"Was There a Jesus..?" 'Davis Danizier' (Shabbat Saturday's)

Guest blogger Davis D. “3D” Danizier began life as a political and religious conservative, even entering into formal Seminary studies. Gradually, he became troubled by inconsistencies in factual assertions and values in both political and religious conservatism and, after deeply traumatic soul searching, reversed course in both areas. After retiring from a career in commercial property and casualty insurance, Dave has had the free time and flexibility to share with others some of the thoughts that led to his life-altering epiphanies. His book “Betrayal of Jesus” presents unorthodox (believers might say heretical) perspectives on the Christian mythology. Dave currently resides in Oceanside, California. Welcome "3-D" for our all new "Shabbat Saturday's."

Editor's note, Dakinetalk guest bloggers do not necessarily represent the opinions of dakinetalk. Guest bloggers are given space to express their beliefs and or opinions. We feel there are many roads and like to give people space to express their thoughts,after-all that's what dakine is...Aloha, James "Kimo" Rosen, Publisher.

The historical reality of Jesus — if such a person actually existed — is lost to history. There is no definite evidence that any real person such as Jesus of Nazareth ever actually existed. Jesus is reported to have taught much, yet wrote nothing. All we have of his words are the writings of those who put stylus to tablet long after his death, in an age when memories were rarely supported by written documentation, and not aided at all by photographs or videos. The earliest records of Jesus’ teachings were written decades after his death and, except for Matthew, by those who had no personal acquaintance with him, and all originals of such writings are long gone.

For all the mystery, the three great world religions that trace their origins to the invisible Middle-eastern sky god of Abraham — the Jews, the Christians and the Muslims — all have special ties to this figure. The Jews can claim him as their own: Jesus ben Joseph was a nomadic, wandering Jewish rabbi who insisted on absolute fidelity to the Law of Moses (Matt 5:17-19) notwithstanding that his lip service followers today dismiss the Hebraic Law, and Jesus is never reported to have claimed to be anything else. The Christians, of course, claim him as their Founder, though he never claimed to teach anything other than Judaism and, no matter how much the teachings of modern “Christianity” completely oppose Jesus’ actual message, they do give lip service to worshipping him as the son of god. The Muslims ridicule the Christians for having killed their “messiah,” accept Jesus as a “messiah” even though they define the term quite differently, and hold Jesus up, along with Abraham, Ishmael, Moses and Muhammad, as the greatest of the divine messengers, claiming that they reflect Jesus’ message more accurately, though they really do no better than the Christians.

Still, it remains that there is no direct evidence, no original teaching from Jesus himself, nothing to prove definitively the existence of this elusive figure. Yet someone taught something remarkable and, whoever it was, we can call that “Jesus.” And there was a betrayal. But the real betrayal is not by Judas in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. The real betrayal was perpetrated by those who came long after Jesus and, in his name, transformed his simple, loving, joyful message into one of violence, greed, domination and conquest — a caricature of all he stood for that contradicts his message and which he would have found unrecognizable. And the betrayers have taken as their profits far more in wealth, land, kingdoms and power than a mere 30 pieces of silver.

The story of who Jesus was, what he taught and why it is so completely unrecognizable in the teachings of the churches that call themselves “Christian” is the real betrayal of Jesus. I have addressed it in my web page at:

http://danizier.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/betrayal-of-jesus/

But beyond the mystery as to whether or not Jesus could have actually been a real person, and even beyond the doctrines and dogmas of the Abrahamic sky-god religions that have reasons to claim him, the question is not only as to whether this figure was the SON of god, but...

Go to 3-D's last dakinetalk blog to learn more at; http://dakinetalk.blogspot.com/2011/07/is-there-g-d-or-santa-claus-davis.html

Dakinetalk now features; Inspirational Monday's, Cosmic Tuesday's Harmonic Wednesday's Facetious Thursday's Aloha Friday's Shabbat Saturday's Serious Sunday's... Please tell your friends! 

"The art of the artist..." 'Michael A, Herr" "Aloha Friday!"

Renowned author and guest blogger Michael Herr is back with another rendition of Aloha Friday's. Michael speaks of art and the  artist which seems to be the topic of interest this week as back on 'Harmonic Wednesday's',Harmony also blogged about the artist. I am so excited to have such great artists as guest bloggers, Yes, blogging is an art too.. Please remember to check out Michael's website at; http://www.michaelherr.com/

ALOHA FRIDAY

Last week I wrote about Love. Wonderful topic. We all should experience love. But this week I'm writing about Art. Art that is never finished.

