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We All Face Agent Smith's Bullets

Jesus said of the devil, "He was a murderer from the beginning" (John 8:44).

Excerpt from Living with the Devil by Stephen Batchelor

Buddha calls Mara the Antaka. While anta means "end", "limit", "boundary," or "horizon," the Pali suffix -ka implies "one who makes" or "imposes" such things. Mara is that which limits us, confines us within boundaries, fixes our horizons, and brings everything to an end............We inherit or adopt opinions about ourselves and the world that we cling to and refuse to relinquish. So certain are we of being "right" that our convictions feel embedded in our flesh. Yet, to be ensnared by them locks us into fixed dogmatic positions, which are a form of intellectual and spiritual death.

A good friend of mine says that whatever you want to call it, the devil, archetype of evil, lower power, the dark side of the force, or “Agent Smith,” there is something working beyond us that is not out for our good.  In my friend’s words, this “force” wants us to die all alone by yourself, with no friends, in a state of utter misery.  This “devil” wants to separate us from the rest of humanity.  For those of you who are not familiar with the movie The Matrix, all you need to know is that Agent Smith is a very bad person. (By bad... I don’t mean good. :) )

Fortunately, I don’t know that I have been directly confronted by “the archetype of evil” often in my life.  There have often been times, when I have faced what motivational speaker, Les Brown, calls the Merchant Of Misery though.    I believe that Agent Smith/ Merchant Of Misery, operates as “The Lower Powers Chief Of Staff.”  The Merchant may not succeed in completely separating us from everyone else, but this power will place us where the final separation can occur.     The Merchant is a “setup” artist.  His goal is to weaken us so that the devil/archetype of evil can move in for the final blow.  

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In baseball, a setup pitcher (or set-up pitcher, sometimes called the setup man) is a relief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the 7th and/or 8th innings, with the closer pitching the 9th.

If you are a baseball fan, Agent Smith is, Mariano Rivera, when he was a setup pitcher, working to get the game to, Trevor Hoffman, who is arguably the greatest closer in MLB history. For those of you who aren’t baseball fans, think about a time you left a business with a major purchase you didn’t really plan to buy.  You might have begun your shopping speaking with a nice salesman or saleswoman, who peaked your interest, but just couldn’t quite get you to buy.  At the moment your interest was peaked, but you were still leaving without spending your hard earned cash, the sales closer appeared, and the next thing you knew, this attractive, charming woman, or man, had convinced you to sign up for a new car, health club membership, high dollar entertainment system, or __________. (Fill in your own blank.)  While all of us may benefit from any of the purchases I just described, no one will never benefit from what Agent Smith is selling.

"What is it inside our heads that makes us do the opposite? 

Makes us do the opposite of what's right for us? 

Cause everything'd be grrreat... and everything'd be good... 

If everybody gave... like everybody could."  My Morning Jacket

HERE’S SOME OF THE THINGS AGENT SMITH SAYS:

“You can’t change. This is what you’ve always done.  You’re too young to start doing that.  You’re too old now, forget it.  Who made you an expert?  No one will like you if you do that.  You’re stupid.  Forget it, you’re too smart for them, they can’t possibly relate to you.  Can’t do that, you don’t have enough money. Everybody hates you because you have so much money. You’re too ugly!  They all hate you because your so good looking!  You’re to skinny!  You’re too fat!  You re a loser! You suck!  You’ve really... blown it... now!!!   All this never stops, and never will stop unless we do whatever it is that we need to do to confront Agent Smith.

