Religion, the organized faith to the unknowable, to the invisible, to the improbable.

The human mind - we - could not handle the weight of realization and we turned to divinity. Then we couldn't handle the weight of divinity and we chose to put it in little tidy boxes, locked them, painted a question mark on them, advertised the value of the secrets within and then charged a fee for anyone who wanted to see inside. So far so good.

But then we took one of the boxes and we changed its fee. Some of us understood that the box itself was more valuable for the many than the inside, and the few who truly recognized its inside for what it is - for its real value -, they would never pay the fee for it. And so, the box-keepers, who had become merchants in the meantime, would change the fee to suit their needs. Such an unwholesome thing to do! Imagine that! For the same product, some would pay money, some would pay in sweat, some in pain. Some in blood (and not even their own at that).

From the beginning of religion until now nothing really changed. Some still pay in money, some in sweat, some in pain and some in blood. In tears. In broken dreams. In humiliation. In alienation.

Some believe that inside the boxes is knowledge, others happiness, others immortality, for others virgins (understandably enough, they do get harder to find). The absurdity, however, is in the belief that the fee to see inside the box equals faith.

Let us stop paying the blood merchants and their pound of flesh. Let us become free and go with the few that realize that the inside of the box was and always will be, free.

Ancient:

I swear by Apollo the physician, and Aesculapius the surgeon, likewise Hygeia and Panacea , and call all the gods and goddesses to witness, that I will observe and keep this underwritten oath, to the utmost of my power and judgment.

I will reverence my master who taught me the art. Equally with my parents, will I allow him things necessary for his support, and will consider his sons as brothers. I will teach them my art without reward or agreement; and I will impart all my acquirement, instructions, and whatever I know, to my master's children, as to my own; and likewise to all my pupils, who shall bind and tie themselves by a professional oath, but to none else.

With regard to healing the sick, I will devise and order for them the best diet, according to my judgment and means; and I will take care that they suffer no hurt or damage.

Nor shall any man's entreaty prevail upon me to administer poison to anyone; neither will I counsel any man to do so. Moreover, I will give no sort of medicine to any pregnant woman, with a view to destroy the child.

Further, I will comport myself and use my knowledge in a godly manner.

I will not cut for the stone , but will commit that affair entirely to the surgeons.

Whatsoever house I may enter, my visit shall be for the convenience and advantage of the patient; and I will willingly refrain from doing any injury or wrong from falsehood, and (in an especial manner) from acts of an amorous nature, whatever may be the rank of those who it may be my duty to cure, whether mistress or servant, bond or free.

Whatever, in the course of my practice, I may see or hear (even when not invited), whatever I may happen to obtain knowledge of, if it be not proper to repeat it, I will keep sacred and secret within my own breast.

If I faithfully observe this oath, may I thrive and prosper in my fortune and profession, and live in the estimation of posterity; or on breach thereof, may the reverse be my fate!

Modern:

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.

From the most mundane action to the most complicated, our spirits must be infused with responsibility. We must always strive for excellence in a world, indifferent at best, outright hostile at worst.

Another reason for marriage failing (and by marriage, I mean any union of human beings) is that we choose our companion on ephemeral characteristics. Like weight, athleticism,  muscle definition. Instead, we should make our choice based on more permanent ones, like character, attitude, mentality. Generally virtues that time cannot erode.

....slightly pessimistic, slightly offensive, metaphorical and probably true. You were warned.

Let us think of life as a watery hole filled with excrement (shit). The only thing that we can see floating are turds. In fact, the biggest ones seem to dominate. How did they get so big as to dominate the smaller ones? The asshole that expelled them had eaten way, way more than the rest.

It is hard to find a worse kind of insult than someone forced to dig his own grave or transport the "tools" of his execution and I think that is precisely what happens right now in the global economy.

Take for example the debt crisis in Greece. Instead of support and humane treatment, there is an abhorrent propaganda and insults. Granted someone more powerful can do these things and more, but should he really? Shouldn't the primary job of someone powerful be to protect those weaker than him? When did we become so jaded that we cannot see the numbers get translated in real persons with feelings, lives, hopes, and dreams?

In what sense is Europe a "family"? Do you treat a brother owning you money as a homeless stranger that his very presence offends you? Clearly, your global power assigns you a position on the chess board and we are simply pawns in this ordeal. How can there be camaraderie then, if you consider human beings inferior simply because of the country they originate?

The weak must serve the strong in order to survive. 2015. Humanity.Suits and ties and wealth.

