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Odin’s Eye – The Wayfarer’s Spiritual Side – Adaptation and Balance

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Thor’s Day

Discussion:

The Wayfarer’s Spiritual Side.  This post and those titled like it to follow in the future are largely just me looking through the Eye, so to speak at my own spirituality. To gaze into my own spiritual journey and come up with some observations I hope will be helpful to me as I continue to walk my life.

I would say that the two great struggles I have had since leaving my religion and my ministry have firstly been to adapt to the change and secondly try to find some way to achieve balance spiritually speaking.

I suppose part of the problem is defining my spirituality:

  1. I want my spirituality to be my own journey of discovery. That is why religion and I have a problem.  That is, I see all of them as being someone else’s journey of discovery that other people follow.
  2. I want my spirituality to embrace all that I am in balance.  Reason, Emotion, Relationships, Health (Both mental and physical) and that aspect we call Spirit must all be involved equally. Most of my spirituality is about achieving balance between all these things.

Back to the two struggles, adaptation is a struggle because I am very conscious of the fact that I was engaged in a lot of spiritual activities as a Christian that I would consider irrational now.

  1. I went to church, but I now understand what that was.  It was the reinforcement of belief by repetition, not necessarily by coming to understanding the truth, but group think and emotional experience are powerful ways to teach you how to deny what is true.
  2. I prayed, but I have realized that I was probably talking to myself most of the time.  Even if there is a god, the way I was conceiving him as I prayed him took on the aspects of my earthly father.  it was my concept of god I was praying to, not necessarily the divine power that actually exists.
  3. I worshiped, but that conception of god was my own creation, so I was worshiping my own ability to conceive god. I don’t do a lot of this anymore.  I honestly can’t say I miss it much.
  4. I studied the Bible.  But this was about repeating something over and over again and when you do that you are just training your mind to think a certain way. Doesn’t mean that way is true or right.

In my adaptation, I don’t want spiritual practices that don’t also leave me open to see possibilities I may not have considered or get me to be dogmatically telling others what “The Truth” is at the expense of their own freedom to figure it out themselves.  it leaves very little other than practicing meditation on the virtues I want evident in my life and living life with a spiritual eye.

The other struggle is balance. Keeping one thing from dominating so much that the others are neglected.

Time to Look Through the Eye:

Faith:

I have faith in myself. Like it or not it is all I really have. People say that might be a poor thing to have faith in and they may be right.  However, my self is all I really know I must have faith in, because it is the best thing I have to place my faith in that I know is real. Other things I will list that I have faith in I know based on my experience and reason that this is so, but I still must say I have a little less faith in these things than myself for obvious reasons. My wife, my small circle of friends, humanity all are worthy of various measures of my faith because they are real and proven through their actions.  That said at the end of the day the only one who can keep my spiritual life in balance is me.  The only one I can ultimately trust is me.

Religion:

I really try to avoid being religious, the problem is religion is very prevalent in spirituality, and eliminating it can be quite a challenge. The issue religion brings to the table is how much of other people’s spiritual experiences can be used to help my own and which ones are just controlling or fear mongering.  I find that if a spiritual notion leads me to being afraid or is trying to ‘force’ me to certain activities then it is a religious element to be rejected.  I just have time for notions that basically without proof try to tell me what ‘the truth’ is.  I think there may be many truths, but one single monolithic truth?  No.  I don’t think the universe is that small. If there is any force that can take me off my notion of balance it is religion.

Theology:

The most elementary shift in my thinking theologically speaking it is realizing that sin is a made up concept.  The writers of the Bible or any other holy book that talk about sin, just straight up called what behaviors they didn’t like ‘sin’.  Therefore, they took it upon themselves to speak for the divine as to what offends the divine. They offer no direct proof for this.  They claim it, but never prove it

Theologically speaking then, is humanity then inherently evil because they have picked up a sinful nature then?  No.  I have not proof one way or the other about that either. It is just asserted.  So when it comes to my spirituality it is not so much avoiding or overcoming sin anymore. My spirituality has shifted more to the notion of making myself better by strengthening what is positive or turning something negative into a positive. I don’t believe that part of my humanity needs to be destroyed or redeemed anymore.  I just think all elements of my humanity (needs, wants, reasoning, wisdom, etc.) need to be focused and work together to help me grow with balance.