HEAVY HAND- THE CALL

I feel the heavy hand of truth upon me

I feel the deadly sin of pride

It separates the highest from the lowly

It separates love from you and I

I hear the taunting voice of sure temptation

I hear the rantings of a child

An inner voice telling me I'm nothing

The voice is mine, subject to the lie

Heavy hand on heart

Healing words to impart

Heavy hand on my throat

This is no dream

This is no dream

I see the haunting glow of pure surrender

A shapeless light reveals the hidden vow

I can see the countless sons of thunder,

With their knowing eyes circling around me

I feel divisions in this crowd

Heavy hand on my heart

Healing word to impart

Heavy hand on my throat

This is no dream

This is no joke

(From http://www.metrolyrics.com/heavy-hand-lyrics-the-call.html )

WHAT AGENT SMITH WANTS TO SET US UP FOR

I believe that this dark power wants to set us up for a premature physical or spiritual death.   The evil forces don’t care whether this is done through booze, drugs, sloth, anger, depression, or_____(Whatever you struggle with.)  In spiritual death, I think we are “plugged into the Matrix."  We are breathing, but not being what we were created to be.  We may find ourselves spiritually dead, if we spend years “doing what we think they want us to do,” instead of what we need to do.   The words of The Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Anthony Kiedis in his book Scar Tissue, describe vividly what happens when we allow ourselves to be spiritually beaten down. “When your spirit becomes dark and your lifestyle becomes dark, your existence is susceptible to infiltration by dark spirits. I’ve seen it many times with addicts.  You can see that they’re controlled by dark energy, the way they look, their appearance, their voice, their behavior, it’s not them.”

HERE ARE FOUR THINGS I HAVE FOUND USEFUL IN DEALING WITH DARK ENERGY

1. Develop a set of spiritual principles. (A belief in God or something larger than oneself.  If you are an atheist, this may be a cause, not a God or spiritual teacher.)

2.   Here’s my summary of every self help book ever written, courtesy of the great teacher, Earl Nightingale- “You become what you think about all the time.”  If we think loving, encouraging thoughts, we get that.   If we think hateful, destructive thoughts we get that. WE SHOULD MONITOR OUR SELF TALK 24-7 AND KEEP IT LOVING AND POSITIVE. 

3. I believe that my sleeping dreams are a great source of spiritual guidance.  I believe as Episcopal Priest, John Sanford, that “Dreams Are God’s Forgotten Language.”  (See sidebar for a link to the book.)

4. My belief, is that we owe the world what we are, not what, “They want us to be, or ‘the world’ wants us to be.”  We should give the world “our beauty.”  For some of us, this might literally be looks and charm, for others, this may be our creativity, our intelligence, our mechanical ability, or an almost infinite number of gifts. I am very grateful that The Doors  interested me in the poetry of William Blake.  Blake’s poem Mary has often helped me resist the attacks of “Agent Smith.”   I believe that Mary is the best example in literature of the consequences of not sharing our God given beauty with the world.  (The entire poem is below The Doors photo.)

  

William Blake:

MARY 

Sweet Mary, the first time she ever was there,

Came into the ball-room among the fair;

The young men and maidens around her throng,

And these are the words upon every tongue; 

`An Angel is here from the heavenly climes,

Or again does return the golden times;

Her eyes outshine every brilliant ray,

She opens her lips--'tis the Month of May.' 

Mary moves in soft beauty and conscious delight,

To augment with sweet smiles all the joys of the night,

Nor once blushes to own to the rest of the fair

That sweet Love and Beauty are worthy our care. 

In the morning the villagers rose with delight,

And repeated with pleasure the joys of the night,

And Mary arose among friends to be free,

But no friend from henceforward thou, Mary, shalt see. 

Some said she was proud, some call'd her a whore,

And some, when she passèd by, shut to the door;

A damp cold came o'er her, her blushes all fled;

Her lilies and roses are blighted and shed. 

`O, why was I born with a different face?

Why was I not born like this envious race?

Why did Heaven adorn me with bountiful hand,

And then set me down in an envious land? 

`To be weak as a lamb and smooth as a dove,

And not to raise envy, is call'd Christian love;

But if you raise envy your merit's to blame

For planting such spite in the weak and the tame. 

