Recent Entries

• The Smallest of Creatures

  by Tony Villari August 17, 2017
  I thought of this tiny creature on the flower and of the bacteria that won our planet back from the Martian invaders in Wells' novel.  Not often do many of us take a moment to consider the smallest of God's creatures, other than in some bothersome context and, of course, ridding ourselves of th...

• I Just Helped Him Cry

  by Tony Villari August 10, 2017
  The following story was included in an email that circulates occasionally, and I always find it precious.  Young children, not jaded by the opinions and judgements of adults, can teach us much about love and life.   To read the rest of my very short post for this Sunday, please foll...

• That Which We Don't Know or Haven't Read

  by Tony Villari August 3, 2017
  Eastern philosophy is evident in most sayings of Jesus not accepted for inclusion into the New Testament. And, why would this exclusion seem out of place for this period in Christian history? Controlling the minds of the people was the rule of the day. The philosophy that was true then sti...

• Paragons of Virtue?

  by Tony Villari July 27, 2017
  "The burden of proof lies on religion. If you propose the existence of something, you must follow the scientific method in defense of its existence. Otherwise, I have no reason to listen to you."  Oh you paragons of virtue!  Perhaps it's time for all of us to contemplate the perfection of ...
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• The Infinite Spiritual Being of Me

  by Tony Villari July 22, 2017
  If you were an "infinite spiritual being" to be viewed by mankind, how would you like to be seen?  I think I'd like to be seen as a toddler puffing on a pipe, doling out sage advice and wisdom from the back of an old fishing boat.  Avert your gaze for just a moment and you'll look back to ...

• Falling Short

  by Tony Villari July 14, 2017
  Shasha was a young woman I met while working for an Institutional Review Board.  She always struck me as the quiet person who had an equally quiet cordiality about her.  Her personality, if not shy, was so quiet toward me that I allowed myself to blend her into the background noise of seve...
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• Haunting Memories

  by Tony Villari July 14, 2017
  We can reconnect with friends of our youth only to realize we also haunt the alternate universe of those realities that might have been, had we spoken up, made different choices, and said I love you or I care.  We can see in some of their lives the results of poor health, the lines, wrinkles, a...
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• Creationism or Evolution?

  by Tony Villari June 22, 2017
  Noah and the flood do nothing to prove the theories of creationism or evolution.  To my way of thinking, why should either theory be wrong?  Even if we concede that God created the heavens and the earth in six days, resting on the seventh, science has shown God created the earth 4 billion ...
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• Revisiting: ‘How Are You Today?’

  by Tony Villari June 17, 2017
  So, I'm in the supermarket buying a few groceries prior to stopping by customer service to get a couple of lottery tickets.  In front of me, at checkout, is a girl of about 20 years of age, lying almost prone, in a motorized wheel chair.  Her upper body was raised just enough so she could ...

• No Other Gods

  by Tony Villari June 1, 2017
    Those in the congregation, who follow The Path, know my opinion of scripture and how much I love to quote those passages which cause clergy to bristle.  These would be any passage or contradiction which threatens the mind control organized religion maintains over their flock.  ...

• Poverty – A Lack of Faith?

  by Tony Villari May 24, 2017
  When San Antonio Mayor, Ivy Taylor, was asked what she saw as the deepest, systemic causes of generational poverty in her city, she answered, "To me, it’s broken people. People not being in relationships with their creator and therefore not being in good relationship with their families and th...
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• Time Is on My Side

  by Tony Villari May 18, 2017
  Personally, I have come to the conclusion that time only exist as a construct of the mind. It is created to give some context to our plane of existence, our reality. We find a need to put events, emotions, and the other "stuff" of life into the context of past, present, or future. We can mitigate, e...
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• The Ineffable Mystery

