The Sounds of Heaven
Saturday, January 17, 2015
Slow going
Due to my health this has become very tedious. The stories that are sent in simply have to be reformatted and that takes a lot of work. It's part of the agreement to take the raw story and refine it, basically simplifying it without taking away from the important details. So as of now, others will be doing this for I am incapable as of this moment.
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Food For Thought 25
The old saying goes "When you assume; you make an ass out of U and me." Well, I've changed that. When you believe that hindsight is 20/20, you're making an ass out of U and me. You're degrading yourself that you have to go through something to understand it. And I have found in my life that is not true. We choose to understand b taking the time to think and educate ourselves.
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
Fame/Twitter/Modern Media
Why is it that certain people are thought of and acknowledged and complimented on Twitter? What I'm asking is: is when does somebody become such as asshole because of their fame that they're not even in your daily thoughts. The super famous get millions of followers. I comment to people, not because they're famous, but because they're on my mind. Yet, how many of you have had a famous person, out of the blue, tweet you that is not a reply? What is wrong with that? EVERYTHING!
Twitter is just an extension of what you do in your daily life. You have a chance to say what you didn't get to say about something that you may have been thinking about for weeks or even years. But you also have the chance to listen. I think there's a lot of assholes out there. It's like that old saying about being drunk. Basically, being drunk just gives you the nerve to say what you didn't have the balls to say when you were sober.
I just can't get over the fact of how bad things have gotten. Watching the Apprentice, Kevin Jonas said I have several million Twitter followers and all I have to do is tweet to them to come to this place and they'll do it. What a dick. First of all, you're in New York City, you arrogant jerk. And I'm pretty much expecting most of your followers to be 15 year old girls that live all over the world that are not going to get on a plane and fly to New York to help you to get more fame for the illusion of charity on the Apprentice. This bothers me. Why are people following this guy? What is so great about him? He, obviously doesn't care about you, he's only following 0.000029937% of his followers. I don't understand this. I look at the Kardashians. They absolutely do nothing for anyone. They are multimillionaires. Starting from one sister who did a sex tape, allowing everyone else to join in giving fame to the rest of their family. I'm really tired of keeping my mouth shut. We deserve better than this.
What I'm getting at is these are the people representing all of us. They have the platform and the forum to speak for everyone of us. And all we do is want them to hear us. When they wanna hear what you have to say, well, that's a start. For those who are reading this, that someday will achieve fame and fortune, and do it through hard work and the right way of paying your dues. Please don't turn into these people. Don't forget the people that were your Twitter followers and friends, and Facebook. And remember this, you have more influence in this world than you think. You have the ability to create or destroy. You can say something nice that can change the life of a person and work it's way through the world in an hour. Don't wait for the recognition on Youtube, or Twitter, or Facebook, though it's nice to have that recognition, but simply, don't wait til that happens to do good. The people out there that are mean and selfish, their fame and their fortune will flee. But your integrity, dignity and love will continue on infinitely passed your own life.
I believe it is natural and even according to the bible quite normal to want to be famous, to want to have riches. For God told Abraham "You will be famous amongst all nations." God told David, "You will have riches and you will rule over the land." So I say: work hard, treat your body as a temple, do the same for others and when your dreams become reality, you will be the example that we are all looking for that we all are needing and wanting. It starts now. Be that person. Who you are as a person is what determines who you are and how special you are. How you live your life, how you speak, and what you do (your actions) if you're waiting to do those things til you get noticed by the masses, then it's never going to happen for you. There's an old saying, you used to be famous because you were special, but now you're special because you're famous. People used to pay their dues, work hard, and succeed because of this. Due to my health, my thoughts are starting to fade, so I will leave you with this. Don't be a Kardashian. You'll make an ass out of yourself.
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
Twitter is just an extension of what you do in your daily life. You have a chance to say what you didn't get to say about something that you may have been thinking about for weeks or even years. But you also have the chance to listen. I think there's a lot of assholes out there. It's like that old saying about being drunk. Basically, being drunk just gives you the nerve to say what you didn't have the balls to say when you were sober.
I just can't get over the fact of how bad things have gotten. Watching the Apprentice, Kevin Jonas said I have several million Twitter followers and all I have to do is tweet to them to come to this place and they'll do it. What a dick. First of all, you're in New York City, you arrogant jerk. And I'm pretty much expecting most of your followers to be 15 year old girls that live all over the world that are not going to get on a plane and fly to New York to help you to get more fame for the illusion of charity on the Apprentice. This bothers me. Why are people following this guy? What is so great about him? He, obviously doesn't care about you, he's only following 0.000029937% of his followers. I don't understand this. I look at the Kardashians. They absolutely do nothing for anyone. They are multimillionaires. Starting from one sister who did a sex tape, allowing everyone else to join in giving fame to the rest of their family. I'm really tired of keeping my mouth shut. We deserve better than this.