Everyone can experience Art when they look at a painting or a sculpture, or read a book or watch a movie. But, and this is to contradict what your mother and your kindergarten teacher said, not everyone can create a work of art. Those pictures hanging on your refrigerator when you were a kid? They were actually pretty horrible. They were only slightly worse than paint by numbers.

It takes a great deal of work, at least a soupcon of talent and much more inspiration to create a work of Art. Yet while creating a word of art is so difficult, ruining a work of art is so easy. And by ruining it, I am not referring to those misguided individuals who slash a Rembrandt or cover the naughty parts of a magnificent nude painting claiming it is obscene.

Firstly there are those who are constantly pushing artists to "finish it". Publishers/editors/museum curator/gallery owners/critics, they all want to see a finished product. I can just imagine Michelangelo stretched out on his back, high up in the Sistine Chapel as a voice drifts up from below. "Leonardo, it's Pope Julius II. Could you wrap it up? I've got a baptism scheduled here for two o'clock tomorrow."

Secondly, much of the time, a work of art is ruined because artists are insecure people. They are never satisfied with what they've painted/sculpted/written/filmed. To their minds it could always be better.

So, if the pressure from outside isn't enough, the pressure from the artist himself to just make that one last little change is enough to drive him/her crazy. I imagine da Vinci unveiling the Mona Lisa and as everyone tells him how wonderful she is, a little voice in the back of his mind keeps saying "I need to work on that smile, just a little touch-up and she'll be perfect, not so enigmatic maybe."

So Art is never finished. Every artist wants to go back, wants to revisit their work and make just a few small changes. Changes that will bring perfection. Unfortunately, with bills to be paid, and outsiders clamoring for a finished product, those works of art will never be perfect. Yet we will see them as perfection itself, but only because we do not look with the artist's eye.

And with that in mind, I'm off to work on the fourth, or is it the fifth, revision of my next book. It's gonna be great. I just need to tweak it a little more.  Happy Aloha Friday!

Note, "It is customary for business people to dress down on "Aloha Friday's." Bankers, Lawyers, Doctors and professionals of all kinds dress down on fridays in Hawai'i. No ties, just Aloha shirts for men and mumus for the wahine(women). 

I just finished reading Michael's second book," Primo's Numba-2" (Is Chicken-skin a local delicacy?)

Like the first book, this book is entertaining, fun and hard to put down with all the  characters that frequent Primo's Bar on Kaua'i. To order books go to; http://www.michaelherr.com/  Tell Him Kimo Dakine sent you! Aloha, Kimo



"Golf..." 'Chester Lau' (Facetious Thursdays)

Chester Lau from Honolulu a retired cinematographer is back as our guest blogger for  all our new feature,"Facetious Thursdays" with another  anonymous  humorous joke....

A Husband takes his wife to play her first game of golf.....Of course, the wife promptly whacked her first shot right through the window of the biggest house adjacent to the course.

The husband cringed, 'I warned you to be careful! Now we'll have to go up there, find the owner, apologize and see how much your lousy drive is going to cost us.'

So the couple walked up to the house and knocked on the door. A warm voice said, 'Come on in.'

When they opened the door they saw the damage that was done: glass was all over the place, and a broken antique bottle was lying on its side near the broken window.

A man reclining on the couch asked, 'Are you the people that broke my window?'

'Uh....yeah, sir. We're sure sorry about that,' the husband replied.

'Oh, no apology is necessary. Actually I want to thank you... You see, I'm a genie, and I've been trapped in that bottle for a thousand years. Now that you've released me, I'm allowed to grant three wishes. I'll give you each one wish, but if you don't mind, I'll keep the last one for myself.'

'Wow, that's great!' the husband said. He pondered a moment and blurted out, 'I'd like a million dollars a year for the rest of my life.'

'No problem,' said the genie. 'You've got it, it's the least I can do. And I'll guarantee you a long, healthy life!' 'And now you, young lady, what do you want?' the genie asked.

'I'd like to own a gorgeous home complete with servants in every country in the world,' she said.

'Consider it done,' the genie said. 'And your homes will always be safe from fire, burglary and natural disasters!'

'And now,' the couple asked in unison, what's your wish, genie?'

'Well, since I've been trapped in that bottle and haven't been with a woman in more than a thousand years, my wish is to have sex with your wife.'

The husband looked at his wife and said, 'Gee, honey, you know we both now have a fortune, and all those houses. What do you think?'

