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EdificationWares.com Monthly Newsletter
August 21, 2006
Dietary Defiance Custom Poetic Mug
$13.99
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- The Need for Reminders
- What Do They Mean?
- My Vision
- Your Feedback
- Just a Reminder...
Welcome to my first newsletter!
Why do we pull out the family photo album from time to time? Isn't it so that
the photos serve as visual reminders of people we love and of good times in
the past? And what do these reminders do for us? They help us remember that,
in the midst of the turmoil of life, there are good things that give us
reasons to keep on keeping on. Reasons not to quit. Reasons not to jump in
the car and disappear to start a new life somewhere. Reasons to remember who
we are.
It is easy to forget who we are these days. As far as the government is
concerned we are sources of tax revenue. As far as Hollywood
is concerned we are moviegoers. As far as car dealers and department stores
are concerned we are consumers. But as far as we are concerned we are people
with hopes and fears and insecurities and aspirations. We want to be seen as
legitimate just because we live, think, feel and breathe, not because we
contribute to the Gross National Product or influence consumer spending for
this quarter.
But there is a truth we must face. We don't live in the kind of society that
will remind us of being persons anymore. Years ago, yes, you could still find
that. And in some places you can still get a flavor of it. But for the most
part that time is over. Now information is fired at us with the force of a
fireman's water hose. Think of the old black and white film clips of civil
rights marchers being blasted with water hoses then imagine yourself in that
clip and think of the water as information. That's where we are now. The big
problem is that this information is not directed at us as if we had value
higher than money or users of "expert" advice. If it were it would
be tailored to be more useful, more "user friendly". Instead it is
blasted at us shotgun-like. We are treated as if our whole personality is
nothing but one big nerve ending, something like you might find in a high school
biology lab, not an individual human being. We are always reminded that we
are sexual, that we need the latest medication, diet, zero percent financing
or cosmetic surgery. But rarely are we reminded that we are created beings
who need to be conscious of who they are and what their place in creation
means. Over time this takes a toll on our spirits. If we aren't refreshed it
means trouble. More than anything else we require MEANING in our lives.
Enough to overcome the forces of chaos.
What are we to do? There are many things. Body, mind and spirit are linked
together. We can't treat one as important and ignore the others. So we need a
thought out plan to feed ourselves as a whole, integrated person. But we need
reminders to bring the importance of such things back to our attention.
That's why he have photo albums and monuments. They refocus our attention so
that we can fight off the distractions we are bombarded with and get on with
the plan.
EdificationWares.com is here to provide you with just such reminders.
Reminders of what are important, beautiful, humorous, ironic, sensual without
being pornographic, and true. Nothing complicated or difficult. Just a small
thing added to your other belongings and activities that will help you
remember just what is more important than the tidal wave of fads that wants
to wash you away.
As you can see I use a lot of poetry. It is not always easy to understand
what someone means by the poetry they've written. I have tried to make my
writing so that, with a little thought, you can grasp the meaning. At any
rate I will provide a short explanation of any poem and what I was thinking
of when I wrote it with each purchase of a poetry bearing item.
Or, if you'd like, drop me an email at rbnewman55@earthlink.net and ask
what a poem means if you have a hard time with it. I'd be glad to hear from
you.
I started EdificationWares.com out of a desire to find a way to produce
something that people would be pleased to make part of their daily lives in
small ways that would produce a positive influence far greater than their
appearance.
Words are very powerful. The average marketer's way of influencing us is to
bombard a large number of people with certain words and images so that a
certain percentage of us spend money because of it. But I have no interest in
such a disrespectful use of words.
Whe Jesus used parables he said more than once, "He that has ears to
hear, let him hear."
I write with this same truth in mind. Everyone will not like what I've
produced. Everyone will not like my style, what I have to say or how I say
it. But I'm not trying to reach everyone. I will be happy if those who have
ears to hear can hear what I'm saying. Moreover I want that hearing to turn
into a reality that helps someone be more of who they are and resist the
dehumanizing effect of so much of what is aimed at us supposedly for our
good. If I can accomplish this is any way I will be fulfilled.
And if EdificationWares.com works out as I desire I have other ideas along
the same lines that I intend to carry out. We will see.
I want anyone who visits EdificationWares.com to feel free to drop me an
email expressing their feelings about the site. Compliments are always nice.
It helps one want to continue. But I am also interested in constructive
criticism. This is the first time I've created a web site. There are always
ways to improve something and I know that I may be blind to things someone
else can see. If that is pointed out to me and I can use it to improve then
it's a winning situation.
So, please, feel free to send your feedback. Peace to you all.
But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore:
ye are of more value than many sparrows. - Luke 12:7
What is your life or mine worth? Not much by many estimates. People are dying
wholesale in the Middle East. Here in the United
States a lot of people are dying slowly.
Not from a physical ailment but because each day they receive direct and
indirect messages that tell them they might be as valuable as a sparrow but
only if they are spending money or "giving back to the community"
when, for the most part, we don't even have many communities left.
Your worth and my worth do not come from the latest laws written or because Washington
DC or some celebrity decided to look
kindly on us. It comes from the Creator. Why? Well, to quote what my father
was so fond of saying, "Because I said so".
We are worth more than many sparrows because He said we were. We don't have
to look for interpretation on that or get somebody to break it down. It means
what He said.
But we do have to act like it. And we do have to add to it the way we have to
add hot water to instant coffee. Not to make it true, just to make it useful.
And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to
virtue knowledge... - 2 Pet. 1:5.
You and I are worth more than all the deliberations of Congress and Senate
since there has been Congress and Senate and experts and committees appointed
to "study the problem" when a rock can see what the problem is.
Why?
Because He said so. Just a reminder.
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