To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed
-Thomas Jefferson 

Out of the 44 Presidents of the United States, 6 have had no denomination affiliation.  Seeing how the United States is NOT a theology I’m not sure why it matters.  It is no more fair for a Quaker to force his or her religion on a Congregationalist than it is for a Baptist to force his or her religion on a Catholic.  We vote for President, not Preacher. 

Either way.. I thought I would break it down for you…

4 Presidents have identified as Baptist, 2 as Congregationalist, 3 as Disciples of Christ, 2 as Dutch Reformed, 12 as Episcopalian, 4 as Methodist, 8 as Presbyterian, 2 as Quaker, 1 as Catholic, 4 as Unitarian and 1 as Church of Christ.  Those numbers do not add up to 44; some identified as two religions or changed… and 6 have no denomination affiliation.  

Thomas Jefferson had no denomination, nor did Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S Grant of Rutherford B Hayes.  I doubt anyone would say these five men were bad Presidents.  In fact, there would never had been a United States of America without Jefferson and there wouldn’t be a United States of America today if it were not for Lincoln.  The sixth President with no denomination listed?  Barack Obama. 

I’m not going to argue about whether President Obama is or isn’t a Christian.  A) It shouldn’t matter.  B) How do you prove that!?  He says he is, and according to the Bible I grew up reading, it’s not my place to judge.. and unless you are God, it’s not your place either.  Last I checked, neither Franklin Graham, Rick Santorum, or Newt Gingrich were God.  

I was EXHAUSTED last night.. Dejan has kicked my ass at the gym the last two days so as soon as I got home I went straight to bed.  It was midnight so I didn’t really worry about facebook…. this morning, what’s the first thing I did?  clicked that little facebook icon on my phone.  Thankfully I signed out on my phone so it didn’t load.  Within the first 10 minutes of being awake I know I hit that icon 5 times, just out of habit.  I would have hit it more but I started typing this blog instead.

So… wish me luck.  48 hours without facebook.  It’s going to be my own little hell!

Secrecy, once accepted, becomes an addiction.
Edward Teller

Truth.  Once people decide they want to hide something, they will stop at nothing to make sure others don’t find out.  They will cover each lie with another lie, hide facts and materials, and invent a separate reality.  Of course, I think it works the same for people who know a secret but don’t want to accept it.  Take the family and friends of a drug addict that doesn’t want to rock the boat so to speak.. they will side step the truth and accept the secrecy…. until it almost becomes like their addiction.

When Whitney Houston’s last album came out I instantly feel in love with it.  I’m not someone who can just like a song because everyone else does, I’m a lyrics person.  The song has to speak to me I guess and a few of her songs on that album did.  Knowing where she had came from and that she was bouncing back (at least that was the appearance), the songs meant a lot to me.

Whitney has always reminded me of someone in my family that has dealt with alcohol and drug addiction most of my life.  I’ve watched this persons physical appearance, mood, and everything else change, just like we were able to watch Whitney’s change.  This person went from the top of the world (at least in my eyes) straight down, just like Whitney.  The moment I heard some of her last songs one the new album I thought “there is a bit of hope!”. That week I sent her the album with a note about which songs she should may most attention to my family member.  ”I Didn’t Know My Own Strength” being the song I wanted her to hear the most.

Last night when I saw Whitney had died my heart sank… if Whitney couldn’t beat it… how could this person?  The first person I thought of was her.. and I sent her a text.  This morning she sent me a good morning text and a follow up that said “Did she die from drugs or what”.  I replied with “That’s the assumption but no one knows yet”.  Her reply was  ”Too bad”.  I wanted to reply with several things… “That could be you”, “Get help!”, “Stop!”… instead I just replied with “I love you”.

I would do ANYTHING for the people I love… I just don’t know what I can do for her… All I keep thinking is what if…

Another thing… it was easier for me to get health insurance on my dog than it is for me.  Both Domino and Graycie have had insurance since the day they I got them. No pre-existing conditions.. no questions asked… AND THEY CHASE CARS AND EAT DIRT!? Just in the last three years the insurance has saved me $3,510.73 on Domino alone.  Their insurance covers almost everything.. dental cleanings (which is considered surgery for dogs), vacines, blood screenings, some medicines.. and everything not completely covered is discounted. Last Thursday Domino & Graycie had their annual teeth cleaning.  The cost for Domino, without insurance, would have been $639.10.  The cost to me… $74.31.  Typically it would have been free but this time they found a bump, about the size of a pea, on his hind leg.  Both dogs have had fatty tumors before but this one is different so his doctor took a sample to see if she could figure out what it was.  After looking she decided she wasn’t 100% sure either way and that another sample should be taken and sent off… thus the $74.31.

