Lessons for Life ~ Life and Death

14^th of July 2009

Series called:

LESSONS FOR LIFE ~ LIFE AND DEATH

The subject of death seems to be extremely emotional for people. The obvious reasons are the loss of a loved one. How would it change your views on death and the living, if you accepted that those who passed away were not gone; that they remain a passive element of our lives?

In the West, we’ve been taught that there are only three things that are certain in life; we are born, we pay taxes and that we die. We directly and indirectly learn that once we die, there is nothing more. We are buried, the ones we leave behind must grieve our passing and unless you “repent and accept God,” there is nothing more.

Jesus spoke multiple times about the soul lasting beyond the death of the physical body. Christianity taught for over three hundred years that the soul within each human being, came from God and once physical death occurred, it traversed back to God. Three hundred and twenty five years after the death of Christ, Emperor Constantine created the Council of Nicaea. Constantine was a life long Pagan, but understood humanity enough to know, that if family member would kill another family member due to a difference in ideology, then he must unite their beliefs. He set out to create a unified religion that took from all other ideologies and set forth as the only religion in the world upon which he mandated its practice. Constantine did not feel reincarnation benefitted this unified religion and had all references to reincarnation expunged from the Old Testament. He then established that no one should teach reincarnation directing the Council of Nicaea members (three hundred religious and political leaders of the time) to establish an ideology that would guide members to the church for salvation, thereby changing the world’s view of life after death.

This background information is to establish that most Western people do not have an in-depth belief in reincarnation. They identify this ideology as one from the East. However, this was not always an ideology specific to the East. It was believed, practiced and taught by almost all organized religions. They unilaterally believed, that the soul return to a dimension other than our own until such time that it chooses to return in a new physical body. If this is truly an old belief, why then does it enrage so many and invokes with great passion, retributions such as that forced upon the ruling cardinals of 545 A.D. to draft a papal decree stating that anyone who believes that souls come from God and return to God will be punished by death;

“If anyone asserts the fabulous preexistence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema. (the Anathemas against Origen), attached to the decrees of the Fifth Ecumenical Council, A.D. 545, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 2d ser., 14:318).”

For those who don’t believe, I ask why not? Why do you suppose we are born to live a singular lifetime and only learn what we are exposed too within it? Would it not make more sense, that our soul has been here before and with each lifetime comes a series of lessons? Our soul gathers the cumulative knowledge from each life as we return from our physical adventures to a place of peace, meant for resting between lifetimes. If you believe in an omnipotent being that created us and this universe, why would such a being only construct us for a single life? What do you do if the singular life you have, happens to be a difficult one or maybe a down right crappie one? Do you get angry if you don’t come into this world as Bill Gates, but rather the child born to no father and a mother infected with HIV, no food, no home and no family? Wouldn’t it make more sense that we have hard lifetimes mixed with good lifetimes to solidify the lessons we are meant to learn from?

I believe that we are an accumulation of all of our lifetimes. That we add to our base of knowledge by our experiences. We can learn when we are resting between lifetimes, but we learn more when we interact with other souls, here in this earthly realm. That being said, I’ve come to understand that we agree to the lessons we are set to learn in each lifetime. Understanding the lessons we must learn and the path of the life we are set to endure, we choose the family that will best establish our experiences. For the most part, we choose souls that we’ve experienced in other lifetimes. We come into each lifetime as an established being that will best serve our learning the lessons we agreed to learn: male, female, straight, gay, color, nationality, ideology, etc. will all be established to meet the needs for those lessons we must discover.

When you view life in this manner, I have found that it is easier to understand the arduous experiences that some of us endure. When you question why you are with a family, it is easier to accept that you chose them in service to your needs in teaching you the lessons that you agreed to learn. When we understand life in this manner, it changes how we view the harshness of some of our lessons. None of this will ever remove the greatest gift we’ve been given, “FREE WILL.” We can choose to remain on the journey that was established or we may decide on a different path. However, I have found that life is so much easier when you don’t fight the path you need to be on, and yet, I know that it is always our rights to change our fait.

Life is meant to be a wonderful and amazing experience for us. Our souls excel when you learn the lessons you are meant to learn and teach those lessons that you can teach. This knowledge is written from the perspective of a belief in God (an Omnipotent being), but if you are not of the faithful, please accept that in the life you now live, it may best serve your needs in not believing. That will always bring us back to a common place that says LOVE, HONOR and RESPECT all who surround you. They may be in a different position, learning lessons that you’ve already learned. It may be you who is learning the lessons that those around you have already digested. We can learn every lesson with love, or we may need to learn them through harm, hate, anger or misery.

These articles are building a base of knowledge (A Series: LESSONS FOR LIFE), we all start from the same place as exactly the same thing…..a SOUL. Our goal is to end at exactly the same place and that is an enlighten soul with grace. The only way to obtain our destination is to learn all of the lessons we must learn. If we do not learn our lessons in this lifetime, we will learn them in another. Some lessons can only be taught with distress, while some may only be taught with love, but we are the accumulation of all that we learn.

