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.....thoughts on the difficulty of bringing insightful change to our core being.

Brother Franco, headmaster of Pizzaonian Monasteries, was sharing with me some thoughts on how difficult it is for both novice monks and their older brothers and sisters to bring profound change to their lives.  

Here is a brief excerpt of his thoughts on the difficulty of bringing insightful change to our core being. 

Brother Giovanni

 

We live our lives following a habit pattern we are seldom aware of.  We continue to tinker with our schedules and our motivations, but the foundation that it all rests on stays the same.  Many surface things in our personalities change often, but at our core, at the very foundation of our being, change there does not come easily, or often. 

Who we are and how we have learned to protect ourselves from ourselves, and everyone else is where the hardest stone of our foundation rests, and why things seldom change. The reason we seldom change is because we don’t want to change.  Simply said, change at this level would transform our lives dramatically and turn our comfort zones upside down. 

We occasionally get glimpses of the person we could be if we were willing to change ourselves at this core level.  It may be inspiring for a moment, but when the realization of what it would mean to become the real you hits home, it usually takes us quickly back to our comfort zone. 

So the next time you lament to yourself, why don’t things ever really change, find a mirror and ask the person looking back at you.  That person knows the answer to your question if you dare listen. 

Brother Franco

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Poor Mr. Jefferson, where are you when the people need you?

 It is hard for Pizzaonians to accept the notion that Americans no longer believe they have control over their government. 

In many conversations during my recent portalization to the United States, I heard the cynical comment, “they are bought lock, stock and barrel!”  (NRA) They, of course, refer to their supposedly elected representatives.

Whether it is true or not, it is, nonetheless, sad.  The greatest democracy in the Worldonian world is losing the respect of the people it was created to protect.  Poor Mr. Jefferson, where are you when the people need you? 

Can a democracy be great when its citizens no longer believe their vote is meaningful?  Recent activity indicates the people are becoming more positive. The United States faces many financial and political problems; however, none that can compare with the loss of the faith of its people.  Let us hope this never happens.

Not only does the United States deserve more, the world that looks to this beacon of democracy also deserves more.

 

Vera V Veronica, commenting from Pizzaonia for the Pizzaonian Newsertainment Network, Diverti Mento, editor

We also recommend: http://pizzaonian.com Forth of July

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Are there two more frightening euphemisms in use today than "creative destruction" and "collateral damage?"

Nothing sums up the lunacy of our times more than the following quote:

 
 

Occasionally you read a statement that sums up the culture of our government in a few simple words. 

 

Before you think it is only the Republicans - “Democrats also passed a financial reform law:

 

"The law that originally created the Federal Reserve was a mere 31 pages. The Sarbanes-Oxley banking reform act, passed in 2002, was only 66 pages. But the 2010 financial reform law was 2,319 pages, an intricately engineered technocratic apparatus. As Mark J. Perry of the American Enterprise Institute noted, the financial reform law is seven times longer than the last five pieces of banking legislation combined.”   David Brooks – New York Times

 

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Hope for a better tomorrow is essential for the American Dream to continue

 

 

Conjectures of a recovering dilettante:  Are we as a people still willing to sacrifice - both individually and as a nation?

 

While this may seem critical, I feel my criticism is based on a belief that the United States is an evolving experiment in participatory democracy.  The greatness of this country has always been its potential.  While its history is checkered with good and bad, it has always held the promise of a better tomorrow.  It is this hope of a better tomorrow that drives the optimism of the American dream.

 

It is also the key to American power and its attraction to millions of people all over the world.  What is so disconcerting about today is the concept of hope for a better tomorrow is waning in the hearts of many the America people.  This is fueled by a political establishment that no longer seems able to lead, but only fuels the pessimism that is beginning to pervade most thinking here.

 

It is hard to understand why this is happening, but one thing always comes to mind.  The spirit of sacrifice which is part of the heart of a great people, no longer seems as strong. Is this temporary, or a symptom of a greater malaise that has become endemic to the culture?  Is the ruling political establishment the cause, or are they simply a reflection of the people that elect them?

 

Regardless of which, both are failing to carry the torch that has been handed to them from the past – a past that kept the American concept of hope alive so the dream could continue.

 

May that dream never die!

 

Brother Giovanni

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A funny thing happened on the way to Utopia, we invented scorekeepers.

ON KEEPING SCORE 

It seems we live in a world that demands we keep score.  From kindergarten children to senior citizens, someone is watching and keeping a record.  Nothing is left to spontaneity or chance.

