Reflections on the Year that Was

 Greetings to the end of the year, two thousand and twelve to my gentle readers at www.joelwlamoure.com as we take a step back and reflect on the days and months that were and those that came and went. I stand and salute in memory of my father, Wayne Lamoure (1948-2012), a man who knew what justice really was and stood for it daily.

A time for hope, faith and belief... these are critical elements and we must have Faith that there is a reason for everything and it is what we do with the events that transpire that determine the doors that subsequently open.

This was a year of marked highs and lows for all of us in so many aspects and facets of each of our lives. A time for peace, a time for battles and a time to step back and reflect on the lay of the land. Although the moments themselves traverse like sands of grains through the hourglass, we imperceptibly change and evolve to a point of where we are meant to be. But the changes at the time, with the exceptions of the ground shaking earthquakes in our lives we cannot even detect.

The year started with leaving inpatient psychiatry work with my most monumental earthquake came the period of July 9-10^th with the loss of my Father and to whom todays blog is dedicated. Subsequent changes in the second half were my being named to the UN, UNESCO as Canadian Section Chief of Medical Bioethics a month later and then another family death while the UNESCO was still in print. This followed closely after with the moments of stepping into my father’s role in early September in a CI role with the Forces. Who knows what this year will bring… besides a year of evolution and change? Belief in that.

A strong Belief that even when the chips are down (for we rarely stop and reflect as to why things are wonderful, but get the "poor me" when things are down) that "this too shall pass" and as opposed to cursing our beshitted lot and son of a bi-atch, I get the black marble in life and never the radiant crystal that it really IS for a reason. And most of all is Hope. Hope is the meshwork that channels it all together and is intricately intertwined with the other two.

  In advance of this New Years Day, 1/1/13, it is a time that many are making INCREDIBLE resolutions that will last, well... 1 week. Maybe 2. Sorry folks... most resolutions blow (and blow away). One, and only one wish that I hope to aim towards is to wait for facts and make informed decisions respective of the situation.

   In this week between Christmas an New Years, I have had the incredible good fortune reflect, consider, contemplate and assess the tapestry of the year that was.

  No my friends, I do not wear a tinfoil hat or drool in my porridge but look to these amazing miracles that exist on a day to day experience. They are there and just need someone to shut up and listen to the incredible stories of courage and strength. Amazing indeed. Believe it or not, in North America, India, and Europe etc. there are those still labeled and persecuted for their views. Not able to advance, not being able to live in their own skin, made to be ostracized for our protection. Going to sleep crying of hunger while others cry their ipad was the wrong colour. There is a problem here Houston. Hallelujah, pass the plate. Can you say we are saving the world through bullying? Not at all. Ive talked of bullying before and my advice, take the cotton out of your ears and shove it in your.... mouth. Then we can enact real change and see miracles that abound.

  To believe there are miracles, seeing is believing. "Show me the money!". Want a money shot? Let the scales fall from your eyes. Look as if from the wonderment of a child in actions, thoughts, visions and demeanor. This is what is lacking and yet these are there for your taking you know… and only thing holding you back, is well...a programmed you. 

  So instead…be yourself, often.

                           ~~~ Rev. Dr Joel Lamoure  December 2012

Training for Humanity Gold

Greetings my gentle readers to this weeks installment of the "Be Yourself, Often" Blog. A time when we can step back and reflect and look at all the positives that have transpired over the course of the week and feel good about living life on life's terms. This is and can be found at www.joelwlamoure.com and an audio version at http://www.spreaker.com/show/tuesday_prescribing_spiritual_hope .

Today has brought to an end the 2012 Olympic summer games in London, England. This is a time of peace and harmony when brother competes against brother and sister against sister in the field of sports. This is not war or fighting or posturing of swords and sabers, but rather a time of brotherhood. A time where over 190 countries can peaceably assemble and bring for the shining light of the Olympic flame.

That peace is not always what it appears on the surface, despite the 5 colours of the Olympic flag that denote representation from every flag in the world and every race and nation. Look to Munich of 1972 to see the harm and damage than man enacts against man. The drama that unfolded and tragic loss of life was a public display of hatred and lack of understanding that took a very sad, human toll. Since then, with the exception of the Atlanta Olympics, there has not been a loss of life secondary to terrorism, however at a great cost for security and policing.

So why DO we need such an expression of force at a "peaceable" event? The conspiratists may say it the Orwellian fate that was predicts it Orwell's 1984, which was written 67 years ago, and published in 1948 in the shadow of the Cold War and the aftermath of World War Two. Some may say it keeps us safe and is essential to demonstrate peace and harmony. Likely a balance of the 2 is needed and accurate. But do we really know what we really need? Has it been so clouded and made so complex that we have lost the simple interfaces and facets that exist in life?

Maybe the most important question here is that why do people judge other people and their sins and forget their own dirty laundry in their closet? Why is it so difficult for us as humans to simply get along and collaborate? To share the peace and harmony and be able to survive within the Ten Commandments that we have been given? Are we so entrenched in our beliefs that we forget others have their beliefs? In the form of group hysteria that can grip a nation (at least 4 times since 1928), are we just animals with a mob mentality? 

Is life so bad that we would rather not learn from a different religion, culture, belief and political system but rather destroy them and be at war? This means to me that we have not captured the non-man made elements of life, which evolve and revolve around spirituality and inter-connectedness. Shame isnt it? We are so advanced in our technology and wrapped up in the trimmings of the day that we feel we are able to hate and pass judgment. The armchair warriors dont just exist in sports my friend.....

There are over 7 billion people on this planet and like the Zen statement that goes that every snowflake falls in exactly the right spot, so we are woven into the tapestry of life and share so much with our brothers and sisters.

Haters for some reason have to hate and at the end of the day, wonder why their life is depressing and despondent and then turn to more hatred and become a tyrant and despot. I would rather step back and see what people have to learn, share that and apply that learning liberally and translate across the spectrum of humanity. You have to start with you... aint nobody going to fix the demons and the monkey on that back besides insight and awareness and work. No pill will cure THAT ill.

I believe if we can do that, you might just be yourself, often.

　

　

                                      --- Rev. Dr. Joel Lamoure August 2012