Sage Lewis

I’ve been trying to track down a photo of Mr. Peter B. Lewis. I was fortunate enough to get one. So Viola!:

Quite a dapper man.

I’m a proud customer of ING DIRECT. They have made a big effort in trying to make saving hip. I’m sure trying to push that marketing concept through a financial services company was no small task.

But I just got a cool email from them recommended some books for the summer.

I thought I would share them with you:

June 28, 2005

What would summer be without a good book? Here are some of our favorites:

• Our CEO’s Pick - The Automatic
  Millionaire, David Bach - This book gives good, practical
  advice to the young and old alike on managing personal finances. It’s never
  too late to start! We are particularly proud of the mention of ING DIRECT
  and the Orange
  Savings Account in this book.

• The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas Stanley
  and William Danko - Want to become wealthy and have the lifestyle
  you really want? Follow seven simple rules and stop renting your life away.

• All You’re Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money
  Plan, Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi - This book is
  for real people living on a budget who want to learn how to pay for the
  things they want and need and also how to save for the future.

• Our Special Pick for Parents and Children
  - Alexander, Who Used to Be Rich Last Sunday, Judith Viorst and Ray
  Cruz - This is a book for all of those skeptics out there who think
  a dollar can’t get you much. Children will be able to connect with the
  concept of money management.

I’ve read “The Millionaire Next Door”. It’s really good. It might be disappointing for some. There isn’t much of a trick to it other than being pretty dang tight with your money.

Here’s a pretty interesting general marketing blog I just came across.
Seth Godin: Agent of Change

many of today’s young workers are massively disaffected with their jobs and often constitute a negative influence on the whole workplace.

I was reading a Management for Dummies book put out in 1996. It’s all about empowerment, encouragement, being an effective leader. It’s been common knowledge for sometime that managers must be compassionate, empathetic, encouraging coaches. This isn’t new stuff here.

Why do we still have this major problem with terrible workplaces? You would have to be living in a cave to not understand management has changed. Come on people.
Go read the Leadership Challenge:

People want to work hard, people want to do good. They just need an effective leader.
Fast Company Now - Attitude Adjustment

If you aren’t familiar with EBSQ artists, but like art, I highly recommend you check out the scene. You can search these artists on ebay by typing in EBSQ and you can go to ebsqart.com. This is a group of self representing artists. What this means is that they are basically cutting out the middle man - the gallery, and passing the savings on to you.

This gives you a great opportunity to purchase original art at affordable prices.

My friend Joe Gut has just put a few pieces up. Check them out here:
EBSQ Artist - Joseph Gut - Art For Sale.
He is massively talented.

Order Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ and receive a FREE Bible, only at GospelDirect.com

Ok. This is the last I’m going to do of this. Here are the different versions I’ve collected, verses 4-8 side by side:

NAB - New American Bible version
ESV - English Standard Version
KJV - King James Version Study Bible, Red-letter Edition
NIV - New International Version

Not Sure: 4: Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;
NAB: 4: Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
ESV: 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
KJV: 4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
NIV: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

Not Sure: 5: it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
NAB: 5: it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
ESV: 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
KJV: 5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
NIV: 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Not Sure: 6: it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.
NAB: 6: it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
ESV: 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
KJV: 6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
NIV: 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

Not Sure: 7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
NAB: 7: It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
ESV: 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
KJV: 7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
NIV: 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Not Sure: 8: Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
NAB: 8: Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
ESV: 8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.
KJV: 8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
NIV: 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Order Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ and receive a FREE Bible, only at GospelDirect.com

********************
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: Part 1
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: Part 2
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13 Part 3
Sage Lewis: My Spirituality Disclaimer

Order Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ and receive a FREE Bible, only at GospelDirect.com

Of I Corinthians 13:1-13, these are the versus that really speak to me:

“4: Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful;

5: it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

6: it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.

7: Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8: Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”

Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: I Corinthians 13:1-13

Interestingly, there are many different versions of these. Take a look at this, for example:
Here’s the NAB - New American Bible version:
USCCB - NAB - 1 Corinthians 13:

4
Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, (love) is not pompous, it is not inflated,
5
it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
6
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
7
It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8
Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.”

In Verse 6, I like the difference of “truth” and “right”. Personally, I like “truth”. But as you can see, there are many differences.

Here’s the ESV Bible (English Standard Version):
ESV Bible Online: Passage: 1 Corinthians 13

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant
5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;
6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”

Here’s the King James Version Study Bible, Red-letter Edition
1 Corinthians, Chapter 13 (King James Bible) ChristianAnswers.Net WebBible

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Here’s the New International Version
BibleGateway.com Passage Lookup: 1 Corinthians 13

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

I guess I could go on and on with this. No matter how you spin it, it comes down to this: think of others, be nice to each other, don’t be a jerk(and be smug about it), be nice to each other. And… oh yeah, did I mention BE NICE TO EACH OTHER!

Order Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ and receive a FREE Bible, only at GospelDirect.com

********************
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: Part 1
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: Part 2
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13 Part 3
Sage Lewis: My Spirituality Disclaimer

Order Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ and receive a FREE Bible, only at GospelDirect.com

If you aren’t aware, I’m in a string quartet. I play the cello. I do a lot of weddings. I would imagine I’ve done a couple hundred at this point in my career.

