Why is retirement is a spiritual virus?

I have dreamed many years of a day when I would retire or be financially independent. After that day, I would have enough resources to live without working in a job that I did not like. I equated this retirement or independence goal with a utopia of freedom. Freedom to work, or not work and the freedom to choose what to do with my time. People of all ages have this dream. From the twenty-somethings in the movie, "Office Space", to my college-age friend, who was already planning his exodus from work, before really beginning the journey, young and old dream of this same utopia.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin has said that "belief in retirement as a life goal is so destructive that it seems to form a kind of spiritual virus that infects all of your thinking. The thought of retiring becomes a distorting lens that corrupts your view of the world around you and misleads you into missteps." Rabbi Lapin explains in his book, "Thou Shall Prosper", that retirement as a concept was not around until the 1950s. He says that people are productive until they die and that the ideals of retirement give us subtle and damaging messages that work is not valuable in itself and that our productivity should slow as we age. There are many cases of people who continue to work and reach their highest level of success in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.



Truly, I hope to continue to find work that helps others reach their potential and enrichs my life and those around me. If one can achieve that, then retiring is the silliest notion of all. Walk away from what?

The Truth Project

I am excited about taking this class at church after seeing the first session. There is some material in this that I have never really thought about before. If the world tells us that all truth is relative, then how do we know what is right and wrong? If it is wrong if someone thinks I am wrong, then should I be imprisoned for driving my car slower than someone else wants me too? What is our basis for truth?

If we really were to "progress" to the point where we re-thought all the fundamental rules and maxims, what would our new world look like? Would it be better? Would there be more or less suffering? More love or more selfishness?

Divorce: The Cancer of Marriage

On August 16, 2009, Sam Woods spoke at Rocky Creek Baptist Church on the topic of marriage and divorce. You can listen to the message on you ipod or your computer.

"Divorce: The Cancer of Marriage"- Sam Woods of Family Fortress Ministry

Sam's message is so important today as cohabitation, divorce, and non-traditional definitions of marriage become more common. What is the ideal marriage? How are we to act when married? Are marriage definitions changing? Find out so many wonderful truths about marriage by checking out this message.

I was also very excited to find out that Sam has copies of a movie version of "Pilgrim's Progress." I had no idea someone already had made a movie of this book. I cannot wait to get a copy and watch it.

YouTube - 99 Balloons

eBay store open (again)

I am opening an eBay store again. I want to do my part to help our ailing economy but still keep the lifestyle flexible.

eBay store for Cox Computer

Heard this song on WYEP today.

Dance Like a Monkey (New York Dolls)

It's quite funny and I liked the "evolution is obsolete" message:



"wooooooo wooooooo

You're designed so intelligent
Ain't no way that was an accident
C'mon shake your monkey hips
My pretty little creationist

Oh yeah!

Ain't gonna anthropomorphise you
Or perversely polymorphisise you - yeah
Little girl you look so sweet
You gotta dance like a monkey, dance like a monkey, child
You just started ten thousand years ago
Presto Adam and Eve and go man go
Abel died, Cain took his life
And headed straight to the jungle to find a wife - wow!
Non-believers blame it all on apes
It's monkey time - I want to see you shake
Evolution is obsolete

You gotta dance like a monkey, dance like a monkey, child
Stomp your hands and clap your feet
You gotta dance like a monkey, dance like a monkey, child
Oh one more time yo!It's monkey time!!"

Book review: "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis

This is the first book that I would use to introduce Christianity to a atheist or secular humanist. It has a very scientific and historical case for the Christian faith using the logical pathways of an atheist.



Also, as a person trying to be a better "little Christ" as Lewis puts it, I strengthened my faith and desire for Christ by reading this book. Being a Christian is not outdated, old-fashioned, or simplistic. It is difficult, and requires a great deal of willpower and brainpower while at the same time being easy. Christianity is no 48 day or 12 week program. It takes a lifetime and an eternal one at that.

Highly recommended for atheists, non-Christians, and Christians alike.

One of my favorite sections was on page 222:

"Again and again [the world] has thought Christianity was dying by persecutions from without and corruptions from within, by the rise of [Islam], the rise of the physical sciences, the rise of great anti-Christian revolutionary movements. But every time the world has been disappointed. Its first disappointment was over the crucifixion. The Man came to life again. In a sense - and I realise how frightfully unfair it must seem to them - that has been happening ever since. They keep on killing the thing that He started: and each time, just as they are patting down the earth on its grave, they suddenly hear it is still alive and has broken out in some new place. No wonder they hate us."

Other book reviews of mine on Visual Bookshelf.