Today the results came back.  You guessed it…. Domino needs surgery…. Friday.  The good news is insurance will cover most of the expense…. the bad news.. he’s getting old… and I don’t like it.  So on Friday I will drop him off to have this little hard tumor which is attached removed.  Hopefully it will be a fairly easy surgery but I don’t like that it is attached to a muscle or bone.  I’m just glad I was with a friend that worked at a veterinarian clinic for years and was able to give me his “professional opinion” when I receive the call today….

for what it’s worth.. there is something wrong with our country when my dog get’s better healthcare than i do.

Today…. and everyday… it’s my friends… both new and old.

Last night I threw a sort of last minute New Year’s Eve Party… I honestly didn’t think very many people would show up… and I was wrong….  very wrong!  A lot of people came.. but most importantly… some of the closest people to me came.  That means this year I was able to ring in the New Year with Dejan, TJ, Jil, Courtney, David, Mark, TJ, Tiffany, Anita… and many others!! I think about 20 people ended up showing up.. but the fun didn’t stop at midnight!  Today I had a blast hanging out with with friends and tonight was my much anticipated weekly movie night.  So… thank you friends.. all of you… even if you aren’t specificially named… for making this an AWESOME New Year’s Day!  Hopefully this can become a tradition!

today, however, is a little different.  this blog post, a little different than all of those before.  today, december 31st, is a good day to pause and look back just for a bit.  it’s a good time to stop and collect my thoughts about what i’ve left behind.. what i’ve experienced this year and how i’ve changed.  that is maybe a little different than what i am used to doing.  a few months ago i was complaining about being single (we will come back to that in a moment) and one of my best friends made an observation and like it or not, he is right.  his observation was this.. there is the public james, the james you most likely know.. the one that is always upbeat, lively, everywhere in town… “james akers” as my friends like to say… and it’s not that the james everyone sees isn’t me, it’s just thats not all of me.  i rarely consider dating people that come up to me and say “you’re james akers”… why?  i don’t know…  i just don’t.  that is the fastest way to end a conversation with me at a club or on a chat… he may have hit the nail on the head though.. his observation is that there is a very public james, the one that everyone knows… and then there is the james that only a select few get to see.. the one that talks about my problems, my regrets, my life… it really is funny, considering how public a person i am, i’m really VERY private. just ask any of those close to me… i do enjoy going places and people saying “you’re james akers…” and i do LOVE meeting new people… but i have a bad habit of building walls… very tall walls… with no entrances. and maybe (likely) that is the reason i have been complaining about being single… i don’t let people in very easily.

some of you just read that and thought, i don’t see that… well… then either i did a great job building that wall without you knowing it… or you are one of those few people that i’ve not built a wall with.. one of those people i just kinda trusted from day one.  anywho… as i ramble… he said there are two different james, a public james and a private james.. and rarely do people get to see the latter. so… i’m going to try to break that a little bit. not much… but a little bit.

so let’s look back on 2011. let’s start with things we all knew about..

Jan.  Gabby Giffords was shot.

Feb.  Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of Egypt.

Mar.  A 9.0 earthquake devastated Japan after triggering a 130 ft high tsunami.

Apr.  Price William marries Kate Middleton.  Donald Trump leads in the GOP race.

May  Osama bi Laden was killed and Anthony Weiner tweeted his.. well.. you know..

June  Weiner resigns.. Obama announces a plan to draw down in Afganistan

July  The US almost defaults… prompting a credit downgrade.

Aug.  Michele Bachmann leads in the GOP race.  So does Rick Perry.  War breaks out in Libya.

Sept. People realize Rick Perry is George Bush III.  Occupy Wall Street protest start.

Oct.  Steve Jobs dies.  Cain leads GOP race.  Qaddafi killed.

Nov.  Rick Perry: “Commerce, Education, and the…uh…what’s the third one here…” “oops”.