Spirituality:

All of life then becomes just as much spiritual as it is anything else.  From taking a shower, to going to work, to making love to even me sitting right now and writing on this blog. All of it has the potential to strengthen me spiritually.  I simply have to find the element of each activity that helps me become a better person.  What is it that leads to long life, prosperity and balance.

Conclusion:

The issue I find is still the issue of balance and adapting to being an X=Christian.  Sometimes I find myself thinking about an issue and asking “Is that the former Christian talking or is it the real me?” It is the current state of my Spirituality as I walk the path of life. It is a question that comes up often.

Continuing to Walk the Path,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues – The Path to Success

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Wooden’s (Odin’s) Day. 

Journal Entry:

So if there is a compass direction; as far as career direction at this point, it is business with writing on the side. I may still in older age settle down to teaching in a college or university setting; passing on what I know to future generations, but I need to build a new career first. Business suits me because I have long-held the Sam Walton notion that business is about people and ideas (mostly vision), not necessarily money,  My twenty years in the ministry definitely gives me the people skills and my education definitely puts me in the position of ideas.

Writing?  Well I am writer.  A blogging fantasy writer that has yet to get anything published except a single letter in a magazine a long time ago.  Made fifty bucks.  I get writing could be classified as a hobby with me, but It could be a good side career or main career if things really started to get going.  It is never too late with writing as Mary Jackson observed:

Image may contain: 1 person, smiling, text

I start with the path of virtue which will hopefully lead to the path of success.  I think a business career; with writing as something I work at because I love it already, is a good option for me.

Self-Reliance:

“Self Reliance is the spirit of independence, which is achieved not only for the individual, but also for the family, clan, tribe and nation.”

Principle: Work to be self-reliant in all things.

I just want to wake up in the morning knowing my basic needs will be met and I am at least slowly but surely heading down the path to getting some of the things I want. I don’t want to worry about survival at all. I just want to be in a state of mind that can plan how to build things.

Industriousness:

“Industriousness is the willingness to work hard, always striving for efficiency, as a joyous activity in itself”

Principle: Work with enjoyment of work itself.

The means of course is work and what helps is when you enjoy work itself. Where you can learn new ways of being more efficient is also enjoyable. I think the only thing here I am really missing is a job I actually want to do.

Hospitality:

“Hospitality is the willingness to share what one has with one’s fellows, especially when they are far from home.”

Principle: Be ready to be hospitable to those who truly need it.

I find that a broad definition of hospitality allows me to have a great deal of compassion for people in need still.  The great difference is that I either know I can help or not.  I don’t try this – I will pray for you or think of you – route.  If I can help, I try to find a way to do it.  If I can’t, I don’t.  The issue I think is more prosperity, so I can help more and more often.

Higher Virtue – Justice:

Last weeks storm of emotion involved a lot of anger.  This is never productive but I find myself shifting from anger to developing a sense of justice. I may not ever get justice for what happened to me, but I can look at others and what they do and if I can do something about it, I should act.  If there is still a heart of compassion in my life held over from years of ministry; I still bat for the underdog.

 Daily Routine:

  1. Communication / Cuddle Time
  2. Blogging
  3. Reading / Study – Half-hour per day minimum or until all necessary work is completed.
  4. Clear In Box/ To Do List
  5. Financial Transaction Input
  6. Carb Count – zero.

Oddly enough the Financial transaction thing piles up on the side of my desk.  I don’t get it, as it is one of the easiest things on this routine list.  The zero carb count is almost impossible at home eating dinner with the wife usually kills it.  The main thing in this is more of a seeing how little carbs I can eat in a day.