  by Tony Villari May 12, 2017
  Is the mind a terrible thing to waste, or is the mind simply... a terrible thing?  The more we discover about our universe, the more we discover about our own ignorance and our own negativity toward that same desire to discover.  We are finding out, through archeology, just how many times ...
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• Life under the Sword: Christian Persecution

  by Tony Villari May 6, 2017
  I am always leery of charts which list numbers of countries which persecute each particular religion, as this article does.  To state a number instead of a particular country gives us a false sense of what's going on.  For instance, if we state five countries persecute Christians as well a...
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• I Now Pronounce You, Gender Dysphoric

  by Tony Villari May 4, 2017
  "Cross-gender behaviors begin as early as 2 years," which is probably going to be confusing for those who insist on believing sexual identity is a choice. I will speak up for the gender confused when I state, those that believe gender confusion at the age of four is a choice, are getting o...

• Quietly Confused

  by Tony Villari May 1, 2017
  Note:  I posted this late in 2013 and, rereading it, my heart was moved to post it again since the subject seems to have grown new life.  Most prefer to stay out of the spotlight, some make a flamboyant point of staying in it.  My heart goes out to the quietly confused. This was one ...

• Ripples

  by Tony Villari April 27, 2017
  The pond of our existence can be as smooth as glass, as turbulent and foreboding as a North Atlantic storm, or as beautiful as waves crashing along the Pacific shore.  Whether we offend or take offense, the calm of our pond is dependent on the quantity of all which society chucks into it.  ...

• The Greatest Thing

  by Tony Villari April 25, 2017
  I always thought this was simple "Curly-an" philosophy:  The secret to life is "one thing."  What is this "one thing?"  Well, the secret to life, of course, would be the obvious sequitur.  Actually, I think the whole thing wreaks more of Taoism.  Regardless of the ...

• Choices & Consequences

  by Tony Villari April 19, 2017
  Humans say and do things without thinking through the consequences.  Our mouths are attached to vocal cords spring loaded in preparation for the next knee-jerk reaction to some ridiculous thought that traverses the wasteland of our mind.  Sometimes it takes us years to develop an understan...
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• Initium Enim Prope Est

  by Tony Villari April 13, 2017
  We look to the horizon and await the dawn of forever. Ancient knowledge, long lost, is being rediscovered by open minds undeterred by that which they're told can't be accomplished. We use to dream of the unattainable, and now we are discovering the unattainable is simply our inability to see the app...
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• Tetelestai and Why "Good Friday" is Good

  by Tony Villari April 13, 2017
  Tetelestai.  It is what Christ uttered as he drew his last breaths on the cross, according to John.  "It is finished."  Tetelastai.  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...

• Stress Not

  by Tony Villari April 7, 2017
  Sitting on the back porch tonight, I find myself alone with the breeze and the warm glow of the patio lights, an iced glass of bourbon, and my pipe, smoking with my favorite blend and filling the air around me with an aromatically therapeutic scent.    It struck me, as it always does, that...
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• Your Daily Outlook?

  by Tony Villari April 6, 2017
  We all try to impress, and we all fail at it.  Hey, for the most part we're lousy communicators.  Who knew?  But in the emotional moment, if you're lucky enough to catch the momentary look of honesty, a person's face can speak volumes of who they really are even if their pie hole make...

• Consider, If You Will...

  by Tony Villari March 30, 2017
  "Consider, if you will, that the Garden of Eden was on another planet, in another galaxy. The planet was populated with humans, men and women or Adam and Eve if you prefer. The population succumbed to evil: hate, murder, racism, genocide. You name it. At the same time, this population was making gre...

