Donald Lee's Blog, page 7

Aluminum Tariffs? Blame Canada!

The USA is putting a tariff on Canadian aluminum. Those nasty Northerners are a security risk. Tsk, tsk, so easy to blame Canada. Who is really hurt and who is really helped? Get my take on it in this week’s edition of

So… the poor old United States is suffering and, once again, the solution is to “Blame Canada”! (Click here if you don’t know the famous song.) Those aggressive rascals up north are producing aluminum cheaper than we can. They’re going to ruin our economy (You mean even more than the federal and state governments are already doing?), take jobs away from our workers, even undermine our Christian faith! We need a tariff on aluminum! That will solve all our problems.

Let’s think about that for a minute. Out of the 60 million metric tonnes per year produced in the world, China produces over half—about 35 MMT. The next two largest producing countries (Russian and India) each account for about 10% of the world’s production at 3.7 MMT. Canada comes fourth at about 2.9 MMT, almost all of which is exported to the USA. I guess that’s a problem. The United States produces a measly 0.89 MMT annually yet consumes about 3.4 MMT so it’s got to buy the other 2.5 MMT somewhere.

Now, if you need something, wouldn’t it be best to buy it from the nearest and cheapest supplier? Like, Canada? Do you see that as a problem? According to the news reports, most aluminum producers and consumers in the United States don’t see a problem either. The push for tariffs has come only from the American Primary Aluminum Association. They claim that Canadian aluminum presents a national security risk. So…buying from China and Russia is a better idea? That seems ironic—to say the least.

It seems there are only two aluminum producers that are members of the American Primary Aluminum Association—Glencore (Swiss-based) and Alcoa (US-based), two of the largest companies in the world. Curiously, Alcoa is also the second-largest Canadian producer of aluminum. I have a degree in Economics, so I know I’m oversimplifying. There’s far more to it. But let’s follow the money.

The U.S. puts a tariff on Canadian aluminum. That means the U.S. importers pay money to the U.S. government. They turn around and charge their American customers more money for the aluminum, who’s price just went up by 10%. Of course, American-produced aluminum will also go up by 10%. They’re not going to undersell the market. That’s the whole idea of tariffs—to raise prices. That will be free money for Alcoa and Glencore.

That cost gets added to the cost of new washers, dryers, fridges, and stoves. As well as bridges, office buildings, airplanes, and everything else that uses aluminum. No extra jobs will be created in the United States. The federal government just collects more in another tax (which they will surely spend just as wisely as the other $5,000,000,000,000 they are spending this year.) American consumers will pay more for all goods that use aluminum. Canada doesn’t pay anything. The effect is an American tax on the American people.

"But it must do some good," you say. Sure, it does. It adds to the profits of Alcoa and Glencore. It bolsters their share prices. Their managers get bigger bonuses because profits and share prices are up. Their shareholders might get bigger dividends. The rich get richer. The government appears to be protecting the American people but in fact, average people are worse off and the rich are better off. Money moves from the middle class to the elites. This is a tiny example of how government really works. This is not free enterprise. This is crony capitalism in action. Kinda funny. Kinda sad. Definitely ironic.

"But this is a spiritual blog," you say. "Is there a spiritual message?" Of course. Life is always a metaphor for the spirit. Let me explain the metaphor.

You are an ordinary buyer of aluminum products, an ordinary human. You want something. The supplier of all your wants is God, the divine, Source, the universe—whatever you want to call it. The master teacher said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all else will be added to you.” What we most seek in life is love. And, as St. John said, “God is Love.” God is the source of love, the source of all you need. What we really want is an intimate relationship with that divine source of everything. In this metaphor, you are the American aluminum consumer and God is Canadian aluminum. Weird, I know.

But something is coming between you and the Love you seek. You cannot just connect with it directly. Something else feels threatened by that. Its “security” is at risk. What is that something? Your own ego. I mean “ego” in the spiritual meaning of the word, not the psychological meaning of it. Here’s a good definition, taken from the book, “Awakening Love” by Gina Lake (which I highly recommend).

