoke in the “real world” and asked Morpheus, “Why do my eyes hurt?”. Morpheus replied, “Because you’ve never used them before.” I see myself in a similar place. Though the simplicity of this true reality (that God is Love) is apparent, my “eyes” hurt.

You see, I have lived my entire life in a dreamworld, as most of us have, operating on a set of presuppositions that now I realize are not the most true. I find that I prevent myself from living in the fullness of the Love that is God, because I am endlessly trying to “figure that out”…which is a remnant pattern of thought from a life of fear and bondage. Could understanding occur through being? Is it simply a byproduct, not a catalyst?

If you’re still with me through those admitted obscurities, congratulations. I would have bailed.

Do you find a burning deep in your inmost parts that scream to you, “something is wrong with the world as you know it”? Does that scare you? Why? Want to explore that with me?

Technorati Tags: love, God, spirituality, the Matrix, Jeffrey Davis

Do you think that is the over-arching mantra of religion? Christians say to Muslims, “Our God is THE God, and our book is THE book.” Muslims return with the same rebuttal. (Never mind that both religions stemmed from the same man, Abraham.)

Last night I was having a conversation with some good friends, and one new one, when a topic like this came up. The question was, “Is God a belief system?” My friend Rick who writes at a new thought provoking blog, SpiritualLiving.net, posted some intriguing, gut level questions after the conversation. Here are a few of them:

Is God a belief system?

Some might say Islam (Muslim faith) doesn’t = God.

Others might say Buddhism doesn’t = God.

Still others might say Hinduism doesn’t = God

But…

Does Christianity = God? Is God a belief system?

…

If God isn’t a belief system, what is God?

[Read the rest of Rick's post]

My friend Jim, author of Divine Nobodies: Shedding Religion to Find God, also alluded to this conversation in a post at his blog this morning.

So what do you think, is God a belief system? If so, as a new friend from last night asked, “how’s that working for you?”

[Note: that last question can be read with disdain and sarcasm, but that was neither the tone last night nor is it here.]

Technorati Tags: God, love, spirituality, religion, Jim Palmer, Divine Nobodies, Rick Harris, Jeffrey Davis