Word.

Word is bond.
In the beginning was the word.
He's as good as his word.
I give you my word.

Once upon a time I was adrift in the world with no belief system I could buy into. I was testing the rules all the time just to make sure they existed for good reason. While on that trip, I studied religious beliefs from around the world, just to see if there was any Truth in them. Well, here's a Truth, and I'm just going to hand it to you with my blessing, because that's what people should try to do for others as they get older. If it changes your life too, it'll be worth the few minutes you spend reading this. I realized today that it's one of the most important things I've learned so far.

Some spiritual practices include vows of silence. How hard would that be? Try not talking for only one day sometime just to see what you're made of.

Why does anyone value personal silence? Well, it gives you the quiet you need to listen to yourself think, to actually hear others when they speak, and (maybe, if you're lucky, some believe) to experience God. Some believe that God/enlightenment is experienced only when you can also stop thinking. Others believe that if you just shut up, the Spirit will whisper to you. Still others believe that talking consumes so much energy that you need to save it up so you can use it somewhere else. (Of course these same folks think that about sperm too, but that's a story for another day.)

So that's all about not talking. But what you do say matters even more.

Words are often thought to have magical properties. Examples of that are endless: curses, incantations, exorcism, final rites, vows, oaths, and so on. Some people believe that if you practice saying what's true and making sure to keep your word, you'll be able to affect reality just by speaking.

The idea is that your spiritual life force will have such a clear channel through your voice that you will be able to manifest things just by asserting their reality. Say it and it becomes so. Indian and Asian religious tradition is full of the power of the word, for example: God's word creates the entire universe by vibrating with sound, and you can chant a word that will bring you to enlightenment if you do it with focused enough attention.

Well, all these are fascinating ideas that you can weigh and examine for yourselves against the evidence. There's more than a grain of Truth in there. But there's also a very practical, non-religious, unmagical application of your word(s). No one lives in a vacuum. We all live in relation to other people. And those relationships, those things that tie us together, determine a lot about how well your life works and what opportunities you will be given. And words (backed up by actions) create those relationships.

For example:

Anne tells you she'll be there at 3 to pick you up. She never shows up. Next time you want someone you can depend on, who will you look to? Not Anne. And if she needs a ride? She's walking.

Bob calls you up and tells you that his brother broke your CD player. Later you find out that Bob really broke it. You'll never believe another thing Bob tells you -- at least not without checking your facts every time.

Carl always does what he says he would do, or else he calls to change the plan. When Carl says he'll take care of something, you know you can take that to the bank. His word is good.

Doris always tells the truth, even when she must admit she made a mistake or that she failed or was embarrassed. She just keeps it real, and you always know what's going on with her and with you because she will just tell you, and you know if it came from her, it's got to be true.

Who are you going to reccommend for the job opening?
Who will you want in your class?
Who will you loan money to or let sleep on your couch?
Who will you choose to marry?
Who will you want as part of your group?
Who will become that group's leader?

Excercises for the reader:

1. Try giving your voice a rest every now and then, and see if someone's trying to talk to you.

2. Practice making your word mean something. It's called developing "integrity" and it will absolutely change everything about what comes to you in life if you can master it.

integrity:

1. firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values : INCORRUPTIBILITY
2. an unimpaired condition : SOUNDNESS
3. the quality or state of being complete or undivided : COMPLETENESS

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Resume of George Walker Bush [got this in email this week]

Past work experience:

I avoided service during the Vietnam War by having my Dad get me into the Air National Guard where I did as little as I could in the way of serving.

I ran for congress and lost.

I produced a Hollywood slasher B movie.

I bought an oil company, but couldn't find any oil in Texas; company went bankrupt shortly after I sold all my stock.

I bought the Texas Rangers baseball team in a sweetheart deal that took land using taxpayer money.

Biggest move:

Traded Sammy Sosa to the Chicago White Sox.

With my father's help and nearly the same name, was elected Governor of Texas.

Accomplishments:

I changed pollution laws for oil and power companies and made Texas the most polluted state in the nation. I replaced Los Angeles with Houston as the most smog ridden city in America.

I cut taxes and bankrupted the Texas government in billions in borrowed money.

I set record for most executions by any governor in American history.

I became president after losing the popular vote by over 500,000 votes, with the help of Republican appointments to the Supreme Court.

Accomplishments as president:

One of my first official acts was an executive order sealing my father's presidential papers from public view just as they were supposed to be opened for such scrutiny under the Freedom of Information act. This kept scholars and journalists from checking the facts about the Iran Contra arms for drugs scandal.

I attacked and took over two countries.

I spent the country's surplus and bankrupted the treasury.

I shattered the record for biggest annual deficit in history.

I set economic record for most private bankruptcies filed in any

12 month period.

I set all-time record for biggest stock market drop in its history.

I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.

I am the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal record.

In my first year in office set the all-time record for most vacation days taken by any president.

After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided over the worst security failure in US history.

I set the record for most campaign fund-raising trips of any other president in US history.

In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their jobs.

I cut unemployment benefits for more out of work Americans than any president in US history.

I set the all-time record for the most mortgage foreclosures in a 12-month period.

I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than any president in US history.

I set the record for the lowest number of press conferences than any president since the invention of television.

I signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than any president in US history.

I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to intervene when corruption was revealed.

I presided over the highest gasoline prices in US history and refused to use the national reserves as past presidents have.

I cut healthcare benefits for war veterans.

I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously take to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record for protest against any person in the history of mankind.

I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US history.

My presidency is the most secretive and unaccountable of any in US history.

Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US history. (The 'poorest' multimillionaire, Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker named after her).

I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states bankrupted at the same time.

I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud of any market in any country in the history of the world.

I am the first president in US history to order a US attack and military occupation of a sovereign nation.

I created the largest government department bureaucracy in the history of the United States.

I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases, more than any president in US history, while at the same time proposing tax cuts.

I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the human rights commission.

I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations remove the US from the elections monitoring board.

My administration has the least amount of congressional oversight than any in US history.

I withdrew from the World Court of Law.

I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war, as prescribed by the Geneva Convention.

I hold the record for most corporate campaign donations.

My biggest lifetime campaign contributor, who is also one of my best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy frauds in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).

I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US history.

I am the first president in US history to unilaterally attack a sovereign nation against the will of the United Nations and the world community.

I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people of Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace and stability.

I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded government contracts.

I set all-time records for the number of administration appointees who violated US law by not selling huge investments in corporations bidding for government contracts.

I failed to get Osama Bin Laden 'dead or alive'.

also Saddham....

I failed to capture the anthrax killer who tried to murder the leaders of our country at the United States Capitol building.

After 18 months I have no leads and zero suspects.

I removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any other president in US history. I decided that 10 items on the Bill of Rights was just "too much" so it is pared down to a "no nonsense" 6. No more Miranda rights and goodbye to #4-illegal search and seizure.

In a little over two years I created the most divided country in decades, possibly the most divided the US has ever been since the Civil War.

I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less than two years every economic category plunged.

Records and References:

I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas driving record has been erased and is not available).

I was AWOL from National Guard.

Records from my tenure as governor of Texas are in my father's library, unavailable for public view.

All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or bankrupt companies are sealed and unavailable for public view.

All minutes of meetings for any public corporation I served on the board are sealed and unavailable for public view.

Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP) attended regarding public energy policy are sealed and unavailable for public review.

For personal references please speak to my daddy or uncle James Baker

(They can be reached at their offices of the Carlyle Group for war-profiteering).