“The ego is the conditioned self and the sense of yourself as an individual apart from others. It is reflected in the ‘voice in your head’, especially in all the thoughts that begin with ‘I’. The ego is the sense of me, who I am, who I want to be, who I was in the past, who I will be, what I want and don’t want, and what I like and don’t like. The ego is made up of all the beliefs you have about yourself and all the thoughts you believe others have about you. The ego is not actually real, but only a sense of self built on a set of beliefs about who you are.”

Our ego is that part of our programming that looks out for #1, that is greedy, selfish, fearful. The ego inserts itself between our real self, our spirit, and our source—God. The ego puts a “tax” between our spirit and God. It pretends to help us, but it doesn’t really. Just like a tariff blocks the flow of value in an economy, our ego blocks the flow of divine energy, divine love, from God to us. It’s best to set our ego aside. Acknowledge it, then focus on connecting buyer and seller—our spirit and God’s spirit. That’s how we really satisfy all our real needs. Set your ego aside and let your real self come through—your loving, honest, peaceful, joyful, godlike inner self.

It is in that oneness with the divine that we will find all our needs and wants satisfied.

God Bless You!

· If you enjoy reading my take on life’s ironies, but sure to subscribe to this blog.

· Click here to get a short excerpt from my new book, “The Band Director’s Lessons About Life”. It’s a collection of short modern-day parables to help you along your spiritual journey in life.

· If you haven’t read my new book, check it out at my publisher, Booklocker.com or at

· Amazon.

· You can watch my short book trailer here.

· The only place to get my new “Pocket Guide to Spiritual Growth” is right here.

Reflections on a Covid Summer—A Time of Growth

There are seasons in our spiritual life just like seasons in the year. Summer is the season of growth. It might be ironic how many of us are not growing spiritually. Read my thoughts in this week’s edition of “Isn’t That Ironic?”.

It’s summer in the northern hemisphere and everyone is enjoying the warm weather activities. Here on the Canadian prairies, it took quite a while for real summer to arrive. We had an unusually wet and cool spring that dribbled through most of July. Only now are we finally enjoying what we think of as summer weather. I am always amazed when folks here in Northern Alberta complain about the weather being too hot—on both of those days!

But my post this week is not really about the weather, but about the analogy to our spiritual life. There are seasons to our spiritual growth just like the seasons in Nature—or at least similar.

Most of us love summer. We think of summer as a time for vacations, relaxing at the beach, fishing, swimming, and all the outdoor activities we love. But if we think about it more from the standpoint of nature, summer is a time of growth, of work, of development, of building. Our spiritual “summer” is also a time of spiritual growth, of learning new ideas about the nature of reality, of meeting challenges to love, peace, joy, compassion, etc. Perhaps this summer is a good example of finding many challenges to our ability to respond with love to all things, to maintain our sense of inner peace amid the craziness of this summer, to our ability to remain compassionate to everyone around us, especially those who view the current craziness differently than we do. This is the spiritual growth—the spiritual work—we are called to do this summer.

Are you in a “spiritual summer” right now? That would mean that you are growing, understanding things differently, learning about spiritual things, maybe undertaking new spiritual practices, changing your mind. It’s good to understand where we are, and to recognize whether or not we are pleased with that. If not, it’s time to change ourselves.

Then fall will come. Autumn is a time of harvest, of reaping rewards, of gathering the spoils, of seeing the consequences of our actions. I wonder what the harvest of Covid-19 will be—personally and globally? It will take years, maybe decades, for the consequences of Covid-19 to play out. The score of this game won’t be known as soon as October, when the harvest of the fields is in. In some ways, people have learned to work together better than we did before. In other ways, the actions and reactions of people are tearing apart families, communities, and the world. Governments have taken on draconian powers for themselves, often not based on science or rationality. Trillions of dollars of money have been created out of thin air just when the real production of goods and services has dropped like a rock. Propaganda and the apparatus of social control have bloomed like algae in a summer lake. Some people are oblivious to this, others are outraged by it. Where will it lead? What will be the consequences? The future is not in the hands of Fate or the Gods. It is in the hands of you and me. We make the future by our attitudes, words, and actions of today. Are we sowing the seeds of love, peace, compassion, tolerance, understanding, and freedom? Or are we sowing the seeds of intolerance, anger, fear, suspicion, violence, and the desire to control others? The harvest we reap depends upon the seeds we sow.

