Poem for Travis Alexander to jury

Dear Jury,

God picked you- to speak for me

What you decide - just know I'll be

Inside the courtroom - when the verdict is read 

Not in body - but in spirit instead

It wasn't my time - to leave this earth 

But God knew my fate - at the time of my birth 

He gave me purpose - and I did my best

Now it is time - for my spirit to rest

The state of Arizona - gave  me a voice

The decision you make - will be your choice

Whatever it is, friends, hold no grudge 

For I'm now in the arms - of the eternal judge

I'm not on trial - although some put me there

This is not something - my family should bear

I left this world - with no guilt or shame

This isn't about - clearing my name 

Family I'm with you - I hope you find peace

I may be gone - but our memories won't cease

I have been judged - this verdict isn't for me 

The ones who need peace - is my...family......

In memory of Travis Victor Alexander

---Written by: Alisha Carter

5/4/13

The Dark Side of Logic

What Lurks Beneath

We are taught from an early age to not get too familiar with the dark; the dark is not to be feared, but respected. You can't see what lurks in the darkness and must rely on other senses. In the dark is where you find your answers. If you spark a light, you can see what you are looking for but that is too easy.....because if you never look, you choose what feels the safest. A well lit path will drown out the darkness and you will never truly see what is out there. Safe answers that are blindly accepted never change anything. To travel the path less taken requires courage.

If you go through life and listen to the majority, you lose control of yourself. The truth is out there but you have to be fearless and keep an open mind. If everyone chose the same path in life, those rare treasures would never be found. Who wants to follow in the path of the ones who have already covered that same path? Why put your feet into someone else's footsteps? Do you expect the outcome to be the different? Dare to veer off and search because in the end, if you find nothing new, the old path is right there. A well traveled path may seem safe and less of a risk but there could be more of a reward by a small detour. This is how lessons are learned. Never take any one's word for it, even if it makes sense. Ask yourself WHY it makes sense and don't be afraid to question things. You can never rule something out if you do not oppose it, even if it is just out of curiosity. No one individual holds every answer but collectively many truths can be discovered but you have to dare to be different, even if you are wrong. There is no shame in being wrong but there is shame in never thinking for oneself.

If you are only prepared to see what you have been told, that is what you will see. Wipe the slate clean but store all information for future use. Never disregard anything until you can make the leap to a more logical conclusion. Without darkness, we can't appreciate light; with too much light, we are blinded and can only see what is put in front of us. The key is to explore.

The path above is dark but has already been cleared. Walk this path, drink in the knowledge of what you can see. It's not the most well lit path, but it has been traveled. Ahead you can see a dark opening but you know not where it will lead you so you have to stay true to yourself and trust your instincts. There is no point of no return unless you choose that. Often, a walk into the unknown is too scary for some but think how rewarding it will be to know what is on the other side instead of taking some one's word for it. There are no signs to lead you so you must draw from all of your senses. Breathe deep and inhale. Is the air pungent? There are always warning signs but you have to be aware. Perception is often just a stumbling block to reason. Don't buy into anything without a thorough consideration of the opposition. We can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Just because you use these senses does not mean you must swallow and digest....it merely means you are using your own judgements and logical deductions.

This is my favorite symbolic uncleared path of life. What is hidden behind the trees that may cloud our view? What lurks beneath the scattering of leaves, akin to information? What gem can you find in this vast arena of unchartered territory? Be a trailblazer, think on your own. Don't subscribe to the "norm." Never rule out someone else's theories or thoughts but leave your mind open. "Leave my mind open to the dark?" you may ask yourself. No, just accept that life is full of ups and downs, the light will come but to get to the light one must traverse the darkness. Darkness does not equal evil even though it is portrayed this way. The dark is symbolic to rest; it is calming. Many "evil" deeds are done in the dark, people hide because they want no one to see them or know their thoughts....but this is a society stigma placed on darkness. Even if you build a fortress in the dark to hide, once the light shines, it is revealed for what it is....it is all in perception or interpretation.

