Diamond Mike Watson's Blog, page 9

Should you forgive those who do not ask for forgiveness?

As a young teen raised in the Christian religion, I asked my mother deep questions in my understanding of life. I remember asking her if one should forgive a person who does not ask for forgiveness. Her response was quick, and replied that Jesus instructed us to forgive others not seven times, but seventy times seven.

I understood the hyperbole, but it didn’t answer my question. It was clear the message was to forgive others every time they ask for forgiveness, but what about those who harm others without guilt, remorse, or conscience? Should they be forgiven?

As an adult, I have yet to find any scripture that directly answers this. The word, “forgive” along with its other forms are sprinkled many times in the old and new Testaments. More than any other well-known spiritual leaders, Jesus seems to be the one most focused on the concept of forgiveness. However, my question still remained unanswered:

Should you forgive those who are not sorry?

I try not to hold grudges, and it is easy for me to forgive anyone who sincerely tells me they are sorry. What about those who honestly do not care if they harm you?

I had to decide this for myself. In Luke 23:34, as Jesus was dying on the cross, he said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Surely “them” were those who did not have guilt, remorse, or conscience. According to this verse, Jesus was saying those who were not sorry should still be forgiven.

In Matthew 5:44, Jesus said, “…love your enemies…” and later, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” Maybe the message was clear- not only should we love those who do not return love, but we should also forgive those who do not ask for forgiveness.

Should you forgive those who don’t ask for forgiveness?

Answer: Yes.

Just call me Diamond Mike

I was adopted as a child in Indiana. No information about my origins was given to my adoptive parents. I was baptized into the Christian religion. I was given a Bible as the source for my moral instruction. I was taught about heaven and hell, good and bad, and the power of prayer and forgiveness.





If I were not adopted, the holy book I have read from front to back may not have been so comprehensive. The scripture that would rest next to my bedside table would have been a thinner text containing only the first five books of the Bible, known as the Torah. You see, according to recent paternal DNA testing, my father was a Sephardic Jew. My ancestors trace back to Allepo, Syria. Today, there are 14 and a half million Jews in the world. Strikingly, less than 50 Jews now live in the entire country of Syria.





I still believe in love and forgiveness.


I still believe in the wonders of the universe.


But I also believe we must define ourselves.





So please do not call me Jewish, or Christian, or Muslim, or Hindu.





Just call me Diamond Mike.





Please order my book on Amazon.


http://www.whymomdeservesadiamond.com/books.html

The Importance of Knowing

The hardened criminal may say he was never loved.

But is more love the solution?  Can we create more love?  Is there only so much love out there?  Or is love a finite element like hydrogen and oxygen?  While a torrential downpour floods one country, another county may be cheated from a single drop of water for thirsty crops.   Maybe we have the right amount of water but it is not always distributed correctly. 

Is love like food?  In the US, although we hear of people going hungry, there seems to be plenty for all.  Many studies show that so much of our food is wasted or becomes spoiled. Maybe we have enough food but it needs to be spread around more?

Does one family express too much love while another lacks love?  Is it even possible to have too much love? Does love need to be spread around more? Unlike water and food, it is difficult to measure love. I don’t think we can create it out of nothing, like carbon and helium, and I believe we have all the love we need. 

In our own unique ways, most of us crave affection and understanding. We need to feel justified and validated. It legitimizes us. This prepares me for an opinion you may find controversial: It is not being loved, but knowing we are loved that shapes our reality.  One can love their spouse, friend, or family member. But if that person does not know or feel they are loved their view of the world will be quite different. 

What does it mean to know we are loved?

Know:  To grasp in the mind with clarity or certainty. To regard as true beyond doubt.  To be aware of through observation.  To perceive directly.  To recognize the nature of.*

When I was thirty, I remember freshening up in front of a bathroom mirror at a friends house. As I patted my face dry, I saw the reverse reflection of a sentence printed on a picture hanging behind me. As I turned around it read, to the best of my memory, “Happiness is not something that happens to you- it happens inside of you.” It was at that moment that I began the journey of understanding that our reality is not based on anything that surrounds us. Rather, our reality is determined by how we perceive our surroundings. In that regard, it is possible that the hardened criminal was loved, and even told he was loved.  In many instances, the problem may be that the criminal never felt or knew he was loved. 