What I'm getting at is these are the people representing all of us. They have the platform and the forum to speak for everyone of us. And all we do is want them to hear us. When they wanna hear what you have to say, well, that's a start. For those who are reading this, that someday will achieve fame and fortune, and do it through hard work and the right way of paying your dues. Please don't turn into these people. Don't forget the people that were your Twitter followers and friends, and Facebook. And remember this, you have more influence in this world than you think. You have the ability to create or destroy. You can say something nice that can change the life of a person and work it's way through the world in an hour. Don't wait for the recognition on Youtube, or Twitter, or Facebook, though it's nice to have that recognition, but simply, don't wait til that happens to do good. The people out there that are mean and selfish, their fame and their fortune will flee. But your integrity, dignity and love will continue on infinitely passed your own life.
I believe it is natural and even according to the bible quite normal to want to be famous, to want to have riches. For God told Abraham "You will be famous amongst all nations." God told David, "You will have riches and you will rule over the land." So I say: work hard, treat your body as a temple, do the same for others and when your dreams become reality, you will be the example that we are all looking for that we all are needing and wanting. It starts now. Be that person. Who you are as a person is what determines who you are and how special you are. How you live your life, how you speak, and what you do (your actions) if you're waiting to do those things til you get noticed by the masses, then it's never going to happen for you. There's an old saying, you used to be famous because you were special, but now you're special because you're famous. People used to pay their dues, work hard, and succeed because of this. Due to my health, my thoughts are starting to fade, so I will leave you with this. Don't be a Kardashian. You'll make an ass out of yourself.
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
Judgment and Hypocrisy Derived in Hypocrisy
We all want to be loved. We all want to be known and heard and seen. Many of us have been given very unique talents and gifts. Even more of us have not been able to use them because of life's horrible circumstances. I find judgment to be disgusting. We all want the benefit of the doubt, but we are not willing to give it to anyone. I have been given one of the most powerful, unique voices. The intensity of my guitar is incomparable. I've been blessed with perfect pitch. I know how to play almost every instrument on the planet proficiently, but unless you've heard me live, which I was still ill when I was touring over 200 dates a year, you would not know this of me based upon the few songs posted on Youtube. I find that when stating things like this about myself, I am judged as I am to be an arrogant person. As opposed to acknowledging the gifts I have been given and working very hard and then appreciating them more because they have been ripped away because of illness. If I was arrogant, I wouldn't put the songs out on Youtube that I did, for reasons to help other people. Being a Christian, I am judged even more, especially from Christians. If I swear, Christians will passive aggressively throw judgment on me. If Christianity means losing humanity, then I would want no part of it. Christians need to get off their high horse. Stop thinking they're better than others. Isn't that the whole point? If nothing happens out of God's will according to his word, then swearing is His will. There are more important things in life than complaining about this shit. When everybody on this planet have basically done the same things as everybody else, do not try to hold someone accountable when you haven't done this yourself.
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
~Joshua Jet Vaughan~
Monday, January 12, 2015
Miss May and Hound
*Names have been changed to protect the people in the story
We got to Biloxi Mississippi about a year after Hurricane Katrina hit. It was absurd, stunning and mind blowing how much damage and wreckage still existed after a year. We were a youth group mission group of about 75 high schoolers and junior high students packed onto two charter buses. And at first we were excited and eager to be going somewhere until we saw how much devastation there still was, and then we were ready to help and heart broken for the people in need that we saw.
Our group was assigned to work on the finishing touches of a house that was being rebuilt for one Miss May. An older black woman in her late 60's, she lived with a gentleman name Hound in his early 30's. Hound had found Miss May shortly after Hurricane Katrina, and she took him in in exchange for protection. It was a symbiotic relationship like Mother and son, and their love for each other was obvious to anyone.
With all of the looting, Hound had saved Miss May's life on several occasions, fighting off, barehanded, people who had come to take what was left of Miss May's, then destroyed, home. They would seek out food and other assistance together, and he would help her carry it home.
The house was almost complete, and we were determined to be the team to do all of the finishing touches. Paint. Trim. Molding. Doors. Locks. Windows. And moving in. We had two weeks to complete. During this time Miss May and Hound took what they were able to earn and spent it on us. They would treat us to home cooked meals, and we all tried Popeye's for the first time.
