Truth, Belief, and Faith

Another post from internationally known author, Terry Unger (The Reluctant Hero Trilogy, Three Tall Tales, A Yuletide Anthology, and The View - One Man's Living Asatru With Help From the Havamal).  

An excerpt from The View - One Man's Living Asatru With Help From The Havamal.  

** Maybe the key to this post is the Havamal verses below**

 Centuries ago man truly believed that the Earth was flat and the center of the Universe............And discoveries in genetics and DNA have opened a whole new world of truths previously unknown.  

There are those who hold that their Truth is absolute, and the only real Truth.  I my opinion, that is blindness of a special kind.  That kind of Truth usually has its adherents clinging to blind faith........When something has been proven to not be not just outdated but patently false, many times, and the purveyors of such continue to spin their tale to their mesmerized adherents, .....................

To the blindly faithful, it is not a lie but the Truth as *they choose to live it and experience it.*  It does not matter to them how many times and in how many ways science has proven that their Truth is incorrect, since they believe that science itself is a lie.  Page 107, Truth and Fidelity.   

In the world of Abrahamic/Semitic Fundamentalism, the literal "truth" that comes from their "book" trumps any higher education a person or persons may have.  Many of the people who operate the Christian Creationist parks hold Masters and PH.'ds in various disciplines.  The men who flew the planes into the Twin Towers,  the Pentagon, and those who were forced to crash into a field in Shanksville, PA. , were not sheep herders. They were educated men.  The driving force behind the above two examples is called "faith."  However, it should be referred to Blind Faith.  May any kind of heaven protect those who get in the way of  this Blind Faith.   

Havamal, verse 113 - Loddfafnir, listen to my words.  Avoid sleeping with a wicked woman (ladies - a wicked man).  Do not let her touch you (Page 171, The View). 

Havamal, verse 114 - Her touch will mess with your mind and you will lose desire to be with other people, to eat, and your sleep will be a lost blessing (Page 172, The View).

                                                  Copyright Terry Unger @2015 

Too Old, Or Just Broken In?

More from the successful author of The Reluctant Hero Trilogy and The View - One Man's Living Asatru With Help From The Havamal -  Terry Unger

Too old, not me !

When you are young, people tell you, "You're too young for that."  Then when you are old, people tell you, "You're too old for that."  If you are an infant or totally enfeebled, these admonitions hold some water.  But I am willing to bet that you do not fall into these two groups; most of us do not.  .......

If you want to do or be something special, you need to take risks.  The taste of success is sweeter with the greater level of risk; you need to take a risk.  

Havamal, verse 105 - With m tools I carved out a path for myself.  I risked my life to reach my goals, even though there were those who would stop me if they could.    

Page 116, Dare to be Great.  From the one, the only ...  The View - One Man's Living Asatru With Help From The Havamal.  

Too old?  Hell no!  Just well traveled, well versed, and broken in !   

                                                    Terry Unger @copyright 2015 

From the Author of The Reluctant Hero Trilogy and The View - One Man's Living Asatru With Help From The Havamal......

I am so happy that I live in the USA.  Our Constitution gives me the right to worship, speak, write, and live pretty much as freely as can be imagined.  I cannot imagine living in a world without these freedoms.  Sadly, there are many who would deny me these things, based on THEIR religion.    

As a man who has been told that he is "too old" to do a thing or two, my habit of reading a newspaper and the tepid news on the Internet, is something that I do on a daily basis.  Not a day goes by that terrorist acts, or something that supports these actions is not reported in the news.  Well, maybe not in the liberal media that wishes our heads were in the sand.  There are other media sources that will not be silenced - thank the Gods.  

How a person can ignore the world-wide terror that is happening, especially by people who think that it "cannot happen here," is something that escapes me. These antagonists, these terrorists want to strip us of the freedoms that we enjoy, and we sadly take for granted.  If you are reading this and wonder what the hell I am referring to, ya'all must be sitting in a circle, holding hands, and naively singing Kumbaya.   

