Recent Entries

• Growing Beyond Denomination

  by Tony Villari October 11, 2018
  Worldwide, Christian denominations might number, roughly, 200 to 300. Unlike denominations, however, Christian "sects" probably make up for the daylight between the 200-300 number and 33,000. A sect is generally a subset of a religion or a religious denomination, though sects are not necessarily den...
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• At the Cusp of Forever: Where Everything Is Not

  by Tony Villari October 3, 2018
  As you stand at the edge on the Cusp of Forever, staring into the blackness which is the void, have you ever considered the complete nothing of it? The void, for all the mystery we endow it with, is simply a completely empty space, a total vacuum bereft of everything, where everything is not. It is ...

• At the Cusp of Forever:  The Beginning of the End

  by Tony Villari September 30, 2018
  Was this the beginning of another moment at the abyss, or was it simply the continuation of another part of my mind's journey in the now? Time is a human construct, as I've said many times.  There was no beginning and there will be no end.  Our reality is an infinite loop.  Our&n...

• The Precipice

  by Tony Villari September 28, 2018
  No matter how evolved humankind becomes, we will always find ourselves at odds with those who would visit evil upon us. There will always be evil in the world. Evil is necessary in order for there to be balance in the universe. In both versions of the movie, The Day the Earth Stood Still, the "...
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• Nobody to Lean On

  by Tony Villari September 24, 2018
  For a person of religious or spiritual faith, in my case a Christian, there is always the guardian angel on my shoulder or God at my side.  This faith we have in things beyond belief allows many of us to talk things through with a friend, father, and mentor, who is always with us...

• Moral Compass

  by Tony Villari September 21, 2018
  My faith does not limit itself to a box defined by religious "precepts and ideas." My faith is defined by the only constant in the universe - change. As I grow and learn, I redefine the borders of my faith. At times I even question my faith as a way of learning more about it and strengthening m...
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• Children or Animals?

  by Tony Villari September 10, 2018
  "At-risk" populations are those who cannot fend for themselves or protect themselves. They are the lesser of society in danger of being abused; the elderly, the sick or dying, prisoners, children, and animals are on this list. Children and animals probably top this list simply because they are total...
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• Conspire to Greatness

  by Tony Villari September 7, 2018
  For all of you who might think "unfalsifiable" isn't a word, it basically means something is untestable.  God, for instance, is untestable, though my faith tells me I wouldn't want to.   Conspiracy is all around us.  It is, for most attempts and purposes, an attempt to control.&n...

• At the Cusp of Forever: The Alpha/Omega Conspiracy

  by Tony Villari September 7, 2018
  The night before officiating a wedding up in Hattiesburg, I once again found myself contemplating, on the edge of the abyss, at the Cusp of Forever.  My impetus for my contemplation was the "Alpha/Omega" stole I'd ordered from the monastery and just received.  It is white with gold tr...

• No Way to Die (Part 2)

  by Tony Villari September 3, 2018
  If people experience a loss of our presence, then this would evidence we have shared much of ourselves and, hopefully, changed many of these lives for the better.  We will be missed only until we are found, once again, in another lifetime.  It is always a choice, a choice only we...

• Forever Love

  by Tony Villari September 3, 2018
  Many of us have met, at some point, a certain someone, a stranger we just know we've met before. You instantly love them or hate them, and there seems to be no obvious reason for your feelings, either way.  If your experience is one of "love at first sight," you will discover that hole you used...
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• At the Cusp of Forever: "The Simplicity of Everything"

  by Tony Villari August 27, 2018
  So, there I was, once again, meditating on the atomic structure of belly-button lint as I stood, toe to edge, at the Cusp of Forever.  I was also considering the latest group I'd addressed in the local hospital at which I’m the lead chaplain.  The topic for that particular morning wa...

• My Sunday Thought for 082618:  On Artificial Intelligence

  by Tony Villari August 26, 2018
  It is said that A.I. is the next step in human evolution.  Genesis 3:22 says, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil. And now, lest he reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever...” ...

• My Sunday Thought: No Way to Die

  by Tony Villari August 19, 2018
  I don't have a fear of many things.  Spiders creep me out and I give poisonous snakes a wide berth.  Heights don't bother me as long as I have a solid foundation around me, or a trustworthy plane, and jumping out of a perfectly good plane is not even a consideration.  I don't wish to ...

