VICES

THE VICES AMONG US By Toney Atkins

From Somewhere In My Brain

(c) 2005

"I don't know of any other class of people that gets pushed outside," said the stranger, who paused as he started to open the door to the Waffle House, observing me as I lit a cigarette. "A lot of us are pretty nice people."

The clean-cut, middle-aged man, with his long hair neatly bound with some kind of band, was friendly and chose to elaborate on the discrimination against smokers brought about by the passage of a Florida law forbidding smoking in restaurants, cocktail lounges that serve food, and other public places.

I would be remiss if I attempted to quote him verbatim, but he realized he had an eager audience, so he expounded on his comment with suggestions about what he believes the government should do in taking further measures to prevent other hazards to the public.

He agreed that smoking can cause lung cancer and other diseases in the body, but asked why only smokers have been singled out for their vice.

Shouldn't bars be forbidden to serve alcohol, because not only does it cause cirosis of the liver, stomach ailments, high blood pressure and other woes, but many who imbibe alcoholic beverages drive under the influence and sometimes kill or injure themselves and others?

Shouldn't grossly overweight people be banned from restaurants, because their obesity is a reflection of overindulgence of food and drink, bringing on high cholesterol, heart attack, stroke and other ailments? Is that a good example for other patrons, especially children? he asked.

Shouldn't hypocrites be forbidden to belong to churches, because they don't practice what they preach and are bad examples of Christianity and therefore endanger the potential faith of others who come into contact with them?, his proclamation continued. Such is harmful to mental and spiritual health, he said.

"A lot of us smokers are pretty nice people," the man repeated. "There ought to be a law."

He said a few things more, but I must now stop writing this tome. I need to light up, pop open a can of beer and eat my footlong sub sandwich while I read my Bible.

Peace.

(c) 2005, Toney Atkins

A NEW PERVERSION

A NEW PERVERSION

By Toney Atkins

A new perversion has suddenly entered my life as I weave my way into my early 60s: I've lost interest in sex.

No, it's not that the hormones quit raging. Perhaps they just raged so long, they needed to rest and decided they liked retirement.

I tried one of those 36-hour male enhancement drugs. but ended up with nothing but a backache.

I'm probably one of the few men in the world who will turn his eyes away from a steamy sex scene in a movie, much as most would close their eyes as a screaming victim is hacked to death by an ax murderer. It even embarrasses me to watch animals copulating on nature shows.

I don't deny that age possibly has something to do with this, but this perversion seemed to hit me overnight not too long ago.

It's not that I'm falling apart. Some have told me that I look "hot" and that I apprear to be a lot younger. Then I'm brought down to earth when the clerk at Kentucky Fried Chicken automatically gives me a senior discount without a second look. But the mirror still shows a certain distinction and not extinction. I woke this morning, so I'm still alive. The thrill is gone, but I don't miss it. If that's not perversion, what is?

Although I rarely analyze it or dwell on what I once believed was one of the most important things in my life, it sometimes occurs to me that I indeed must be an oddball.

I even went to an adult chat room on the Internet to see if stimulation lay in some unknown person who could live anywhere in the world. One of the room's inhabitants sent me an instant message, and the profile information displayed what had to be a human being with the most sexually attractive body in the world. That unseen being saw me as being an object of perfection. However, my mental image of the writer was of a 400-pound creature whose major orgasms came from ingesting three Whoppers and four Slurpees at one sitting. My sexual stirrings remained dormant.

My eyes still find pleasure in looking at a beautiful person, but I'm finding that more people have a certain special beauty if I look at them long enough.

I believe in love, but where is the lust? Am I missing something? Am I any different than I was before when I believed that proving sexual prowess was one of the most essential things in life?

Now I'm out of the closet with this perversion, I hope you don't think less of me.It's certainly not that you are not sexy. It's simply that I'd rather just love you, and it's sad if that's considered to be perverted in this day and age.

WHO DOES GOD LOVE MOST?

By Toney Atkins

In the whole scheme of things, we're smaller than the tiniest germ or virus that we can view through the most powerful microscope.

When we admire the beauty of the heavens in the nighttime sky, our brains are not capable of comprehending just how far away are the stars we can see and that there are many more stellar bodies and worlds beyond those that we cannot see.

If we were standing on a planet orbiting one of those faraway suns and looking up into the sky, we wouldn't even know Earth existed or that intelligent beings lived there.

We're told that the universe goes on and on forever, but forever is something most of us can't comprehend, because we see everything as having a beginning and an end. We know it had to begin sometime, somehow, but none of the scientific theories offer a satisfactory exact conclusion to that eternal question.

Spiritual people believe that a Higher Power, whether He be called God or something else, created all of this. Many believe that Earth is the center of God's universe and that we have the only planet sustaining life. Considering how tiny we really are, that's hard for some of us, including the spiritual human beings, to believe. In the massive expanse of creation, why would God make us His most special place -- His only place? It seems reasonable to believe that worlds beyond our vision and understanding also worship the Creator and a Savior.

Religion turns off a lot of people in the 21st century. There are so many religions on this single speck in space. Who is right? Who does God love most? Who's going to heaven and who's going to hell, wherever in the known universe those places are?

Throughout the world, good people believe different things about God. They have different rules and practices, and each believes theirs is right.

The Catholics believe and worship in a certain way; Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Mormons, Pentacostals, Buddhists and others have their individual churchwide beliefs and standards for members to practice. Individual churches believe that if you stray from their policies and rules, you are most likely hellbound.

In the U.S. alone, Christians are divided as to how they behave and practice their beliefs. When God sent Jesus to this third rock from our sun, the powerful message that was delivered was that of truth and love. This is what confuses many non-believers today. Too many see Christians as not practicing what they preach. They see lies, deceit, discrimination, hate instead of the love brought by Christ and detailed in the first four books of the New Testament of the Holy Bible.

Many Christians don't associate with any particular church organization because they see more politics than spirituality and more negativity than spiritual enlightenment. Members often gossip about and fight among themselves, sometimes splitting and forming yet another church.

I consider myself to be a Christian. I'm not what many would call a "good Christian," but I try to practice the principles brought by Jesus, although many times, I fail in my efforts.

Perhaps God sent Jesus to other worlds, too. I have no proof, but nor do I have evidence that there are perfect living beings anywhere who don't need spiritual help and guidance.

I believe that least two spirits flow throughout the whole universe. One is the spirit of God, of Love; the other is of evil, that for reasons we can't entirely be certain, God allowed to exist. I believe our minds and bodies tune into these spirits as they flow invisibly through the air like radio, TV and cell phone waves. Which spirit we choose to follow ultimately depends on each individual person.

Which church is right? Which religion is the one to believe to get close to God? I would suggest that a fellowship believing in and truly practicing the teachings of their Savior in the aforementioned four books about His existence and ascention is best. I believe that a church that allows individuality ... because we are all separate islands existing among others ... is better for every person seeking truth and happiness in this life on a tiny grain of sand in God's sea of love.

Who does God love most? Throughout the world and the endless universe, I believe He loves every living being, and He shares that love to those who simply choose to tune in to the spirit of love and to believe and rejoice in this miracle called life.

May we all find that spirit in these uncertain times before we destroy each other by following the alternative path.

If only we could love each other as much as He loves us! What a wonderful universe it would be!