What's Going On?

Have you ever noticed that there is a huge need for us to know why we are here? Have you ever asked that question?

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From the Whiskey Nine One Studios, it's another edition of Doc's Boneyard. I hope this question makes you pause for a cause and it takes a minute to make you chill. The point to ponder for this show's episode is What's going on? Now, while you do a deep dive into that question, I'm gonna take a break, throw some DBY love and shout-outs, and before you know it, I'll be right back. US Marine Corps veteran Scotty Fraser survived the battlefields of Iraq and came home and pursued his passionate music. His album, Do or Die, chronicles his journey from warrior to the band is today. You can listen to his music on all nations. Follow him at www.scottyfraser.com. That's www.scotty S-C-O-T-T-I-F-R-A-S-T-R dot com. Or follow the Scotty Fraser band on Facebook. Loss. The one thing to change is the world as we know it. Mike Bernhard has collected poems from those, including his own experiences, who battled loss and grief. Voices of the grieving heart tells not only of loss and grief, but the spirit to rebound and keep going. You can find your copy on Amazon and Kindle. Looking for that unique, handcrafted, one-of-a-kind gift? Check out Dee's Unique Designs on Facebook. She specializes in custom artistry from paintings to jewelry, coasters to tumblers, and everything in between. That's D's Unique Designs on Facebook. Hey, listen, if you're in the face of North Carolina, especially from Fort Bragg, and you're looking for the hard-to-find military badass gear, why don't you go see my buddy George's Silverback Military Surplus? He's located just outside the Yapkin Gate. 6477C Yapkin Road. He has a wide variety of patches and hats, tactical gear, you name it. Tell him Doc sent you. Alright, welcome back. So that question probably left you wondering what in the crap is going on between Doc's ears. I can assure you that my meds are working and my therapist hasn't succumbed to alcohol abuse because I'm a basket case. No, seriously though, I've noticed that there's a huge need for us to seek a reason for being. Hey, for myself, I've wondered that very same thing. I had an experience or I should say an epiphany when I was a teenager and I was walking up a stairway of a local shopping mall. It was an outside stairway from the lower level of stores to the main level. As I reached the top of the stairs, I went from shade to light, and I was hit with a revelation that I was here to help and serve people. The angels started singing and the sky parted. Well, okay, it wasn't all that, but anywho, looking back to the time in my life when I was living in a group home, going through the time when I was trying to figure out the difference between SHI well you get it, and Shinola, basically where to fit in, you get the point. I was talking to my therapist recently about connection, and she reminded me that all my adult occupations from the military, medicine, law enforcement, and everything in between has revolved around connection, service, and protection. Now I sat and thought about the reasons for those choices, and the answers are relatively simple. I grew up in an environment full of fear and trauma. I didn't feel safety. I didn't have stability or protection that I needed. When I was old enough to make light decisions, I chose occupations that would allow me to provide some of the things that I missed out on. In doing so, I was able to connect with people at their most vulnerable moments in life. There's a cost for doing this. I shared their worst moments and many of the memories I still hold close. But you know what? I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Fast forward to two thousand and four. Upon returning from a truly surreal reality, I had to go through the fire to answer the question of why I was allowed back. I wrestled with God over this question, and the result is how this show came to life. Oh, I looked at the bottom of a bottle of whiskey for answers for my purpose, and it always came up the same. The reason for this show is that everyone has a need to answer that question. How many self-help books are out there giving answers? How many motivational speakers do seminars promising these answers? What I've found is that shifting the focus from internal answers to external answers provides an answer. What does that mean? We all have a choice to satisfy ourselves or serve others. Does that mean we cannot provide for our own needs? Absolutely not. We're all given abilities and talents created in our own unique way. We can use those to serve our own desires, or we can use those to enrich the lives of others. And I'll give you a personal example. Unless I know someone personally who listens to this show or comments to me about a particular episode, I will never, never know what impact I've made on someone, especially the ones I've never met. Think of the power of connection. I've said it