Don't become ungrounded. Roots are important because without them the life they support will die. Things must be enriched in a strong foundation to survive, just like the truth. A lie will always be disproven in some form and un-watered life or thoughts will wilt and begin to die. Trees and plants, just as thoughts, can be re-rooted into a richer soil for growth. Growth will depend on looking or the best or richest soil. If you don't look for it, you never know if you are letting your roots seep deeper into a foundation that can never be supported, no matter how much light or water or fertilize you use. Know what is beneath the surface. Is there loose bits of sand or a rich soil that can uphold a storm? Is there an ample supply of just the right balance of water and light to nurture or will one destroy or cancel out the other? Life, just like thoughts or beliefs, cannot flourish without balance. Too much of anything can spoil even the most hybrid and versatile. Dig deep and know what you are putting your faith or time and energy into before you commit to something that will never last.



I like this quote because we don't have this option. We can't get the things we fear out of the way first; we cannot know there is a brighter tomorrow because the choices we make today can and will affect us on down the road. If life was in reverse, we could make the mistake, but know the happier times are to come. Since we do not have this luxury, it is best to search, to dig, to explore and make the best choice we can by the things we research. Even then, we will always make a wrong turn or a mistake and sometimes these mistakes are costly and cannot be resurrected.  Some bridges will be burned, but that is life. It is the hand we are dealt at birth. We must go into this life willing to search for love, truth, balance, and the hidden gems that make it worthwhile. We can't be afraid to enter the dark or stray from a well trodden path. Courage and and open mind can lead to happiness but you can't let fear guide your every step. Progression has never started with following the same path but by veering off and exploring what may seem to be a dark or sinister path, when in fact, what we search for is there but sometimes, merely hidden.  

Nothing Ventured.....Nothing Gained



Fire & Water

War: The Divide & Conquer

Fire & Water

There are more ways than one to DIVIDE AND CONQUER.

On one hand you have fire.....

And on the other hand you have water.....

Both are beautiful when contained....but both are deadly forces and can consume and overtake. One is subtle and can calm while the other can provide a beautiful and radiating warmth until the fury is unleashed. These elements are polar opposites but the one thing they have in common is their versatile abilities to lure, control, overtake, and ultimately conquer.

Fire and Water can battle but will cancel out the other. A fire can rage and cause devastation and eventually, if weak enough, the water will evaporate and be gone forever. Water can creep into places no one can see; the tiniest crack or crevice can allow this element to seep in and gain control. It is a much slower process but water can be a very overwhelming factor if not contained. The two cannot go to war with each other because they cancel out the other. Water needs space and a driving force to become the victor where all Fire must have is a little breath of oxygen to fuel and propel it into epic and tragic proportions.

Once a fire starts, it spreads fast and sometimes even mother nature cannot stop the uncontrollable flames. What can start as a harmless spark or flame can quickly accelerate into an overwhelming situation and often ending in a catastrophic demise. Fire is beautiful. It warms. It has a natural ability to fuel and is essential in life. If left unattended or if someone fans the flames, there is nothing fire cannot destroy.

Water is also a very essential part of life. It is the polar opposite of fire and can nurture and combine and even have a calming effect....until a force behind it exceeds the space available for containment and it becomes a huge problem that cannot be controlled.

Fire represents the part in us which challenges the status quo, seeking to shatter convention; water embodies our ability to make peace with life, to come to terms with reality; to embrace what is.

An individual can possess both qualities in their nature but some are more tapped into one more than the other. If two people who contain the power of fire inside them collide, one cannot fathom the destruction that would befall. If two people who contain the power of water inside them collide, there would be a flood that would drown the individuality because the two would merge.

In essence, fire and water cannot co-exist in their natural elements in life. One would ultimately destroy the other.

