NIRVANA? OR BACK TO REALITY?

Those of us over 6o realize that our minds often wander.

We tend to schmoose about things that seldom have any relevance to reality - or, at least our reality, experience, and sphere of influence.

I read an editorial piece by DeWayne Wickham today and it caused the term "Nirvana" to pop up in my head. So, I looked it up.

My conclusion was that whatever it once meant it's meaning is now almost 100% tied in with the musical group of that name.

Finally, after going through several references, including where I could find the CD's - concerts, etc., my eyes finally rested on a hopefully credible non-musical definition: "Spa Nirvana' - Tampa Bay - "Be Totally Bare With A Bodybuilder."

I do not live that far from Tampa Bay, and enjoy the scenery,but opted not to pursue their version of Nirvana - at least until I'm more convicted.

"Nirvana" is defined in "Webster's Dictionary 10th" in sort of fragmented ways - not all of which I'll cover. My favorite was "a place or state of oblivion to care, pain, or external reality."

However, I skipped over that one quickly as I am married.

One definition referred me to the Bible (Matthew 5:11), specifically The Sermon On The Mount. It said Nirvana was the last beatitude that "transcends suffering etc - - - - through the extinction of desire and individual consciousness." (Did you get that last part?)

I thought, "Then again, based on my counselling of married males years ago, Nirvana might have some relationship to marriage after all."

Still, I checked on the biblical Beatitudes, just to be sure.

My Bible suggested that the last beatitude was more in the form of reassurance by Jesus. He said that any persecution (of one) due to belief in him should be the occasion to: "Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Now, I was totally confused about DeWayne Wickham and his sycophantic relationship with his leader as well as the earlier definition of Nirvana: "a place or state of oblivion to care, pain, or external reality."

I thought, "DeWayne. you may be a prophet and it's one thing to support your President in everything he says and does. But, it's quite another thing to agree that Netanyhu, Israel's Prime Minister, should give up all the territorial gains from the Six Day War of 1967.

C'mon Lad, what were you thinking? Did you forget how sacred were those gains to many people in this country? You ain't the Prez!"

Just when I thought I had possibly found an example of true Nirvana - I glanced at the column above that of Mr. Wickham. Wow!

It was written by nationally syndicated talk radio host, Michael Medved about the actual % of gay population in this country.

Medvid said the number is closer to 1.4% of the population than the 10% Dr.Alfred Kinsey said 60 years ago was true. The latter # is that which the gay rights folks and the media have relied on ever since.

Not only did Mr. Medved reveal the new statistics from a recent major federal sex survey, he told us that, contrary to the beliefs of many gay pride advocates, "choice and change play larger roles in sexual identity than that commonly assumed."

What is he saying here - that sexual choices may possibly have other causation than that argued as being the result of "an inate, imutable characteristic, like left-handedness or eye color"?

Is this man stupid enough to suggest that evironmental factors may also be involved with sexual orientation?

It gets scarier. Medved also said that Brad Sears of the UCLA Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy compared that new gay statical"relevance" with other populations of a similar size (2% to 4%), such as Jews in this country.(2%)

That was enough for me. I burned my copy of USA Today immediately because I knew I was in danger of being turned into a pillar of salt.

If found guilty of even considering such heresy as that which was contained in the two articles, I would surely be investigated by several politically correct organizations or (dare I say) the ACLU.

Surely though; both the writers and Mr Sears had achieved the ultimate and were the epitomy of Nirvana per my research.

It was then I paused and reflected once more; this time to utilize my Law & Order knowledge and schmoose on the subject of motive.

I wondered, "Is there any chance these articles were written before last Saturday had arrived and Nirvana had absolutely no part to play in their publication?"

Was this simply the case of a few men with wildly erratic views they expounded on solely due to their conversion to the belief of California Evangelist Minister Harold Camping: "The World will end at 6:00 PM on Saturday?"

Well, that didn't happen - and when those retractions start coming in, you can bet your bippy that "Nirvana" had nothing to do with their attack on those sacred beliefs.

Maybe it's time to get back to reality.