• 20/20 Blindsight

  by Tony Villari August 12, 2018
  I have always loved to watch people; the interaction, the emotions.  I think was a product of being excluded, socially, by my peers when I was growing up; I seemed to always find myself on the outside looking in.  As an only child I had a lot of "me time" when I was a teenager.  For a...
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• At the Cusp of Forever (An Old Guy at the Abyss)

  by Tony Villari August 7, 2018
  Old men approaching the age of ninety might take Albert Einstein's stance on aging by not wearing socks if they don't want to.  Actually, approaching ninety means they don't have to do much of anything they don't want, with the possible exception of watching their water retention levels.  ...

• Raging Against the Dying of the Light

  by Tony Villari August 5, 2018
  That I should sit still and accept what end awaits me, is to give up at the very time when one has accumulated so much which needs to be shared or, perhaps, it is simply evidence, an admission or perception, of time wasted; at the very least, misunderstood.  No, I cannot sit idle; I will not wa...

• Even a Worm Will Turn

  by Tony Villari July 28, 2018
  When you're quirky and the smallest kid, your classmates can be the things of nightmares.  They are the bullies, the girls who won't talk to you and the multitude of others who ignore you.  You're not the last to be picked for sports; you're never picked for sports.&nbs...
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• An Animal Sense of God  

  by Tony Villari July 22, 2018
    There are those who would argue that animals are just animals, and animals do not reason through to a God figure, or a lack of one for that matter.  I mean, you would logically have to consider God before you could deny God, right?  But, scripture has many references to God's influ...

• Abortion and the Biblical "Interpretation"

  by Tony Villari July 15, 2018
  I have reposted this due to a link problem.  It should be fixed.   Holy Scripture states that only a fine will be levied against those who kill a child in the womb.  This is the reasoning for abortion which was presented to me for my last post on the abortion issue, A...

• My Weekly "Chaplain's Group"

  by Tony Villari July 12, 2018
  "Thank you, God, for another glorious day in paradise and another chance to excel in life!"  This is the way I greet every morning when the new day begins, and the way I greet each group I talk to every week at the medical center's S.T.A.R. (Stress, Trauma, Addiction, Recovery) Wellness Program...

• Christian Apology to LGBTQ:  All Lives Matter!

  by Tony Villari July 10, 2018
  That which is written is especially vulnerable to interpretation.  Considering how a heretical sect of Islam can twist the words of Muhammad from a message of peace into a message of "kill them all and let Allah sort them out," is it any wonder clergy in our own religion can do the sa...

• Fall Back on Faith

  by Tony Villari July 8, 2018
  We can only hope Lenny Bruce is still right when he stated, “Every day people are straying away from the church and going back to God.” Even though, for myself, I find no use for the church other than fellowship, a meeting place to discuss, debate, and learn, I would still rath...

• The Tale of Elo and Annie

  by Tony Villari July 4, 2018
  Annie saw the old man, as he was the day before, sitting on the garden bench, wearing the same tattered, green wool cardigan sweater and dark corduroy slacks. His well-worn, black, fedora was set rakishly on his head with tufts of silver hair sprouting from the sides. The twisted shillelagh cane he ...
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• A Theoretical "Theory of Mostly Everything" Maybe

  by Tony Villari June 30, 2018
    The more questions we answer, the more questions we discover.  The downside of intelligence is discovering how much you really don't know, about anything.  With this thought firmly planted in mind, consider the smartest people on the planet searching for an elusive theory to explai...

• The Traffic Stop

  by Tony Villari June 26, 2018
  I've only had one bad experience with a traffic stop.  Usually my friendly, respectful, and easy going nature will win the day for me.  I have found that starting off the conversation with an "it wasn't me" look on your face tends to help.  Depending on the age of the officer involved...
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• R-E-S-P-E-C-T

  by Tony Villari June 25, 2018
  I've had to answer, many times, why I may not like a particular person; I've even been asked by the particular person I seemingly haven't liked.  I have always answered, it isn't that I don't like them, it's because they seem to care very little that I have no respect for them.  Hell, I ca...
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• Abort!  Abort!  Abort!

  by Tony Villari June 19, 2018
  Cecile Richards; have you heard about this piece of work?  Well, look upon the face of evil!  Ask yourself why a segment of civilized society looks favorably on the treacherous murder of the innocent; the wholesale slaughter of our future. There is money to be made in murdering the unborn ...
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• A Planet of the Apes?

  by Tony Villari June 18, 2018
  "An Orangutan from a zoo was reintroduced to the wild in Borneo and began spear fishing after watching local fisherman..."  This tale bodes the obvious question: If the fisherman was using the spear to murder another fisherman, would the Orangutan also mimic this act?  Well, from...