Goals: 

  1. Be transparent with my wife to improve communication
  2. Finalize last requirements for my degree – Internship.
  3. Find a new, better paying job by the end of March 2019 or before.
  4. In 2019 have  a clear budget and financial plan working by the end of the year.
  5. Maintain a daily blog streak of one post per day for an entire year (365 days).
  6. Keep gym membership going somewhere and lift weights minimum of four times per week and walk minimum four times per week through end of 2019
  7. Follow Paleo Diet completely and use intermittent fasting until the end of 2019
  8. Cross one thing off bucket list every six months (Deadlines July 1st, and December 31st of 2019)
  9. Be in the best shape I can be by March 18th, 2019 (50th birthday), take pictures.

There are a couple of goals here for march that speak volumes about what I would like to see at the end a=of about six weeks here.  #9 will be finished on my birthday and I will be working on #3.  Going into my 51st year of life, a new job and feeling as healthy as possible would be a great start and two goals crossed off the list.

Goals achieved since Summer 2018: 1

Budgeting: 

  1. Basic Emergency Fund – $1000
  2. Debt Snowball
  3. Fully funded Emergency fund
  4. Invest 15% of income into retirement
  5. Pay off Home Early
  6. Build Wealth and Give

We meet with the tax preparer on Monday and I am hoping for a good result.  I also am job searching, so I hope that bears some fruit as well.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues – Master Strategy

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Wooden’s (Odin’s) Day. 

Journal Entry:

I still struggle with what the master plan is here.  I don’t have a problem with the business virtues per se, but as I said yesterday, the issue is where to focus my efforts.  I suppose this is natural in any career change decision, but I also am about to hit 50 and time becomes a factor.  I have been addressing the issue of what path will get me the most income in the short and long runs and Business clearly comes out on top if I get and MBA and head that route.

I also could write on the side with that and try to get my first published novel.  I guess I need to really consider pushing this hobby of mine into something else, but would I enjoy it as much?  Probably it would be more enjoyable if I actually so some return on the time I spent writing.  Business is still a better option financially here.

Self-Reliance:

“Self Reliance is the spirit of independence, which is achieved not only for the individual, but also for the family, clan, tribe and nation.”

Principle: Work to be self-reliant in all things.

Independence is still the goal.  I don’t want to put myself in the vulnerable positions of the past where I am dependent on people’s good graces for my livelihood. I want that to be the product of my own efforts.

Industriousness:

“Industriousness is the willingness to work hard, always striving for efficiency, as a joyous activity in itself”

Principle: Work with enjoyment of work itself.

I do enjoy working, the creation of it does give me joy, it is just I need a greater challenge than my current job.  It would be nice to combine the joy of industriousness with the joy of a job that gives a lot of personal satisfaction.

Hospitality:

“Hospitality is the willingness to share what one has with one’s fellows, especially when they are far from home.”

Principle: Be ready to be hospitable to those who truly need it.

I keep heart open to help in any way I can.  I also after twenty years of being a pastor have a bull shit meter that goes off a lot when people say they need help.  I watched a lot of people exploit the generosity of others over the years, when their real problem was they were lazy or made willful bad self-centered choices.  I spent a lot of time thinking – “You’re in this predicament because you are stupid, addicted or just plain a liar and a thief.”  Fraud is rampant in that world and I don’t want it in my new world.  It really is a genuine challenge to find people who truly need help.

Higher Virtue – Justice:

Justice.  it is an interesting word, but it also is something I hold dear.  Mostly it is how to let people be free to make their own choices while at the same time pursuing what I want.  Liberty has to meet the grand strategy. This means it takes a little more thought than just a quick decision.  Leaning to slow down a little here has gone a long way to making things better.

 Daily Routine:

  1. Communication / Cuddle Time
  2. Blogging
  3. Reading / Study – Half-hour per day minimum or until all necessary work is completed.
  4. Clear In Box/ To Do List
  5. Financial Transaction Input
  6. Carb Count – currently one a day.

Pretty solid here.  I probably need to be a little harder on myself about getting things done. The carb count has dropped to one a day which is a true challenge.