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

Lessons for Life ~ The Golden Rule

4^th of July 2009

Series called:

lessons FOR life ~ THE GOLDEN RULE

It is no mistake that almost every religion and most organized ideologies, such as Buddhism, have a similar saying; “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”.

This phrase is known by many as the “Golden Rule,” and it says something that Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Taoism, Ancient Greek philosophy, Wiccan and even Paganism all have similar phrases. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is the verse used by Jesus Christ as depicted in the Bible chapter Luke. It is one of the more common quotes of this passage. The reason this phrase is so important is because when we start thinking of all people as much as we think about ourselves; we grow exponentially.

Taoism:

“The sage has no interest of his own, but takes the interests of the people as his own. He is kind to the kind; he is also kind to the unkind: for Virtue is kind. He is faithful to the faithful; he is also faithful to the unfaithful: for Virtue is faithful.”

A great lesson we must learn in life is that we are not alone. We must care as much about those who walk with us, as we do for ourselves. We become so focused on our needs, what to do for our children and what is in our own best interests that we forget there are others souls inhabiting this planet with us. We are so busy with work, family and what we consider living life, that we don’t know our neighbors. We don’t know their names or anything about them, much less if they need our help. We must get to know our neighbors and learn to care as much about them as we do for ourselves.

Judaism:

“That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.”

Before you do anything to your fellow being, would you take the same action against yourself? If you would not consider the same act against yourself, you should not take that action against your neighbor. Much of what we do against others is done out of fear. Fear and not hatred is the leading instigator that perpetuates harm and the killing of fellow souls. If the act is not that which you would do to yourself without fear, then it should not be done against others, especially in the presence of fear. The only thing we fear is fear itself.

Islam:

“Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you.”

To be a good steward of humanity, we must make choices that show our own individualism and yet we must also ensure all fellow people are able to do the same. That will not always be easy, but we must find a way and the means. Humanity will never survive if we think solely about ourselves. We must think, act and learn to love all others as much as we do ourselves.

Confucianism:

“Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself”

If we are to live in accordance to the Golden Rule, we must learn to Love all others as much as we Love ourselves. Love is the greatest lesson that we can possibly learn or teach. The next time you make a choice that places you adverse to another, take a moment to answer this simple question: would I do this to myself or would I like if they did the same to me? If you cannot answer that question easily, you should rethink the action you are about to take.

Baha’I Faith:

“Ascribe not to any soul that which thou wouldst not have ascribed to thee, and say not that which thou doest not.”

Your humbled servant – Todd M Dobson

Lessons for Life ~ Judging Others

6th of June 2009


Series called:

LESSONS FOR LIFE ~ JUDGING OTHERS

I think every one has watched Will & Grace on television. Many people love the bitchy, alcoholic woman named Karen that had a harsh word for everyone and everything that happened around her. While her sardonic demeanor was funny to watch, in real life, there’s not much joy being at the end of such wrath.

No body likes to be demeaned and talked down too like they’re a child or somehow inferior. If you read my last post, you understand that we are all the same. We start at the same place and ultimately when we’ve learned all of the lessons we must heed, our final destination is the same for everyone. I’ve also written many blogs that explain how when we enter this world, we come in knowing one thing as a person…how to LOVE. We learn everything else.

We are taught how to bully. We allow our confidence to be stripped away by others. We learn how to people and situations in order to make them feel inferior while we make ourselves feel superior. It is through our own ego’s need to feel in someway better than others, that we justify our own self loathing that leads to treating people as Karen does on Will & Grace. If we all start from the same place and we all end equally, the only difference for each of us is within the paths we take towards our final destination. Some turn to focused ideologies such as organized religions to navigate the treacherous waters of this world. Religion is a wonderful source to focus us, but most religions teach their parishioners to feel superior over those who are not members. That within itself is a judgment over the billions who chose another path.

We are all on our own path with our own journey that is as individual as our finger prints. Because we start at the same place with a singular goal of completing all of our lessons, but the differences between you and me is how we learn. For some of us religion will not speak to our hearts. There is no wrong means to learn life’s lessons or to educate those we must disseminate knowledge too. For some, organized religion is not the ideology that educates our way through life. My point is that we need to focus more on the lessons to be learned and taught and less on how we are different or better than those who surround us. Accept that what you choose to be may be right for you, and likewise may not for me as I step through my journey. That does not make either you or me wrong, just different. In no way am I superior to you or does that make you superior to me, so we should leave the judgments to happen after we pass from this world. Let the only one judging, be something or someone that is worthy of true superiority without ego causing the inflation.