• "NO GAYS ALLOWED!"

  by Tony Villari June 14, 2018
  There comes a point when one has to say, "Methinks thou protesteth too much!"  In other words, what are you, yourself, hiding that you must balk so loudly or judge others so harshly?  And the mere fact that your Christian hypocrisy would deign to judge others ...
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• To Mothers on Father's Day 

  by Tony Villari June 11, 2018
  As a father, and a grandfather, I thought it only fitting on Father's Day to pay homage to the women, the mothers, who allow us to pass on our genetic material for the express purpose of procreation.  More importantly, they have selflessly volunteered to take significant time out of their lives...

• More "Notes from the Cusp of Forever"

  by Tony Villari June 9, 2018
  I wrote Notes from the Cusp of Forever at the end of this past February.  It garnered average viewer numbers, but I received above average messages and emails concerning, what I considered to be, an average post.  For whatever reason, it touched a chord with a segment of my reade...

• Plato's Theory of Soul

  by Tony Villari June 4, 2018
  When I first saw "tripartite" I thought it might be some ancient Greek word for a single country where three separate cultures practice racial segregation against each other, but I was wrong again; it was just Plato working overtime.    According to the ancient Greek philosopher, the sou...

• Dear Readers, Friends and Family:

  by Tony Villari June 4, 2018
  It has been my absolute pleasure over the past couple years to post my writings from the “Congregation for Religious Tolerance” on Facebook while, at the same time, sending my “personal” contacts a link to these postings, individually, through Facebook Messenger. Facebook, pr...

• Yet Another Lighter Note

  by Tony Villari June 3, 2018
  I made a promise to my daughter that I would try to lighten up, occasionally, and try to write something a tad less serious and dramatic than the timely issues we are faced with day to day. To this end, I published the previous post; I have always found that children and animals can teach us much ab...

• My Choice?  Lose Weight!

  by Tony Villari May 28, 2018
  I am approaching 65 years of age.  Other than aches and pains brought on by my misspent youth, I feel twenty years younger, almost.  When I went to Mexico for a couple of years, I weighed an amazing 209 pounds at 5' 9".  When I returned, I had trimmed down to 165, despite my diet of t...

• Utopia?

  by Tony Villari May 28, 2018
  "When imperfect humans attempt perfectibility - personal, political, economic and social - they fail."  This statement by Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, is evidenced by a sad history of "failed social experiments, repressive political regimes, and overbearing eco...

• "Animal" House

  by Tony Villari May 27, 2018
  I usually open each post with a meaningful photo.  Not so, this time.  Even the images which I post for my Holocaust articles do not come up to the level of heinous gruesomeness, pure evil, inflicted by some elements of, well, humanity.  Including these elements as part of h...

• The Butterfly Effect

  by Tony Villari May 24, 2018
  The flapping a butterfly’s wings can influence our weather patterns. For example: severe storms, tornadoes, even hurricanes can all begin with but the flap of a single butterfly’s wings made thousands of miles away.   Now, having said that. Recently when I was flying to visit fami...
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• My Humble "Moronic" Opinion

  by Tony Villari May 18, 2018
  I have unwavering faith that only a moron would believe a doctrine which states "a moron run through a university and decorated with a Ph.D. will cease thereby to be a moron."  As I have stated in a few previous posts, I have known many people with doctorates who exercise a deep lack of co...
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• Heaven Can Wait!

  by Tony Villari May 13, 2018
  Oh, ya, you betcha mon!  If I have anything to say about it, heaven can definitely wait for me.  Of course that is purely dependent on the validity of my view of heaven being more even handed than what I was spoon fed in my youth.  There is not one righteous among us.  Not o...
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• Really, How Deep Can It Be?

  by Tony Villari May 11, 2018
  What do you do when your path dumps into a swamp? Well, I squat down beside it and ponder the numerous critters that may inhabitant the barrier before me. I pay particular attention to the size of any ripples originating from movement below the surface. It's the thing you can't see, but you figure i...
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• Money, Power, and Position?

  by Tony Villari May 6, 2018
  Truth, loyalty, and a kind heart are virtues to be cherished!  Well, okay... sometimes I've been known to fudge, for purely selfish reasons, where truth and loyalty are concerned; I should be ashamed, and I am.  Those lapses in integrity are few and far between, but they do happen, and tha...