Moving on. What is crime? "An action or omission which constitutes an offense and is punishable by the law". That phrase is indicative of the purpose behind its use. What is that purpose, I wonder. Is it justice? Action, omission, offense, punishment, law. Sounds more controlling, forcing, expecting obedience rather than serving justice, equality, life, does it not?

Two points.We are supposed to be equal in the eyes of the law. The person at the top of any hierarchical structure is responsible for the whole pyramid underneath him.

Let's talk about numbers and repercussions. As a result of the pressure by the German Chancellor, more than three thousand men and women committed suicide in Greece in the current timeline of events. In peacetime that would be quite an achievement for any serial killer. Let's forget temporarily the outrage of comparing a Chancellor with a serial killer. The aforementioned "accusation" indeed has several logic flaws. However, and please hear me out, if you know that taking certain "measures" in a certain "way" will lead to deaths aren't you at least *partially* responsible for the outcome (bearing in mind the two points above)?

We could blame the victims of course. They were weak (see above). They were sick. They chose poorly. They were dressed in a provocative manner. I would like to believe that we are better than that.

So through psychological pressure, some thousands decided to end their existence. Who will be held accountable for said pressure? By acting ( applying economic pressure) or omitting (immediate social protection measures and reassurances) people died. Isn't that a crime? Why should the most powerful among us not be held responsible for their actions that effect from thousands to million souls?

Chancellor: I believe in God, religion is my companion.

It seems the Christian beliefs get altered the further up we move on the European map, eh? Or German Christians are superior to other Christians.

I propose these: Laws to avoid cultural devastation through economic choking and financial assassination and accountability of our "Elite".

Souls demand justice. And they will not be denied.

Let's discuss biological immortality.

The assumption is that someone discovered how to stop the aging of the cells so human beings can no longer die by the degradation of said cells through the aging process. Let's assume that aging reversal is not possible to make this simpler. Also, we can still die by violent and painful "incidents". Let us also assume that the way to achieve this is, relatively easy and cheap and everyone has access to it.

Children will be nonexistent (earth can feed only so many) and if existent will be a privilege to the rich and powerful. Poor people will procreate only when someone dies from a work accident to replenish the workforce.

We could perhaps face racial wars.

I could see forced chemical castrations in exchange for said immortality.

Ritualistic suicides would become a "thing" and be rewarded by the governments.

Probably there will be a caste system introduced with pseudo-religious backing.

Psychological implications from the absence of children. Weakness will no longer be tolerated (like now only worse).

Some sort of global government, 24/7 government surveillance and tracking. Capital punishment will be the norm to "weed out the criminal genes, make more room for the law abiding citizens", even for slight offenses.

A global reduction to wars due to one government and its probable genocidal treatment of rebellious countries.

Plastic surgeries and technologies will be constantly evolving even to the point of altering human DNA for "beauty", (eyes, skin, height, voice modulation, both genitals, even nonfunctioning wings).

Absolute change in morality. No fear of death or divine retribution will lead to debauchery which in turn lead to more and more extreme ways to pleasure oneself.

Humankind will travel to the far reaches of the universe and advance science to its limit (if there is one). Diseases will be a thing of the past (those not man made at least to thin the pack).

Slavery or cloning or A.I. solutions will have to be chosen with their repercussions.

A funny scenario providing a small amount of thinking for all of us.

We imagine everyone having access. What if only a few? We would face an Egyptian God-Kings scenario.

I will probably revisit these scenarios in a later post.

Tragedy and comedy. Which is greater is a question tormenting us since their inception. For the answer comes from the taker, the recipient, not the giver and not the act which comprises the essence with which we differentiate the two, but rather the spirit of the viewer in that time, in that place, in that company.

Why? But of course, because tragedy exalts the actor/protagonist and humbles the audience while comedy humbles the actor and exalts the audience.

We feed, we water, we protect the animals. We save them and we destroy them on a whim. Doesn't that make us their Gods? How much courage does it take for a dog to turn and bite its God? Could that be the purpose of our existence on this Earth? To kill our own Gods?

It is my experience that at a certain age people must stop their occupation with the political life. The logic is as follows: Through politics, you shape and influence the world in which you live. Beyond a certain age however you shape and influence the world in which someone else will live. The needs of every generation as well as the environment which shapes each generation change. Isn't it reasonable that shaping the life of the next generation with the imagination of the previous one breeds and will breed, only destruction?