We have all been loved. There is someone who loves us right now.  Tonight my mind is fresh with the vision of the hundreds of faces I saw today as I strolled the streets of Los Angeles. There were people pushing vendor carts, drivers weaving across lanes, executives walking briskly in tailored suits, and people feeding the congregations of pigeons. The variety of facial expressions exceeded the diversity of people. Some showed hope, wonder, and excitement. Others showed lonely despair. Many times a pigeon feeder would beam with happiness while a well-dressed businessman revealed underlying concern.

It is a topic I would not argue, but I am convinced the world we see has little to do with the things we can touch.  Love and happiness radiate from a spark that already lives within us. It is what we know and feel about ourselves that determines what we see- even before we open our eyes. 

*Sources: Miriam Webster Dictionary and The Free Dictionary.

 

 

 

Henrietta Lukemeyer

Henrietta Lukemeyer was an elderly lady that lived five or six houses down the hill from my childhood home in Indiana.   She rarely stopped by to say hello to my mom, but when she did I remember her positive energy and politeness.  She always wore a smile and smelled like fresh flowers. Sometimes she sold Avon products door to door, so I’m sure mom would give her a couple of dollars for some makeup or a small bottle of perfume.

Although I was only five or six at the time, she always spoke to me respectfully like I was twenty-five. As I stood in awe of her delightful presence, I’ll never forget when she looked at me confidently, “One of these days, Michael, you are going to have your own department store. There will be a huge sign on top of the building that will say, ‘Michaels.’”

Of course mom would beam when anyone spoke affectionately to her only adopted son. “Did you hear that, Michael?’’ Mom jumped in. “Would you like to own your own store?”

I was too young to comprehend Henrietta’s vision, and the name ‘Michaels’ has now been reserved for a popular arts and crafts store. But I still remember the possibility of taking control of my destiny. Mom never let me forget that encounter and always found a way to bring it up in conversations throughout my teenage years. I could never envision the contents of the store, but if I closed my eyes I could recall a three-story building with my name emblazoned on top.

Henrietta has long passed, but I still remember her kind eyes that gazed into mine as I stood before her. She spoke to me not as a child, but with adult conviction. Whether or not Henrietta realized her prophecy, her words were a measurable and lasting force. Although never captured in a test tube or recorded on a digital device, on that warm, summer day, Henrietta’s loving words of encouragement were transported from her lips to my brain.

Henrietta spoke with belief. Mom always said I could accomplish anything I set my mind to. But the most important thing to alter our reality and actually create each day is that we believe.

Today I own a jewelry store. It is not three stories high and my name does not flash on top. But I can’t help but wonder what would be my destiny if I did not keep my thoughts of unlimited potential in my brain.

There is no doubt that words are powerful. They are measurable. They are living things. We always remember positive words that are written or spoken to us. They can encourage, inspire, and even heal. And if we believe them, they can transform our surroundings right before our eyes.

My main thought is that we must be aware of the words we speak to ourselves and others- and how we speak those words. When we hold a dream in our head, and dwell on it like it has already happened, we will then be able to hold that dream in our hands.

 

 

 

 

Technology and Mankind

We invent a pill that cures. Then we make one to make us high. 

We invent a vehicle that can transport us back and forth to work and for family vacations. Then we realize we can use it to plow through a crowd of bystanders. 

We invent a flying machine that we can soar above the clouds as we travel to faraway lands. Then we discover it can be used to destroy skyscrapers. 

We invent how to split the atom and learn how to power cities.  Then we use the same technology to destroy an entire city with a single detonation. 

We invent a drone that can take aerial photos and deliver packages. Then we attach a weapon of war. 

We invent a 3-D printer to make medical devices, and prosthetic limbs. Then we install software in which we can print a gun. 

I am starting to see a pattern. 

We Have a Voice and a Choice.

Everything happens for a reason.

Everything happens for the best.