Goals: 

  1. Be transparent with my wife to improve communication
  2. Finalize last requirements for my degree – Internship.
  3. Find a new, better paying job by the end of January 2019 or before.
  4. In 2019 have  a clear budget and financial plan working by the end of the year.
  5. Maintain a daily blog streak of one post per day for an entire year (365 days).
  6. Keep gym membership going somewhere and lift weights minimum of four times per week and walk minimum four times per week through end of 2019
  7. Follow Paleo Diet completely and use intermittent fasting until the end of 2019
  8. Cross one thing off bucket list every six months (Deadlines July 1st, and December 31st of 2019)
  9. Be in the best shape I can be by March 18th, 2019 (50th birthday), take pictures.

I may have to change the gym membership goal at least temporarily until I get a new job. I am working on the new job and the internship has started. Blog streak is at 129 days today. Diet and fasting in place and being followed – mostly.

Goals achieved since Summer 2018: 1

Budgeting: 

  1. Basic Emergency Fund – $1000
  2. Debt Snowball
  3. Fully funded Emergency fund
  4. Invest 15% of income into retirement
  5. Pay off Home Early
  6. Build Wealth and Give

Working it and things are a little better.  I just think faster progress would be made if I just made a little more money to the point things are going a little faster.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Of Wolves and Ravens: Industriousness: Focused Effort

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

Discussion:

Industriousness is probably one of the Nine Noble Virtues (NNV) that makes things happen the most.  The other is discipline.  There are three elements to industriousness: 1) Hard work, 2) Efficiency and 3) Joy. Each of these elements must be present for their to be true industriousness, but there is one factor that must also be present for them to be useful – Focus.

What are you working for? It is the basic question of industriousness and it is both a deeply personal question and one of ethics and morals. Now I agree with Ayn Rand that there is a virtue to selfishness.  However, most people fail to read her other half of that which is that selfishness does not include exploitation of others.  The issue is what goal are you trying to achieve with your work and are your efforts actually focused in getting it done.  Along the way are you being efficient and joyful.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

Needs (Geri):

We need to work hard.  It is the simple fact that no level of self-sufficiency is achieved without hard work.  Survival depends on work and the harder we work, the easier it is to survive. If there is any tragedy to life is it some people have developed the notion that success in life is a trick or scam that people pull on others.  Anymore who has actually studied the rich and successful will note these two things: 1) Most of them didn’t inherit anything from anybody and 2) They worked long hours and hard days to get where they are today.  They came to understand that industriousness does indeed reward those that work hard.

Wants (Freki):

We also want to enjoy the fruits of our labors. This is the product of learning to enjoy working.  To enjoy work in and of itself. It is also a sad tragedy that people have come to see leisure as something to be enjoyed, while work is something to dread. To me there is a joy in creation of something that didn’t exist before. I mean every day I start with a blank digital page in front of me and in often less than an hour there is a blog post.  There is a joy in this that is good for me. But that carries over to all things. Whether it is business or art, the joy of creation is in the industry of creation.

Reason (Huginn):

Reason of course, helps our focus with one thing – efficiency.  I mean as much as one can come to enjoy work, part of being industriousness and being focused is to not waste effort. Economics comes in here with its focus on getting the most efficient way to get the maximum results. This issue is finding the greatest prosperity for the minimal effort.  Then, however you also realize that more efficient effort (working hard) will bring even more prosperity because of the extra effort. The more efficient you are in working hard the more prosperity is brought to yourself.

Wisdom (Muninn):

Wisdom comes in to this discussion in the idea that the fruits are the reward and that such fruits are not the result of exploiting others for gain.  In fact wisdom makes you realize that the greatest amount of joy, efficiency and effort will come from looking to benefit more than yourself  When others join your efforts because it benefits them as well, that is far better than when they work to slow you down because you are exploiting them and so they resist.  It is better to look at ways every one benefits, so that greater things can be achieved than you can alone.