                                                            Terry Unger @ 2015

Some Blatant Self-Promotion

It's that time of year again.  And frankly, I think that retailers use the French Revolution as their boilerplate for Black Friday.  I find it unnerving that folks will sit down together and express their individual thanks, only to find some of them a few hours later willing to break arms or legs to get something for that "special someone."  Well, I offer an alternative to the bruising of Black Friday.  

My books, available in 6 x 9 softcover and e-book formats, make great gifts.  And they are available for purchase right on this blog.  For that "special someone" who requires something more, use my Amazon Portal, located at the top right of this blog.  Whatever you want to buy at a large retailer, you can find by taking a trip through my Amazon Portal.  The plus?  No hassles with cane wielding grannies who have no problem whacking you over the head to get at that newest toy for their already spoiled grandchild.  Then there is the problem of finding appropriate greeting cards.  My good friend Tarr Saxon took care of that.  

There are discerning folks who know that Yuletide is the true reason for the season.  I do not wish to offend anyone but this is a case of historical fact.  Tarr Saxon's Asatru Warehouse offers a fine collection of Yuletide greeting cards, and Yule Tree ornaments.  In addition, the shopper will find key chains and spiffy fridge magnets, cocktail plates and coasters for your Yuletide entertaining needs, flasks, mugs, clothing, jewelry, and other household decor.  The Yuletide Greeting Cards and Yule Tree Ornaments are proudly displayed at the bottom of the store page.  

My Books --------- Available for sale on this Blog.....!!!

My Amazon Portal.......for those "department store type" gifts, located at the top right of this Blog.  

Tarr Saxon's Asatru Warehouse Portal, located directly under my Amazon Portal for all of your Yule Greeting card needs.  

                                                    

                                                     Copyright @2014 Terry Unger

Some Holiday Promotions !!!!

The Holidays are almost upon us.  And, if you are a thoughtful gift giver, you will see that my BOOKS make great gifts.  You can order them all at..... http://terryunger.blogspot.com .  

For those of you who want to buy something for your "special someone,"  use my Amazon portal located at the top right of my blog.  

My Author's Preface - The View

Admittedly, this book took me a while to write and at times it was painful.  Then there were times that it scared the hell out of me; it's not my usual venue - I entered a brave, new world.  Finally, I settled on a format that I could live with. 

In the past I wrote many blog posts.  Without being specific, they were Asatru/Heathen centric but frankly, these posts can benefit anyone who reads them.  I took these posts, cleaned them up, and added verses of the Havamal as I saw fit.  (The Havamal is a 165 verse poem found in the Poetic Edda).  To this, I added questions directed at the reader.  But the Havamal verses used are not straight out of any Poetic Edda.  They are my personal and relaxed words and my thoughts of what Bellows and Hollander amply translated.  And, I tried to use situations and things that are meaningful in our 21st century.  This is why I experienced that fear.  

In no way or in any manner am I trying to upstage Bellows and Hollander; they have done an admirable job.  All that I have attempted to do was to make their words easier to understand - that's all.  By using simpler words, and with a bend to relevance in our 21st century, I believe that I have succeeded.  However, there are people who will think not, that I have damaged tradition.  I have a few things to say about their rigorist thought.  

We live in the 21st century, not the 8th, 9th, or 10th.  We need to interpret the past to serve us in the present.  What was relevant to our ancestors differs greatly from what we face today; I do not think that I need to elaborate.  However, what I have done does not negate the underlying intent expressed within the Havamal.  This intent is relevant now as it was in the 10th century.  But, we need modern situations to match this intent.  The harboring of a fundamentalist, rigorist viewpoint only thwarts what is needed in our 21st century.  Our ancestors, I truly believe, would not want us to regress but progress.  That said, my feeble and humble work offered in this book is, in my opinion, an attempt to honor our ancestor's desires.  I believe that, to our ancestors, living in the past not just ignores the present but condemns the future.  

  

The View - The Interview