• Got Life?

  by Tony Villari April 30, 2018
  I went to my favorite local beachfront restaurant cum watering hole the other day, in order to find some impetus for this post.  I had a beer and pondered my latest conclusion, that my body is getting a jump on my upcoming 65th birthday and has decided to start falling apart.  I have found...

• We Live in a Pond

  by Tony Villari April 24, 2018
  I have always tried to explain to young people the idea that we all live in the same social pond.  Every decision we make in life has an effect on that pond, like a pebble thrown into it causing a ripple.  Every ripple can be viewed as an action taken, a choice or decision, and for every a...
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• Remembering Childhood Curiosity

  by Tony Villari April 21, 2018
  Do you remember the innocence of youth?  How about your childhood curiosity?  Mine was insatiable and, at times, was worrisome to mom.  I still find myself doing stupid stuff, purely for the sake of discovery, in order to satisfy my adult curiosity. ...
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• It's All about Attitude

  by Tony Villari April 16, 2018
  It's all about keeping a good attitude, and an ability to look at life through rose colored glasses; to still see the reality in front of you and to be happy in the face of adversity.  You have to be able to, at a moment’s notice, put on a serious face and say, "Bring it!"  When they...

• "What's Auschwitz?" - My Response

  by Tony Villari April 15, 2018
  For many, any mention of the Holocaust is a reason to turn the channel, mental or otherwise.  Why?  Well, many who have seen the atrocities prefer not to dwell on the horrors of our past.  A few people very close to me are part of this group, not because they don't care, but because i...
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• Time to Blossom

  by Tony Villari April 13, 2018
  Like a plant, from the moment the seed was put into the ground and germinates, we began to grow.  We struggled upward, each branch with multiple budding family members, each family member creating a branch of their own.  Each bud struggles to find their way, to develop and support the...

• Finding Faith

  by Tony Villari April 9, 2018
  The ancient Greek philosopher Socrates once said, “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”  This became known as the Socratic Method, a teaching method where a question is posed and the students direct and control the discussion of it.  I am...

• Beauty:  Skin Deep?

  by Tony Villari April 7, 2018
  Nowadays people are augmenting everything, breasts, cheeks (both sets), eyes, lips, and if that isn't your thing you can turn your skin into a canvas with a beautiful tattoo.  Hitler's minions would have loved to make a lampshade out of many large tattoos which adorn our skin.  As a matter...
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• A Personal Slice of Hell?

  by Tony Villari April 5, 2018
  A little pain, a little pleasure; such is life.  Is life filled with the immorality of pleasure?  And, why should pleasure, immoral or not, be frowned upon in a life which many, including myself, equate to one's personal hell on earth?  And, who is to judge the immorality of one's ple...

• I Just Shake My Head... and Smile

  by Tony Villari April 2, 2018
  Wisdom or intelligence, which would you prefer?  I know, and have known, many "intelligent" people, few of which had wisdom worth acknowledging.  Intelligence is certainly no indicator of good sense, and to find folks with both is so uncommon as to bode the question as to whether the two a...

• Tetelestai and Why "Good Friday" is Good

  by Tony Villari March 28, 2018
  Tetelestai.  It is what Christ uttered as he drew his last breaths on the cross, according to John.  "It is finished."  Tetelestai.  John wrote this, the Greek translation of an Aramaic word.  It is an accounting term meaning "paid in full."  With His death, He wiped ma...

• Love Is Not Like Chalk

  by Tony Villari March 26, 2018
  Even when I was a young man, sowing my oats, I knew that love was not like chalk; it was not erasable.  It seems pretty obvious that the love that can be erased is not true love.  Oh, the love can change, can morph into something more or less, but if the love is true it will always be love...

• Friends along Our Path

  by Tony Villari March 20, 2018
  I have received several requests to write more of this kind of post.  Well, it’s not like the muse constantly moves me.  This has become my most read post, however, so perhaps I should look into it.  In the meantime, I’ve been fighting my usual two day cold and finally bro...

• Perpetually Catching at Straws

  by Tony Villari March 12, 2018
  The phrase, "Catching at straws," is hundreds of years old. It eventually morphed into "clutching at straws" and then, more recently, "grasping" at straws. No matter which you remember or prefer, the meaning is the same: To try and do something as a last resort that is very unlikely to succeed, or t...

