July 3, 2022

Reflection

FEW BASIC IDEAS

There is a saying I read or heard a long time ago, "There are only a few basic ideas, but think of the metaphors.'

For starters, that's a basic idea. And I guess the metaphors would be, "History repeats itself." "Deja vu all over again." "Wait a minute, I've been here before."

But what hits me is the making of a list of the basic ideas,

Mortimer Adler's group at the University of Chicago came up with the Basic Books Program - if that's what it's called. They came up with a 2 or 3 volume set of books with the name, "Syntopicon" - or something like that.

They give topics like Marriage, War, Peace. Next come the subdivisions.

Zane Grey said all his books have one topic: "The good guys get bad - and the bad guys get good." [Did he really say that?]

Let me see if I can come up with 10 basic ideas.

1) The Golden Rule. Put it positive: Do to others what you would want to happen to you. Put it in the negative: don't do to others what you wouldn't want to happen to you.

2) Youth: what a waste to waste.

3) In our old age, we see where are parents were right - or what they were tying to do.

4) There are 7 Capital Sins - and we have to deal with all 7 more or less.

5) Sex is around 24/7 more or less - and if you don't see it coming - boom.

6) Land! Buy land!

7) At the end of our life - looking back - we won't regret if we didn't spend enough time at work - but we will regret if we missed making time for our family.

8) Listening - we don't do enough of that one.

9) Do it right - not because someone might be watching  - but because it is right.

10) Death is always sitting there waiting.