Everything is to be accounted for and you can be sure you will be told by someone the results of the scorecard. 

Since there is very little we can do to change this, let’s remember one thing.  If you insist on keeping score make sure you count points for as well as points against.  

There is a growing tendency to use the scoreboard as a weapon, both pro and con.  Enough!  Just remember to be fair.  After all, someone is also scoring how you keep score. 

 

Brother Giovanni

http://pizzaonian.com

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American democracy -- the dismal accountability from many of the folks we elect!

 

Another day in Utopia... now you see it and now you don’t. 

Political campaigns in the United States are interesting.  We, the voters, allow politicians to say what we what them to say, fully appreciating the fact that they don’t mean any of it, and will do what ever they choose to do when elected. 

It is one of the interesting facets about American democracy -- the dismissal of accountability from the folks we elect.  The party that is out is given an edge because they can oppose everything, knowing full well they will not be held responsible for anything they say. 

This all changes of course when the outs become the ins - once elected you can feel free to break any promise you made.  After all, you are now responsible for what happens.  What serious voter would expect you to keep your promises? 

This all works because we the voters only have two choices. And most of us hold our noses when we vote. This supposedly makes American democracy very efficient – and that it does.  Unfortunately, it also turns out not to be very democratic.

 

Brother Giovanni

We also recommend "The Pizzaonian"

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At the heart of all success is not your belief in its inevitability

 

"At the heart of all success is not your belief in its inevitability -- at the heart of all success is your ability to overcome the fear that permeates and surrounds your belief."   Pizzaonian proverb

 

Image courtesy of the Pizzaonian Art Institute, Abe Straction, curator (C)2012

 

"From this life to the next, your courage to simply be will prevail."

 

Words posted at the entrance of the chapel for novice Pizzaonians

 

 

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We are now experiencing what happens when a nation is between value systems!

 Commentary by Brother Giovanni - Image courtesy of the Pizzaonian Art Institute, Abe Straction, curator (C)2012

 

A nation is most vulnerable when it is evolving between value systems.  When the old values and symbols that define us as a country begin to fade away, and the new values that will redefine us have yet to arrive, a nation is in a very dangerous time. It is during these transitory times that demagogues usually appear.

 

These periods of major shifts in values can not only change a nation, they can rip its people apart and make them weaker and less able to survive. Look at Washington, DC if you need an example. These periods in a our countries history may be more dangerous than war as a threat to our nation’s survival.

 

We have always believed the core values that bind us together as a nation will allow us to survive. Fundamental to this belief is that when the new symbols and values arrive, they will encompass these same core values. This may not be the contradiction this appears to be.

 

In the United States these core values can be summed up in the phrase “evolving to a more perfect Union” because that’s what we have been doing these last 241 years … and it’s no secret we aren’t there yet.

 

The question now is: What are we trying to evolve to?

 

That’s up to you and me.  Pay attention, it’s all happening before your very eyes!

We also recommend: "The Pizzaonian."

 

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Are there times when everyone seems a little nuts to you

 
 

Are there times

When everyone seems

A little nuts to you

Hopefully it’s not

You but your not sure

Maybe it’s the nature

Of the world today

 

Even though it is

Curious that up is

Down and down is

Up you vote for

One politician because

You don’t like the other

Guy and your guy

Becomes the other guy

 

Never could figure

Out why that happens

But campaigns are

Different and promise

Change and then

There’s the other guy

Again except this

Time he’s your guy

 

As I said everything

Seems a little nuts today

 

Excerpts from “Conjectures of a Recovering Dilettante”

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On the nature of politeness - politeness often masks the truth by diluting it.

 

Conjectures of a recovering dilettante while traveling the road to Utopia.

What to say and how to say it has always been the problem.  To seek the polite way of communication, that is to speak with an acceptable voice that resonates with politeness and deference, is often the way of more timid. 

This may seem harsh to most, but I am amazed how many times we hide behind politeness.  Since politeness is considered a virtue, it becomes an insidious and convenient mask for the faint-hearted.

The obvious problem is that politeness often masks the truth by diluting it and making it palatable, and in so doing it makes the truth less attainable.  Once this habit of politeness takes root it helps to establish a belief system that seems very comfortable with its delusion of heroic qualities. 

The problem is the truth can only be masked so long, and if you are very lucky, it will finally appear in all of its glorious beauty.  For many, this is the beginning of their personal salvation.

 
Brother Giovanni

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