time and time again, it's not about me. I only get the numbers from Buzz Sprout, that's the company that puts out the show. And it tracks the listeners who download shows. But I have no way of knowing how many listeners there actually are. I recently listened to a show from my favorite podcaster. On that show, she's done several episodes dealing with spiritualism, near death experiences, reality versus the matrix and quantum physics, and the mathematical proof of consciousness. Now, the nuts and bolts of this show is my concern about where people are looking for answers. Spiritualism has been around since the eighteen hundreds. In eighteen sixty, toy maker Milton Bradley introduced a spirit board as a game for social spiritualism gatherings. The premise of this board was the question could be revealed through spelling out words or numbers. But where do those answers come from? Have you ever been to a medium or a psychic? A total stranger gives you answers to questions from quote unquote spirit guides. Okay. Where do those spirits come from? It's true that the demonic has been around since before Earth's creation. The Bible says in the book of Job, chapter seven, creation, chapter seven, verses nine and ten that the dead cannot communicate with the living. So where do the answers come from? Just food for thought. As a teenager, I was a curious about the occult and have experimented with a spirit board. Now I had no idea the door I was opening. Have you ever been involved in a tarot card reading? Yeah, Mia Culpa, guilty as charged. We had a friend who proclaimed herself as a Wiccan. My wife and I opened the door to divination. We were surrounded by necromancy and didn't even realize it. Astrology, numerology, symbolology, horoscopes, pomistry, tarot cards, and so much more. Yes, I've dabbled in some of those myself, and I used to look at the paper every day to get my horoscope. Using tools to predict the future in pursuit of what I wanted to know seriously got me in trouble. Now I'm going to change this up, but keep with the same theme of looking for answers. In the veteran community, especially among those who have PTSD, there's a push for the use of psychedelics. LSD is on the radar. Remember ever hearing the name Timothy Leary? How about the phrase Tune on, tune in, or drop out? That was the hippie anthem of the nineteen sixties. There were several universities, including Harvard, that did studies using LSD to heighten consciousness. And even the CIA did experiments as well as a form of mind controlling, including the use of psychedelics and hallucinogenics. Remember the MKUltra thing where they used servicemen and prisoners to study the effects and behavior? There are those out there looking for a higher state of consciousness or to be one with the universe. Hey look, I'm not judging. I myself have wondered what's out there. I believe we were interconnected through some mysterious forest that's way above my pay grade. If that's the way it's supposed to be, then I don't want to mess with the natural order of things. But this is only my opinion, but I think we know exactly what we're meant to. Whatever state we are currently in is maybe the one we're supposed to be. I'm reminded of that great debate of knowledge way back in the Garden of Eden when the serpent told Eve to eat of the forbidden tree of knowledge. I don't know about you, but I think that temptation to know more than we were supposed to was a great struggle. Would expanding consciousness be the modern day equivalent of that? Hmm. Well, here's a short ride on the squirrel train. True story. I learned the one that I loved and trusted, my grandmother, it was not all she was cracked up to be. When I was growing up, there was a face she put on in front of me. I learned many pieces of info that I had no clue about from my mother after she passed away, and I only found that from my wife. To make a long story short, I was happy knowing what I didn't know. It was like an emotional diarrhoea fell on me. I sat and questioned everything I thought I knew about my childhood. Imagine being in your later adulthood and having to adjust that. It just boggles the mind. Well, just some food for thought. Maybe having a higher state of knowledge would cause more harm than good. Maybe a higher state would make us more difficult choices and upset the natural course of our existence. Kinda makes you wonder, doesn't it? As always, I thank you for taking time out of your busy day, and this time I'm going to use it to listen to me ramble incessantly. If you have any questions, show ideas, comments, or just want to drop a line, drop me a line at the Boneyard2021 at Yahoo.com. That's the Boneyard2021 at Yahoo.com. If you want some of that official show swag, hey, truck on over to tpublic.com. That's tepublic.com and put Knox Boneyard in the search tab. Now I may be the voice on the mic, but it's your show. Remember, it's not the fat, the meat, the gristle, it's just the bare bones. Until next time, God bless and John three sixteen.