Many problems, one solution
Rodney
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Music: Laura Branigan, “Gloria”
Tag Archives: Schizophrenia
The inevitability of evil
Sooner or later, it had to happen.
Sunday, about 14:00, I had just bought my second coffee at McDonald’s. I put it on my table and, as they require me to do, took all my things with me to go out and smoke.
Related: Does McDonald’s discriminate against the homeless?
Outside, I took one more shot at trying to understand how evil — negativity, conflict — happens.
There are those who say that evil is necessary because without it, humans would never be able to appreciate joy. I have never found this believable.
Continue reading The inevitability of evil
Karma basics
We begin with Galaxian’s comment on “Jeanette:”
Schizophrenia is not a karmic matter. It is an organic disease just as much as cancer is. I don’t see how anything someone did in a previous life, or early in their current life, would bring this horrible thing on them. Anybody can develop this condition at any time, although it usually starts in young adulthood.
I gather we are both familiar with this disease.
It’s a mistake to condemn a person on the basis of his or her lot, and also can be highly misleading to say she or he “deserves” it.
Jeanette
Jeanette is a pleasant, demented homeless woman who frequents St. Paul Plaza and the library.
She’s always immaculately dressed. I don’t know how she manages that.
One day, I think in May, walking through St. Paul Plaza, on impulse I approached her and asked if she’d sell me a cigarette. (At that time, I was buying “loose ones.”) Instead, she gave me three Newports.
Related: Practical advantages of being a nice guy
And she’s done the same thing again almost every day since.
She’ll cross the street in the rain to bring me three Newports.
On the one hand, I’ve pondered whether I’m taking advantage of her. It seems instead that it’s a blessing to her to be able to do this for me.
On the other hand, you don’t want to have a conversation with her. She has a long, long list of public figures whose scandals and deaths she says have been blamed on her.
I am tempted to wish I knew the karmic basis of schizophrenia, that I might pray for her more effectively. But I need to use the tools I have.
God bless Jeanette, and heal her; in this life, or the next.
(Originally posted 2014-11-08.)
Maybe pot isn’t so safe after all.
The Concept of Schizophrenia Is Coming to an End—Here’s Why
“Compared with noncannabis users, the daily use of high-potency, skunk-like cannabis is associated with a fivefold increase in the odds of someone developing psychosis.”
That’s the form of pot I smell most often, in the places where I go.
* The inevitability of evil
Sooner or later, it had to happen.
Sunday, about 14:00, I had just bought my second coffee at McDonald’s. I put it on my table and, as they require me to do, took all my things with me to go out and smoke.
Related: Does McDonald’s discriminate against the homeless?
Outside, I took one more shot at trying to understand how evil — negativity, conflict — happens.
There are those who say that evil is necessary because without it, humans would never be able to appreciate joy. I have never found this believable.
Continue reading * The inevitability of evil
* Karma basics
We begin with Galaxian’s comment on “Jeanette:”
Schizophrenia is not a karmic matter. It is an organic disease just as much as cancer is. I don’t see how anything someone did in a previous life, or early in their current life, would bring this horrible thing on them. Anybody can develop this condition at any time, although it usually starts in young adulthood.
I gather we are both familiar with this disease.
It’s a mistake to condemn a person on the basis of his or her lot, and also can be highly misleading to say she or he “deserves” it.
* Jeanette
Jeanette is a pleasant, demented homeless woman who frequents St. Paul Plaza and the library.
She’s always immaculately dressed. I don’t know how she manages that.
One day, I think in May, walking through St. Paul Plaza, on impulse I approached her and asked if she’d sell me a cigarette. (At that time, I was buying “loose ones.”) Instead, she gave me three Newports.
Related: Practical advantages of being a nice guy
And she’s done the same thing again almost every day since.
She’ll cross the street in the rain to bring me three Newports.
On the one hand, I’ve pondered whether I’m taking advantage of her. It seems instead that it’s a blessing to her to be able to do this for me.
On the other hand, you don’t want to have a conversation with her. She has a long, long list of public figures whose scandals and deaths she says have been blamed on her.
I am tempted to wish I knew the karmic basis of schizophrenia, that I might pray for her more effectively. But I need to use the tools I have.
God bless Jeanette, and heal her; in this life, or the next.
(Reblogged 2020-04-30.)
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