Category: My Point of View

I’d like to know how potent and effective holy water is.

I’d like to know whether the Pope can have more blessing powers than a simple priest.

I’d like to know how far would a drop of holy water reach in the ocean? 

Would the entire ocean be blessed, along with the rest of the oceans on the planet? 

Does a gallon of holy water has more reach than just one drop?  

And if I throw holy water on the ground, would the entire Earth be blessed too?

Along with all animals and humans in the world, including a heretic like me?  

And if I’m blessed with a drop of holy water, for how long will I be blessed?  

And if I’m blessed a second before I die, will I be going straight to heaven? 

And what if a pregnant woman is blessed, does her child is blessed too?

What would happen if we inject holy water into all criminals in the world?

What if I cook food with holy water? Would germs, viruses, bacteria, microbes, and parasites in my body be blessed too?  

And if they are, can they become benign and not make me sick?  

What if the priest is a pedophile? Would he be able to bless the water and forgive my sins?  

And what if I confess my sins in advance, would I have a credit on my favor, can I use it for future sins?

What if I donate a million dollars to the Church, would they guarantee me a place in heaven?  

What if they can guarantee it, and I still end up in hell. Can I sue them from there?  

And what would I do with a million dollars in hell? 

And what if I rightfully gain access to heaven, but I refuse to get in because I want to check the other option. Maybe heaven is not that good or hell is not that bad.  

And what if I go to heaven and I don’t like my neighbors or they’re mean or boring, or they don’t speak English or Spanish.

What if I don’t like the weather? What if I refuse to be naked, or I want to be naked?  

And, before I get there, —if I get there— I’d like to know if heaven has a democratic system. And if they do, can we vote for a different God. 

Is God supposed to be a perennial leader?  

What if he turns out to be a dictator?  

Can we get a Goddess for a change?  

And if we behave badly in heaven, can we still go to hell?  

And if we are good in hell, can we still have access to heaven? 

Can we organize a peace treaty between the leaders of heaven and hell and find a way to avoid punishments?  

Can we alternate vacations from one place to the other?  

What if they put an ocean in front of hell, with many hotels and casinos, and with a non-stop supply of cold beers, and margaritas —now we’re talking.

What if we could be polygamous and be able to reject jealousy. No, that’s a bad idea, we could turn into Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, it all depends on how you see it and where you end up. 

Can we have several paradises at different levels? And according to the gravity of Commandments we break, we get the best or the worst paradise.

However, I still like the hot one, the one with the ocean, the beers and margaritas. With no jealousy, no taxes, no punishments, no hangovers, no illnesses, and no regrets.

Either way, I’ll see you in heaven, or hell, or both.



EDMUNDO BARRAZA
Visalia, Ca. 01-17-2011

The middle is a convenient and easy place to be, where no arguments or controversies exist. The middle is a comfortable neutral point where conformity shares space with submission. The middle is a tedious place where no one, voluntarily should remain for a long time. Life is meant to be a continuous experiment. The middle is fine, but only temporarily. I must go to the extremes, both extremes. I should never be static, I should never allow myself to be overtaken by docility or mediocrity. I would rather be invisible than mediocre.

If I ever get lost, I should dig deep inside in my mind to find myself again, and break on through to the other side, to my inner light where my subconscious remains in the midst of heaven and hell. Limbo? Then while there, I should visit my personal storage dump, where all my repressed memories lie, and cleanse myself of regrets, fears, and sins too. And reconnect the mind and soul with my spiritual mortal body.

I should also distance myself from all human suffering that obscures my individual enlightenment, by crossing the abstract threshold that leads to the path of my intangible insight that helps me to assimilate the objectives of a meaningless life. I would also liberate the confined beliefs that could help me realize that suffering is never inherent to any situation. My good deeds will eventually guide me to my karma and to my final encounter with the ecstasy of reaching my own nirvana. 

I need to find the point where the past and the present collide to avoid an unmerciful future. I need to push the button to pause all brain activity so I can counteract a severe burnout.