• Out of Someone Else's Mouth

  by Tony Villari March 24, 2017
  Last I read, studies put the number of Christian sects in the world at 33,000 plus; all of them think they are more right and, therefore, more worthy of salvation than their brothers. I have found, in discussing scripture with Christian leaders around me, most of them read their scripture, they beli...
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• Paradox

  by Tony Villari March 17, 2017
  Each morning, when I wake and knock on wood to prove it, and after I look up to praise God for another day in paradise and another chance to excel in life, I can't wait to get out and about so I can enjoy what, for me, is an obvious paradox - the never ending circus which is humanity.  We are t...
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• Islam 101 - Who is Allah?

  by Tony Villari March 11, 2017
  Islam was thrust upon me again, just last week, by an older Christian Deacon. He is a very 'by the Book' Christian, a believer that the Bible is the 'Word’ of God, and that Muslims do not believe in God. What? This came as unsettling news to me considering they're one of the three Abraham...
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• LGBT Teenage Suicides

  by Tony Villari March 5, 2017
  The Christian church has tried to make homosexuality a sin, in contradiction to the teachings about not judging others, forgiveness, tolerance, of love for all… except, of course... you know - gays.  Yet, two thousand years of condemnation have multiplied the ranks of the gay community. ...
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• Strange Bedfellows

  by Tony Villari February 25, 2017
  I had a doctor admonish me, once, for not addressing him as 'doctor.'  Actually, I called him by his first name; not even the courtesy of a 'mister.'  I told him that if it stroked his ego, I'd try to assist.  He informed me, quite curtly, that he deserved the title.  I...
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• Terror in Small Packages

  by Tony Villari February 19, 2017
  How many little things have to bite us in the ass and chew on our conscience, if we're lucky enough to have one, before we realize it isn't the little things, the outcomes of bad decisions which are terminally stupid, it's the person making the decisions.  Maybe it's time to look in the mirror ...
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• A Right to Live

  by Tony Villari February 2, 2017
  Looking at the world through rose colored glasses accomplishes little except to suck the color from reality and make us, somehow, feel better for the lie, in this case, about our passive complicity in allowing the murder of innocence to continue unabated as we exercise our "divine" right to decide w...

• Man from Mars

  by Tony Villari January 27, 2017
  Square pegs and round holes is where hammers come in handy.  I've learned to think of myself as a hammer.  Don't concern yourself with what other people think, follow your own path.  If there's a brick wall blocking your path, make a door.  You're only beaten when you quit.  ...

• Time - The Transcendence of Love

  by Tony Villari January 21, 2017
  I am a hopeless romantic.  I have to be.  Love and I have always been strange bedfellows.  It isn't that I don't know what love is, I have a pretty good grasp on the emotion... and exercise it often.  I have a deep philosophy concerning it; I simply refuse to invest myself fully ...

• Love and Happiness

  by Tony Villari January 13, 2017
  I searched at great length for an image to put at the top of this post, and I fell prey to multiple choices of a man and woman - in this day and age, I knew better.  After a heartfelt self-admonishment I settled on a photo which seems to leave the door open for whichever gender floats your boat...
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• Time - To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

  by Tony Villari January 6, 2017
  To sleep, perchance to dream?  As the Bard once penned, "Aye, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death, what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause."  And how long will that pause be?  I've had plenty of dreams while amongst the living which...
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• The Tools You Bring With

  by Tony Villari January 4, 2017
  When it comes to survival there are several camps I would fear, these are the camps of "want." They are the perpetually poor who want what I have and the formerly rich who want what I have, and any other group who wants what I have. The fact that you are willing to share what you have is of so much ...

• Time - Life Between the Ticks

  by Tony Villari January 2, 2017
  Tick...tick...tick...tick...  Living life between the ticking of a clock - with digital timepieces young people may soon be growing up not ever realizing what that means. For me it occurs every day.   To read the rest of this post, take a second and follow this link to my blog, &ldqu...
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• Mary, the Theotokos

  by Tony Villari December 29, 2016
  "Hypostatically united," threw me for a loop, so I did what any self-respecting man would do, I stopped for directions - I looked it up. Don't bother, it didn't help. I knew it was time to stop looking when I was directed to a legal (as in law school) definition of the word. When lawyers get involve...
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• A Belief In… Something