Conclusion:

I have learned a tremendous amount from looking at this virtue.  I have always tried to have a good work ethic. The issue has been constantly ‘what am I working for?’  Industriousness has allowed me to address that question.  I need to work to be self-sufficient. I want to work because there is a joy in creation.  I reason my way to be more efficient in my work to get the most out of my efforts. I work not just for myself but for others to achieve even greater things. Industriousness is focused effort toward certain goals and this is what makes it a very powerful and active virtue.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

The Book of Rabyd – Introduction

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

This is the beginning of a revision of a project I called The Book Of Rabyd.  Over the coming months you will see each verse of The Book of Rabyd first be preached about in the Pagan Pulpit and then slimmed down and revised again here in The Book of Rabyd posts.

In life I have heard a lot of things.  I have also pondered, thought, felt and experienced life.  I have loved so deeply that it has led me to mountain tops and the lowest valleys of emotion.  I have tried to act in justice to the point where I have fought tyranny in my own life and in the lives of others. I have above all tried to live a wise life full of balance between love and justice with varying degrees of success and failure.

Along the way I collected in my head a list of Life Principles, Points of Wisdom and a few Family Sayings.  The Book of Rabyd is my attempt to categorize these and place them into an organized form for future generations to read.  The original version appears here: The Book of Rabyd (All Things Rabyd)

It was written in this form from February 2015 to July 2015.  It needs revising. Mostly my faith and religion of the time need to be removed and everything needs to take on a more inclusive form.  Because of this there is going to be some of the parts of The Book of Rabyd that will be deleted. Others will experience wholesale revision and others will be left alone and continue to stand.

The Book is divided into three sections: Life Principles, Points of Wisdom and Family Sayings.

Life Principles are things that are the core to what I believe is effective life philosophy.  I have found them to be true the vast majority of the time and form the highest level of the hierarchy of The Book of Rabyd.  They are the core and everything flows from them.

Points of Wisdom are wise sayings that I have collected over the years that resonate with me.  Like all wise sayings they have their limits and require wisdom in understanding them and applying them to life. They have been found by me to be rather helpful in navigating life and I felt they should be passed along.

Family Sayings are simply that.  Things various family members have said that resonate with truth and are worth passing on to the next generation.  Some of them are from family members that are dead; so there is a preservation of memory attached to this as well.  This was actually the unfinished part of the original The Book of Rabyd that was still in progress.

In truth, the entire book is not a closed canon.  It always subject to review, mediation and debate. Over the coming months I plan on preaching it one verse at a time.  There will be a second post (This One: titled simply – The Book of Rabyd) on Sun’s Day in the afternoon that will be The Book of Rabyd in its pure, non-Pagan Pulpit form.  In the end my hope is to have a more compete version in a few months.

I hope you enjoy it.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

The Rabyd Skald – The Grey and The Wayfarer (Part 5) – A Time of Memories

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

 

Happy Thor’s Day

It is hard to believe but I haven’t written a The Grey and the Wayfarer post since early Yuletide. I have been busy enough; I think, to keep The Grey at least in check in my life and continue to walk the path. Recent days have seen a change in my mind I guess and mostly it is due to the fact that at this time last year, I began to start a time of year that is now a bittersweet memory. Mostly bitter in the end. It is not just a time of memory and struggle for me, but for my wife as well.  There is a flood of emotions about these memories for both of us and they run the whole spectrum, but mostly I notice that they have a depressive effect for me.

I think the best way to walk this path through The Grey is to firstly know that these memories are not just going to go away.  Ignoring them will not help me; nor will pretending they do not exist. That just leads to a worse mental state and that is not going to help.  There is a lot of guilt associated with many of them now, and I need to work through them to get over that.  Personally, I know it is going to be rough but I need to walk through it to make myself a better man on the other side of it.