TO JUDGE IS TO INDIGNANTLY CLAIM SUPERIORITY OVER OTHERS


Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

Lessons for Life ~ Common Ground

1st of June 2009

Series called:

Lessons for Life ~ Common ground

In the introduction to this series, I alluded to the fact that we all start from the exact same place. When you read that point, you may very well say NO, I was born into this life with a family of status, or just the opposite to a family with no status and no means. While that is not what I refer too, it gives you a place for beginning these lessons.

I’ve come to understand that we are born into this world (dimension) to learn lessons and to teach them. It would be wonderful if all of the lessons we learn were taught in a class room setting or done through positive reinforcements. However, life does not always educate us in that manner. Many of the lessons we learn are taught in life as we experience it. Some are even taught through negative reinforcement. The people who enter our lives do so not by mistake, but rather with some design and they do so, to learn from us or to teach us. In some cases both actions are transpiring. Some will leave us wanting more while we are happy and blissful, while others will educate use during which time they break our hearts and rip away at the very fabric that makes our lives flow. Any of these means are purposeful and we should all embrace both the lessons we learn and those we disseminate.

If I am right and we are all the same, why then do we allow ourselves to fall victim to such vile like HATE, VIOLENCE or BIGGOTRY? These are the vices we cling too when we fear and do not understand. They are also that which teaches us some of our most profound lessons. The greatest of these lessons is not to give in to the power of FEAR! If we allow ourselves to fear, it will always cloud our vision and keep us from seeing those who might otherwise teach us so profoundly. If we are beholden to FEAR, we may not allow ourselves to associate with white people if we are black, black people if we are white, people of different nationalities, different cultures, different religions or even different ideologies. Because we hold ourselves back from those who are dissimilar, we loose the beautiful view of life through their eyes. We cannot experience life through their perspective and the lessons we might otherwise be exposed to through the wonders, joy and beauty that is Life itself.

When I state that we start from the same place and end at the same place, I mean that we are all here to learn the same lessons. Our ascension brings us to the same destination once we have learned all that we are intended to. We must garner the same knowledge and we will only ascend once we have achieved it. We start with nothing and we must learn everything. The knowledge that we must gain is specific and will step us through to the next lessons we still have yet to learn. Only once we posses all of it can we ascend to the next level. Because we all begin with no knowledge, that is how we all start and are exactly the same. Not one of us is given anything more than the others. You might argue my point and say that you are more intelligent than others; you have more resources (money) than others and so on. Some may acquire during a lifetime different means, but we must all learn exactly the same lessons regardless of our means during a given life. Some of us may learn faster than others and to some, the lessons may come easier. Money, power, intelligence are all wonderful components, but none of them will help and in many cases may even hurt learning that which you must learn during a lifetime.

Regardless of anything I say, we were all given something that transcends all religion and non religious ideologies. Something that can never be paused or taken from us….FREE WILL. You have the ability of free will to do, believe and say anything that you wish. No one can take it away from you….not a tyrant, not a government, not a religion. Free will is always your gift. I mention it because many of us turn away from the most power force within our lives or within the world…..LOVE. With love in your heart, you can over come any obstacle that is placed before you. With love in your heart, you can learn all of the lessons that we must and ascend as we are all meant to do…..and yes, eventually we will all learn the same lessons. The question remains, when will you learn them?

Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

Lessons for Life

30th of May 2009


Series called:

LESSONS FOR LIFE

The last fifteen years have brought about enormous changes in my life. I had an amazing life fifteen years ago, but I could never have imagined that the path I would turn too might be the one I am on now. This is the setup for a series of articles I will be writing over the next few months. I hope that as you read this knowledge, that something will resonate with you.

This series is meant for everybody; however, only a few will garner knowledge from these teachings. They are designed to fill in the gaps you may have in learning life’s lessons. My greatest hope is that you will pass this information on while you teach others. I hope to not only provoke your learning, but also the transference to others that you encounter. Some will read my words and ignore or even get offended. I am truly sorry if any one refutes this information. We are all the same; starting at exactly the same place, we all learn and understand our lessons differently; therefore we begin at the same place, knowing the same thing and we will all end exactly at the same location. I can only explain that this knowledge is delivered with the LOVE in my heart and with the hopes for a brighter tomorrow for us all.

These articles are meant for everyone. From time to time they may resonate with your religion, and for that I am grateful. However, they are designed for all religions as well as all non-religious people. You don’t have to be spiritual to walk away from these lessons with the knowledge, love and faith. The FAITH that I speak of is the faith you must have within yourself and for yourself. You may think, well I don’t love myself or have faith within myself! If that is the case, please read more and let me know when you find that love and faith within you, because regardless of anything else, we are all exactly the same! Yes, one of the very first lessons you will learn is that we are all start from the exact place. Yes, some of us during our lifetimes may have something that seems to set you aside from all others, hell, Bill Gates, may seem to be slightly different than the rest of us, but he is just like the rest of us and must learn the same lessons and teach that which is intended for him to teach, just like you and just like me. If at any point you doubt the messages within these posts, search your heart and your soul for the answers that are truth for you. I know that when you connect with your pure heart and your higher self that this information will be shown to be absolute truth, of that I am not worried.

