Hello to all,

I will not start off with anything but a warm greeting from someone who realizes that he is nowhere near understanding the mysteries of this, our world. I am not a brilliant man, but rather a simple one who finds himself encumbered with questions and a strong desire to learn. I am opinionated, but opinions change with knowledge and reason. I am open-minded and also sympathetic to points of view that I may have even disregarded.

I believe Emerson's assertions that all of us are essentially good, but I don't know enough about the man to fool you into believing I am an expert on his work. I know that I have seen true evil, however, and realized there was very little difference in between those who practice it and me. I would tend to believe that situations, whether physical, mental, or spiritual in nature, drive "essentially good" people to evil.

I will use my access to this sight as a means for gaining knowledge for myself and testing my opinions on the listening ears I find here. I do not look for confrontation or any type of negative attention, but merely good conversation and with you all. I will become your student.

Thank you all for having me. I look forward to hearing from any of you.

(Really I do. I am in Iraq. Any correspondence does me good)

Sincerely,

JL