But our spiritual growth is not only related to the current infection worries. There are times in our lives when we enjoy the fruits of our past spiritual development—the improved relationships, the greater inner peace, the increased tolerance of people you formerly criticized. Are you in a spiritual autumn right now? That’s okay too.

Winter is a time of rest, of planning, of reflecting, of redirecting. When our spiritual winter comes, we will need to reflect on our personal, national, and global Covid-19 responses. There have been so many varied responses around the world. What worked? What didn’t? Which practices achieved their desired outcomes. Which did not? Was the collateral damage worth it?

Have you seen the Youtube video posted by Brad Hunstable, “My Son Died of Covid-19: But Not the Way You Think”? (watch it here) Brad’s 12-year-old son was a victim of Covid suicide. How many of these will there be? Is anybody keeping track of those numbers? Does anybody in authority care about them—the young who have been scared out of their minds by the constant fear-mongering, who haven’t yet developed the resiliency to handle this upside-down world? Not that one can measure the value of a life, but surely his death is more tragic than the death of a ninety-year-old with terminal cancer, diabetes, and Covid-19. Some honest reflection will be needed and some serious redirecting for the future—in each of us personally and nationally.

A personal “spiritual winter” is a time of rest and reflection. You’ve made great progress and growth in your spiritual development. You’ve enjoyed the rewards of that growth. Now it’s time to think about what comes next. Where do you go from here? We never “arrive” on this spiritual journey. The journey itself is eternal, just as our soul is eternal. There is always another step, another stage of growth. Now is the time to think about that and to prepare for it. If you are in a spiritual winter, where will you go next?

But eventually, spring will come again. Spring is a time of rebirth, of emergence, of planting, of starting anew. After reaping what we have sown, and reflecting on the outcomes, I hope we will agree on, as Lincoln so beautifully said, “a rebirth of freedom”. I hope all of us humans can find ways to work together better, to cooperate more, without compulsion and coercion. I hope we can be more tolerant of all our differences, not just skin color but also political ideas, ways of living, beliefs (even the really goofy ones). We need a rebirth of what made Western Civilization great, because our foundations are under attack by those who have no idea how we got here, those who lack the vision to see the consequences of their present destructive attitudes and behaviors.

Are you in a “spiritual spring”? That would mean you are just starting something new—a new church, a new spiritual direction, a new theology, a new commitment, a new spiritual project, a new revelation. Something new is always exciting. It makes your heart leap. Your “spiritual heart” leaps like a spritely fawn testing its legs in the fresh spring sunshine. If you are here, savor the thrill of this spiritual season.

Everyone has a favorite season. It’s a bit ironic, but how could we have a favorite season? We need all the seasons, in nature and in our spiritual life. Without winter, how could there really be summer? It’s hard for anything to really “be” without its opposite. There is no forte without piano, no largo without presto, and there is no growth without decay. All phases of life are important.

So, wherever you find yourself in the spiritual seasons of life—it's okay. Just recognize where you are, relish the moment, and realize you can’t stay there forever. The turning of the seasons is a beautiful and inexorable part of life—natural life and spiritual life.

God Bless You!

· If you enjoy reading my take on life’s ironies, but sure to subscribe to this blog.

· Click here to get a short excerpt from my new book, “The Band Director’s Lessons About Life”. It’s a collection of short modern-day parables to help you along your spiritual journey in life.

· If you haven’t read my new book, check it out at my publisher, Booklocker.com or at

· Amazon.

· You can watch my short book trailer here.