The second thing I think needs to happen is that new good memories need to be created.  I have two significant milestones coming up during this time:  1) My 50th birthday – personally I don’t care if it celebrated, and I am not sure given last year who would come to such a thing, but it is a significant thing to be a half a century old.   2) My wife and I will celebrate our 30th anniversary on June 10th. Given that we spent last anniversary apart, I think it is very important that we celebrate this one and do it together. I guess I would rather see a celebration here by family as well for a lot of reasons. Mostly we need a celebration of our love for each other.

In the meantime, every day is a journey of another step toward where I want to be.  There are many forks and crossroads ahead. I need to make wise decisions as to which path to take. The problem of course with The Grey, and why I am taking it pretty seriously right now, is that it is like an overcast sky that can make the things unclear and not as illuminated as they could be as I choose which path to take.  It is why I stick to my plans and goals with discipline, despite what I feel at times, so I keep moving.

The one writing note I have at this time is that I am planning on doing some fiction writing soon.  It has just been a little difficult to get my Muse to kick my ass into gear about it. I don’t know, she might be asleep or on vacation. In any case though, I have a lot of time off from work next week; and unless that changes, I plan on filling that with school, continuing my  job search and writing fiction.

Thanks to all that read this blog. You are appreciated.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

A Skald’s Life – Business Virtues – Smithing My Fortune

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Wooden’s (Odin’s) Day. 

Journal Entry:

I don’t believe in fate or destiny or any of that crap. I look at what people call fate or whatever, and it looks suspiciously to me like you are just reaping the rewards of your own decisions good or bad.  I also don’t believe everything happens for a reason.  I believe sometimes good things happen and there is no reason to it. Of course, I have long rejected the notion that God causes all things to happen to us; as it gets very difficult to explain that there was a good reason for a woman to be raped or for parents to see the five-year old child drown.  Sorry sometimes shitty things happen and there is no greater plan.  You can learn from these things; and be a better and stronger person for it, but there is often no sense to be made from it.

So when I look at making my own way in the world and building something for my wife and I, I look to my self and my own decisions.  As the Icelandic proverb states – I am well aware that I am the smith of my own fortune.  There are two issues right now. 1) Finding a better job and 2) whether or not to continue with my education.

I am trying not to be as picky, but at the same time my previous work and life experience should count for something. I don’t think being a lawyer would work for me.  I would rather do business, writing or even, somebody mentioned this to me. journalism. Mostly though I have to make up for twenty years of doing a professional grade job (pastor is white-collar) for wages at the hourly Joe job level for twenty years, and so I lean toward business.

If this is the case then an MBA might be a better plan long-term.  The nice thing is that there are so many completely online MBA programs these days.  Even one at the college I just graduated from.  I have to give this one serious thought.

Self-Reliance:

“Self Reliance is the spirit of independence, which is achieved not only for the individual, but also for the family, clan, tribe and nation.”

Principle: Work to be self-reliant in all things.

The goal is complete self-reliance in all things. To do that now and in the future requires a growth in prosperity.  You can’t just get content even late in life. It leads to stagnation and death. Self-Reliance is very much about staying strong long-term.

Industriousness:

“Industriousness is the willingness to work hard, always striving for efficiency, as a joyous activity in itself”

Principle: Work with enjoyment of work itself.

I can work any job with some enjoyment to it.  However, I do long for a job I love, but any work can be enjoyable if you look at it through the right frame of mind.

Hospitality:

“Hospitality is the willingness to share what one has with one’s fellows, especially when they are far from home.”

Principle: Be ready to be hospitable to those who truly need it.

I really don’t have much opportunity to be hospitable, but it is always there.

Higher Virtue – Justice:

This question of ‘is this decision just’ is always in front of me now. Every time I do something related to other people, I find myself thinking on what the best or most right decision should be for all parties and advocate for that. I guess I am pretty good at being a negotiator in some terms, at least in the terms of seeing both sides of an issue.

 Daily Routine:

  1. Communication / Cuddle Time
  2. Blogging
  3. Reading / Study – Half-hour per day minimum or until all necessary work is completed.
  4. Clear In Box/ To Do List
  5. Financial Transaction Input
  6. Carb Count – currently two a day.