My first post will follow this and you will find another post from me on this subject at least one per week, if not more. I hope with all my heart that these blogs may say something to each one of you reading.

May you all be filled with Love, Light, Peace and Blessings


Your humble servant – Todd M Dobson

Huckabee's Double Standards

6th of January 2008

Huckabee’s Double Standards

If you visit the Mike Huckabee Presidential web site (www.mikehuckabee.com), you see in the upper right corner the tag line “FAITH.FAMILY.FREEDOM”. In multiple speeches given in New Hampshire, Huckabee made references to our founding fathers and the notions of liberty and freedoms.

Huckabee needs to focus more on the issues that need solutions rather than bringing up the legacy set forth by our founding fathers. While I’m sure none of our founding fathers had to worry about homosexuality as an issue, however, I feel strongly that they would have dealt with it in far more positive manner than Mike Huckabee. As for Huckabee claiming that he stands for Freedom and Liberty, it goes to shows the extent a politician will lie in order to say the right buzz words.

Words have meanings that need to be utilized as they were intended for use. As I look in my trusty Webster Dictionary; the word liberty is defined as: “freedom from external or foreign rule; independence”. Mr. Huckabee, please explain to me how you saying that homosexuals are abhorrent expresses your view of gays and lesbians liberties. How when you take the oath of office to represent all United States citizens will you protect my liberties and freedoms as you swear on a Bible to do so? Please explain the dichotomy between what you are saying about homosexuals and what you mean when you express the rights to liberty that all Americans are granted by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the United States? Either you are lying to the citizens when you say you are a candidate who supports the rights of the people, or are you lying when a book your wrote as well as speeches you’ve given place homosexuals to the status of second class citizens. Who else is less than you in that quest for liberty? What other group won’t measure up and will feel your wrath if you were to achieve the office you seek?

Our second word that Huckabee seems to have forgotten its meaning is freedom: exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc. How am I free with you running this country? How do I stand a chance to live a life with the same freedoms that my neighbors, my family members or any heterosexual counterparts receive instantly in your eyes? How are my needs being met when you state openly that I am in the same company as pedophilia, sadomasochism and necrophilia? How do I feel the force of freedom when you tell GQ “that “civilization” may not survive if “what marriage and family means” is “rewritten” to allow gay marriage”? Please explain your definition of the word Freedom and what it means to you so that I and the rest of the United States knows what you mean, because right now I have an absolute sense that under your administration I have no freedoms as a gay man.

Huckabee states that he is a Religious man, yet that is a very ambiguous argument. So how would Huckabee answer the question “What would Jesus do if he stood in front of me? Would he deny my rights, my liberties and my freedoms? Does Huckabee touting his Religious background say that he himself is GOD and gets to choose my role in society? I am eager to know how Huckabee explains that Jesus said on several occasions how religion and politics should be separated and during his time fervently refrained from making political statements. If we must remember that it was the theological leaders who pushed for the death of Jesus Christ. Where would Huckabee have stood during the time Jesus Christ was crucified, because based on his positions and his need to be in the middle of the majority, he would have been right there in the midst with the other religious leaders asking for Jesus to die!

We need a President that will unite all of the many people who claim this great nation as home. We desperately need a leader who will take up the difficult stance of telling groups that wish to deny others their rights why they can’t do that instead of a leader that gives in to popular demands. We need a leader who if they were back in the day of Christ, would have stood up to all the other religious leaders making them realize how they benefited by Jesus walking the earth.

Mike Huckabee is not the man we need leading us. He doesn’t have the character it requires to do what is right; he wants to get by with doing what is easy. Huckabee needs to step aside and let one of the other candidates take center stage and he needs to be relegated back to his Baptist Church in Arkansas right next to the Farwell family and their Baptist Church.

Your Humble Servant – Todd M. Dobson

Leaving it all behind...

28th of December 2007

Leaving it all behind…

It occurred to me that for forty years I've been carrying around problems that have accumulated from day one in this life. If you've read any of my previous blogs, you know that living a charmed life was never for me. However this life has begun, I can unequivocally say; that I am fine with the path my life has taken and can't wait to see the direction it takes.

We are the sum of our steps in this life. We are today, where we've come from in our past. The nights I laid crying, the pain of physical abuse and the horrors of mental cruelty were just experiences that have prepared me for who I am today. There were good times interspersed throughout the horrible days and nights. Those good times with family also molded the man I've become. We come in to this world knowing how to love and for those of us who don't find our families the most loving or caring people to guide us in the process of growing up; we may find it arduous in letting go of the twinge. The bad and the good in our lives is the mix that creates us.