If you perceive these elements as personalities, the two together can divide and conquer. Water seeps in, unnoticed, innocent, and nurturing. Water may even have a playfulness that beckons and mediates and brings individuals together just as water can connect two bodies of land by being the medium on which can aid in getting from point A to point B. But what people don't realize is that there is a driving force behind this water.  Water mediates, fire intimidates. The fury and rage from a stroked fire can force its way through an opening and take over with no warning. The two elements in personalities can take over and cannot lose.

Fire is often associated with dry while water seemingly nutures; however, water can flood just as easily as it can nuture if guards are not in place. When one thinks of dry, one thinks of desolate, not how it came to be. It seems to the bipolar nature of the beasts.

Both are devastating, yet both are needed. Both must be contained and the two together working in balance, can and will divide. One element may be the victor of conquering but without water, fire has no purpose because it cannot be stopped....without fire, water has nothing to quench.

The Yin-Yang philosophy, often represented by the Tao circle, attempts to explain everything in the universe. Originating from ancient China, yin and yang stands for the two opposing forces that govern the world.

Embrace the water, enjoy the warmth of a fire...but don't let either consume you because they are both forces beyond anyone's control. The key to success with either of the elements is to use to your own advantage but never go up against them, especially if one force is driving the other. Water can chase a flame away and fire can evaporate liquid into oblivion. When there are one of these elements that is using a force to fuel the other, would you really want to be on the receiving end? Mother nature has mysterious ways of tending to the life she nurtures. She sends rain to nurture growth and fires to destroy the old for a rebirth. This is akin to people in our lives who have these personalities. They can be nurturing and tender. Warm on a cold day or a calm during the heat. Let your guards down or give water too much space and you will drown. Give a fire too much oxygen and fuel and you will go down in flames.

Know when to stroke the flames or when to let your guard down.

Don't try to quench your thirst with fire.

Forgiveness: It's Universal

The most beautiful and seductive words are sometime tainted, then painted. You may look at these words and think the same, but I implore you to read further. I will provide a link or citation to what I am talking about and I will give my interpretation on this and it may seem uncommon to you or even foreign. Take my words, research for yourself, and realize it is never about US. I chose the name of this blog "Uncommon Sense" because what is so common about sense anyway? It seems it has gone by the way-side and we have lost sight of what is important. Peace.

How can one be at peace with themselves if they cannot be at peace with others? Before you agree, stop and ask yourself WHY you are agreeing. If you are agreeing because you feel like you have been wronged, who hasn't? Are you retaliating in any way? If so, how are you any different than the ones you think should BE more peaceful?

The things I will be posting are not necessarily my beliefs but beliefs of some of you. While incorporating my beliefs, this is just as much a journey for me as it is for you. I want to find nirvana. I want to find peace. I want to find understanding and it starts with...... forgiveness.

Whether we tackle forgiveness from a religious standpoint or a purely logical standpoint, the end goal and result will be the same. I will throw in scripture from religious material, quotes, opinions, and by the time this is complete, maybe we can agree that forgiveness is the first step to a brighter future. Do you actually enjoy carrying around all of those chips on your shoulder? Do you wake up each morning and find a new wrinkle because of the worries you have ultimately placed on yourself? That's right. No one else made you worry. No one else made you get upset. If you are at peace with yourself, you will not ever let another's opinion or mind-set rule you. He who angers you--conquers you. (Elizabeth Kenny)

The Importance of Forgiving Others



A Study of Matthew 18:21-35

By Harold S. Martin

A Bible Helps Booklet No. 375

The word forgive is used 109 times in our English Bible. Forgiveness means ceasing to feel resentment for wrongs and offenses done toward us. It includes pardon and the restoration of broken relationships. Forgiveness is the act of renouncing anger and ill feelings against others.

The greatest forgiveness of all-is an act of God, by which He releases sinners from judgment, and frees us from the divine penalty levied because of our sins. But forgiveness is also a human act toward one's fellow human beings. God's forgiveness, because of the death of Christ in our behalf, is to become an incentive for us to forgive others who offend us.