Dec.  Cain out. Kim Jung Ill dies. Newt leads.

crazy huh? seems like all of that happened last month!  so now on to me… you know.. that thing i don’t really like to talk about.  this year was full of first for me.

first year i remained single all year long (assuming nothing earth shattering happens in the next 11 hours), thought i am working on making sure next year isn’t the same way. first year i ran a 5k. first year i ran the mudrun.  first year i ran an 8k.  first year i fed the homeless on Thanksgiving.  first year in 3 that i made more than last year.  first year i hiked jones gap.  first year i lost a friend to suicide.  first year i hugged my mom and cried in MANY years.  and it just hit me, it’s the first time i have ever went the entire year without seeing my dad. the first year i became a god father. my first clemson home game.  my first braves game. my first year at Marchant Company.  the first year i rode my bike more than 30 miles at one time. the first year one of my listings (and the first listing in SC) was featured on The Today Show! my first ACC Final Four game! first time i ran a race in high heels.. & got second!!

it was the last year i was in my 20′s at all (i will be 31 in 2 months). the first year of my thirties.
the year i was elected first vice chair of the greenville county democratic party.  the year i added three of four board positions to my resume and as of last week, the first time i have ever resigned a position. my first time on Kiawah Island.

on the bright side i have met several political leaders, attended at two presidential debates, am now a contributor for patch.com/huffington post/aol. was asked to do movie reviews for the greenville news (which surprisingly gives me a few hours of down time every week that i really enjoy). was selected as an alternate on a rotary trip to brazil next year. and… i’m still alive.

this hasn’t been an easy year.  to be honest, it has been a brutal year. that sunday morning in september shook me a bit.. and the following few weeks shook me a lot. a few months ago i had a medical issue personally that rocked my world and made me think about my own death for the first time really.  last week i learned of an issue with a very close family member that again shook my world.  it honestly has been a brutal and kind of lonely year. (normally i would edit that out.. i won’t this time – David will be proud).

so.. now that i have rambled about the ups and downs of this year.. i am so ready for midnight.. i am so ready for 2011 to be over.. and i am really excited about hiking the path forward into 2012 and seeing what trails lie ahead.

Jeremy, along with two other friends, Bernie and Cindy and one additional person were chosen to go on the GSE!  It’s a one month study exchange to the most southern state in Brazil.  I was chosen as an alternate, along with one other person, which means we go through the same training and based on past GSE’s, there is a decent chance at least one of us will end up on the trip!

Last night was our first group meeting.. the six of us, plus a Rotarian Team Leader, and alternate Team Leader and the GSE head.  We discussed our schedules over the next four months, filled just about every weekend with language classes, retreats in Hilton Head, Clemson, Greensboro… and regular trips to Greenwood.  We shared pictures and stories about each other and everyone seems to click well.  It will certainly be an exciting next few months.

So.. if you see me posting in Portuguese, you know why. If you see a VERY excited post that just says BRAZIL.. you will know why… and if you know Portuguese.. HELP!

This is your LIFE.  Find a passion and pursue it.  Fall in love.  Dream BIG.  Drink wine, eat great food and spend quality time with GOOD friends.  Laugh everyday.  Believe in magic.  Tell stories.  Reminisce about the good old days but look with OPTIMISM to the future.  Travel often.  Learn More!  Be creative.  Spend time with people you admire.  Seize opportunities when they reveal themselves. LOVE WITH ALL YOUR HEART.  Never Give Up!  Do what you love!  Be true to who you are.  Make time to enjoy the simple things in life.  Spend time with family.  Forgive even when it’s hard.  SMILE OFTEN.  Be Grateful.  Be the change you wish to see in the world.  Follow your dreams.  Try new things.  work hard.  Don’t count the minutes count the laughs.  Embrace change.  Trust in yourself.  BE THANKFUL.  Be nice to everyone.  BE HAPPY.  Live for today and above all.. make every moment count!

I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We all want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind.
We think too much and feel too little:
More than machinery we need humanity;
More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness.

Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.

The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair”.

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die liberty will never perish. . .

Soldiers: don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, use you as cannon fodder.

Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate, only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers: don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written: ”The kingdom of God is within man”
Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you, the people.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let’s use that power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.

Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!

The above is from the movie ‘The Great Dictator’ and was spoken by Charlie Chaplin.  I have never seen the movie, though I plan on watching it now.  This morning TJ posted this video (click here) which uses this speech along with video and images from recent history, mostly Iran and Egypt.  Take four minutes and watch it.. listen to the words and take in the pictures and video.  These words are just as true as when they were spoken in 1940.