`I will humble my beauty, I will not dress fine,

I will keep from the ball, and my eyes shall not shine;

And if any girl's lover forsakes her for me

I'll refuse him my hand, and from envy be free.' 

She went out in morning attir'd plain and neat;

`Proud Mary's gone mad,' said the child in the street;

She went out in morning in plain neat attire,

And came home in evening bespatter'd with mire. 

She trembled and wept, sitting on the bedside,

She forgot it was night, and she trembled and cried;

She forgot it was night, she forgot it was morn,

Her soft memory imprinted with faces of scorn; 

With faces of scorn and with eyes of disdain,

Like foul fiends inhabiting Mary's mild brain;

She remembers no face like the Human Divine,

All faces have envy, sweet Mary, but thine; 

And thine is a face of sweet love in despair,

And thine is a face of mild sorrow and care,

And thine is a face of wild terror and fear

That shall never be quiet till laid on its bier.

Who Will Be Your Brian Epstein? Whose Brian Epstein will you be?

 

“I get by with a little help from my friends.” The Beatles

"M.B.E. stands for  Mister Brian Epstein..." -- Paul McCartney MBE George Harrison MBE -- 1965 (M.B.E normally stands for Member Of  the Order of the British Empire. :))

I love Twitter!  Twitter allows me to learn from and connect with hundreds of interesting people. My Twitter friends and followers include many up and coming recording artists.  Out of the numerous artists I have met, there isn’t one that I think has no chance of success in the recording business!  So, why do so many talented musicians never chart, never make it to  Saturday Night Live, never make it to The Tonight Show, Coachella Festival, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, The 40 Watt Club, or whatever their dream venue is?   As someone who knows about four chords on a guitar, I don’t really know, :) but here is a guess- “They haven’t met their Brian Epstein.”

"I think Brian's one of the forgotten people. It's almost as if he's been written out of the story. I don't think they'd have got anywhere without Brian.” Cynthia Lennon (John Lennon’s first wife)

For those of you who don’t know Brian Epstein, from Brian Wilson, from Brian Griffin, here’s a micro bio of Brian.  Brian Epstein was The Beatles manager.  He was someone who believed in what John, Paul, George, and Ringo were doing and  he sold their music with a great passion!  If ESPN’S Mike and Mike In The Morning were a music talk show, instead of a sports talk show, they would be asking- “Why is Brian Epstein not in The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame?”  This excerpt from, Glenn Frankel’s, excellent Washington Post article, “Nowhere Man,” is an excellent summary of what Brian did for The Beatles-

“But while Brian transformed the group's appearance and stagecraft, he never messed with their music. The professional managers of that era, had they been interested at all, would almost certainly have required the Beatles to choose a front man and limit their repertoire to the bland, pre-packaged pop music that made acts like Cliff Richard so successful in Britain -- and so uninspired. Whether because he was a total amateur or because he saw something that others didn't, Brian loved the Beatles' sound, encouraged them to write their own songs and cherished their originality.”

"It was almost like a father talking about a son who'd passed his university exams. It was deeply emotional. He would talk for two hours on the phone about it. It was so much a part of him. It wasn't about the money."  

There are conflicting stories about how Brian Epstein and The Beatles “found each other.”  Regardless of how they connected, Brian found a cause that he believed in and the Beatles found the right sales guru for their cause.    So, how can we find our Brian Epstein or Brian Epsteins?  

FIVE WAYS YOU CAN FIND YOUR BRIAN EPSTEIN

Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

1.  Start!  The first time I thought about becoming a professional speaker was in college.  I am very happy that I only “wandered in the wilderness” for half as long as Moses! It took me 20 years to take action.  Here’s the first action I took-  I entered the search phrase “Professional Speaker Huntsville Alabama” on Monster.com.  Within a few seconds, I was looking at a work posting for employment as a speaker for Monster.com’s “Making It Count” program.  An online job application,  video audition tape, and few telephone interviews later, I was on my way to “Making It Count” training.

