Author Archives: Jeff

URL changing

The URL for this blog is changing from austinblues.dyndns.org to blog.zaml.us.  If one URL doesn’t work, try the other.  It takes time, probably up to a day for DNS changes to ripple all the way out.  When the new URL … Continue reading

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Fear, Aggression, and Greed

In the last election, the winner in most races was fear, aggression, and greed.  Those who appealed to the hopes of the voters usually lost.  This dynamic is happening again this election cycle.  In the Republican primaries, hope was quickly … Continue reading

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Mercy

He has shown you what is good. … To act justly and to love mercy Micah 6:8 Mercy is in many ways the opposite of greed. Greed is taking all we can get, by law, by force, by whatever means. … Continue reading

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How Then Shall We Live?

The Bible tells the stories of Jesus’ miracle healings. We all love miracles. My cancer treatment was a miracle of sorts. It is now a year after the end of chemo. Not all cancer patients survive this long. The woman … Continue reading

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Shock & Awe

My medical team hit an aggressive cancer with all they had. Now I am cancer free. The treatment came with a lot of collateral damage. Reconstruction is necessary. Unlike the shock and awe of surgery (days) and chemotherapy (weeks), reconstruction … Continue reading

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The Colour Out of Space

I read H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “The Colour Out of Space” many years ago. It gave me nightmares for two weeks. I acknowledged that he is a master of horror stories and read no more. A year ago I as … Continue reading

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A Buddhist Cop’s Approach to Justice

It would be good if we had mindful, compassionate soldiers.  It is vital that we have compassionate, mindful public safety officers, AKA police officers.  Part of why our society is coming apart is that in too many places, the police … Continue reading

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Job 1

When recovering from cancer and cancer treatment (surgery and chemotherapy in my case), my experience and those I know is that recovering is Job 1.  There is no Job 2, just distractions, non-essential entertainment, and essential chores.

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A Mountain Too Far

Everything that ascends must converge. — Teilhard de Chardin The spiritual quest has been compared to climbing a mountain. Some question whether we are all climbing the same mountain. I don’t think this can be proven or disproven, but I … Continue reading

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Responsibility Versus “Response-ability”

A no deleted article on “The dangers in taking on too much responsibility” takes a long look at agreeing to too many responsibilities (obligations) and so limiting our ability to respond to what’s going on around us in our life. … Continue reading

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