  by Tony Villari December 25, 2016
  Three reasons why the New York Times' War on Christmas denial is all wrong.  Does this title confuse anyone else?  Well, maybe it's just me, but I'd have written this differently, like highlighting "War on Christmas" so it isn't misconstrued as the "New York Times' War on Christmas" denial...
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• Happiness in the Eyes of a Child

  by Tony Villari December 22, 2016
  Whenever I feel down, which isn't often, I can always find my happy place in the eyes of a child.  I can be standing in line at Walmart and there will be a child in a basket that just won't stop looking at me.  Before you know it I'm in a one way conversation with this little shit, they're...

• What Gifts May Come

  by Tony Villari December 19, 2016
  This was to be "My Christmas Thought" for this coming Sunday, but it was viewed as a bit maudlin for the season.  That is one view, but I'd prefer to consider the beautiful "miracle" of it all, but then, I revel in miracles around me throughout the year and in particular during the Christmas se...

• The Hair We Take for Granted

  by Tony Villari December 15, 2016
  I think there is nothing quite as beautiful, nothing that can make a statement of perfection, as much as a woman who can carry herself with such refinement and class while sporting a well shorn head.  It is truly not the lack of hair which defines the woman, but rather the woman who defines the...

• Did God Create a Man and a Woman?

  by Tony Villari December 13, 2016
  Did God create a man and a woman, or did He, as Genesis proclaims, create man, male and female, and name them Man? Isn't this written so as to leave it all open to interpretation? It would seem you can read it as all-inclusive of the rich variety of mankind, of those peacefully seeking His grace, th...
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• Living in the Now

  by Tony Villari December 1, 2016
  For me, living in the now means living between the ticks of a clock. It means an ability to focus on the air as its being beaten into submission by the wings of a bee, or to simply pick a point of water as it approaches in a fast moving stream, and follow as it passes and continues out of sight. Eve...

• This Sunday's Thought? 600 Posts, 3.5 years - Where to Now?

  by Tony Villari November 27, 2016
  For hundreds of lives we come and go, building up the accretion of knowledge and experience which are eventually covered by new layers as time marches inevitably forward. Each day we stand at the edge and stare into the abyss to see all evil held at bay before us. Each day we look to heaven for stre...

• Giving Thanks - 2016

  by Tony Villari November 23, 2016
  Every day, when you wake up, Knock on wood, and give thanks; You are alive. God has given you another day to excel.   To read the rest of this post on Giving Thanks, Please follow this link to “The Path”:  Giving Thanks - 2016

• Be Thankful for Blessings

  by Tony Villari November 21, 2016
  George Carlin was the consummate comedian; he had a way of looking at the commonplace and seeing the humor in it.  Because much of the topics of his humor were so much a part of our everyday lives, his insight was easy for us to grasp and understand.  His comedy became a string of "been th...

• Female Priests? Never Say Never, Your Holiness.

  by Tony Villari November 10, 2016
  Women are proving themselves more than capable of taking on the world of men.  As women, I would think their genetic capacity for love, compassion, tolerance, and forgiveness would make them far better ministers than most men would ever hope to be.  As for female priests, history has accep...

• Female Punching Bags - Beating up on Women

  by Tony Villari November 4, 2016
  Women as punching bags... I can't remember ever addressing this issue as a post of its own.  I think this is, in large part, because I have mentioned it in passing in so many of my posts.  But, isn't this the problem?  We seem to mention this offense in passing, as though it isn'...
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• Honor Thy Pedophile and Thy Mother?

  by Tony Villari November 1, 2016
  Honor your father and your mother.  As a rule of thumb, this sounds pretty reasonable.  As the fifth in God's 10 Commandments, His 10 laws for man to live by, it still seems pretty reasonable.  LifeHopeandTruth.com states, "God gave the 10 Commandments fr...

