Author: RJ Walters

I am an Independent thinking, highly functional person who is deaf and has some unique views and challenges in life. Like all of us, I am a person who is composed of all my life experiences and that is what I write about here.
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Pope in blistering critique of Vatican bureaucrats

RJ Walters

Francis issued a blistering indictment of the Vatican bureaucracy Monday, accusing the cardinals, bishops and priests who serve him of using their Vatican careers to grab power and wealth, of living “hypocritical” double lives and forgetting that they’re supposed to be joyful men of God. Francis turned the traditional, genteel exchange of Christmas greetings into a public dressing down of the Curia, the central administration of the Holy See which governs the 1.2-billion strong Catholic Church. He made clear that his plans for a radical reform of the structures of church power must be accompanied by an even more radical … Continue reading Pope in blistering critique of Vatican bureaucrats

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Editorial Cartoons…

RJ Walters

I’m going to get a little wordy with my Saturday picture post here to explain a new category that I will be using here. Editorial cartoons do a great service toward the goal of free speech throughout the world. To see a couple of nuts who proclaim, but in no way represent a muslim religion, murder some of these artists in Paris recently is a tragedy all of us should mourn. A picture is worth a thousand words is a very appropriate phrase for editorial cartoons. They often say things that others would not dare to put into words. One of … Continue reading Editorial Cartoons…

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Insight 4 — Creativity…

RJ Walters

One part of me that I often struggle with is my level of creativity. I never think I have enough. Yeah, I know it takes creativity to blog the amount that I do. I think I have created somewhere in the neighborhood of five thousands post on my various blogs over the years but the creativity I think I miss out on is the artistic type. I am never satisfied with that aspect of my life.  Here is a quote from Ernie to start our discussions in this area.   You as a creative individual have the ability to pursue interesting … Continue reading Insight 4 — Creativity…

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Insight 3 — Personal Time… Doing Your Own Thing

RJ Walters

This post is a continuation of the discernment period I recently spent on thought of where I go from here. I retired from the corporate world fifteen years ago and from my own business nine years ago. Since then I have struggled with my retirement years.  Part of that struggle is due to the very different approaches to life between myself and my spouse. I love her dearly but we are two very different people. She is content with living a simple life of computer games, puzzles, TV, and naps. It is all she needs to have a fulfilled life. … Continue reading Insight 3 — Personal Time… Doing Your Own Thing

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Insight 1 — Waiting For Fate…

RJ Walters

One thing that helped me during my recent discernment period was a book by Ernie Zelinski entitled: How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free. Ernie has written several very popular books about retirement. I don’t really know what drew me to this one but it was worth the effort as it addressed many of my concerns that other books on retirement have not. It seemed this book was mainly a collection of clichés but that was ok. It was what I needed.  Let’s talk about a quote from that book: Regardless of how talented you are and how successful you are in the workplace, there is some … Continue reading Insight 1 — Waiting For Fate…

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A Different Path?…

RJ Walters

The end of each year is a time for reflection for many of us. We like to look back on the year to see if we spent it as we hoped we would. Since this year was a milestone in many regards for me I took this period much more seriously than I have in many past years. My sense of my own mortality is creeping up on me. I certainly see that my days are numbered so to speak, but then again aren’t all our days numbered? It is a matter of how small the number is. I did something this year … Continue reading A Different Path?…

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We’re worshipping religion, not God….

RJ Walters

We’re worshipping religion, not God. It’s hard, when we’ve been endowed with these amazing buildings, these historic legacies and these time-honored traditions, not to mistake them for the thing we’re supposed to really focus on. To paraphrase the recent TV show, ‘Halt and Catch Fire,’ religion isn’t the thing; it’s the thing that gets us to the thing. Organized religion, and all that comes with it, is a means to an end. It’s intent is to facilitate community, spiritual growth, mutual accountability, worship of God and transformation of the world around us. But so much of our energy in recent … Continue reading We’re worshipping religion, not God….

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Its Not Graffiti, Its Folk Art…

RJ Walters

Being an old country boy I have not been exposed to too much graffiti in my life but we did visit some areas in our recent NYC trip where it was plentiful. Some of it was very lavish and sophisticated, some of it quite crude. That got me to thinking that isn’t graffiti just modern-day folk art? Maybe we should be preserving it instead of painting it over? I kind of think of graffiti as some young men’s (and I’m sure women’s) creative outlet. The big art studios and such won’t hire them because they don’t have a “proper” education … Continue reading Its Not Graffiti, Its Folk Art…