“When The Student Is Ready The Master Will Appear.”  Buddhist Proverb

2. Learn!  

At my Making It Count training, I had the privilege of meeting, one of the top youth speakers in the United States, Kevin Bracy.  I made the wise decision to attend Kevin’s First Step For Speakers Conference and Kevin’s From The Ground Up Conference.  Those conferences have played a significant role in my development as a communicator. 

“Go To The Places That Scare You.” Pema Chödrön

3.  Get out of your comfort zone!  Does anyone really want to go to a reunion?  My 2008 High School reunion was one of my best experiences last year, but I sure as hell did not initially want to go there!  My Facebook page is a witness to all the people I reconnected with at that event though. :)  One of the people who I reconnected with at our reunion, Allison Adams Blankenship , is an outstanding professional speaker, who has helped me focus on the next steps I need to take to develop as a professional in the communication arts.

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You, too? Thought I was the only one." C.S. Lewis

4.  Connect!  Right now, one of my favorite places to experience the reality of C.S. Lewis powerful quote is Twitter.   As far as I am concerned, I became a writer, the day that my Twitter friend, Tara Joyce, put my guest post on her excellent blog, Rise Of The Innerpreneur.

5.  Be someone else's Brian Epstein!  I will let some of our world’s great spiritual traditions speak for me on this-

SOWING AND REAPING IN SEVERAL SPIRITUAL TRADITIONS

Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Christianity

It is nature’s rule, that as we sow, we shall reap.  Buddhism

As a man soweth so shall he reap.  Sikhism

A liberal man will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered.  Judaism

What proceeds from you will return to you.  Confucianism

Thou canst not gather what thou dost not sow, as thou dost plant the tree, so it will grow.  Hinduism

***When you achieve your goal, please don’t forget your  Brian Epstein, or Brian Epsteins. If you would like to honor the original Brian Epstein’s memory, by helping him get in The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame, please click here for more information.***   

 

   

        

Weirdos Are Wonderful

"Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing.”  Aristotle

“Guitar bands are on their way out.”  (What Decca Records said when they rejected The Beatles)

I wish I had been able to see the cool LA punk band The Weirdos when they were together!  This post starts with something I did get to experience though.  Several weeks ago, I had a very meaningful conversation with a friend of mine.  In that conversation, my friend told me that I should, “Get a job and go to work as everybody else does.”  Now, I am starting a business, so I am working, but I may not be working “like everybody else does.”  Several weeks have passed now, and that conversation has had time to ferment.  I have decided this- Why would I want to be like everybody else?  Most people don’t like their work, many people aren’t happy with their relationships, and many people probably don’t even really like their lives, so why would I want to be like everybody else?   So, I’ve come to a major conclusion… I  want to take not being like everybody else to a higher level... I want to be “a weirdo.” I’ve decided that WEIRDOS ARE WONDERFUL!   

What is a weirdo anyway?  My definition of a weirdo is: A weirdo is someone who is just him or herself.  A weirdo will rarely do something because, "everyone else is doing it.”  A weirdo band will play the type of music they like whether that is what everyone is “down with” now or not.  Weirdo business people will start businesses that “can’t possibly make it.” Weirdos typically do positive  things that they enjoy, and have a passion for, whether everyone approves of what they do or not. 

So, will we all become rich tech barons, famous writers,  or rock stars if  all of us become weirdos?  No, probably not.  But, I do think that when we pursue things that we have a passion for and are good at, we will be happier regardless of our income levels.  So, if that is the case,  why aren’t we all weirdos? 

OBJECTIONS THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY HAVE TO BEING A WEIRDO

1.  PEOPLE WILL NOT LIKE ME IF I AM WEIRDO

- See the Aristotle quote above.  No matter how “nice” any of us are, there will be people who don’t like us.  Might as well do something we have a passion for and believe is right.  I believe, when you are yourself, more of the people who are good for you will like you.   

