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The Jefferson Bible
Thomas Jefferson wrote that “Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as
the son of God.” He called the writers of the New Testament “ignorant, unlettered
men” who produced “superstitions, fanaticisms, and fabrications.” He called the
Apostle Paul the “first corrupter of the doctrines of Jesus.” He dismissed the
concept of the Trinity as “mere Abracadabra of the mountebanks calling themselves
the priests of Jesus.” He believed that the clergy used religion as a “mere
contrivance to filch wealth and power to themselves” and that “in every country and
in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty.” And he wrote in a letter to John
Adams that “the day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the
supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of
the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.”
Click to read: The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth
by Thomas Jefferson
Imagine
Imagine there's no heaven, it's easy if you try, no hell below us, above us only sky,
imagine all the people living for today...
Imagine no countries, it isn't hard to do, nothing to kill or die for, no religion too,
imagine all the people living life in peace...
Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, no need for greed or hunger, a
brotherhood of man...
You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one, I hope some day you'll join us,
and the world will live as one. --Lennon, 1971
Epitaph
And if I go while you're still here, know I live on vibrating to a different measure,
behind a veil you cannot see through. You will not see me so you must have faith. I
wait for the time when we can soar together again, both aware of each other. Until
then, live your life to its fullest and when you need me just whisper my name in your
heart---I will be there.
Roads
"Two roads diverged in a wood---and I, I took the one less travelled by..." --Frost
"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave
a trail." --Emerson
“If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” --Carroll
"And when all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end. So it's not so much
which road you take, as how you take it...be happy.” --Celtic
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a
different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured and
far away." --Thoreau
How did it get so late so soon? It's night before it's afternoon. December is here
before it's June. My goodness how the time has flown. How did it get so late so
soon? --Theodor Seuss Geisel
The Music Man
"You pile up enough tomorrows, and you'll find you are left with nothing but a lot of
empty yesterdays. I don't know about you, but I'd like to make today worth
remembering."
"I always think there's a band, kid."
--Prof Harold Hill, "The Music Man"
Time
Time is the warp of life-----weave it well. --Unknown
Beannacht, (Irish blessing)
On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders
And you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you.
And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window
And the ghost of loss gets into you,
May a flock of colours, indigo, red, green and azure blue,
Come to awaken in you a meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays in the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you,
An invisible cloak to mind your life.
--John O'Donohue
Desiderata
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in
silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the
ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare
yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be
greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own
career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let
this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and
everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for
in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress
yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the
universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And
whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him (or Her) to be, and
whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with
your soul. With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. --Max Ehrmann