Nihilism will cease to exist. My zenith will rise above my nadir. My reborn optimism will help me to obtain the best of all possible worlds. Now that I reached the highest happiness, I will create my perfect destiny. The ominous part of reaching Nirvana leads to a downward spiral to the depths of hell. Once you reach total spiritual bliss, total euphoric ecstasy you will crash against a wall of confusion . . . 

Damn! I can’t continue. I ran out of weed, that was my last joint. Now what?




EDMUNDO BARRAZA 
Visalia, CA Jan-11-2012

I was a little pessimistic when I wrote this little thing in 2017. Is there a reason to be optimistic now?

God has left the building and the planet too.

Hurricanes dance in the ocean. Hurricanes cohabit with earthquakes.

The heat is hotter.

Walls built with tiny hands will stop refugees but not bombs.

Children expelled from paradise. Limbo kids between heaven and hell.

But which is which?

The ax forgets, the tree remembers.

The forest never wins.

Mother nature is dead.

Without a nation or destination, refugees flee in mass and cry in pain.

Destitute and diluted in the melting pot.

The entire political spectrum secretes excrement.

No one is totally innocent.

Hatred must be contagious.

Dust to dust. We’ll end up where we must.

By far, humans are the most dangerous animals.

Tragedy and catastrophe is our deserving fate.

Hell broke loose.

We are the victims of our crimes.

God lost interest.

I’m scared, but not constantly.

I’ve died before.

The smarter you are, the more you care and the more you suffer.

A world in despair with nothing to spare.

Where are all the saints and martyrs?

Fire burns ice.

Irrational skeptics.

Pathetic leaders chosen by us.

Democracy expired a long time ago.

Never lose hope.

Votes don’t count when you don’t win.

The minority requires only one more in a draw.

Did parenthood ever have a plan?

Should feminism be only attached to females?

And machismo to men?

We’re descending into a black hole of our creation.

Protests are in vain when evil prevails.

Modern times are over.

Did the decline of civilization begin with a big bang?

Or with mud and a rib?

Right after we take our first breath we begin to die.

But I know the end will never arrive if I die first.

Edmundo Barraza Sept-10-2017 Lancaster, Ca.

I bet you’ll die with a smile on your face and I wish I could see it. 

But I know I’ll die first, because seeing what you’ve been through your whole life you must be immortal and indestructible. 

Your guitar is an instrument that connects your brain to your heart and to your soul. 

Or is it all the way around?

And you transmit all your feelings with your fingers.

And if you add the right lyrics you’ll incite a riot. 

And your lyrics and riffs will echo in my bones.

Love gone bad, cheating, mistrust, lies and suffering, and also double crossings, deception and abandonment. 

We can find all devastating adjectives in your lyrics. And yet we believe you because we know you’re an expert. You have been the cause and the effect of all those feelings.

You’re an authentic soulful blues man. You borrow alien sentiments and affections. 

You instigate young and old minds with messages of rebellion and mutiny. 

You twist and wring love and devotion and turn them into evil provocations. 

Inspired by a black sound that had been ignored by the masses for decades. 

Exporting it back to the blind ears of America. Transformed into ‘devil’s music’. 

Your image is a symbol of revolt and anarchy affecting generations. 

And for decades you fooled us because you really were a humble and sincere human being. 

A man so gentle that without a doubt could be called a gentleman.

Like all good brothers, like all great artists, like all great bands, whose members had contrasting egos you fought with your own.

But now, we know it’s all good. 

I was convinced that all blues and sad music had to come from misery, anguish and desolation. But you really never suffered; you were having a great time all the time. So you convinced me I was wrong. 

Devastation can be created for no reason then.

You had to scrape the shit right off your shoes with your overloaded acoustics to create a devil full of sympathy. 

You were always trouble, it seemed. A Houdini in reverse, never wanting to disappear. 

A consummate monkey reaching for coconuts can also fall from a palm tree and end up like a pirate with a broken skull. 

Never a dull moment indeed.

Lines inspired after watching “Under The Influence”. About the life of Keith Richards.

Edmundo Barraza

Lancaster, Ca. Dec-19-2015