Reflections by James Strauss

Reflections of Life,
Past, Present and Future

by

James Strauss

Reflecting on the outrageous fortune that has smiled down upon me with all of its travel, pain, depression, elation, danger, adventure and total lack of believability.  For a time I tried to have credibility until I discovered that my own credibility was without meaning.  The meaning of life has nothing to do with credibility or believing in anything.  It has to do with longing and thought leading to the satisfaction of a mission in pursuit and a need to understand rather than  to be understood.

I came to outwardly express my feelings and thoughts so as to constantly remain actively in search at my core.  From my core to the outside world.  From my core to the Solar system and galaxy.  From my core to the universe and finally, from my core to your core.  This site is about your core and what you might be able to take from my own.

Enjoy my reflections and share yours here. Comment freely on the posts. May we grow together on this strange journey

Reflection of the Past and Present

Reflection of the Past and Present

The Past and Present Flow Together I open chapter XVII of The Duke, set on Oahu in 1963, with the words: "The events of the past two days have so tossed my life atop a rough sea of confusion, accidental circumstance and indecision. Is it possible that I can smooth...

Coronavirus (COVID19) Reflection #3

Coronavirus (COVID19) Reflection #3

Reflections on the Coronavirus (Covid19) March 20, 2020 I am coming to hate them. I never hated them before, not any of them. Oh, I have not cared from some of the Fox commentators but I never thought much about the anchors. Now I am thinking about them, and not just...

Coronavirus (COVID19) Reflection #2

Coronavirus (COVID19) Reflection #2

COVID19 To be made in what image? To be reproduced at who's direction? The nation is being brought to its knees and the causal factor is being touted as this new virus. But is that it? This nation, if it goes to sleep for the next two to three months, will never come...

Sitting On The Bottom, Looking Down

Sitting On The Bottom, Looking Down

Dateline: March 16, 2020 Lake Geneva WI Sitting on the Bottom and Looking Down. There is only one direction to go from that orientation. That light up there, when one can take one's eyes off where they've been directed to go by nearly everyone, is the light at the end...

I Did The Thing… Vietnam

I Did The Thing… Vietnam

I did the thing in a country called Vietnam. I went on from there to have a fairly wild and messy but distinguished career in the CIA. How come, after all that, and publishing my story in books and more, I am expected on such social communication sites like this, to...

Hard Rain,  Reflection of Life

Hard Rain, Reflection of Life

Hard Rain. Does it cleanse? Does it cause more damage than it takes care of by providing plants and animals with plenty of pure freshwater? Does it flood and cause disease, famine and even death? Water coming down from the sky is almost an allegory for life itself....

In The Name Of The Father..

In The Name Of The Father..

In the name of the Father... a prayer. A prayer that is as endemic to the Catholic Church as the existence and continuance of the pope. "Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us;" What is a trespasser?...

The Hustle, The Escalator of Life

The Hustle, The Escalator of Life

The Hustle, The Escalator, The Rush of Life. When you put the brakes on, by going on vacation somewhere far away, traveling abroad for a while, or simply holing up and pulling the cords out of the walls with respect to electronic equipment, you discover that life...

I Don’t Know…

I Don’t Know…

Dateline: Lake Geneva, WI January 21, 2018 I don't know.  That sentence is so much more important in my life than it was when I was younger. My own inability to know or understand some things is so important to me. I live in a world where such self-analysis and...

Where is God?

Where is God?

It's not easy. It's not a road fraught with simply easy decisions. The search for meaning in my or your very tiny universe of things you or I control is very complex and constantly threaded through like a bad plaid blanket with beautiful and awful strains running...

The Journey of Artificial Intelligence

The Journey of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence is all the rage these days. The efforts to bring it into being and the dangers of it, as well as the potential benefits. My question is "will artificial intelligence wander?" We wander, as humans. Much of our work and life force is dedicated to...

A Pen in Hand, a Gift of Value,

A Pen in Hand, a Gift of Value,

June 10, 2017 Funny how the  simple gift of a pen can inspire. The motivation to go on. Do you sometimes go in actual search of that...  Or merely sit or lay and wait for that? Let go and let it be a God kind of thing? While I was doing a bit of that, the mail came. I...

Perceptions….. STURGIS, 1993

Perceptions….. STURGIS, 1993

STURGIS It was 1993, and I was headed from Albuquerque to Madison, Wisconsin. I was driving a 1989 Range Rover with my family. After half the second day on the road we came upon flocks of Harley bike riders going the same way. Tens, hundreds and then thousands of...