Here we are, finally, through 50 odd postings covering a myriad of issues. Central to this journey has been one fact: establishing one’s relationship with God in a meaningful and lasting way.
This has meant knowing oneself and knowing God. Knowing that, through ups and downs in life, we are tested to see whether we are the better for the wear and tear and that all repair and redemption are well within God’s plan for us.
Our season is not over till our breath is all done. So, in God’s Dominion, there is always the room for a winning season. And He can and does accommodate countless many champions, for life is one person’s season against oneself. One lonely player fending both sides of the field: Good and wise vs. Bad and foolish! It is like eating or taking a shower to feel better. One has to do it on one’s own. Nobody can do it for another.
Yes, it is a strange season with the most unusual matchup running every waking, healthy, free hour of every 24-7 that one is blessed to participate in.
One wonders why the season has to be so prolonged and continuous. Well, since we pride ourselves about freedom of choice – the prize we receive for simply having been born human, the Guarantor of that charter has to see whether, how and how much the adult human upholds or infringes upon the rules governing the winner of the pageant, and whether in the latter event man is aware of its transgressions and how it deals with them upon realization of its folly.
The questions that follow are: how broken is one and how did it get so bad?
tptChoice Team
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I am an educator in Business & Economics. I hold master's and doctorate degrees. Three decades earlier, as a graduate student, while going through a course related to Industrial Psychology, I stumbled upon Factor Analysis. It uses a mathematical technique to quantify emotions such as anger, happiness, etc. Thus, say, for identification as well as measurement of intensity of anger, one may identify telltale factors such as loudness of voice and quickness of speech, reddening of face, unusual use of swear words, flailing of arms, etc. They are all quantifiable and may act as proxy variables regarding this particular emotion.
So, I thought about my own community back in the old country, and even here today in the West, that has been able to vastly stave off addictive behavior, depression, suicidal tendencies, etc., yet is unable to follow other don'ts (back in the old country again) such as, not to drive erratically or honk randomly, litter the street wantonly, or rush rather than queue up when seeking a service, etc. So, I was curious why and how is it that my people follow the prohibitions against drinking, gambling, and pre and extra marital relationship, for example, yet fail to follow these other prohibitions?
That raised many questions. Mainly, what are the underlying, hidden or overt, spiritual, psychological and social factors or structures that allow this type of sustained, pervasive success over time and space? What receives their voluntary acceptance and cooperation, and guides them so as to be self-corralled?
In resolving this puzzle, I realized that maybe I could share this with people of other communities who are being debilitated by addiction of one type or another. As a new citizen, based on my values, I felt I needed to give back something lasting to the host community. Perhaps then my community and I could become true sons and daughters of the soil?
Yet my vision was not to seek religious conversion of others, but elucidation of what works, how and why for one faith community. While all of it is emanating from a spiritual domain of a particular variety, it is a part of human heritage. I wanted to be like a doctor who does not care about his patient's faith persuasion. He wants to know about the case history, diagnose the problem and prescribe the best way to recovery.
Needlessly to say, I have been questioned by some people of my faith whether individuals who follow my methodology will be successful. After all, they are not only not formally presented the actual faith's identity, much less expected to accept it. Presumably, those who accept the faith have a significantly higher qualitative appreciation. Absent self-selection, all I possibly have is a hollow exercise!
Well, all I can do now is to see how the experiment pans out in the long run.
Now, fortunately, given the tall order that I have set out for myself and with the very meager resource at my disposal, the advent of the Internet has been Godsend. I was stuck not knowing how to go about until I remembered about China's Ma and his Alibaba - the other Amazon.com. Thus, inspired by yet another eureka moment, I thought, surely I could also try. The service could very well be online, making the service seekers but a click away.
So, here I am, and here's Totally Personal Total Choice!
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