Adam Lanza and Guns in the United States

Adam Lanza was a 20-year-old young man with mental illness. Adam Lanza lived home with his mother who was an enthusiast of guns. Adam Lanza's mother had a variety of guns in their home that weren't properly locked away. What's wrong with this picture?

This picture is very wrong. Mental illness and guns don't mix. I'm not saying that every mentally ill person would misuse guns, if they got the chance. I'm saying that when you have a person with severely impaired judgment handling guns, there's a good chance that bad things will happen.

The rest is history. We know that Adam Lanza shot his mother dead with a gun. Then went to a Connecticut elementary school and massacred 20 children and six adults with an arsenal of guns he brought to the school. Then as authorities closed in on Adam Lanza, he turned a gun on himself and took his own life.

Unfortunately, some people are using this tragedy as a political football. They're screaming for human rights to be taken away from United States citizens. They're using this single tragedy as proof that all United States citizens are too irresponsible to own guns and live their lives. They're demanding that the United States government should completely take over the lives of its citizens, enslaving them.

I don't think enslaving United States citizens is the answer. Thank God, only a very small percentage of people mass murder in the United States. And thank God mass murder is rare. That's why mass murder is huge news when it does happen.

In the United States, people are free. They're free to make decisions. And with freedom comes responsibility. So it's very important that each person conduct himself in a responsible manner. And if they don't, they should be punished accordingly.

I used to work at a group home of mentally ill individuals. During my time there, the staff members kept knives and other sharp objects locked up. They had a very good reason for doing this.

What is God's Will?

What is God's will? Is it possible to transgress God's will? What exactly are the parameters of God's will? These are questions that you may have asked yourself at one time or another.

You don't have to read the entire Bible to find God's will. God's will is summarized in the following Bible passages.

Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
~Matthew 22:37-40 NIV

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.
~Matthew 21:22 NIV

So basically God's will consists of loving God and people, and praying for your needs to be met and believing that they're being met. That's it.

If you're doing these things, then you're following God's will. If you're following God's will, then you're living your life successfully.

Gods Visualize, Believe, and Actualize

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?
~John 10:34 KJV

After reading the above Bible verse, I realize that we are not helpless creatures to be run over by the cruelties of life. But are, instead, powerful forces that can surmount any obstacle that life can throw at us.

This verse states that we are actually gods. As we know, gods are more powerful than mere humans. Gods have more ability.

The one factor that makes us godlike is our faith. Faith is the ability to visualize, believe, and actualize something into existence.

To visualize, we form a detailed mental picture of what we want. We do this on a daily basis until the thing visualized becomes clearer and clearer, and more and more real.

To believe, we declare to ourselves that the thing we visualize has already materialized. We declare this out loud to ourselves. We declare this with power and determination.

To actualize, we transform what we believe into a reality. We roll up our sleeves and make it happen. We get off our butts and kick some ass. We manhandle life until it gives us what we want.

That's what it means to live life as a god. Gods are creators, not victims.

Gods visualize, believe, and actualize. Mere humans complain, whine, and whimper.

Prayer, Affirmations, and Visualization

Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you. This mountain, for instance: Just say, 'Go jump in the lake'—no shuffling or shilly-shallying—and it's as good as done. That's why I urge you to pray for absolutely everything, ranging from small to large. Include everything as you embrace this God-life, and you'll get God's everything. And when you assume the posture of prayer, remember that it's not all asking. If you have anything against someone, forgive—only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean of sins."
~Mark 11:22 MSG

The above passage points to the importance of prayer in everyday life. Prayer is important because it focuses the mind to solve a particular problem or attain a certain goal. Prayer is the concentrating of mental energy.

When you engage in prayer, you are automatically using affirmations and visualization. Affirmations are statements you say to yourself regarding what you would like to come to pass. Visualization is the process of imagining an event of what you would like to come to pass.

Affirmations and visualization are the bedrock of many self-help programs and books. If you join a self-help program or read a self-help book, chances are that the program or book will involve affirmations or visualization.

Affirmations and visualization appear to be the key ingredients for successful living. Therefore, prayer is the key ingredient for successful living, since prayer encompasses affirmations and visualization.

Level of Questions and Afformations

Asking yourself questions can be a powerful way to motivate yourself to achieve your goals. Nevertheless, all questions are not created equally. So it is important to ask yourself the right questions. But what are the right questions?

According to the founder of Afformations Noah St. John, the right questions are questions that are positive rather than negative. Also, they're questions phrased in the present tense. To add to this, I think that it's better to ask deep level three questions - questions that ask why.