• You Cannot Be a Gay Christian!

  by Tony Villari March 8, 2018
    1 Corinthians 6:9 is generally used as the argument against homosexuality; taken out of context, it is easy to see how.  But, put into context and it is a statement against the "wicked" and how the "wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God."  No...

• Abrahamic Religions - The Great Manipulation?

  by Tony Villari March 5, 2018
  After a career in military intelligence, I'm pretty savvy as to why society doesn't need to know everything.  Some secrets and activities are best left in the purview of those who protect us.  These activities are necessary for the security of the country, mom, and apple pie.  We grud...

• Notes from the Cusp of Forever

  by Tony Villari February 27, 2018
  Buddhism and Hinduism define "enlightenment" as "a final blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering... the awakening to ultimate truth by which man is freed from the endless cycle of personal reincarnations to which all men are otherwise subject... a state of transcendent divine...
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• The Gay Religious

  by Tony Villari February 26, 2018
  Christian's are historically "guilty" of, what have come to be called, crimes against humanity, such as the multiple Crusades for wealth and glory in the name of Almighty God, or using God as their excuse for multiple Inquisitions, as well as the Salem witch trials.  Then there is the Vatican's...

• Judge Not!

  by Tony Villari February 19, 2018
  In Christian scripture, Matthew 7:1-2, we are advised, "You shall not judge, lest you be judged. For with the judgment that you judge, you will be judged, and with the measure that you measure, it will be measured to you..." Yet, throughout Christian history this is exactly what we fall prey to, the...

• The “Interfaith” Question

  by Tony Villari February 13, 2018
  In the course of ministering, my philosophy has developed from one of "religious" tolerance to one of "spiritual" tolerance.  Those who read my blog understand my lack of acceptance toward "organized" religion.  It made perfect sense, to me, to re-incorporate into our idea of religion, any...

• Controlling Inappropriate Conduct?

  by Tony Villari February 11, 2018
  Well, the legal ramifications of even thinking of getting to know you, simply makes it not worth the effort. If you'd like to get to know me, on the other hand, feel free to foist inappropriate conduct upon me, for a change. I absolutely guarantee you I will appreciate the c...

• Compass Points

  by Tony Villari February 10, 2018
  I met with a new chaplain the other day.  We talked for a bit and he said he was looking to me for direction.  I just smiled, "I think your compass, Father, is much better than mine."  When the topic of one's direction comes up, I am always reminded of a man, an older Army vet, d...

• Postmortem Morbidity - A Eulogy of Self

  by Tony Villari February 8, 2018
  Some people, like my mother, might find discussions about death to be a tad morbid.  My mom doesn't mind discussing the afterlife, mind you, it's just any lengthy discussion dealing with the corpse, autopsy, funeral, eulogy, etc., are usually "put to rest" in short order.  Her attitude is ...

• Oh, the Vows of Clergy!

  by Tony Villari February 5, 2018
  It is my humble opinion that the vows of Christian clergy went south with the death of Jesus, if not before. The same corruption occurred with the death of Muhammad when both factions of his family ripped the Qur'an in two, one of love and peace, and one not. But, isn't this the way it, almost alway...
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• Perpetrating Violence against Women

  by Tony Villari February 4, 2018
  I took off my best "Hawaiian" print shirt in a Mexican cantina one evening, and handed it to the loser of a cat fight who had her own one-piece outfit ripped off, leaving her drunk and in nothing but her socks.  I took my own naked torso, and my half bottle of beer, and went outside where it wa...
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• Soul Food for Thought

  by Tony Villari January 31, 2018
  Those of you who have read my posts, my thoughts dealing with time, reality, and the afterlife, will recognize, hopefully, much of my thoughts in the opening quote, above, of noted quantum physicist Prof. Hans-Peter Dürr.  Our ideas on this are so similar I could have written this quo...
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• Religion (pars tres) - Faith

  by Tony Villari January 29, 2018
  Émile Zola was an acclaimed French novelist, a socialist and, though baptized catholic, an agnostic and critic of the Roman Catholic Church.  "Civilization will not attain to its perfection until the last stone from the last church falls on the last priest."  When I read his qu...

• 299,792,458 Meters/Second

  by Tony Villari January 22, 2018
  You really can't trust speed limit signs.  The speed of light in a vacuum "is now simply specified to be 299,792,458 meters per second," or 670,616,629 miles per hour which would make the "true" maximum speed of light 186,282 miles per second, not 186,000, as stated on the "humorous" ...

