shattered mirrors
One man's path to conservatism!!
Dedicated to: My Mom - Christine Stockham, who was always willing to engage in spirited conversation.
My Dad - Gail Stockham, who left this earth way too early. My Wife - Cheryl Stockham, who has completed me in every way possible. My Daughters - Sheree, Faith & Sophia Stockham who give me hope. My Grand Daughters - Ski, Kiya and Aireal who give me even more hope. |
Dedicated to the Truth yet always mindful that all faith is FALSE yet all faith is TRUE.
TRUTH is the shattered mirrors strewn in myriad bits; while each BELIEVES his LITTLE BIT the whole story. CAUTION – The reading of this book may cause uncontrollable explosions of Spiritual Freedom & Awareness! I hope as you read this book your eyes are opened and your mind is freed. Climb up the spiritual ladder and never let the things of man and the evil one control your life again. Life begins and ends in your mind. Don’t FEEL about it THINK about it!
Preface
We all live in a world of shattered mirrors. Most of us scurry around from day to day only looking at the issues that are a part of our piece of the mirror. The human spirit is much larger than any of us are willing to see or admit to. The pieces of our mirrors come in many forms such as religion, nationality, race, sex and tribal origin just to name a few. But the piece of the mirror we hold is only a piece of a MUCH larger image slightly hidden from view. Some of us carry around more than one piece in case we need to relate to others we care about. Some of us are able to expand our mirror to include others. Some of our mirrors are with us for life like race and sex but most others we have the power to change. Some of us will champion our piece as the original and ONLY piece or the BEST piece and will debate and protect it to our last ounce of breath. But most of us are completely happy to allow the powers that be define our mirror for us. For centuries wars have been waged and good men and women have fought and died over their piece of the mirror. Each side confident that his or her mirror or view was the right one and anyone that had a different view would need to be conformed, consumed, and\or destroyed. From time to time we will voluntarily pick up a strange piece and carry it for a while or even drop our old mirror for shiny new ones as they move into view. From the first day two or more humans occupied the planet we have possessed the need to prove our mirror is bigger, shinier, newer, and smarter. Today religious and political mirrors have taken the reins from the tribal mirrors of the past. But from a higher spiritual level it all looks like a giant mud wrestling match. Both sides are dirty and it’s very hard to tell who’s who any more. My goal in writing this book is to challenge you to take a higher-level look at the world we live in. It's our hearts that divide us NOT a flag. Even before the stories in the Christian bible were written humankind has shown a need to force their view of their mirrors upon one another. Review any ancient culture and or writing and you will quickly see signs of this phenomenon. This is happening with light speed today as or society slips further and further into darkness. The social and economic pimps of today come in ALL shape, size and colors. They advertise their mirrors on TV, Radio, Internet, Social Media and Print as the BEST and literally hate anyone who does not see IT their way as they promote their hate like a badge of honor. The IT takes many forms these days but we ALL need to understand that NO man or women can lead us to the promise land. Martin Luther King was a great man but he was just a man. Ronald Reagan was a great man but he was just a man. Barack Obama is just a man. Rosa Parks was a great women but she was just a woman that had given up her seat far too many times and decided that enough was enough. There is strength in diversity but diversity can lead to isolation, which leads to intolerance, which leads to men and women strapping bombs to their bodies, blowing themselves up and taking others with them. These acts are the result of extreme views of their religious mirror. Their mirror has given them a personal mission and extreme hatred of ANYONE who is not pure in their eyes. They are raised from birth with this belief and they are perfectly willing to die for it as well. Anyone who has this mirrored view cannot be reasoned with. We are all the same yet we are all very different. We are equal in the eyes of God but we are not equal in ability, means or access. We are all a part of this human experience, spiritual beings on a physical journey through life. Regardless of your religious following that journey starts with God and ends with God because we are all born and we will all die one day. When we de-value human life and impose our will on an individual’s freedom and free-will to choose we sink into the lowest form of humanity. The fact that none of us will get out alive seems to escape most people. Introduction
I must confess that writing a book was not on my list of things I wanted to accomplish in my lifetime. In fact it was the last thing I imagined I would every do shy of running for any political office. My inspiration for this book came from a man I have talked to many times on the phone and eventually had the pleasure of meeting a few times in person. His name is Mason Weaver and he has become a mentor of sorts to me even though he would deny the position. Mason is an author, speaker and radio talk show personality. His story moved me and I realized I had a similar story that needed to be told. This book, in a real since, is a culmination of my life experiences for the past 50+ years. I have no axe to grind. I am not politically correct and I am not a writer by profession as you can probably tell. I am not a biblical scholar nor do I have any fancy degrees. However, what I do have is more common sense and wisdom than most and a profound understanding of the human spirit. I have also become a great observer of people, history and political issues. Proverbs Chapter 1 Verse 5: A wise man will hear and will increase learning and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. I have been able to remove myself from the day-to-day stresses and challenges of life and I am in a spiritual place that few people ever reach but most desperately try to achieve. Please don’t misunderstand my confidence as I have all the problems that other humans face but I have learned it’s really is not the problem that’s the problem it’s how we handle the problem that’s the problem. I rarely take sides as the truth generally lies somewhere in the middle. I always try to listen to both sides of the argument before I make a decision. I never give one side my blind vote without knowing the issues. I do twice as much listening as I do talking because no one can learn when their lips are moving. I will cover many subjects throughout this book. I will show you the things that caused me to turn in one direction or another. Being as transparent as possible I will cover my joy and pain throughout the journey. I will expose my flaws and many mistakes so you will know exactly where I am coming from. You will know where I sit before you see where I stand. I will also cover how you can achieve happiness in every area of your life. My hope is that as you read this book it will cause you to open your mind to other mirrors that exist around you. I hope it will inspire you to increase your spiritual awareness, slowdown a little, think more, love more, hug your children more, smile more and achieve more. Keep in mind that charity starts at home. Some may find my comments throughout the book harsh but I assure you they are delivered in love. We have a lot at stake these days and there is little time to waste on politically correct diatribes. The purpose of this book is not to change your mind but to OPEN IT. What we need is straight talk about the TRUTH. The truth about Politics and Religion, the two subjects your mom always told you to stay away from. Funny thing about the truth some may attack it, some may deny it but in the end there it is. The truth ALWAYS matters and the truth will set us spiritually free. EVERY major issue we as humans face today can be broken down to the most basic idea that we demand others embrace our piece or view of the human mirror. The following is my mirrored journey from non-believing hell mindset to spiritual heaven and a commonsense look at life. As I reach my mirror molding moments I will point them out with the initials (mmm). I hope you enjoy the ride and learn something along the way. |
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