• Good vs. Evil - Keep Our Eyes on the Target

  by Tony Villari October 20, 2016
  Why is Christianity considered good?  Look at all the evil which Christianity has visited upon humanity.  History records little of it except for those events too large to ignore, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salem witch trials, slaughter of the Aztec people and culture, but the less...

• God or Politics?

  by Tony Villari October 14, 2016
  Mahatma Gandhi had a keen insight into social morality.  As a nation we are guilty of violating each of these seven social sins.  I'm sure each of us can put a reason for all seven, so... I'll give you my take on them and let you ponder your own. To read more of my thoughts on Gandhi...

• Destiny Is Not a Reason, Its Perspective

  by Tony Villari October 8, 2016
  What goes before is the reason for what will come after.  What is now is simply the answer to choices made before.  Fate is the consequence of where society, nature, God, and our own decisions, have brought us.  It is the answer to my favorite question, "Why?"  For exam...

• A Culture of Hate - Verity Baptist Revisited

  by Tony Villari October 6, 2016
  It is sad what evils man visits upon man; it is even more so when the evil exposes yet more evil amongst us.  Let us revisit the tragedy of which I speak.  29 year old Omar Mateen, a security guard, entered the Pulse nightclub on the evening of June 12, 2016.  He targeted this gay nig...
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• Racism - Not My Monkey

  by Tony Villari September 29, 2016
  I will be upfront and honest with my readers, as I always try to be.  Tonight I have some help from Mr. Evan Williams, working hard to keep me on the narrow, if not necessarily straight.  This has been one of those posts which I have labored over, written and rewritten, and will probably c...
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• Transgender - An Absence of Compassion

  by Tony Villari September 22, 2016
  As Christians we are taught that God is perfect, that God does not make mistakes, and everything happens for a reason.  If this is true, why does it seem we constantly find ourselves forever at odds with God's creations simply because they don't meet our definitions of what they ought to be? &n...
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• Why?

  by Tony Villari September 15, 2016
  I first touched on the question of "why," back in October of 2013, with my post, Why Are We Here?  At that time I wrote, "I have come to a point in life where I think I have answered, for my own purposes, who, what, when, and where, of my life.  "How" is a moot point, as it eithe...
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• Love - A Second Hand Emotion?

  by Tony Villari September 13, 2016
  Love can be a lifelong relationship with a soulmate, a good friend, whether you're together or apart. There is the love of a spouse, a child, a parent or guardian, and self. There is, also, the unrequited love of someone who, for all your efforts, either does not acknowledge you exist or wants a rel...

• Patriot Day - UA Flight 93

  by Tony Villari September 8, 2016
  I wrote 9/11 As a Celebration of Life in 2013, several months after I began blogging "The Path."  I followed up in 2014 with September 11, 2001, and I wrote my first in remembrance of Patriot Day last year, Patriot Day - 9/11.  Where others may forget, daily, the sacrif...

• God's Word, or Inspired By God?

  by Tony Villari September 2, 2016
  The Holy Bible, if it represents any truth at all, can be viewed by the faithful as "an authoritative record of the relationship between God and humans."  If we consider the lack of scholarly agreement as to authorship, questionable agendas, origin of documents and stories and the conditio...
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• Change - The Irresistible Force?

  by Tony Villari August 28, 2016
  I don't view change as an irresistible force, it is simply another force which works, most often it seems, to hold us back.  We must take the first step, become the catalyst for our own change, and move forward!  By taking this control we fulfill our own destiny, God's desire for us t...

• Hypocrites Remind Me of Why I Do What I Do

  by Tony Villari August 26, 2016
  I get reminders from God, more often than I use to, of why I sought ordination as an interfaith minister, why I founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance, and why I started "The Path," a blog discussing the personal spiritual path each of us is on.  A little more than a week ago I publis...

