 Sean Connery. James Bond, Henry Jones, and one of my personal favorites.. Jimmy Malone The Untouchables is one of my favorite films. It dramatized the takedown of Al Capone by FBI agent Elliot Ness. Capone would bribe and intimidate Chicago Police, and corrupt officials made it easy for the mob to conduct its business during the Prohibition Era. Sean Connery plays Jimmy Malone, the jaded but honest beat cop who won’t be bought off. Recruited by Ness, Malone tells him if he’s going to beat the Mob, he has to do it the “Chicago Way”. “If they pull a knife, you pull a gun. If they put one of yours in the hospital, you put one of theirs in the morgue.” They proceed to wage a delightfully violent and well scripted war against Al Capone, eventually winning their war. Except Jimmy Malone. When confronted by a hitman with a stiletto, he utters the famous “Isn’t that just like a (racial slur), brings a knife to a gunfight!” Malone chases the guy out of the apartment with his shotgun, only to fall into a trap.. being killed by machine gun fire. Poignant. Fictional. Who cares? Our Country is falling apart, and I’m reliving violent movies. The Chicago Way I understood the Chicago way even as a child. If my brother looked at me funny, I’d push him, he in turn would retaliate by hitting me, I’d hit harder, soon tears would come, parents would be involved and we would end up incarcerated in our room. My own children are no different. They are born with an innate understanding of the Chicago Way. I’ll wager you have had similar experiences. Yup, got it. Tit for tat. Law of Moses. Eye for an Eye, and all that crap. Who cares? The people at the Capitol on January 6th care. The people who lost businesses, or were hurt in looting and riots all summer care. The people who are trying to do their best to provide for their family, pursue happiness, and love their neighbor's care. We should all care. For the last 12 years, it seems our country has been run the Chicago Way. Political escalation and retaliation. The Left pushes their agenda while in power, and the Right pushes back harder with their agenda when in power. Each side advances propaganda and misinformation, creating fear and uncertainty, causing their respective bases to cling to whatever cause the extremes in their party is promoting. The only winners are the incumbent politicians, and the News Media and Social Media outlets. They're all set for life financially, not to mention the power perks. With soaring viewership, and purchased advertising, they’re laughing all the way to the bank. All the while, our Nation is being destroyed from within and We the People are left with the consequences of being used as Useful Idiots. 
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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..” Except they’re not, are they? In my graduating high school class, I have friends and acquaintances that have become doctors, lawyers, soldiers, sales people, drug addicts, felons, homeless etc. We all started as a bunch of kids in small town Utah, going to the same classes, eating the same school lunch, riding the same bus. We see around the world people born into poverty, racism, and oppressive governmental regimes. We see many born with physical defects and cognitive disabilities. It’s hard to see where the whole “created equal” thing comes into play, isn’t it? Talents. (Biblical, a unit of currency) In the New Testament, Matthew relates to us a parable taught by Jesus. In Chapter 25, the parable tells of a Man preparing to travel to a far country. The man calls his servants and gave them each a portion of his goods. To one he gave five talents, another two, and another one, each according to his several ability. The man then left. As you likely recall, the servant with five talents went and traded and made another five talents. The servant with two talents also doubled his resources. The servant with one buried his talent in the earth, so as not to lose his lords money. The Man returns from his journey and asks his servants to account for his investment. The first servant with the five talents showed the result of his stewardship, to which the man responded “well done thou good and faithful servant: Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” The second servant with the two talents then showed his result. Though he started will less from the Man, the Mans response was identical, word for word to his response to the servant with five talents. Equal result. The third servant offered an excuse for his performance, saying he knew his Lord was a hard man. That he was afraid, and so he hid his talent. The Mans response was to cast the servant out, and to give his talent to the servant who had ten talents. Who are we equal to? We are all different. Different in ability, different socially, culturally, etc. But, we are all created equal in the eyes of God. We are all his children. We all have “talents” to work with. How we choose to use our talents is far more important that how many talents we have to use. Thou shalt not Covet. The 10th commandment is one I probably have paid the least attention to, but have most likely broke the most. I don’t steal, I don’t kill, but sometimes I see whatever shiny new toy, or professional success a friend has, and I start to covet it. I get envious and resent the good fortune of other people. I view their life through the lens of my own personal experiences, and suddenly, I don’t see them as equal. I see myself as deprived, while they enjoy undeserved good luck. Look Up Who do we look to for validation? Who assigns your worth? For many, starting out, our sense of worth comes from our immediate family. Loving parents help us begin to feel important. As we grow, we seek approval from our peers and our community around us. Now, in the social media age, we constantly seek approval from the whole world. Kids have tragically taken their own lives because they allowed their self-worth to be robbed by the world around them. A good friend recently used the phrase “Look up instead of around.”. Instead of frantically looking for acceptance and validation from the world around us, we look up to God and Heaven. Equal in Divinity I firmly believe that we are all children of God. That we are loved equally by him. That we are each given “talents” by him to do with what we can while in this life. And though we may have different talents, abilities, trials, challenges and circumstances, we can have an equal outcome in the life hereafter. I also believe that if we can find that spark of divinity and self-worth within ourselves, we then have the opportunity to try to ignite it in our brothers and sisters around us. We may not be equal in opportunity. We may not be equal in outcome. We are equal in origin, and we are equally loved by a Father in Heaven. |
AuthorBryce is a family man, musician, fisherman, firearms expert, and master of common sense. 
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