For example, if you want to be rich, you can ask yourself "Why am I so rich?" If you want to be healthy, you can ask yourself "Why am I so healthy?" If you want to be wise, you can ask yourself "Why am I so wise?"

Notice that these questions are very similar to affirmations, except that they are asked in a question form rather than a statement form. Noah St. John would call these questions Afformations.

Noah St. John believed that Afformations are much more powerful than affirmations, because Afformations make you mentally focus on your goals on a much deeper level. Questions make you think more than statements do.

There are basically three levels of questions. They range from superficial questions to deep questions.

Level one questions are the most superficial. They involve asking who, when, and where. These questions are asked to obtain information involving environments, situations, and circumstances. Let's use the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln as an example.

When - It took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865.
Who - It was carried out by the well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth.
Where - It happened at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C.

Level two questions are a little deeper. They involve asking what and how. These questions are asked to obtain information involving behaviors, actions, and deeds. Let's use the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln as an example.

What - John Wilkes Booth murdered President Abraham Lincoln.
How - Booth opened the door which granted entry to the President's theater box seat, crept forward with his handgun and shot the President in the back of the head, behind his left ear at point blank range.

Level three questions are deeper yet. They involve asking why. These questions are asked to obtain information involving thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. Let's use the assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln as an example.

Why - John Wilkes Booth believed and felt that his actions would revive the Confederate cause.

By asking yourself level three questions regarding achieving your goals, you're motivating yourself by thinking about your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions. This is much more powerful than asking yourself level two questions, which only motivates you by making you think about your behaviors, actions, and deeds.

The weakest way to motivate yourself would be to ask yourself level one questions, which only motivates you by making you think about your environments, situations, and circumstances.

Do you want to be successful? Yes? Then go ahead and ask yourself the following question several times daily: "Why am I so successful?"

Words, Thoughts, and Waves

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer" (Psalm 19:14 KJV).

Upon reading this Bible verse, I am reminded of the importance of the words we speak and the thoughts we think. Words and thoughts can be broadly categorized into two categories: faith and fear.

Why are the words we speak and the thoughts we think so important? Words and thoughts are important, because they affect the reality around us.

Physicists have discovered that there's really no such thing as empty space. They found that empty space is really made up of subatomic particles or waves.

If the empty space is viewed through equipment that allows a nonhuman machine to see on a subatomic level, the machine will see subatomic waves - waves of possibility. But if a human uses the equipment to see on a subatomic level, the waves will collapse into subatomic particles - particles of certainty.

Why would human observation affect the waves of possibility and not that of a nonhuman machine? The answer is that humans have consciousness and nonhuman machines don't. It appears that consciousness interacts with waves of possibility.

The waves of possibility represent energy and the particles of certainty represent matter. And mere human observation of the energy converts it into matter.

Indeed, we're constantly surrounded by subatomic energy. And our observations of reality via our thoughts affect this energy - converting it into matter!

If our thoughts are of faith (e.g., anointing of wealth, health, and life), then the energy will convert into the reality of faith. If our thoughts are of fear (e.g., curse of poverty, sickness, and death), then the energy will convert into the reality of fear.

If you want to know whether you're thinking mostly thoughts of faith or fear, just become aware of the words you say. The words you say come directly from the thoughts you think.

Faith and Life

"And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way" (Mark 10:52 KJV).

"There is no sickness problem. There is simply a problem of the believer's coming to know his inheritance in Christ" (E. W. Kenyon).

The above quotes imply that God wants us to be healthy rather than sick. That the way to become healthy is to believe that you're already healthy and see it in your mind's eye. Seeing something in your mind's eye that you'd like to occur activates faith, and faith activates changes in reality.

Faith is the fulcrum that the seesaw of life teeters on. Faith is the tool perfectly designed to mold life the way you want it. If a block of marble is life, then faith is the chisel used to sculpt the block of marble into a beautiful statue.

A life without faith is a life not worth living. I say this because a life without faith is a powerless one. It's a life beyond your control. It's a life where you're merely an insignificant cog in the vast machinery of the universe.

If you have no faith and believe that you have no control over your life, you'll become depressed if not already depressed. Depression is the emotion of hopelessness, the emotion of powerlessness. And if you maintain depression long enough, you'll die an early death. The body will eventually shut down.

We're all hardwired to have faith and use it. Faith is what keeps us in control of our life. Faith is what keeps us happy.