   

     

2.  I WILL BE UNEMPLOYABLE AND WON'T MAKE ANY MONEY IF I AM A WEIRDO

- I received the photos above in an email with this caption:  “Would you have invested in companies started by these people.”   Those folks aren’t exactly “Dress For Success” type people are they?

If you don’t already know this, the photo on the top is Apple Computer's Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, the photo in the center is Bill Gates and the rest of the Microsoft staff around 1978, and the “the nerds” in the bottom photo are members of a then unknown Irish band, who according to biographer, Matt McGee, were ready to throw in the towel after the early 1980 tour of Ireland— the one that ended with Island signing U2 to a major contract.  Sometimes, pictures may not “say a thousand words,” but can cost “non-weirdos” thousands, millions, or billions of dollars. ☺

Once we’ve overcome these two major objections, what else will help us achieve our desired level of weirdness?

Here are two actions we can all take to achieve our desired level of weirdness:

1.  The first way that you can become a weirdo is by reading books, listening to tapes, or watching movies about weird and strange, but positive people that you admire, or relate to.   The key phrase is- that you can relate to.  For instance, maybe you don't want to read about some rock star who wears sunglasses indoors for instance. (I happen to enjoy reading about Bono. ☺) When you read, you will be absorbing inspiration and motivation to change.    

2.  Accept things as they are right here right now. I am a huge sports fan, but  I will not be the next Michael Jordan no matter how long I stay on the basketball court. I have to accept that I don’t have those skills.  I would love it if I had done what I thought was best, and worked on starting my own business 20 years ago though.  But, I can't go back and do that, so I might as well not live where I can't be.  I can only perform when I focus on what is going on right now, and I believe the same thing is true for everyone else. 

What will the consequences be if we decide that becoming a weirdo is too much trouble?  During his lifetime, professor Joseph Campbell was probably the world’s foremost expert on myths.  After studying all humanities great myths, and all our great religious traditions, professor Campbell reached this conclusion.  He said that not being yourself had very serious consequences.  Hell, said professor Campbell, “is living someone else's life."  Regardless of what our individual belief systems may tell us about hell, I think that we can all agree that is somewhere we don't want to go, even for a visit…

"It Has Begun"

People living deeply have no fear of death.”  Anais Nin

On Friday, April, 13th., 1990, my plans for the morning, did not include having a near death experience.  Death wasn’t on  my mind. My mind was on the fact that I had been “between work situations” for several months, and really needed to get some cash coming in.  I had wisely waited until around 10 AM EST, to let the traffic on I-85 South clear out, and planned to drive to downtown Atlanta. There was a “work opportunities” board at what was then Trust Company Bank, and I wanted to get the latest postings before the Sunday paper was published. (If you are younger than 20, there was no internet. :) ) 

At approximately 10:15 AM EST, just North of I-85 South exit 19, Jimmy Carter Blvd., my maroon 1983 Honda Accord hatchback, was struck by an 18 wheeler.   (As I write this, my heart is beginning to race, and my stomach feels queasy.) One moment, I had been driving about 70 mph. in lane four next to an 18 wheeler, and in the next moment, my car was turned sideways, and I was looking up at the cab of the big rig. This monster vehicle had moved abruptly into my lane, hit my Honda, and turned it sideways!   I vividly recall thinking that I would be a statistic on the six PM news.    That thought lasted about 1/100th of a second, and my next thought was that maybe I could steer the hood of my car, from where it was caught under the rig, away from the truck.  I steered free (Heart is really racing now...) and then began skidding backwards across the interstate.  My first reaction was to push the brake of the Accord to the floor.  Lane one, going backwards, still alive.  Lane two, going backwards, still alive.  Lane three, still... going backwards, still alive.   Finally, my car reaches the side of the road,  but I’m still moving backwards.  Oh God!!  There’s a ditch down there!  Will the car stop?  It did stop... or I might not be typing this.  When I got out the car, I pumped my fists in the air like Rocky Balboa at the top of the Rocky steps.  The teenager who got out of the first car that stopped, said - “Dude! Another 12 inches and you would have hit that pipe and gone up like a torch.”   I immediately bent over, looked under the car, and saw that there was a very stout looking steel pipe sticking up out of the ground... I had missed it by about 12 inches.  The next person to arrive, was a bulky looking Georgia Highway patrolman, who could have easily been an extra in any movie that needed “authentic looking highway patrol officers.”  He said, in a thick southern drawl- “Sir, I don’t know if you are ‘superstitious’ or not, but do you know the odds of you doing what you just did on this highway, and then walking away from your car without a scratch?”  I told him, “I will be in church on Sunday.”