I type these words with the most open heart I've had in years or possibly in for ever. I believe them with every fiber of my being and I know exactly what I'm asking people to do. I have a father that denounces my existence because I'm not what he wanted for a son, but also because is current wife doesn't like a homosexual in the family. My mother barely speaks with me because she is caught between the different factions of our family. Those others have their own reasons for not wanting me to tell my stories, state what I know or express my feelings to the outward world. My older sister and her daughter can't forgive, forget or consider that I might actually be an honorable man. My younger sister is the one that is the most ambivalent about our relationship, but I restrain from a close relationship between us because of the actions along with the disinformation that was used the last time I opened my home and my heart to them. These family members, who I love, found my blogs several months ago. In locating what I've tried to tell them about for over a year, they also found that I have a book being published, which has once again placed me far outside the loving circle of my family.

I still espouse that letting go of my past and of the negative family emotions make me a happier, more peaceful person. It is easy to wallow in the past. It is not uncommon to blame the failures of today on the struggles and abuses from yesterday. What does it buy you other than a one-time pass for the problem you currently face and when does that pass expire? When do we mature and take responsibility for our own lives and halt the blame we tag those who negatively affected our lives?

These are difficult questions to answer and some people go their entire lives without finding suitable responses. They are extremely risky because the answers can be as simple as removing those who refuse to accentuate the positives in your life. In many cases that means eliminating family from having such an influence over us!

Removing the negatives in order to accentuate the positives is far more difficult than one might think, especially when that directly means going without the acceptance from the ones you naturally turn to first. My father wants nothing to do with me. Not really a negative, but when he tears me apart at every turn, slanders and assassinates my character, this defines the negative. It means that I decided to forgo my father being a part of my life in hopes that finding peace in my soul and love in my heart would fill the void left by his absence.

I don't advocate shutting out all of your family members without spending a great deal of time trying to resolve all concerns and work through your past with parents and siblings to create a positive environment. Only when all attempts to create this type of equilibrium fail consecutively, do I advocate cutting ties to focus on improving your life. Take these steps to create a whole person within yourself. In doing so, let go of the past. Let go of the feelings of hate and pain. Let go of everything that is not positive or good within your heart. Forgive those who inflicted the torturous moments that haunt you. By letting go, you heal yourself and create someone stronger in place of the person you know today. Be the person you want to be and lose the chains keeping you back in those moments of anguish. You have your own freedom to gain and to lose all that holds you from being the full person you are meant to be.


Before you can Love, Honor & Respect anyone else

You must first Love, Honor & Respect yourself!


Your humble servant – Todd M. Dobson

The Meaning of Christmas

14th of December 2007

The Meaning of Christmas

The true meaning of Christmas should always bring a smile to your face and peace in your heart. During the holidays, a grin is used by people who normally scowl, a gift is left by those who normally expect to receive, the smell of snow, the feel of a roaring fire, the taste of roasting nuts and the smell of winter green from the trees filling the air like a blanket draping over a cold body on a frosty night. Your ears hear the sounds of music from carolers at every turn and your senses feel the harmony in the air that draws closer this one time a year. To walk the streets with snow falling, the store front windows decorated and lights with tensile glowing all around will help set the mood for a truly magical time.

Anything that brings peace to three quarters of the world, even if only for one day, is worthy of everyone who lives every where taking part of its majesty.

CHRISTMAS = WORLD PEACE

Christmas may be a Christian holiday, but when peace is abounding the world around, the holiday should be celebrated weather you are a Christian or not.

I celebrate Christmas in a very special way; by paying homage to my Great Grandpa Lalka in repeating his acts of kindness. Helping those who need a guiding hand while simultaneously keeping my great grandpa’s legacy a live is giving me new meaning every year I am able to place a smile on the face of the children who might otherwise go without a blessing on this day.

Great Grandpa Lalka (Paul Lalka), his family (sons, daughters, brothers and sisters) lived in the Washington (Tacoma) Valley after moving from Czechoslovakia. My great grandpa had a coal business and his brothers owned various stores like a shoe cobbler, a furniture maker and each had his own farm. Because of their businesses, they knew the families in the region who needed a little extra help. In the old country, the family trade was carving and all of the Lalka men whittled. They would fashion toys year round and put together baskets of food to accompany the toys for the family. These baskets were left at the homes on Christmas Eve for the children to find come Christmas day, hence continuing the legend of Santa Clause.

The Lalka family persisted to give year after year eventually garnering attention to their kindness that was happening throughout the Washington Valley. As word spread of their good deeds, my great grandpa took on a new persona for himself and in his duplicitous nature; he felt he needed a new suite that better match his role. He and his brothers created an authentic Santa Suite.