The road that someone traveled seems to be much more important than the place of his residence. It is really challenging to conceptualize the totality of Odysseas Elytis' poem explaining to us that the journey is more important than the destination.

The truth is that we are in a state of constant traveling - not the distances of Odysseus perhaps -  but incessantly and daily. And every day, our steps, the road we choose to take is different. In a constant flux. It changes from moment to moment as thousands of passengers leave their mark. And every road has its own memory.

I don't doubt for a second that most -if not all the roads- try to forget rather than remember.

Let's think of our birth as the flow of molten metal in a mold shaped as a key. However contrary to usual molds, this one is not ready, it is being created slowly with the passing of time, thought to thought, action to action. The molten metal though does not wait for us to finish the mold, it keeps flowing all the while. Sometimes we haven't even started creating the mold and the metal returns to its source, molten as it begun.

Some other times the key mold is not fully done when the molten metal comes and it will not be able to open the lock of the door it was meant to open, but it *will* open another door which was created at the very moment the shape of the half-made key was final. These doors which open with the half made keys sometimes happen to be the most important ones of all.

Every key is made from the same metal but no two keys are alike. There is a unique locked door for every key and behind every door lies the solution of the mystery of its key's existence.

Let us consider the greatest gift the biblical God gave humankind. In my opinion, it would be none other than freedom.If that is the case, however, we need to look at Genesis in quite a different light. God drove away mankind from the Garden of Eden, viewing and considering them as "worthy" or "aspirants of equality" in some sense, as a creation of a perfect God, then letting them stay would be tantamount to an erroneous way of learning -  that of spiritual tyranny.

Conversely, then God gave mankind the greatest gift, having made sure that mankind had everything needed, true freedom. Freedom from all bonds (God included?).  What was needed then for humanity to able to handle its freedom? Could it be what was described as temptation, as the serpent, as something negative: Curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge without limits. The technological pursuit, the experimental pursuit. The exercise of a unique possession: freedom, without true knowledge of cause and effect.

Perhaps going a bit further we could consider the return of God to the forefront - as a triad - and the presence of the Godson and the destruction of the serpent, as the destruction of a dam which was the original sin - loss, so that the river of knowledge could flow again, in such a way though now as to forward humanity and quench its thirst for knowledge without  drowning her and destroying her at the same time.

Varikas: "His egotism is removing him from love ... Karyotakis with his whole generation is distinguished precisely by the most unhealthy skepticism. The abstract thought, the effort of calculating even the most minimum details of our every movement, the obsession of our every effort being in vain, with which he is approaching events, does not leave him free to enjoy this energy in itself, out and away from its results. (...) The skepticism hopelessly narrowed his inner world. Drained him of all vital fluid. Between himself and the outside world always interferes the dark spectrum of his skepticism and pessimism which deforms his images and eliminates the wealth of his variety. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kostas_Karyotakis

Q: Are Greeks lazy?

A: No inhabitants of any country can share in totality one trait. Whether that trait is positive or negative.

Q: Is Greece corrupt?

A: A whole country cannot be corrupt. But, well, yes. There is a great deal of corruption in Greece. Not the kind of corruption that is easy to see, like drug cartel violence or dictatorship corruption. It's more akin to Star Wars, Chancellor Palpatine corruption.Underlying, permeating, vast.

Q: Is Greece a good tourism destination?

A: Yes, it is. All countries actually are, to be honest. Every piece of land and culture on this earth is unique and beautiful in its own way. You will not be assassinated or assaulted or sold for parts. Some people will try to take financial advantage of you. Small minded persons living in the now and disregarding the tomorrow.

Q: Greece hates X, Y, Z, country/

A: Greece is a country and countries cannot hate, only people. People of Greece have an avid dislike of people insulting or threatening them at a country level. For example, Germany threatens and insults us, we dislike Germany. We do not and never will dislike Andreas, Frank, Jörg, Jürgen, Klaus, Michael, Peter, Stefan, Thomas, Uwe, Andrea, Angelika, Birgit, Gabriele, Heike, Martina, Petra, Sabine, Susanne, Ute.

Q: Who is to blame for the corruption Greece?

A: The one bribing and the one taking the bribe.

Q: What happened to the Ancient Greek Heritage?

A: Slavery from 146 BC (Romans) to 1821 AD with a brief and debatable enlightened break around the Eastern Roman Empire time. At 1453 slaves to the Turks. Afterwards, two world wars and a civil war. In 1974 "Democracy" returned. In " " because I am bitter, heh.