I can safely say, in my personal study, the #1 all time top pop favorite scripture at any Christian ceremony is: I Corinthians 13:1-13

If I’ve done 200 weddings, I would say 180 of them have included this scripture. Needless to say, I’ve heard it a lot. I have it memorized. I enjoy hearing different versions of the same idea. I know it as well as any minister or priest. Not bad for an atheist, huh?

This is what I can conclude after hearing this so often:

This scripture is the Alpha and the Omega… the way, the light, and the life of all Christianity. If someone had never heard of Christianity before, I think these 13 versus would be the defining essense of all that is good about Christianity.

The greatest thing about wedding ceremonies is their connection to humanity that stretches back thousands of years. That’s the great thing about religious ceremony in general. The rituals are iconic. They tie us all over all time together.

I think of all the couples that have heard this chapter for hundreds and hundreds of years. I think of what all these people are trying to be told: “Have love. Work on love. Love is your salvation. Love is your passage to Heaven. Love is what you have to accept to be allowed into the kingdom of Heaven. Love will set you free.”

Most don’t get it, I’m sure. They haven’t had the luxury of hearing it hundreds of times in the context of a wedding ceremony week after week. I really wish they could. I wish they could have the perspective of their wedding ceremony through my eyes. I know what they are being told. Because they are hearing it once, in their ceremony, amidst the nerves and excitement, it doesn’t seem any more special than anything else that day. It’s all important and exciting to them. From my point of view, it’s the one think that stays the same week after week, ceremony after ceremony, and denomination after denomination. It’s the message your minister or priest wants you to hear more than any other message. Have love. It’s the secret to your success in life.

Here’s a link to it:

Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: I Corinthians 13:1-13

Order Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ and receive a FREE Bible, only at GospelDirect.com

********************
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: Part 1
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13: Part 2
Sage Lewis: Love: I Corinthians 13:1-13 Part 3
Sage Lewis: My Spirituality Disclaimer

OK. Before I go any further down this spiritual path, I need to make a policy statement. I am in no way Christian. I am much closer to atheist than most spirituality. I happen to like Buddhism, although I know very little about it. One of the reasons I like it is because it is classified more as a philosophy than a spirituality.

Truth be told, I enjoy the topic of spirituality and am interested in pursuing it. But my path is much different than the Western thought of it. Western spirituality teaches that nature is bad. That’s just plain idiocy. We are nature. Any upstanding Catholic Priest would say to that, “Exactly! And you should feel guilty about it.”

In my spirituality, there is no in or out… there is no us and them, god and me. I am God. Being that I live in the West, it’s much easier for me to say I’m an atheist. I might as well be, in the eyes of most who ask. Upon occasion, if I’m in a group of people that seem to be in a listeny mood and are intellectually open, I might get into all of this. But usually… athiest all the way.

Ok. On to more spirituality.

In Tuesday’s yoga, I realized my own Nothingness that I talked about seeing in Indiana here:Sage Lewis: Allegory of the Cave and God

I felt strongly being the observer watching the entire world, starting from my mind and body, it all being completely out of my control. I don’t own any of it. I may be able to have a positive mental attitude, I can work out to help my body stay fit, but none of it is mine… It’s all outside. And with that, there is no difference between me and everything else in the world. It’s all equal and with that, it’s all mostly empty space with a few particles that themselves constantly come in and out of existence.

In our community there is a big debate going on between Evolution and Creationism. It’s not nearly as interesting as looking at the parallels to Buddhism and Physics. The Buddhists, as it turns out, have had it right all along.

If the topic of how physics is validating Buddhim interests you, check this out:

You have to see that your attitudes, your view of the world, of your experiences, of your girlfriend or boyfriend, of your own self, are all the interpretation of your own mind, your own imagination. They are your own projection, your mind literally made them up. If you don’t understand this then you have very little chance of understanding emptiness.

This is not just the Buddhist view but also the experience of Western physicists and philosophers - they have researched into reality too. Physicists look and look and look and they simply cannot find one entity that exists in a permanent, stable way: this is the Western experience of emptiness.

Integrating Emptiness into Everyday Life: Lama Yeshe

And here:
Much Ado About Nothing

Barry Magid at ordinarymind.com puts it: “This emptiness is identical to fullness. It is everything, and everything is nothing but it. What does any of this mean in the real world of pots and pans? Simply that all distinctions, all meanings, all identities and especially all our self-identities, have no fixed boundary or definition, except ones that we create and try to hold onto.”

Heaven and earth come from the same root as myself:
All things and I belong to one Whole.
(Seng-chao)

What I realized during that yoga time was that the only semi-different part of me and the rest of the Nothing is that I have been given the special skill of being allowed to observe it all. With this observance, we as humans, have taken that to mean we somehow have control of any of it. The Observer in us gives us the illusion of control… Of Free Will. In reality, we are more like rocks that the world pushes around and interacts with than us being an autonomous being which move freely through the world. We are just so close to our lives that we think we are in control.

And what does this understanding mean to me? I gives me a beautiful sense of harmony and oneness. We are all of the same energy. We are all the same. None of us are our actions or experiences. We are all cut from the same space dust created from stars that exploded billions of years ago. It’s comforting. It’s uniting. It’s love.