• Lucy the Clown - A Minister?

  by Tony Villari August 20, 2016
  Last year, I answered a call to try and reinvigorate our local medical center's chaplain program.  Phone calls and a luncheon to a page of local churches netted us two new ministers, one of whom was, literally, a clown.  "Lucy the Clown" showed up, after her indoctrination, in full clown r...

• Are You Already Dead?

  by Tony Villari August 18, 2016
  "Always with the negative waves, Moriarty, always with the negative waves," a classic line from one of my favorite tongue-in-cheek movies about World War II, Kelly's Heroes (1970).  But, is Oddball right when he berates Moriarty for always having a life full of negativity?  ...

• Salvation Isn’t Rocket Science

  by Tony Villari August 14, 2016
  "No man comes to my Father but by me alone.”  Saith the Word in John 14:6, and yet, Christians, seemingly in contradiction, would seemingly be anchored to this scripture, their church elders or clergy, and the church itself.  Let's try to clarify this my...
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• Faces in My Darkness

  by Tony Villari August 11, 2016
  Welcome to Anywhere, USA, where we, for the most part, seem to have become the cold, callous, creatures of nightmares.  Morality is defined for us by hypocrites we find orating behind pulpits while turning their backs on the least of us and encouraging those same "least of us" to follow their l...

• Touch

  by Tony Villari August 6, 2016
  Our path begins at life, our journey, begins with a single touch.  For most of us it will be in the gentle touch of our mother, for others in the kindness shown by a stranger.  Is it the simple act of reaching out to something or someone?  Is it about how we reach out and th...

• Being Truly Great

  by Tony Villari August 4, 2016
  The stairway to true greatness lies before you. You can stand there and stare at it until hell freezes, or you can take the first step on the climb of your life. But, before you start, ask yourself, "Why?" Then, when you are satisfied with why you are making the climb, maybe you should think about w...
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• At The Edge of Forever

  by Tony Villari July 28, 2016
  I have faith in God and in a hereafter.  My desire to believe in an afterlife is driven by pure selfishness.  You see, I don't want to die and find out the atheists are right, because I won't be able to be pissed off about it.  Better they should die and find out they are, w...

• Women - Be the Pedestal (Part 2 - Commentary)

  by Tony Villari July 26, 2016
  Women - Be the Pedestal (Part 2 - Commentary) Sometimes I write posts which resonate with my audience.  Usually these posts concern women, the issues I see them having to deal with, my opinions of those issues, and my undying respect and love of the gender in general.  I was brought up to...
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• Operation Valkyrie - At What Cost Salvation?

  by Tony Villari July 23, 2016
  I always tout the benefit of remembering history because I have faith in the well-known statement by Edmund Burke (1729-1797), "Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."  Maybe this is why I find Stauffenberg's story the stuff of faith; his faith in Germany, his militar...

• Religious Freedom or Hypocrisy?

  by Tony Villari July 21, 2016
  One can find many passages in scripture which some of us, as Christians, seem to conveniently forget as it suits our denominational agenda, but these few give a flavor for the point I'm trying to make about judging and a fundamental lack of tolerance, forgiveness, and mercy as we forget to put Chris...

• Deep in My Heart...

  by Tony Villari July 14, 2016
  Down deep in my heart, I know I'm a loner.  I think I have known this since grade school.  Oh, I wasn't an introvert, my goodness; I was so much the opposite.  I was picked on, bullied is the new term, for most of my pre-high school years because I was the small, geeky kid with "coke ...
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• Religious Oppression of Women

  by Tony Villari July 7, 2016
  Study religion, not even that closely, and you might see how the Abrahamic religions all approach women from a male's egotistical, superior agenda of control and submissiveness.  It would seem Hinduism also has a problem moving into the 21st century with any mature, civilized sense of humanity....
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• Women - Be the Pedestal

