On My Mind...Gandhi and TV and then some

Two things have been on my mind a great deal in the last few days. One is the product of the message (sermon) delivered at our fellowship on Sunday. William Leslie spoke to us about what Gandhi the Mahatma (Great Soul) called the Seven Blunders. These seven blunders are the things which lead to violence. Working to correct these blunders will promote non-violence.

Wealth without work.

Pleasure without conscience.

Knowledge without character.

Commerce without morality.

Science without humanity.

Worship without sacrifice.

Politics without principles.

Gandhi's grandson, Arun, added and eighth blunder, Rights without responsibility. Bruce Thompson, a member of our fellowship, said during the Q&A after the message that he noticed a universal quality shared by all eight blunders, Power without restraint.

William also told us about an anecdote that exemplifies another of Gandhi's principles: Be the change you want to see in the world. A mother came to him to ask him to tell her son not to eat so much sugar. Gandhi told her to return with the boy in three days. She returned on the third day and asked him again to tell her son to stop eating sugar. Gandhi turned to the boy and said "Stop eating sugar." The mother, puzzled, said "Why didn't you say that three days ago?" Gandhi said "Because I was still eating sugar."

So Gandhi has been on my mind. And television. I love television, always have. As a kid I watched TV constantly. The first thing I do in the morning, for as long I can remember, is turn on the TV. The TV must be on at all times, even if I'm not watching it, even if I'm listening to the radio. If it's not on, the house is not alive. Up until a few days ago, I would sit with remote in hand just clicking and clicking, hoping for mental stimulation. It was so hard to find just the right thing to satiate my eager synapses. You can learn so much from TV. There are so many great programs, but they are so hard to find, especially when you just happen to be in front of the thing.

Then, on Tuesday last week, DVR came into my life. This is golden. Well, actually it's silver...Motorola. Now I can search menus by category and record the shows that interest me and watch them when I want to. So far I've watched such mind enriching programs such as "100 Greatest Scientific Discoveries" and "Discover Magazine: Lost in Time" (exploring the concept of time) and "Mystery of the Human Hobbit" and "Mystery of the Tibetan Mummy." There's a plethora of treats for my nerdy inner child. Television is my window to the universe, now I can turn the world to focus on what I want. My sincerest thanks to my brother-in-law, Bill, who turned me on to his TIVO. (He also hooked me up with Mark, a blind date.)

My mind wanders now...Have I ever told you about my attraction to smart men? Mark is very smart, witty, also very cute. Lucky me! When I hear speakers, such as those mentioned above, I'm mentally stimulated, yes, but there are other things occurring with my body that most people might not expect. ... ... ... Hmmm, I sure hope neither of those guys read this. Well, there's nothing sexier than a smart guy talking shop. Except...

A third (fourth, whatever) thing has been on my mind...svelt African acrobats. For this I thank my friend, Atasha, who told me about the night time zoo at the Wild Animal Park. The WAP is open until 9pm during the summer months, so we gave it a try on Saturday night. Much to my delight, a group of very sexy...oh...I mean, talented African studs...darn it!...I mean men...offered a tantalizing...shoot!...Impressive display of flexibility, muscles, cute rears...okay, I give up. It was great show and everyone enjoyed it.

That's all folks.

(These pictures were borrowed from various places on this fancy internet, except the picture of Mark, I took that one.)