“You have learned something.  That always feels at first as if you had lost something.”  ~H.G. Wells

In, M. Night Shyamalan’s, underrated movie, Unbreakable, a normal man, David Dunn (played by Bruce Willis) discovers that he is an unbreakable hero.  After, Dunn, discovers his true calling, and sees, Elijah Price (played by Samuel L. Jackson), Price says, “It has begun.”  Unfortunately, unlike David Dunn, I did not learn that I was not unbreakable.   I lived like I was unbreakable and could indefinitely postpone everything I wanted to do in life. 

I believe in God, but I don’t know with 100% certainty whether on April 13, 1990, an angel guided my car to safety, or I survived by beating the odds. What I do know, is that either way, I should have been filled with joy for the gift that I was given.  Unfortunately, it has taken me almost 20 years to learn what I should have learned that day, and to genuinely appreciate each breath that I take. 

When it comes to my near death experience, all of us whether theists, or atheists, can ponder this passage from Melville’s Moby Dick- “Chance, free will, and necessity --no wise incompatible --all interweavingly working together.  The straight warp of necessity, not to be swerved from its ultimate course --its every alternating vibration, indeed, only tending to that; free will still free to ply her shuttle between given threads; and chance, though restrained in its play within the right lines of necessity, and sideways in its motions directed by free will, though thus prescribed to by both, chance by turns rules either, and has the last featuring blow at events.”

“Having tasted,… A life wasted,…I’m never going back again.” - Pearl Jam

“Infinite gratitude for all things past.  Infinite service to all things present.  Infinite responsibility for all things future.  That is Zen.”  Japanese Zen teacher defining Zen to Methodist Minister, Huston Smith.

Since 1988, I have known that I wanted to write professionally in some form.  Yet, it has taken me until today to write this post.  Why?  It doesn’t matter.  The past won't change... But tonight, “It has begun.” 

 

 So, whether paid or not, I am now a writer.  What is it that you need to become today?  Not tomorrow, today...  

My First Post Is Now Tonight!

"Procrastination has sent more men to hell than whiskey."  Anonymous

A  few hours ago,  I received a comment from a friend that helped me decide to make my first post tonight.  Here is the entire comment, pasted from the comments on my first post:

“Bill, why not start today? The best advice I ever got on starting a new venture was from a cousin in Ohio who was struggling with starting his own business. He did a lot of work for really rich people near Cleveland, and would repeatedly ask them "what's the secret of your success?" He said that they'd all start off telling him something that sounded like it was out of a self-improvement book, but nearly all of them stopped mid-sentence and then said "that's what everyone says... but the real secret is, ya just gotta do it!" So post today! You won't be burned at the stake if it sounds stupid... that's the point of a blog; people will help you get better. So just do it! Before midnight!”

Steve Mouzon

I agree with Steve!  My first “official post” is going up before midnight.

My First Post Will Be Monday, February, 23rd.

I will begin posting on Monday, February, 23rd.  If you happen to surf by before then, please feel free to share any comments you have about this blog.  What do you like?  What don’t you like?  What would you add?  What would you take away?   You may make comments below this post or contact me through the contact links in the sidebar.  Thanks for stopping by! :)  Bill