She mulled it over for a few moments and said, 'You know, you're right. Considering our good fortune, I guess I wouldn't mind, but what about you, honey?'

'You know I love you sweetheart,' said the husband. I'd do the same for you!'

So the genie and the woman went upstairs. After about three hours of non-stop fun, the genie rolled over and looked directly into her eyes and asked, How old are you and your husband?'

'Why, we're both 35,' she responded breathlessly.

'NO KIDDING,' He said. 'Thirty-five years old and both of you still believe in genies?

Dakinetalk now features;
Inspirational Monday's
Cosmic Tuesday's
Harmonic Wednesday's
Facetious Thursday's
Aloha Friday's
Shabbat Saturday's
Serious Sunday's

"My Struggle to Become an Artist..." 'Harmony' (Harmonic Wednesday's)

Harmony is back with another rendition of "Harmonic Wednesday's." Harmony is a true artist, a real non-conformist and in the best way she is a work of art herself. I truly enjoyed this blog and hope you do too...

Harmony's original art, copyright all rights reserved.

This is a story about my struggle to become an artist. I have always been interested in the arts, and when I say arts, I mean plural. I mean I have been interested in every art form except for drawing and painting. You take creative writing, acting, dancing, even public speaking. I have always been good at those arts. Even singing- Well, it is debatable how good I sing, but I certainly enjoy it. The only art form I could not do and thought I had no interest in doing was drawing and painting.

That was until I started volunteering at a hospice, and my supervisor told me she wanted me to participate in a bereavement support group. This was ostensibly so that I could at some point lead such a group, but for now I was just to be a participant. I agreed to join the group although I hadn’t lost anybody recently other than my cat who had died two years earlier. I had loved my cat dearly, but I was no longer mourning over her. Still I naively thought I could participate in such a group and talk about my cat while the other members discussed their more recent human losses.

It turned out this group was called Healing through the Arts, and we were instructed to draw whoever it was we were grieving for. My cat had been named Rainbow, and when she was alive, I had trained her to come when I sang the song, “Somewhere over the Rainbow.” She would come running and jump into my arms. “Oh, I love you, Rainbow!” I would tell her. So, now, I painted a rainbow in bright colors and drew Rainbow over the rainbow! I was so amazed at the beauty, the creativity, and the meaning of my drawing when I didn’t even think I could draw! With great excitement, I shared with the group. Not only did I show my picture, but I also explained how I used to belong to a cat collector group. I don’t mean we collected cats, but we collected artifacts representing cats such as figurines, jewelry, or books etc. It just so happened I was wearing cat socks, and I held my leg up in the air showing off my socks which represented Rainbow. I realized my energy level was much higher than the others in the group who were grieving more recent losses- I was having more fun than I was suppose to be having ,but I thought perhaps, I could bring them up instead of them bringing me down which was what ended up happening.

The next day, I received a call from my supervisor saying others in the group were very uncomfortable with me. Intellectually, I could understand it, but it was so disappointing and puzzling to ponder how something that brought me so much joy was deemed inappropriate by others. Not only was I kicked out of the art group, but my supervisor told me to I could no longer volunteer for the hospice .

I was devastated but soon found another art group. This group was called “Drawing to Express Your Feelings,” and I thought, “Great. I could express any kind of feelings, and it would be ok.” So, I began drawing and again was amazed by the beauty of my drawings. The only problem with this group was that I drew my pictures in about ten minutes, and everybody else took two or three hours. So, I had to wait until the end of the group before I could share my drawing. To pass the time I began looking at the other drawings of the group members until one of them informed me she wasn’t comfortable with me looking at her work. I apologized and only looked at my own drawing till the end of class. The next day I received a call from my teacher who said, “Harmony, everybody in the group was very uncomfortable with you STARING AT THEIR DRAWINGS. They don’t believe they can trust you, and they don’t think you are safe to be around. I can no longer allow you to continue with this class.” If I had been devastated before, there is no describing how I felt now to have been kicked out of two art groups! I knew something was horribly wrong with me. I just couldn’t figure out what it was. The other group was understandable from a counseling perspective of being in a different space than the others, but this made no sense at all since I had apologized and stopped looking at the other paintings.

I began drawing at home. I decided I didn’t need a group after all, and again I was amazed by the beauty of what I drew. I didn’t miss drawing with a group of people. I’d had it with other people. However, I do miss having someone to whom I could show my artwork. Therefore, I have just decided to include one of my computer generated drawings with this blog. If you don’t delete it, then I will feel healed from the rejections of the two previous art groups!