The day before the two weeks were up, we did it! We finished Miss May's house and had moved all of their belongings in. Hound now had his own mini apartment within the house, with a private bedroom, bathroom, and kitchenette. They were thrilled, and no two people had ever been as gracious or generous when receiving a gift. The last day, we opted to go back to Miss May's house. Let's face it, we were proud of our work. Miss May and Hound threw us a barbeque, complete with chicken and burgers on the grill, with corn on the cob and fried okra. Hound had built a makeshift open fire grill in the back yard and we all sat around singing, talking, laughing and loving each other.
Were we going to miss them.
We filmed a documentary while in Biloxi. Anyone who watches it can see the unconditional love between Miss May and Hound.
Two weeks after we returned home we received a phone call from the Biloxi Police Department at our church. Miss May had been brutally murdered, and Hound was missing. The house had been ransacked and destroyed, windows shattered, the kitchen destroyed, appliances missing, as well as all of Miss May and Hounds belongings. The BPD were searching for Hound as a suspect and wanted to speak with each of us who had worked on the project. Since most of us were minors, not many were legally forced to depose over the phone. But I swore, on the record, that Hound did not do this. No two people had ever found each other in a time of need and formed a love so pure and innocent to survive together. Of all the other's interviewed for our documentary, no one had come out as joyful as these two for having found a family from tragedy.
Hound's body was found a month later. The police determined that looters had come, murdered Miss May and later Hound. These two people who had shown us so much love, when we had thought that was what we were there for, had taught us an invaluable lesson, but didn't even get to enjoy the gifts we had to share. I will live with their memory for the rest of my life, and I pray that they found love, peace, and each other in heaven.
We got to Biloxi Mississippi about a year after Hurricane Katrina hit. It was absurd, stunning and mind blowing how much damage and wreckage still existed after a year. We were a youth group mission group of about 75 high schoolers and junior high students packed onto two charter buses. And at first we were excited and eager to be going somewhere until we saw how much devastation there still was, and then we were ready to help and heart broken for the people in need that we saw.
Our group was assigned to work on the finishing touches of a house that was being rebuilt for one Miss May. An older black woman in her late 60's, she lived with a gentleman name Hound in his early 30's. Hound had found Miss May shortly after Hurricane Katrina, and she took him in in exchange for protection. It was a symbiotic relationship like Mother and son, and their love for each other was obvious to anyone.
With all of the looting, Hound had saved Miss May's life on several occasions, fighting off, barehanded, people who had come to take what was left of Miss May's, then destroyed, home. They would seek out food and other assistance together, and he would help her carry it home.
The house was almost complete, and we were determined to be the team to do all of the finishing touches. Paint. Trim. Molding. Doors. Locks. Windows. And moving in. We had two weeks to complete. During this time Miss May and Hound took what they were able to earn and spent it on us. They would treat us to home cooked meals, and we all tried Popeye's for the first time.
The day before the two weeks were up, we did it! We finished Miss May's house and had moved all of their belongings in. Hound now had his own mini apartment within the house, with a private bedroom, bathroom, and kitchenette. They were thrilled, and no two people had ever been as gracious or generous when receiving a gift. The last day, we opted to go back to Miss May's house. Let's face it, we were proud of our work. Miss May and Hound threw us a barbeque, complete with chicken and burgers on the grill, with corn on the cob and fried okra. Hound had built a makeshift open fire grill in the back yard and we all sat around singing, talking, laughing and loving each other.
Were we going to miss them.
We filmed a documentary while in Biloxi. Anyone who watches it can see the unconditional love between Miss May and Hound.
Two weeks after we returned home we received a phone call from the Biloxi Police Department at our church. Miss May had been brutally murdered, and Hound was missing. The house had been ransacked and destroyed, windows shattered, the kitchen destroyed, appliances missing, as well as all of Miss May and Hounds belongings. The BPD were searching for Hound as a suspect and wanted to speak with each of us who had worked on the project. Since most of us were minors, not many were legally forced to depose over the phone. But I swore, on the record, that Hound did not do this. No two people had ever found each other in a time of need and formed a love so pure and innocent to survive together. Of all the other's interviewed for our documentary, no one had come out as joyful as these two for having found a family from tragedy.
Hound's body was found a month later. The police determined that looters had come, murdered Miss May and later Hound. These two people who had shown us so much love, when we had thought that was what we were there for, had taught us an invaluable lesson, but didn't even get to enjoy the gifts we had to share. I will live with their memory for the rest of my life, and I pray that they found love, peace, and each other in heaven.
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