Go Inward, Young Man!

It's 1000° out there, and spring has only begun! Well, maybe that's hyperbole, but it's been in the 90s. And we finally have rain, so I opened the house and the place is cooling off, but now it's damp in here.

From Wikipedia: "Florida's populations have been rapidly changing. After World War II, Florida was transformed as air conditioning and the Interstate highway system encouraged emigration from the north. In 1950, Florida was ranked twentieth among the states in population; 50 years later it was ranked fourth." In fact, John Gorrie, the father of air conditioning, did his inventing here. Necessity is the mother of invention, I guess. It gets downright unlivable sometimes.



I confess that, when it's intensely hot and humid, we turn the air on. Part of simplifying our life will involve moving somewhere that's not a prehistoric swamp dripping with moisture and full of dinosaurs... eh... gators and lizards. I really don't like our dependence on central air.

But for now, we use it when things get desperate. And it's broken.

So how am I gonna deal with this?

Sistahs and brothahs, mah text today is from Philippians 4:11: "...I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

I know, I know, it's Paul. I don't like his attitude toward women or gay people either. If you listen to bible-based, fundamentalist arguments though, they're actually very selective with the texts they use, so I can be too. There's a mess of stuff in the Bible. There's the Sermon on the Mount and then there are the horrors in the Book of Judges, which I wouldn't even name here.

And I know, Paul goes on to say that he can "do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me," and I'm not a Christian. But really, taken abstractly, that's an important point too. His focus is on something other than his jail cell or whatever. If you think you can get through life with faith only in your own control of your situation, you're bound to be unhappy. You're much better off focusing on some worthy, steady object of faith.

I think that any of the great religions will tell you so in their own way, and many good secular philosophies too. Y'know, focusing on life's details is a kind of madness. You need to set your eyes on something greater. No matter what happens, you need focus on something outside of the ever-changing world.

You may not make it otherwise. You' be too stressed and scattered.

So I'm feeling a bit mildewed now, and contentment is more of a struggle, but I'm doing what I can. That's part of what my diet means to me, and my love for Kat too. If she and I really do find our way into greater self-sufficiency, a lot more adjustment will have to follow.

We're gonna be okay, just so long as we keep our eyes on something greater out there, and to me, our love is a sign that there's something greater. You can find your something greater too.