Check back every Wednesday for another one of Harmony's harmonic treks through life...
Please send guest blog submissions to; jrsensei@hotmail.com

"A Message from My Star Star Fruit Tree..." 'Susana Summers,' "Cosmic Tuesday's"

Guest blogger Susana Summers is back for another cosmic journey in her life, we are  now calling Tuesday's, "Cosmic Tuesday's." Ms. Summers currently lives on the stupendous island of Maui. She resides A 'Shackteau'(sic) within a mango forest, bathes in waterfalls and although no 'Oprah' is constantly entertained by the drama of the forests inhabitant's, seen and  unseen.

 Starfruit photo by the  author, Susana Summers...

I think one of the causes of parenting going awry is that parents tend to impose their philosophies on their children without assessing the birds eye point of view as to whether these so called "schools of thought" are appropriate for each individual child. For what may be suitable or beneficial to one may not be for another.

I have never had children myself however I can only liken it to the raising of the hundred plus fruit trees and ornamentals I have nurtured in the almost fifteen years since I landed in this jungle forest. You parents might joke raised without the "backtalk". But when you hear my story you will see that that is not necessarily so.

My first orchard attempt was a disaster. I planted oranges and limes that two years later were shorter than when I brought them home from the nursery. And the plants that did survive, never fruited or flowered. Except the indigenous ones, the ones that are native to the area, thrived with little care.

From the blessings of a strong year financially, being a farmer at heart and knowing the payoff of planting for the future, I gave it another shot. To find better results.

The most blatant mistake I made can be so applied to a parents biggest faux pas(sic). I planted the plants where I wanted them to go. Where I thought they would look best. Never once considering what they would need. Which their performance soon to inform me.

I planted a star fruit tree which needs full sun in a spot that only got sun three months of the year. Lucky for me, that sun graced it during the first flower and fruiting season. However because of the choice of spot I only get one good harvest where most star fruit offer two.

This starfruit is only about 12 feet high where a starfruit of over ten years in the place of highest and best opportunity for it could after that period of time be 20-25 feet and fuller and wider spreading in its branch reach.
You see I was unprepared. I had not done my homework. Living in a forested area in a gulch to boot, daylight varies dramatically from season to season. I planted that tree in spring summer when there was plenty of daylight. However had I planted it in the winter II would have seen that darkness clearly and realized it was not a good place to put a tree that thrived in full sun.

That lesson taught me much. So when I did my most recent orchard planting I did it differently. I watched the changes in the sun patterns for a full year, then I studied carefully the sun needs and even more specific the fruiting and flowering habits of the plants. And then matched up each individual plant with each seasonal variation, in the end giving each plant the best opportunity possible for a full healthy and productive life.

For the health of its own life as well as mine. For when my fruit trees are healthy and productive, that enhances my life with an overflow of its bounty. As such as a parent reaps the benefits of a healthy well adjusted productive and happy child.

Just as I can easily educate myself in gardening, I encourage all parents to take classes in parenting. Seek out the advise of experts. In the old days historically parents learned child rearing from their parents. Elders lived with the younger generations for reinforcement.

However in these times, families are nuclear, and our lives and the world is so much more complex and what was true just a mere generation ago is not applicable today

Something to think about for the health and well being of all the children in the generations to come who's lives for their formative years are dependent by their caretakers.. My Star Fruit tree told me to make sure to emphasize this last line.

To learn more about starfruit go to; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carambola  

Dakinetalk wants to hear your stories, jokes, rants , raves, inspirations and whatever it is that moves your mojo. Please send all guest blog submissions to  jrsensei@hotmail.com   Attention; Publisher

"Oprah helps clear clutter..." "Judith Whitehead"

Guest blogger Judith Whitehead is back with another inspirational  Monday blog. Judy talks of cluttered basements, here in Hawai'i nobody has basements but many have cluttered garages, carports and  storage buildings. For those in Hawai'i and on the west coast just substitute  another  cluttered spot for the word basement. I found myself wishing I lived where Judy lives, imagine having the "Goodwill" come to your house to pick up your clutter, no such thing where I live. Mahalo Judy, Mahalo Oprah   ;D)

 A few weeks ago I was viewing one of my favorite shows on T.V. on my day off, the Oprah Show. Her topic that day was cluttered homes and basements where people horded items to the point that they couldn’t function in their own homes. I found it to be inspiring enough to make a plan with my husband to clean and clear out the basement that is a perpetual catch-all for all those items that we “may need in the future”.