· The only place to get my new “Pocket Guide to Spiritual Growth” is right here.

Get Real! But What Really Is Real?

Real water, rain, wilderness—or is it. What’s really real? Read my metaphysical musings in this week’s edition of

This is me last week on a canoe trip in Northern Saskatchewan.

I was recently on a canoe trip in the wilderness of Northern Saskatchewan. It’s a great place to canoe—in the Canadian Shield, there is more water than land. It’s always fantastic to get back in touch with nature, to feel the earth and rocks under your feet; the rain on your face; shiver in the cool, crisp morning air; bask in the calming warmth of the afternoon sun; strip off your clothes and dive freely into a clean, refreshing northern lake; feel the tug of the fish on your line, the wriggly-slimy squirming as you take him off the hook, hear the sizzle as he roasts over the open fire, taste the hot, delicious flesh in your mouth; feel the sting of campfire smoke in your eyes; even to hear the buzz of mosquitos in your ears and the prick on your skin when they bite you. This is real. This is real experience of life.

So much of our lives are not “real”. So much is virtual, fictional, and even lies. Things are rarely as they appear. Everything we see on a screen (TV, movies, computer, phone) is not real. It’s virtual at best—complete fictional lies at worst. And yet we make it real in our minds. It’s ironic, really.

I haven’t watched television for decades but I’m well aware that most people in today’s society are incredibly wrapped up in fictional TV shows, “reality” (which isn’t reality) TV shows, news reports that tell half-truths, and the lives of celebrities (which are almost never the way they’re reported). In many homes the TV is on all day long, pumping non-reality images into people’s minds which they mistake for their connection to the “real world”.

Yet things are getting worse. Voice software is so good that Siri sounds real. Alexa sounds real. They are not. They are just programming.

We have become used to seeing videos on Facebook and Youtube that show real people in real situations. We believe these to be true. Yet I recently read that computer-generated videos are now so good they look like reality. Soon you might see a video of yourself that looks like your friend just took it on his phone, but it’s completely computer-generated. You didn’t do those things and weren’t in that place. It’s all fiction, if fact, a lie. We will have to get used to questioning even what we see with our own eyes. Soon, “seeing” will not be “believing” anymore. It will cause us to really question what is real and what is not.

What is real and what is illusion? This has been one of the great metaphysical questions of life for millennia. Some of you will remember learning in school about Plato’s analogy of the prisoners in a cave. The fire casts shadows on the wall of the cave—reflections of people on the wall are all the prisoners can see. They think what they see is real, but it’s only a reflection of reality, an illusion. Life is like that. Things are not what they seem to be. It’s often hard to tell what is reality and what is illusion. Here is one to think about it.

The real world is what you are experiencing right now, right here. Everything that takes you away from your own experience of the “here and now” is an unreal distraction. In fact, our whole lives here on this earth are an opportunity to experience. Even though it’s not permanent, the present moment experience is the only thing that is real to us. What you experienced a moment ago is gone forever. It’s now a memory. And memories aren’t really real, however comforting or terrifying they might be. What you will experience a moment from now is just speculation. The future is always unknowable, even the immediate future, and we waste far too much time and energy speculating about it rather than appreciating the experience of the present moment.

Yet even our experience is malleable. Experiences are partly a sensory perception of the physical world, and partly our own mental interpretation of the sensory experience. Look again at the photo of me canoeing. It’s obviously raining. I could experience the rain and also experience being annoyed because my holiday is ruined by bad weather. Why isn’t the sun shining? Why is God spoiling my holiday? Or I could experience the blessed relief of rain, preventing sunburn and maybe skin cancer. I could experience the joy of water on my skin (I love water), the taste of the clean rain as it drips down my face and into my mouth, enjoy the artistry of the tiny rain splashes on the calm lake. Although I can’t control the weather, my experience of the present moment is largely in my control. I experience what I choose to experience. So do you.