They used crush red velvet for the jacket, pants and the hat. My great grandpa trapped rabbits and used the white fur to line the lapel of the jacket, the cuffs of the sleeves and the brim of the hat. One brother created a very wide belt and another made a huge brass buckle and hand carved buttons for the jacket. My great grandpa didn’t need any padding; he had just enough of his own. He had thinning snow white hair with a long naturally flowing beard.

The family lineage dates back to the fourteenth century and was not our original surname. The last name Lalka was given to the family by a princess as an ancestor walked in to a small village during her visit. As he waited to meet the Princess, she was taken by his alabaster skin, rosy red cheeks, beautiful eyes and striking good looks. She called him lalka meaning doll because she thought he was as beautiful as a doll. The name was taken by the family to honor the princess. This being said, great grandpa Lalka had alabaster skin with rosy red cheeks and a crimson nose. He was the epitome of Santa Clause with the suite that portrayed the jolly man within.

My great grandpa was offered money by every major department store on the North West coast, but he reserved his gifts for those who truly needed them and pandering money to perform acts of kindness was not his motivation. I was honored to have found his legacy and more so to feel the desire to continue keeping it alive. When Great Grandpa passed away, he was given tribute by every major news paper up and down the North West coast with many reserving front page headlines such as the one in the Seattle Tribune, “Santa Clause has Died”!

No one could know that this simple man born in to the meager means of a Czechoslovakian family would have such a positive impact on so many lives. He was a real man who made many mistakes, but giving true love to those who needed was not one of his misgivings. Striving to be just a little more like my Great Grandpa on a daily basis is what Christmas means to me.

While I know it is a Christian holiday, it has pagan roots, but more importantly, when any one day can bring three-quarters of the world together in harmony and with peace, it deserves to be shared and enjoyed by all. I don’t care if it is referred too via any other name, but enjoy the day – share in the enlightenment of the moment and give freely to those who don’t share your gifts.

More importantly, for those parents who wish to teach their children of the true meaning of Christmas...ask your child to give just one toy of their choosing to a child in need. Show them by example with donations to charities who help the less fortunate or something as simple as donating your time to feed the homeless. Children learn when we aren’t teaching. They learn more by our examples then anything lesson we choose to teach. Lessons on compassion and what it truly means to give will do so much in the way of extending the legacy of Santa Clause or someone more down to earth like Paul Lalka.

Christmas is meant to be shared and enjoyed by all and to me that is giving to someone who might otherwise go without. Spread the Christmas Joy and spread this message to all you know and love.

May each and every one reading this be over-come with Love and Peace for the holidays, and each and every day you believe in my message. Thank you for sharing in my meaning of Christmas and may it give you some meaning within your life too.

~~ Warmest wishes for everyone on this day and every day to come~~

Todd M. Dobson

Closing this Blog

19^th of November 2007

Dear Readers,

I must tell you how much I’ve enjoyed writing over the past two years and I am compelled to Thank You for reading these words. I started writing in hopes that my experiences and thoughts could open the minds and the hearts of everyone. I have shared some deeply personal events from my past and present life hoping you might learn from my mistakes or help you do a better job than I did with similar situations. My dreams are that you might use my words as insight to making a better life for yourself and the people you love.

I have been honored by many of you with emails and comments that have challenged me while also showing your appreciation for my words and how many of you receive them. I can’t tell you how grateful I am for your support, your questions and the love you’ve shown me over the past two years and it has made me an improved writer, but most importantly it has made me a better person. That is why I write and publish such personal insight into my life in hopes you can help me become a more loving, caring person. The kind of person who knows how to empathize when necessary, the kind of person who can stand tall with the knowledge that you’ve made me choose a better life for myself and for the people I love. You’re emails have touched my heart as you’ve conveyed how you felt the same way as I describe previous experiences. I can only hope that you’ve learned something…anything from my experiences and that I have touched your lives if only in a fraction of the manner each of you has touched mine.

It is with these words that I am enormously saddened that I will not be blogging under my name or under the mantra “Love, Honor & Respect”. It has come to my attention that there are people close to me who take my words, turn them and use them in hopes of tarnishing my character. While I care less what people think about me; I am extremely comforted with the knowledge that I am making myself a man of morals, a man who cares greatly for others and only want to share that mindset with the rest of the world. I am encouraged to find that many people read my words of wisdom finding them as something to cherish instead of how others use my words to dishonor me for their own person/professional gain. I can only say that a person who has so little love for themselves can only feel happiness and pleasure at the expense of others and thereby they are not worthy of being called my friend or family.

For these reasons and only these reasons I have created a pseudonym and will continue publishing my words via other blogging sites. I am extremely distressed to say this will be my final blog on this and all sites under the mantra “Love, Honor & Respect”. If you wish to read my words, please email me at blog@tmdobson.com and I will gladly forward you the sites you will be able to read my thoughts.

Thank you again for the support and love you’ve shared with me and I hope you find my other sites as compelling and sensitive as my existing one has been.