I knew this would be a monstrous task since we have a “saver of valuable items”, in our home. Most of our basement consists of items such as old furniture that may be of use to our children when they move out; well, we’ve moved three times now, and they are still waiting to be of use.

We decided to take Oprahs’ advice and make three piles; one for garbage, one for saving and one for the goodwill truck. During the past few weeks we have run across such treasures; it has been a trip down memory lane. Clothing that are three sizes too small saved carefully in boxes just waiting to be worn again. Of course the styles are out dated and it would be short of a miracle if those things ever fit again; Photograph albums that document every year of our children’s’ memorable moments of which there are so many. It has become a sobering experience to see what has been stored in this large area of the house, piles of clutter and useless papers. I almost envy those areas of the country that don’t have basements to save these things in. It seems whenever we replace anything in our homes, we must save the previous item just in case we may need it in the future. The Waste Management team that collects in our neighborhood must think someone has
moved in each week from the looks of our garbage pile. I am almost on a personal level with the Good Will man that mans the truck each week, when I unload the trunk of everything. It has given us some great satisfaction that not only are we donating to such a good cause but we also are slowly making the basement organized and clutter free. We have a very long way to go though; our basement is large and in some areas, stacked to the ceiling with sealed boxes that need sorting through.

I have become so inspired that when the basement is done, I think we will start on the other parts of the house. I know my husband will be none too happy to partake in that task, but it is something that must be done. I think couples are divided into two categories; those that save and those who throw out. We have one of each in our home, I think most people do. I came from a family of “let’s throw it out”. My husband is from the savers group. This makes for a daunting task every time we enter those basement doors. But through compromise and a little convincing, we are making great progress. In fact the cleaning bug has inspired my son. Last week he painted the stair well and walls to the basement and it looks 100 percent better. We have also come across some items that will be good for listing on e-bay. That has proven to be a great way to unload unwanted items. They are easy to list and very satisfying when sold. And as for the unsold items…there’s always our summer block garage sale to get rid of the rest. Every summer we have a wagon train of cars rummage through the streets in our development looking for treasure. Some people just like the hunt, but many drive off with cars loaded with found treasures. It’s a show worth watching.

Check out Oprah's website about clutter; http://www.oprah.com/home/Clutter-Control  and remember to send dakinetalk your rants, raves, inspirations, jokes, political and religious views or whatever is heavy on your mind. We want to publish your guest blogs. Keep blogs 200-500 words give or take, who knows maybe your guest blog will go viral! Send all submissions to; jrsensei@hotmail.com  attention, Publisher

"A Rebirth..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen'

Today's guest blogger is James "Kimo" Rosen (Me!)  A Big Mahalo Nui Loa to all the guest bloggers that have inspired me, made me laugh  and have made this blog a hell of alot more interesting.  Aloha

Writers block was leaning heavy on me, I needed a good brainstorm and guest bloggers were born. Inviting readers of my blog to blog themselves was a rebirth for dakinetalk. At first I envisioned guest bloggers as a way for me to post everyday with very little work, the irony is having guest bloggers is much more time consuming than being a one man band. I need to layout and write or encourage my guest bloggers to write a short bio, and send a photo. Many times I am emailed numerous photos and numerous changes after I have laid out the graphics. Now I see why my graphic artist always got so upset with me when I published 'Alaska People Magazine.'

Dakinetalk has many more hits since guest bloggers send their blog onto their friends, and many times post it on one of the many social networking sites like 'Twitter,' 'Facebook,' 'My-space' and 'Google.' Dakinetalk is becoming more and more popular with more and more readers.

This blog has become an electronic blog magazine about nothing and everything. This blog is about you, your neighbor, your pet, your religion, your jokes, your rants and inspirations, but most important is everyone has a story, not just the guy who posts the blog. Everyone has something to share and that's what's making me motivated, writers block may have set in, maybe it hasn't but the main thing is I have you guys. Please continue to send dakinetalk your most inner thoughts, and maybe we will post them, maybe they will go viral, maybe they won't, but either way let's enjoy the future which is now in electronic publishing.

Epilogue,We are currently looking for guest bloggers. Everyone has a story, we want to hear yours..! Send your guest blog submission of 200-500 words give or take to; jrsensei@hotmail.com

http://www.dakinetalk.blogspot.com/  (a blog about nothing and everything. We are currently looking for guest bloggers. Send your submission, 200-300 words to; jrsensei@hotmail.com