In the midst of whatever struggles, joys, tragedies, or triumphs the present moment brings to you, realize that every momentary experience is a blessing and an opportunity. Life is good, even what we think is bad. “Judge not” your ever-present momentary experiences. Just appreciate them as real life.

God Bless You!

· If you enjoy reading my take on life’s ironies, but sure to subscribe to this blog.

· Click here to get a short excerpt from my new book, “The Band Director’s Lessons About Life”. It’s a collection of short modern-day parables to help you along your spiritual journey in life.

· If you haven’t read my new book, check it out at my publisher, Booklocker.com or at

· Amazon.

· You can watch my short book trailer here.

· The only place to get my new “Pocket Guide to Spiritual Growth” is right here.

Are you Weird or Normal? (It’s a trick question.)

Whether you think you’re weird or normal, you’re probably wrong. See what I mean in this week’s edition of “Isn’t That Ironic?”.

I think every human being struggles with this question. Am I weird? Am I normal? Am I OK? What’s “wrong” with me. Certainly I have, even though people who know me wouldn’t have guessed it. I think it’s part of the human condition.

I recently came across this question and answer in an online forum. It struck me as having so much meaning I just had to share it with you.

,Who was the weirdest person in your high school, and what has happened to him or her?

I was the weirdest person in my high school. I was deeply unpopular, bullied, shunned, and mocked. I had no friends at all. I didn’t participate in any school events, activities, groups, cliques, dances, clubs, fraternities, organizations, or sodalities.

I also didn’t show up one day with my father’s twelve-gauge pump-action Remington and blow large holes in the kids who bullied me, although I can’t say the thought never occurred to me. So what happened to me?

Eventually, I graduated and went to college. In college, I made some good friends, a few of whom I have known and loved for more than 60 years now. I studied physics and philosophy and history and math and read a lot of great books. It was the 60s - I took hallucinogenic drugs. I met a nice girl and we got married and had a kid, or perhaps it was the other way around. She went to med school and became a doctor. Being as I was still pretty new at being human, sadly, the marriage didn’t last.

I went to graduate school and became an engineer. Working as an engineer was interesting and fulfilling for a while. My colleagues were and are some of the finest people it’s been my privilege to know. I remarried. People were still something of a mystery to me; perhaps I chose unwisely. We divorced after a few difficult years.

In a triumph of hope over experience, I married for the third and final (I hope) time when I was in my early 40s. 30 years on, we’re still happily together. After a decade or so, engineering began to feel like it wasn’t a good fit for me so I changed careers and became a software developer. I programmed computers for nearly 40 years.

I retired last October, at 71 years of age. I must have learned a thing or two in all that time, but I’m damned if I can tell you what. All in all, it’s been a better life than I could have imagined for myself when I was in high school.

Peter Sisk, former weird kid. June 12, 2020

Your idea of “normal” is a fairy tale. There is no such thing. I’m not normal and neither are you. I’m weird. If you don’t yet realize that, just wait till my memoir comes out.

It’s a bit ironic really, but as far as human beings are concerned, “normal” has no real meaning. It means everything and nothing. We are all different and we are all the same. Everyone is normal. Like Peter, having no friends in high school is perfectly normal. Having two failed marriages is perfectly normal. Finding joy after many struggles is perfectly normal. You are perfectly normal. You are the way you are supposed to be. Love it. Love yourself.

I have come to understand that the best way to live life is to be the best “you” in whatever ways you are different from others; to figure out how to make your uniqueness a gift to others and yourself; and to find that “divine within” which is the holy part of each of us, that is the same in all of us.

Weird or normal? Yes!

God Bless You!

· If you enjoy reading my take on life’s ironies, but sure to subscribe to this blog.

· Click here to get a short excerpt from my new book, “The Band Director’s Lessons About Life”. It’s a collection of short modern-day parables to help you along your spiritual journey in life.

· If you haven’t read my new book, check it out at my publisher, Booklocker.com or at

· Amazon.

· You can watch my short book trailer here.

· The only place to get my new “Pocket Guide to Spiritual Growth” is right here.