Your humble servant – Todd M. Dobson

Comments from Danie450 & My Response

Comment from Danie450 (as posted to my blog on www.wordpress.com)

In their disgust and hatred the Phelps are themselves committing sin. They should be trying to show their Christian love be trying to compassionately, yet calmly, convincing homosexuals that they are not on the path to God and Salvation, but will be denied by God - a VERY SAD God too. For He does NOT want to deny them. If they should choose not to follow God’s plan, then they shall not be forgiven and their souls forever destroyed. They should be fruitful and multiply. They must procreate. This means lay with women. I have no hatred toward homosexuals and wish them well and pray that they will be enlightened and find favor in God’s eye.

Hello Danie450,

I read your comments multiple times trying to gain some insight. After several detailed searches on you, I am perplexed with you as much as the dichotomy of your words. I must first say that I am greatly appreciative that you read my thoughts and took the time to remark on them. That will never escape my recognition and within itself, it says something about you as a person and this subject matter.

I appreciate your understanding of my dislike for Mr. Phelps and his followers. Their recklessness and headline seeking behavior has hurt many innocent people and that needs to be acknowledged no matter if you agree with me or with Mr. Phelps’ representation of the real issues. Having a cause does not necessitate the right of its focus. In the zeal Mr. Phelps has against homosexuality, he has directed his anger at the innocent people who many of whom, themselves would agree with his original purpose before being tolerant for mine. I do understand that while I am defending the thousands of men and women who serve in our armed forces, I also know that the highest percentage of them would rather watch me die than to defend me directly based on my sexual orientation. That is ironic since I would give my life to keep them breathing and dreaming with their family and friends for just one more day beyond the ones they were given.

Mr. Phelps is extremely misdirected in his efforts for attention to his cause and he will go to any lengths possible to espouse that bigotry and anger for all to hear and see. His faith is based so little in religion and that which is truly of God as apposed to him. Mr. Phelps and his followers will eventually know the truth that constantly judging others will only get you judged by all. Mr. Phelps is a highly intelligent man who if he used his talents for good instead of hate, could find the results truly liberating instead of feeling like a weight that anchors him to the one position that makes him equally as unhappy.

All of that being said – Danie450, please explain to me the darkness surrounding your own heart. You are a gifted, intelligent woman who can have so many things handed right too you, so please explain to me what has your heart in the shadows and covered in such darkness as apposed to the love you could be rejoicing in. You have great abilities to reason and yet you strive with such a zest to show the antithesis of everything you should be demonstrating and that has me greatly concerned for you.

For greater understanding can you please tell me when did you first decide you were a heterosexual woman? You may think it a slight on you, however it is not, please honestly explain to me when did you choose to be a straight person? The reason for my question is as simple as it sounds, because I don’t remember when I choose to be gay and almost 100 percent of the heterosexual and homosexual friends and family I’ve asked this same question tell me there was never a time when they chose to be straight or gay. So a major premise of your notion is that I choose to be gay and therefore because it is written in the bible that homosexuality is a sin, thereby, I am a sinner because of my choices. So let’s eliminate that first incorrect assumption.

I never chose to be gay just as I assume you did not choose to be straight. If it truly comes down to a choice, who would I choose to be gay? Why would I choose to be isolated away from family, friends, and jobs limiting my options for every portion in life? If choosing to be straight is as simple as many would like the world to believe, why would I not make that choice immediately and make every body around me happy. Why would I choose to be the black sheep of my family based on being gay? Why would I choose a life style that from the Christian beliefs, I should contract HIV and AIDS.

There is no logical reason for any person to choose to be gay today when the world is so much easier when you are not. The other part of this comes down too accepting people for who they are as a person and not because of one portion of their lives. I am a man who happens to be gay, but I have a heart and a soul just like you do. The blood running through my veins is the same color as yours and if either of us is cut, we both feel the pain the same and we both bleed the very same. So please answer for me why being gay makes me less of a person than it makes you; because in my faith, I can never be a better person than you. I can never be anything but a different person than you. That has me questioning why you make it such a large part of your time seeking and responding to every thing about tolerance and acceptance and push it towards intolerance and never accepting others for being who they are?

As for your inference of faith and God, please understand that I come with a great base of faith in God. I would never take it upon myself to tell you or anyone else that your faith is less than mine or is misguided. However, I could never believe that God made me anything but the person I am. He gave me my heart and he made me in his own image. Because I know that to be true, I don’t even question when I witness hatred, I only question why that person chooses to be directed by hate instead of love as only God wanted us to be. He gave us a great ability to make choices over those things we can choose and who we love was one of them, but not the sex of the person we love. I can choose to live a loveless life if I were to listen to people as you believe, but why would I do that when everything about Jesus and God is all about love. So I embrace who I am and love freely and openly knowing there are people who feel I don’t deserve to do so. If I was made in his image, why should I start by questioning everything that is instinctive like the hand I favor, the love in my heart or the mind I was given. If I started questioning what I am, who I am and why I’m here; then I would never allow myself to be opened to anything or anyone.

