Happy Halloween everybody!
I also just wanted to take this time to say a few other things.
Even though I've been in Hawaii for nearly a week, it has just dawned on me that my 50 States trip is completed! Unless some remarkable circumstances take place I will be flying home this coming Monday, the 2nd of November. I will still post once a day until then.
I have had the opportunity to speak with a lot of different people about a lot of different things. And it has really been the people, not the scenery, that has been the highlight of this trip. This is kind of a surprise to me, since, for the most part I never made it a point to go out of my way to talk with people. The world is just full of those wanting someone to talk to and I was out there among them.
The world is beautiful, that I'd never deny. People are beautiful too. It's just that a lot of those people are profoundly burdened for one reason or another, and if I am to be frank, I am one of those people. Even in paradise I can't escape it.
In this post I don't want to advocate any religion, I won't tell you to vote any specific way. I will leave your convictions to yourself. But I do ask that you have convictions. I'd ask that you find one if you don't know what to believe, and most importantly, I'd ask that you fight for it with everything you have. Stand up for your ideals and the things that you want for yourself and for the world. Make your voice heard. This is the only way to test conviction in the face of uncertainty, in the laboratory of the heart. The only way to know is to test what you believe with every bit of you. If not every fiber of you is conscripted to your cause than there will be grounds to doubt, and you will never know for sure whether you fight to a praiseworthy end.
It saddens me that I need to have even just one stipulation. But it is this: If upon evaluation of what you believe, there appears to be no room for love than drop it and pursue another avenue. It saddens me even more that I feel obligated to define what sort of "love" I am talking about. This is the fourth definition, taken from the Merriam Webster's online dictionary under noun: a :unselfish loyal and benevolent concern for the good of another: as (1) :the fatherly concern of God for humankind (2) :brotherly concern for others
Perhaps all of this is nullified now that I have left God in my explanation for those of you who believe in no such being. If that is the case, surely, I would still argue for the sake of love in its self. But still, if there is a problem here, I, in prudent judgment would note that any dismissing the premise of love because of another word that I, in my own conviction, associate with it, is altogether lacking in character and has disingenuous motives, making a mock of love itself.
I was going to wait to post this until later tonight, but I see no reason not to post it now. Good midday everybody. Thank you for all of your support and love. This has been one crazy trip! I am grateful for all of you!
Jake