  by Tony Villari July 5, 2016
  I have published, on numerous occasions, posts concerning women.  I've talked about their concerns over weight, looks, men, stress, and my own belief that there is not a pedestal high enough to put them on, or safe enough.  They keep falling off.  From what I've seen and heard, fallin...
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• Gays and Christianity Revisited, Yet Again

  by Tony Villari June 30, 2016
  So, on the question of gay Christians, Pope Francis comments, "The questions is: if a person who has that condition, who has good will, and who looks for God, who are we to judge?"  But, Most Holy Father, is not stating they have "that condition," in itself a judgment?  Let'...
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• Wolves in Wolf Clothing

  by Tony Villari June 27, 2016
  "Our criminal justice system," is a crock.  It basically means the exact opposite of what one first thinks.  The criminal's rights are protected against those that seek retribution for crimes the criminals perpetrate against society.  Criminals have become, like the wolf, a prote...
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• The Recipe for "Good People"

  by Tony Villari June 23, 2016
  What makes good people? What is the recipe for good people? This is a question recently put to me by a friend, and it is a question not easily answered. People are so diverse, they remind me of cookies; you may think you've found the best of the best only until a better one comes along. Even the bes...

• Verity Baptist and the Gospel of Hate

  by Tony Villari June 21, 2016
  Pastor Roger Jimenez claims he was misconstrued when he made this statement concerning the recent, deadly attack at the gay friendly nightclub in Orlando.  I sit here reading the words; over and over, trying to construe the statement any other way than that which is so sadly obvious.  You ...
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• Father's Day: Thank You for Being a Mentor!

  by Tony Villari June 16, 2016
  There is more to being a father than simply adding your genes to the biologic stew which will create a new life.  Most civilizations, societies, and religions, including the all three Abrahamic religions, have dictated there is a moral responsibility for the father to take owners...
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• Redefining Moral Decline?

  by Tony Villari June 10, 2016
  “This country is in moral decline. I just wish we would return to our Christian values and turn back to God.”  The statement is still valid.  It is valid because things aren't any better than they were in yesteryear, just different.  Moral values, Christian or not, are on ...
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• A Note to the Offended

  by Tony Villari June 7, 2016
  I originally had no intentions of posting this on the monastery blog.  I felt it really didn't cover subject matter folks here would be interested in.  As time passed, however, I was admonished for my slight by friends and readers on Facebook.  I have to admit; reading it over, it d...

• Just Because We Can?

  by Tony Villari June 6, 2016
  I think some people claim to be atheists as an excuse to become perpetually offended at, well, everything.  It seems like they use being an atheist as an excuse; like it's their "get out of jail free card" to act as arrogantly stupid as they'd like.  As an acquaintance at the monaster...
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• Losing Faith in God

  by Tony Villari June 2, 2016
  Have you ever thought about why people lose faith in God?  I've heard quite a few of the reasons.  God has abandoned me; God didn't save my child, husband, or parent; I keep asking, God keeps ignoring; the church is so hypocritical; there is no proof of God, where are the miracles?  D...

• My Response - Should the Methodist Church Accept Gay People?

  by Tony Villari June 2, 2016
  It never ceases to amaze me how the "faithful" know so much of the scripture they profess to believe in and, seemingly, understand so little of what they claim to know.  It would seem the Christian agenda is to interpret the Bible as they see fit in order to meet their criteria for salvation. &...
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• A Word from Our Sponsor?

  by Tony Villari May 26, 2016
  "...says THE LORD JEHOVAH: I shall put my law into their minds, and I shall write it upon their hearts," and God did this because the Word, written down from the spoken, caused so much misinterpretation.  Christians might argue this, which would only further evidence the point.  If the Wor...

• As a Man Among Men, I Weep for Humanity

  by Tony Villari May 18, 2016
  As children, men don't have a clue, about anything. We tend to learn first by reward, then by being hurt, and then, if we're smart, because we want to. About the time "we want to" learn, we begin to think we understand our emotions of fear, love, laugh, hurt, and sadness. I think by the time we mana...