I am opened to everyone and everything and I have great hope for everyone, especially people I can help open their hearts and their minds as they step through their own life journey. So please express to me why over 120 sites had your name tagged as a racist? That is a harsh label for someone who is more capable of choices then I am.

I am open to your questions and your concerns because I know you feel as though I have just attacked you, but please re-read what I’ve said because there is no judgment within the words on this page, but there is hope that I might positively impact your life in the direction of love, honor and respect rather than hate.

Take care my friend and I hope you are as opened to my words as I am trying to be to yours.

Your humble servant – Todd M. Dobson

Message to Phelps...just not from God

Message to Phelps...just not from God

1^st of November 2007

Message to Phelps, but Not From God

$10.9 Million Dollar Message

Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka Kansas was given a very loud message yesterday, but will the Phelps Family and followers listen to a judgment that wasn't handed down from GOD?

I was deeply saddened in March of 2006 when I read that the funeral of slain Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder had been picketed by the Phelps family with support of their church, Westboro Baptis Church. I moved rapidly from peaceful to rage within seconds at the seemingly repugnance I felt for how any one person could justify picketing with signs and bull horns at the funeral of any person. Then my rage boiled over because this wasn't just any person, this was a decorated, slain United States Marine who was fighting for the freedoms that allowed these sycophants to disturb the tragic circumstances the Snyder family had to endure as they tried to find solace in the death of their family member.

I was elated to read yesterday's news to see the awarded sum of more than 11.9 million dollars to be paid by the Phelps family and the Westboro Baptist Church. My first thought was it doesn't change the fact that the Snyder's lost their only son nor did it reduce the pain and suffering they endured on top of an already overwhelming time that no parent should ever have to undergo. I sat with a smile stretched across my face due to the good feelings about a judgment handed down by this jury without regret for the elation overwhelming me. Knowing how much I loath and hate judgments because they are rarely used for good, but rather mostly by those Christians to elevate themselves to a status level above all other sinners. I try to find the good in each and every person or circumstances. Even when I cannot understand someone for their starch opposition to any situation, I can normally find respect for the manner in which they justify their convictions.

This morning my heart was darkened by the fact that I could neither agree with their stance nor could I find respect for what they do or how they go about it. I strive daily to understand that which I don't know by asking myself if Jesus were here, how would this man have answered Mr. Phelps. If Jesus were here how would he show me to find the love in my heart for a man and a family that rages against humanity for the simple sake of an angry outburst? My position started to bother me more than the situation itself and I could not resolve myself to the position of judging even this horrible man for his actions. I pride myself in looking for both sides of every situation. I can find most motivational factors for most people and in the case of the Phelps' family, I still think the reason Mr. Fred Phelps is so insistent on anti-gay everything is that he is either a huge closeted homosexual that was incensed in his early years at the thoughts he probably had favoring another young man. It could have been that he secretly wants the largest bull dyke with a huge strap-on dick to fuck him and hard. It has to be the fist because I don't know any lesbian that would get close enough to Mr. Phelps' ass in order to even stick a titanic sized dildo within his enlarging prostrate…they have too much integrity to do something like that.

Seriously, my conundrum greatly disturbed me as I ate my breakfast this morning deeper in though than usual and it finally came to me! Todd, you are only human and Jesus was divinely guided, I am only guided by my beliefs and the heart beating within my chest and the soul encompassed by this physical form. I am able to be human and allow feelings that are not always of a higher order. I don't always have to find the good in absolutely everyone. Just to let you, my readers know, I am also not so deluded that I don't realize there are just bad people in this world and with whom doing bad things just for the sake of doing horrible acts against as many people as they can. I know this to be true, but even in those cases, a person can usually find a path that led them to where they are, rarely does a person get up one morning and decide they are going to picket the funeral of a grieving family for a decorated war hero. Crimes of hate are committed with far more planning and thought as apposed to being spontaneous.

Knowing this does not grant me any solace in the enjoyment I felt at the possible dissolution of a cult-like group calling themselves a church. Society as a whole must continue to search our hearts because Fred Phelps did not wake up one summer day in 1947 and decide he was going to be a man who would rid North America of all of its undesirables. The hate he feels was thought to him and he has continue cultivating his heritage of hate towards all who they deem are inferior.

Be brave enough to make up your own mind when listening to your local clergy, politician, family or friend who is espousing something that deep within your own heart you know to be wrong. We are better when we Love, Honor & Respect all of those who share the same air we breath, drink the same water we drink and the blood running within their veins gushes from their fragile body just as yours does when either is cut. Humanity is better without the Fred Phelps of the world and we have the power to silence the only voice he has.

Your humble servant – Todd M. Dobson