I remind myself of every experience in my life. I learned I cannot eat a jalapeño pepper like a pickle. I learned not to sip hot coffee with a straw. I learned I cannot run in flip flops. I am thankful I have experienced life to its fullest, but mostly I am thankful I have learned from my mistakes.

For some of us, it appears we are now living in a dark part of our history. We must know we are not perfect, so we will never live in a perfect world.

We should never point at a single person for our unhappiness.

I am so thankful to live in a country where we have a voice and a choice. Since we have this power to transform our nation, I suggest we point at ourselves before we condemn someone else. We chose our state of affairs. Now we can “unchoose” it. We have learned our lesson. We can vote.

Change is something that first begins within us. Let us raise our voice while loving and respecting one another. Let us not forget what it means to be free.

I can feel it. The future looks great.

Plan One: Zero Tolerance. Plan Two: We’re Still Thinking.

I wasn’t there for a single separation of a child from his or her parents at our border but I wonder what was the experience for each mother? For each child?

It appears when the Zero Tolerance policy took effect on April 8, there was never a thought given as to someday, somehow, we would reunite these thousands of families.

I am thankful for the miracle of DNA, in which we are able to precisely match a child with their parent. But did our President have this in mind before the Zero Tolerance policy? What identifying paperwork was done before each abduction? Was even a single fingerprint recorded? How could our government not foresee a national revolt?

Was the original plan to cause agony, later to be rescinded by our President so that he would appear as a hero to the very atrocity he devised? If so, that would be as evil as a super-villain’s plan in a comic book. Does our President even have the ability to think that far ahead to mastermind such a plot?

Similar to the first travel ban, the Zero Tolerance policy was rolled out without any forethought to human strife. As the headlines loom this morning that our government is asking for a time extension to match the correct children with their families, my only question is: Why?

Truth or Deceit. When the President Speaks.

Just read a tweet by Donald Trump posted yesterday:





“After having written many best selling books, and somewhat priding myself on my ability to write, it should be noted that the Fake News constantly likes to pore over my tweets looking for a mistake.”





Originally, the word pour was misused for pore. But more importantly, I want to address the fact that this statement is untrue.





I have yet to find evidence that the President has ever even read a book, yet alone written one. According to Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter of Trump’s, The Art of the Deal, Trump did not write a single word. Schwartz spent several months with Trump and his family during the creation of this book. Because he became so intimately connected with Trump and learned of his character, Schwartz felt a moral obligation to overthrow Trump’s run for presidency.





Unfortunately, he failed.





Sadly, we have learned that when the President of the United States speaks, there is no reason to believe him.

Take a stand. Raise your voice. Make positive change.

It is striking how the nation is so starkly divided on whether or not they support our President. As a non-supporter, I feel I have been scolded for being a sore loser in the election. A non-supporter does not necessarily dream if the other candidate had won. More than the desire of one candidate or the other, many of us voted with the moral obligation to thwart Trump from obtaining reckless and immoral power. For a person with reasonable human empathy, I do not need to incite anything more heartless than the separation of infants and young children from their mothers from the Zero Tolerance policy.

When my horse does not come in first place, or my favorite player has fouled, I do not demand a replay. However, I do miss telling children in my school presentations that one day they may achieve the highest honor of world- the President of the United States.

As of now, this title is vacant.

The wonderful thing is that we have the power, as Americans, to readjust our tone and sail in the direction that our forefathers envisioned. We must ask ourselves, is Donald Trump the child we are proud of? Is this the person we want to motivate our children?

If a leader goes against his follower’s moral upbringing, ethics, and human decency, we have only a few choices. We can ignore the problem or we can take a stand, raise our voices and make positive change.

I choose the latter.

Follow Your Heart

 

 

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Adolf Hitler was charismatic and loved by millions. His words cut to the heart of the masses. Franklin D. Roosevelt was also a beloved speaker who reached his audience in a different way, largely by his radio “fireside chats.”

I’m certain most followers feel they are doing the right thing.

We all want to be a part of a whole, and I’m certain most of us like to feel we are good persons.

What do you feel is most important – to follow a leader or to follow our hearts?