friday at last.

so i was remarking to a friend that i think labeling people can create real problems. specifically in the realm of politics. i have a true distaste for when political or other such labels encourage one to act in a specific way because of the label, irregardless of who was labeled or who did the labeling or whether the label is an accurate label or not. Let me give an example or I will confuse everyone. Let's say I label someone "Republican." I say, "Joe Schmoe is a Republican." Chances are, most other people who call themselves "Republicans" will automatically assume they will agree with Joe Schmoe. And chances are those who call themselves "Democrat" will not. These are premature assumptions, since no one has met Joe Schmoe or talked to Joe Schmoe about his stance on things. Even worse is when someone rejects or accepts blindly anything out of so-and-so's mouth. Just because of a label.
For a practical example, just because I voted for George W. Bush twice doesn't mean I agree with everything he says, everything he does, or how he runs his administration. On the flip side, anyone who dislikes the President shouldn't automatically reject and oppose his every move. Granted, a critical eye is needed. We don't abandon reason. Neither, however, should we just get on a bandwagon simply because it feels virtuous to join a subversive opposition, nor should we keep silent because it's just plain easier to go along with the masses rather than challenge the masses and/or the instituted authorities. I've seen and read way too many examples of people who just like picking fights when there is really not a whole lot to pick a fight about, and likewise other instances where a majority stays silent when voices crying out in the wilderness are needed.

so today is Friday. at last. a long, slow, boring week. I am really craving just vegging out and being a bum. Maybe do some reading. Maybe sleep a whole heck of a lot. Maybe watching a couple movies. All this travel and running around and having things on my "to do" list is wearing me out. What a nice feeling to have not a single thing to do! To just relax, enjoy the present. Oh, how nice it would be to live without planners and watches and phones... this sort of feeling makes me want to take a fast from communication and technology. Fast from T.V., from cellphones, from going out in traffic, from alarm clocks, from the internet... just me, good books, good food and drink, the sound of the breeze out my window, the stars above, and a continual song of prayer and quiet rejoicing in my heart...