Three Passions I have Lived For by Bertrand Russell

Three passions, simple but overwhelmingly strong, have governed my life: the longing for love, the search for knowledge, and unbearable pity for the suffering of mankind. These passions, like great winds, have blown me hither and thither, in a wayward course over a deep ocean of anguish, reaching to the very verge of despair.
I have sought love, first, because it brings ecstasy—ecstasy so great that I would often have sacrificed all the rest of my life for a few hours for this joy. I have sought it, next, because it relieves loneliness—that terrible loneliness in which one shivering consciousness looks over the rim of the world into the cold unfathomable lifeless abyss. I have sought it, finally, because in the union of love I have seen, in a mystic miniature, the prefiguring vision of the heaven that saints and poets have imagined. This is what I sought, and though it might seem too good for human life, this is what—at last—I have found.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge. I have wished to understand the hearts of men. I have wished to know why the stars shine…A little of this, but not much, I have achieved.
Love and knowledge, so far as they were possible, led upward toward the heavens. But always pity brought me back to earth. Echoes of cries of pain reverberate in my heart. Children in famine, victims tortured by oppressors, helpless old people a hated burden to their sons, and the whole world of loneliness, poverty, and pain make a mockery of what human life should be. I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot, and I too suffer.
This has been my life. I have found it worth living, and would gladly live it again if the chance were offered me.

Quote Reflection #4: Charles Hamilton Houston (1895 - 1950)

"Without education, there is no hope for our people and without hope, our future is lost" - Charles Hamilton Houston



Who was this man? Charles Hamilton Houston (September 3, 1895–April 22, 1950) was an African American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School and NAACP Litigation Director who helped play a role in dismantling the Jim Crow laws and helped train future Supreme Court justice Thurgood Marshall. He was educated at Amherst College, where he was valedictorian, and at Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude and was a member of the Harvard Law Review. Known as "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow."[1], he played a role in nearly every civil rights case before the Supreme Court between 1930 and Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Houston's plan to attack and defeat Jim Crow segregation by using the inequality of the "separate but equal" doctrine (from the Supreme Court's Plessy v. Ferguson decision) as it pertained to public education in the United States was the masterstroke that brought about the landmark Brown decision.

Need I really say more? Education is the key. Each one, teach one.

In the past, there was a sense of community. Now, there seems to be a strong sense of divisiveness and lack of passion regarding educating our wayward youth.

United we stand, divided we fall.

Quote Reflection #3: Wendell Phillips (1811-1884)

"One on God's side is a majority"- Wendell Phillips.

Such a simple, yet profound statement. How many of us determine our actions or non-actions based on what the majority of people think or believe?

Sometimes, to do or say what is RIGHT by God, one has to go against the opinion of the "majority."

The majority is not always right, it is simply the majority... It matters not if it is two people or if it is two million people who are wrong. Wrong is wrong.

Standing up for what is right or just will undoubtedly mean that sometimes, we will stand alone.

However, how could you ever be alone with God on your side?

One on God's side is TRULY a majority.

You + God > (is greater than) the majority

Quote Reflection #2: Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

"I never told my own religion nor scrutinized that of another. I never attempted to make a convert, nor wished to change another's creed. I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged" - (Thomas Jefferson in 1816, in a letter to Mrs. H. Harrison Smith)

Religion and politics, two of the most sensitive topics that I LOVE to discuss.

Yet, I do not claim OR DENY any particular religion. I was raised a Christian (Baptist). One thing that I have NEVER struggled with is my belief in God.

What I have struggled with is how people can kill, judge, hate, engage in holy wars, and other ill will "in the name of God" by means of any religion.

Shirley, thanks for your beautiful expression of your faith. I LOVE when people defend their faith. Was it not Peter in the biblical scripture who said: “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15)

Even more, as Jefferson said "I am satisfied that yours must be an excellent religion to have produced a life of such exemplary virtue and correctness. For it is in our lives, and not from our words, that our religion must be judged."

Shirley, I see your faith through your actions and your attitude. Is that not the best way to "see" someone's religion? Based on the content of your character and your admirable religious conviction, I definitely admire (dare I say envy?) your faith.

To me, "religion" is a good thing. Spirituality is better. There is a difference...at least to me in my humble opinion.

My struggle continues to be: Why can't the Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, and Buddhist believers ALL BE JUSTIFIED in their faith?

If one religion is "right" and all others are TOTALLY "wrong" (contrary to the true intent of God), then are all the "wrong" religious leaders living their lives in vain, destined to burn in hell forever, despite their good works?

"I do not feel obligated to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reasons, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use" -Galileo Galilei

Quote Reflection #1: Henry David Thoureau (1817-1862)

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essentials facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived" - Henry David Thoureau


How many of us are simply existing, not really living? Most of us are "caught up" in all the trapping of modern life (paying bills or worrying about how we are gonna pay them, working that 9 to 5, credit scores, gas prices, eating or starving ourselves fat, etc...) so much so that we lose sight of what life is really all about.

What is life really about? The answer to that question could be debated for eternity.

However, I know what life is NOT about:

• Life is not simply about working and paying bills. Yeah, we all have to do it, but damn, don't let if BE YOUR LIFE. You are NOT your JOB! Your are NOT your JOB TITLE!
• Life is not simply about the accumulation of wealth and things. One day, you will lose all material possessions, if not by circumstances, then by death. In the end, all material possessions become "utterly insignificant." So, why do most of us spend most of our time pursing things, that in the end, prove themselves to be "utterly insignificant?" Perhaps, for some, the "pursuit" of material things becomes their life...what a waste.
• Life is not about impressing people. I think Oscar Wilde sums up people the best: "Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation." If that is the case, why do most people determine their "worth" by what other people think or say? Maybe, because that is how our society is set up. Are not many of us "slaves to fashion"? Keeping up with the Joneses? Seeking constant validation or approval from others?

Fuck what people think about you! Yeah, I said the "F" word. The reality of life is that no one can live YOUR life, but you, not your mother, not your father, not your spouse, not your children...only you. So, if somebody doesn't like the way you are living, "Fuck them!" I am not saying "write them off." I am saying YOU need to live YOUR life for YOU! If people like you and accept you for who you are, great! If not, fuck them (I mean this in the kindest way possible).

Here's the reality of our "life situation":

• We don't really know how all of this (our reality) came about. I mean, what religion or scientist is TOTALLY right? Can we know ANYTHING with ABSOLUTE certainty?
• Everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY has an opinion about EVERYTHING.
• One day, we will all die.

So, I say, life your life abundantly and authentically. Don't hurt or injure other people. Basically, "do unto others as you would have them do unto you."

To me, life is about taking the time to discover your passions and immersing yourselves in them...A life without passion is not a life at all...

On a personal note, some of my passions include: reading, writing, being outside in nature, landscaping, listening to music, learning about different cultures, contemplating life and death and the necessity of spirituality, etc...

Some things I want to make time for in this life: learning more than one language (being able to speak them fluently); traveling to different parts of the world and country to discover how differently people live, think, believe, and eat; play the piano; read the autobiographies of many famous and not so famous people; grow a vegetable garden; improve my drawing skills; sitting outside on the ground soaking up the sun, doing absolutely nothing at all...