• What Am I Doing?

  by Tony Villari January 22, 2018
  There was a piece of art posted to Facebook the other day, and it struck a chord with me.  The wording was thus:  "I would just like to publicly announce that I have no idea what I'm doing."  Good Lord, sometimes I wish I knew.  Even today, retired and sixty-four years of ag...
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• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

  by Tony Villari January 15, 2018
  I think that Dr. King died before he could figure out how to make people listen to him.  Oh, I think plenty of people heard him; very few people listened to him.  I don't mean to say people ignored what the heard; they just didn't listen to the message hard enough to tr...

• Religion (pars duorum) - After the Collapse

  by Tony Villari January 15, 2018
  What will happen if everything we ever believed about religion is proved to be false?  What happens if the Vatican cannot keep the lid on an ultimate truth they may have been hiding since the crucifixion of Jesus Christ?  What if Christ himself was nothing more than an elaborate hoax? ...
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• Seeker of Truth?

  by Tony Villari January 13, 2018
  I never stopped to think about what I am.  Maybe that's because I'm too wrapped up in why I am.  I'm already pretty sure of the what, I mean, its right here, right now.  If I knew the why, however, I'd probably give the what more attention but,&...

• Religion - Control of the Faithful

  by Tony Villari January 11, 2018
  Weekly, the ministers of Christianity, and many other faiths, lead the well-dressed faithful in praise of the almighty, omnipresent, omnipotent force responsible for, well, everything.  They do this in expensive buildings, rented convention centers and stadiums, and multi-million dollar pl...

• Friends and Family?

  by Tony Villari January 6, 2018
  What are friends if they aren't family?  Well, they're not really friends... more like acquaintances.  True friends you just know, and it usually doesn't take long to discover.  They embrace you when you first meet them, and they embrace you thereafter.  ...

• One More "Time"

  by Tony Villari January 3, 2018
  While young, we are all taught in such a way that time is seen as a straight line from point A to point B.  Consider the description of time given by the fictional character Dr. Who, "Time isn't a straight line. It's all... bumpy-wumpy. There's loads of boring stuff. Like Sundays and Tuesd...

• The Curmudgeon - Treating People Badly

  by Tony Villari December 31, 2017
  As you get into old age, if life has taught you anything, you get anchored into what you learned.  You become closed minded to the changes in society which create issues for the young not common back in the day. One glaring example is why the young don't save money.  Well, in the early 198...

• Thank you, God!

  by Tony Villari December 26, 2017
  Thank you, God!   On New Year's morning I will wake up, knock twice, and give my usual praise:  "Thank you, God, for another beautiful day in paradise and another chance to excel in life!"  The more things change, the more they stay the same; for those of us who have learned to...

• Merry “Feast of the Nativity”

  by Tony Villari December 21, 2017
  Merry “Feast of the Nativity”   God save us all from the League of the Perpetually Offended!  Christmas, for all its detractors, has suffered from a less than laudable past.  I have read, as stated in the opening quote, the name itself is a misnomer as it means the death...

• To Escape From These Things

  by Tony Villari December 19, 2017
  Personally, I feel that, for the truly righteous and worthy, there is no "escape from these things which are going to occur" as long as you have knowledge and faith that whatever is coming will, in fact, occur, you will never be able to escape your knowledge or your faith in the inevi...

• Just Another Material Day

  by Tony Villari December 13, 2017
  Sacrilege is only so if it doesn't make a point in favor of the sacred, right?  So, one has to ask, when did Saint Nick die for our sins?  If Jesus is the reason for the season, why do we allow the reason to be hijacked by the faithless masses for the express purpose of selling mass quanti...

• Sucking the Good from Life

  by Tony Villari December 6, 2017
  One can't wander the aisles of a local supermarket without seeing the fun and goodness of life being sucked away.  For goodness sake, would someone please tell me what "no-sodium" salt is?  Grocery shelves are being re-stocked with "low-sodium" this and that; Spam Lite, "reduced fat" Vienn...
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• Out of the Box and Beyond Tomorrow

  by Tony Villari November 29, 2017
  What if the past, present, and future existed as part of the same connecting point, a "zero point," whereby they become interconnected and not independent of each other? What if, knowing this, we could, eventually, access any point in spacetime? How would this redefine our knowledge of reality? What...