The rule of revenge is still practiced in some societies. Getting even does not always involve using a gun; sometimes revenge means taking people to court. Sometimes getting even involves doing to others as they have done to us. That is retaliation. One tee-shirt had these words imprinted on it: "I don't get mad; I just get even." Others insist that those who have wronged them must make things right-or they will suffer the consequences. One man says, "I'll never forgive that woman-not to my dying day." But remember: one who seeks to get even with another, makes himself even with the enemy.

All of us are familiar with feuding relatives or neighbors - who, because of some real (or imagined) offense, refuse to have anything to do with each other. Some hold grudges, even to the day they die - apparently without considering how their lack of forgiveness affects their lives, and the lives of those around them. Think of all the misery that results in our communities (and sometimes in our churches) from disputes and quarrels and lawsuits over matters that are trifling, compared with the way each one of us has offended God.

In Matthew 18, Peter had learned from his traveling with Jesus that it is important to forgive - but surely, he reasoned, there must be a limit to how often we forgive! How long must one keep on forgiving? Jesus had just been talking about one brother sinning against another (in verse 15 of Matthew 18). Now, Peter asks whether forgiving such offenses seven times is sufficient.

The Scripture for the study in this article is Matthew 18:21-35. In verse 21, Peter had a question about the frequency of forgiveness. He said to Jesus, "How oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?" Forgiveness is one of the highest of human virtues, because it reflects the character of God. God has freely forgiven us, and He expects us to be quick to forgive others. Jesus taught that Christian compassion forgives - over, and over, and over again.

The Torah describes Yom Kippur by saying (Vayikra 16:30): "For on that day he will make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before G-d." Yom Kippur, the Torah is telling us, is a day on which atonement will indeed come. However, the Kotzker Rebbe explained this passage in another fashion..... Did you think I would only quote the Christian Bible? I told you, it's UNIVERSAL!

The Noble Qur'an 3:103, 105And hold fast, all of you together, to the Rope of Allâh (i.e. this Qur'ân), and be not divided among yourselves, and remember Allâh's Favour on you, for you were enemies one to another but He joined your hearts together, so that, by His Grace, you became brethren (in Islâmic Faith), and you were on the brink of a pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus Allâh makes His Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.,) clear to you, that you may be guided.

...And be not as those who divided and differed among themselves after the clear proofs had come to them. It is they for whom there is an awful torment.

Again, FORGIVENESS is universal. Let's look at atheism and see what their thoughts are:

If anything, it might be argued that the concept of forgiveness has much more significance for atheists than for some religious theists and some Christians. After all, Christians ultimately only need to be forgiven by their god — and according to them, their god will forgive absolutely anything with just a single requirement, which is to accept Jesus Christ. Christians also believe that, in the end, their mistakes will be fixed or made up for by their god. There is nothing they can do which would thwart their god's plan for humanity and the universe, and that's what's ultimately important.
For atheists, though, there are no gods to seek forgiveness from and certainly no gods who will fix any mistakes. For atheists, the only forgiveness that can exist must come from the people around us and from ourselves. Atheists can't presume that if some god forgives them, then it doesn't matter what others around them think because we humans are all that really count in the end. --Austin Cline

http://atheism.about.com/od/atheismatheistsmorals/a/AtheistsForgive.htm

Romans 2:1-5

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things.

We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

****************************************

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” --Ghandi

These following words are NOT my own..... but if you believe them, let the meaning soak in.

Our Father, who art in Heaven, Hallowed by thy name..
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done... on earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day, our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors...
Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil..
For thine is the kingdom, the power, the glory, forever... amen.

Last Words

Religion aside, how can you expect to find peace while harboring resentment? Will a banging gavel bring forth peace? If it does, you are not looking for peace. You are looking to get even. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." (Ghandi)....

Matthew 18:9
And if your eye offend you, pluck it out, and cast it from you: it is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire.

Would you pluck your own eye out? Probably not. Then why would you take from another person?

I know, it makes absolutely no sense to live and let live.... guess that is why it's "uncommon sense."

Peace. Pun Intended.