• And... Life Begins!

  by Tony Villari May 16, 2016
  When does life begin?  Well, any intelligent person would assume that life has to be self-sustaining, like plants and animals.  But are we taking in all of the theological and philosophical arguments when we try to define when life begins?  As a spiritual, God fearing human, I would t...

• Your Personal Path

  by Tony Villari May 12, 2016
  No matter how bad I might think my day is, I always try to remember how great it is to live in a country where I don't have to fight for survival.  In most developed nations, fighting for survival is a choice, or a consequence of a choice, we have freely made.  Our destiny is what we make ...

• Mother's Day

  by Tony Villari May 4, 2016
  So, who's the ugly mug my mom is with? Yeah, you guessed it - me. What in God's good name happened? Really! I mean, yeah, if you ignore the fact I had to sit in a high chair to gnaw on a 'nanner, I was actually a handsome guy, back in the day. I was such a good looking little kid. Okay, I ...

• It Is What It Is?

  by Tony Villari May 3, 2016
  What is art?  Like beauty, it is in the eye of the beholder.  For some folks, there would seem to be much beauty in pooh.  Either they need glasses, or I need a better prescription, because I just don't see it.  Then, there is the artist that doesn't have any clue, exce...

• Answering a Call - Minister or Salesman?

  by Tony Villari April 29, 2016
  Ever come across a shyster disguised as clergy?  They're pretty easy to spot.  Like a used car salesman, they act like they get a percentage on the side for each sale they bring in.  It doesn't take them long to realize they should have their own dealership.  They can t...

• Holocaust Remembrance

  by Tony Villari April 28, 2016
  The stories of the Holocaust are the stories of us.  They are an unfortunate reminder of our own ultimate, sometimes inevitable, ability for cruelty and evil beyond measure.  We only think we are different, however, as we keep evidencing with people and groups like ISIS, we remai...

• Christ for Fun and Prophet

  by Tony Villari April 22, 2016
  If your pastor is wealthier than the people he serves, is he here to serve us or are we here to serve him?  As Christians I have come to believe we're a lazy lot.  We seem to buy into the tithing, the donations, and the televangelist hype.  Want an eye opener?  Check out this lin...
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• I Do This for You

  by Tony Villari April 18, 2016
  People constantly tell me their faith isn't strong, or my faith is stronger than theirs. We all have the same faith. Faith was written across the hearts and minds of mankind because we kept misinterpreting the written word. Instead of giving us laws to argue over, God gave us the spirit of...

• Memories of Youth

  by Tony Villari April 15, 2016
  Ever found an old friend from your youth, one you haven't seen in, oh, say... forty-five years?  I was happy and privileged to have been blessed with such an episode, just recently.  Happy because she was numbered among the few I loved, privileged because she took the time to look me up, a...

• Child of Man, Face of God - Part III

  by Tony Villari April 14, 2016
  In the age of the second coming, which face of the less of us will we protect?  Which child of God, this time, will we deny three times?  And we place so much faith in a book written by men and touted as the Word of God; will we accept its sexist tone to deny that the Christ may reappear a...

• Child of Man, Face of God - Part II

  by Tony Villari April 14, 2016
  According to Nelson Mandela, "There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."  Children are a gift, a heritage, to mankind from the Lord.  They are a reward which we have endeavored to corrupt through our abuse.  We have forgot...

• Choices and Consequences

  by Tony Villari April 14, 2016
  As I look back at my life I see much that I wish I could go back and change.  As we get older comes this annoying benefit of hindsight.  Unfortunately, we usually find our hindsight is really of little or no benefit to us, at our advanced age the probability of having to make similar decis...

• Child of Man, Face of God - Part I

  by Tony Villari April 13, 2016
  When I look into the face of a child, I see the many faces of an emotional God.  In children of want, I see a face that asks the question of Christ, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?"  And, in this face, I...