• Be Thankful for Life!

  by Tony Villari November 20, 2017
  To my cherished readers: I am posting next week's “My Sunday Thought” early due to the topic of ‘giving thanks’ having much to do with Thanksgiving.   Someone once wrote, “Each day I am thankful for nights that turned into mornings, friends that turned into famil...

• Worshipping Artificial Intelligence?

  by Tony Villari November 18, 2017
  Is God a human construct? We know, as of this moment, artificial intelligence (A.I.) certainly is. Perhaps, in the future, we may find some alien civilization had A.I. long before we ever dreamt of it, and they may have also come to grips with the issues concerning spirituality and God but, for now,...

• Low Hanging Fruit

  by Tony Villari November 8, 2017
  We tend to go through our lives picking at the easily reached low hanging fruit, while considering how to approach the richer offerings higher up. Most of us will struggle with this task our entire lives, never taking a moment to stand back and consider the moment. Our lack of consideration can affe...

• The Reflection Staring Back

  by Tony Villari November 2, 2017
  When you look in the mirror at the reflection staring back at you, do you like what you see? I mean, are you okay if you see the reflection of someone going to hell for who they are and what they do? Because if you like what you see, even though you know you're damned, what does this really say to y...

• On Transgender Acceptance

  by Tony Villari October 25, 2017
  Homosexuals stayed in the closet as a way of hiding who and what they were.  Homosexuality is finally finding voice and a place in our society, after years of non-acceptance and ridicule, and they still have a good distance to travel.  So, who's in the closet now?  It would seem trans...

• Each New Day

  by Tony Villari October 16, 2017
  What we all tend to forget is that help arrives each and every morning in God's gift of a new dawn, a new day, and another chance to excel in the life which we have also been gifted.  But, what if you have yet to learn this or anything else which you have been blessed with life to learn?  ...

• What It Ain’t It Ain’t   

  by Tony Villari October 9, 2017
  Is this to be yet another esoteric discussion of the obvious?  For some, perhaps, for others maybe providing a little food for thought, a crumb of reality, or ply a warning for lemmings trying to keep up with their mindless mentors while holding onto the paper cup of cyanide laced fruit punch a...

• On Being Ugly

  by Tony Villari October 2, 2017
  We have no information at this time as to the reason for last evening's mass shooting, which killed over fifty and wounded hundreds.  We may never understand the mind of the killer; his family is as confused as law enforcement.  I mention the incident in this post because it plays to the s...

• The Purpose of My Fear

  by Tony Villari September 27, 2017
  We learn some basic survival skills as we grow up, usually through conscientious parents who have learned valuable lessons, ofttimes through painful trial and error, and wish to save us from undergoing the same agony of defeat. As with most animals, we are also taught these skills to ensure the surv...
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• My Car is GOD? 

  by Tony Villari September 20, 2017
  Worship; seems pretty simple to understand, by its definition.  Per Dictionary.com, it is defined in religious context as, "Reverent honor and homage paid to God or a sacred personage, or to any object regarded as sacred; to render religious reverence and homage to; to feel an adoring reve...

• Each Step I Take

  by Tony Villari September 14, 2017
  Around 500 years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, Greek philosopher Heraclitus wrote, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” It is also true that you can never go home again; I discovered such after I joined the military ...
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• This Is Physics?

  by Tony Villari September 9, 2017
  Channeling an extraterrestrial entity ranks right out there with séances, remote viewing, life after death, out of body experience, anti-gravity, God, channeling spirits, and transporter technology - beam me up, Scotty!  Faith be damned, such things are still flying high out in left...

• Friends Along Our Path

  by Tony Villari September 6, 2017
  (Note:  This post has taken over as the most read post of the 657 I have written since June of 2013.  As such, I felt it appropriate to see if it still finds merit with the current readership, thus my re-posting as this weekend's My Sunday Thought)    Friends along Our Path &n...

• Panspermia - Evolution or Creationism?

  by Tony Villari August 30, 2017
  Once again I find myself wondering why creationists and evolutionists can't come to a meeting of the minds. The more science discovers, the more they prove the existence of an intelligent force at work in the universe. Whether we call this force "God" would seem irrelevant to the fact that we would ...

• Laziness Equals Poverty?

  by Tony Villari August 26, 2017
  We seem to enjoy painting everyone with the same wide brush.  If you're a Republican you're a Nazi, if you're a Democrat you're a communist, and if you're poor you must be just plain lazy; judgement is black and white, there are no shades of gray.  A family of four or five chooses to live ...