Carb count drops to two for this week and next.  The rest now reflects three online classes and an internship, plus staying on top of keeping my marriage strong.

Goals: 

  1. Be transparent with my wife to improve communication
  2. Finalize last requirements for my degree – Internship.
  3. Find a new, better paying job by the end of January 2019 or before.
  4. In 2019 have  a clear budget and financial plan working by the end of the year.
  5. Maintain a daily blog streak of one post per day for an entire year (365 days).
  6. Keep gym membership going somewhere and lift weights minimum of four times per week and walk minimum four times per week through end of 2019
  7. Follow Paleo Diet completely and use intermittent fasting until the end of 2019
  8. Cross one thing off bucket list every six months (Deadlines July 1st, and December 31st of 2019)
  9. Be in the best shape I can be by March 18th, 2019 (50th birthday), take pictures.

Gym Membership is on hold and the job search has yielded so far no results.  The rest of them are all in progress.  When today’s post drops we will be at 115 straight days of blogging.

Goals achieved since Summer 2018: 1

Budgeting: 

  1. Basic Emergency Fund – $1000
  2. Debt Snowball
  3. Fully funded Emergency fund
  4. Invest 15% of income into retirement
  5. Pay off Home Early
  6. Build Wealth and Give

Still working # 1 but it is getting closer.  The key is still a better paying job for myself. Time to smith a better fortune for myself.

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

Of Wolves and Ravens – Truth: Love’s Joy

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day:

Discussion:

If there is a holdover from my days as a Christian it is the connection between truth and love that is found in 1 Corinthians 13:6.  The idea that truth is something that love rejoices in is very real to me.  Of the Nine Noble Virtues (NNV), Truth is probably the most challenging in terms of thinking of it in love, because we often think we are more loving by protecting others or ourselves by not facing or revealing the truth. Nothing is less true.  Lies are not loving actions.  They are protective ones, but they are not loving ones.

There is a challenge here as the virtue of truth says it is better to be silent than to not tell the truth. But sometimes silence is the lie. You have to be careful here as sometimes as painful as the truth may be; it needs to be said or the silence of it perpetuates other lies.

Truth is something that loving people share with each other and being offended at the truth shows a lack of love.  With all the political correctness and people getting offended at things, you probably now know where I stand on all that.  If your offended, then you have no love there.  Love is indeed patient, not easily offended. Truth is something that challenges that on a regular basis.  Truth has the potential to offend as I have discovered on several occasions blogging.

People have their prejudices; that’s all of us by the way.  Everyone has their biases and everyone objectifies. It isn’t about race, creed or sex on this on;, it is simply a fact of being human. This is a truth that first must be faced by yourself and toward yourself. Facing your own prejudices and how you objectify others is something that is a constant battle.  Too many people take one of two tactics, either to deny their existence or to claim has arrived to a higher plane where they are no longer there. Or worse they justify them.

Objectification is particularly daunting because we do it probably every day and often to people we claim to love. Spouses objectify each other, siblings, parents to children. When you stop seeing people as human, and see them as an object to gratify your needs then you have crossed the line.

To the Wolves and Ravens:

Needs (Geri):

We need truth, because it allows us to go forward to achieving what we need without objectifying others.  There is a connection here between Need and Reason that truth provides.  Our need to love and be loved has to have truth or we cannot reasonably approach the subject of how to fulfill our needs without exploitation of another’s rights. You will never be loving if you don’t face the truth about your relationships with others. Truth is needed or its is just one big game of objectification.

Wants (Freki):

We also want the truth, but we also want comfort and security.  This is probably the main reason we lie.  We don’t want to offend but in so doing we are objectifying the other person assuming they will be a problem and be offended at what we have to say.  I suppose in our culture these days this is an easy assumption to make.  But being offended and fearing to offend are equally objectification.

We want truth because it cuts through both of these things and gets to the real healing and often progress in meeting our needs and wants.

See the source image

Reason (Huginn):

Reason cannot function in lies.  It just can’t.  Reason requires truth to function and make sound decisions.   Reason simple faces the truth and draws conclusions.  It is why being a reasonable person is a loving action.  Not cold, like some would say, driven by pure logic. Reason is connected to truth and truth is the joy of love. Love sees the truth and then engages reason to genuinely help.  in this era of feelings first this needs to be stated over and over again.  Feelings cannot make right to wrong decisions, they are just feelings. reason guided by truth will always lead to loving decisions.

Wisdom (Muninn):

Wisdom says that this connection between Love, Truth and Reason needs to be constantly respected and kept in balance.  Truth becomes the pivot point between Reason and Love.  Decisions become based in truth so they are both beneficial and yet compassionate.  Wisdom respects Truth’s efforts to keep both in balance.

Conclusion:

I knew when I set up my progression though the NNV that Truth would be one of the more difficult.  Combine that with the fact I connected it the Higher Virtue of Love and you create a large and very difficult pair of concepts to grasp. Abstract doesn’t even begin to describe the difficulty. That said both of these ideas are why I believe something is out there beyond the biology and physics.  Truth is a little bit more than biological and physical facts.  Just like that which takes joy in it – Love.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

The Pagan Pulpit – No Service

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Sun’s Day

I spent the majority of Friday and Saturday in bed, I am sick with something but that means I didn’t have the time or energy to do the pulpit this week. Remember I do things one day ahead of time. Enjoy the day off.  Hopefully, I will feel better soon.

One thing I will say about next weeks Pagan Pulpit is that it will feature Robin Williams. After that I am probably going to do a series of stuff on something.  Haven’t decided what but doing series always kept me going when I was a preacher so it will here on the Pagan Pulpit.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!

The Rabyd Skald – Fiction Plans

/ Ed Raby Sr / Leave a comment

Happy Tyr’s Day

In the last Rabyd Skald I mentioned my fiction writing plans were in the works and I want to follow-up on that by getting them a little formalized.  When people ask me why I write fiction, my response is pretty much that of all the writing I do, it is the most  therapeutic.  I have written fiction for release of anger, an expression of love, help in fighting depression and just about every other emotional release you can think of I have written fiction as a way to express it.

I also find fiction as a better way to teach concepts to people in the form of educational entertainment. Stories get into people’s heads faster than lectures. Professors are ignored at times but a story-teller they get attention even from the greatest skeptic and if you can slip in lesson that might contain wisdom people can use, so much the better.

As with all things on this blog, it tends to get done if I make a pattern or order to it and I am figuring my fiction writing is no exception.  Part of my daily blogging routine, really the last part of it, is to spend about a half hour writing fiction.  But what to write?  At the present time a short but incomplete list might be:

  1. The Grey Wayfarer Serial – based on Norse mythology.
  2. Rogue Wizard – another serial based on me as a main character but in an alternate timeline from my real life and where magic is very real.
  3. Skald Tales and Poems – This is going to be a type of post where I either write a short story or poem.  Mostly I want to challenge myself with these two things. I have hard time doing things that are short and concise and this should be a good exercise in doing just that,

There may be some other things that join this list but I want to make sure I will be consistent with them before I do add them.  Some ideas are for a science fiction series of some sort. I also want to toy with the idea o something similar to the Theology Pub from All Things Rabyd, but with my change in my belief system, it would be different in nature and probably different characters.  I am not sure of the setting either.  Maybe a mead hall or Inn of some sort with a Skald and a Bartender being the main characters.

As far as pages go for each of my fictional works they don’t tend to get organized by time so much as chapters (usually groups of twenty) for serials.  Skald Tales and Poems will probably be organized into Tales and Poems as two separate categories and then perhaps genre after there are greater numbers of both.  Time will tell on that one.

I want to thank those of you that come here regularly either on WordPress or Facebook.  You are great.  Maybe someday you can say you knew me when.

I remain,

The Rabyd Skald – Wandering Soul, Bard and Philosopher. The Grey Wayfarer.

Skaal!!!