1.
The first ancient members of my family seem to have originated somewhere in the Scottish Highlands. Like peering through a fog in the early dawn, only vague suggestions and inferences can be drawn to assume what you think you see is accurate in that regard. All that is known for sure is the fact that Celtic blood runs through my veins if you believe DNA testing and the fact that I get goosebumps when I hear bagpipes. Recorded history provides more clarity. Several hundred years ago the name McGarragh—now spelled McGarrah—appears on a list of Celt families that settled in Ireland, County Sligo to be precise and remained there until part of a diaspora to the New World in the early 18th century. (i.e. this knowledge made available through the genealogical research of my cousin Rosemary McGarrah)
Throw one of the labels Scottish or Irish or Scotch-Irish at me and it will stick. I’m not claiming any bragging rights about my heritage. I am thoroughly American several generations past being any kind of immigrant. Nevertheless, I have always felt a bond that goes beyond drinking green beer on St. Patrick’s Day or a desire to watch the movie Braveheart more than once. So, imagine my delight yesterday when I discovered a way to become part of the landed gentry in Scotland and get drunk at the same time.
The opportunity presented itself through the purchase of one bottle of Laphroaig single malt scotch. Laphroaig is a Gaelic word untranslatable into English that might mean “beautiful hollow by the broad bay,” or possibly “beautiful broad by the hollow bay” depending on how much scotch you drink. Anyway, by virtue of the whisky, I became a friend of Laphroaig Distillery and was allowed to claim a plot of land in this beautiful hollow by the broad bay. All I had to do was go to their website, enter a special code number, fill out a form, fill out the form again because I left information out, fill out the form again because I left different information out, drink two shots of the newly bought whisky, and fill out the form again.
Now, I am classed for all eternity as “A friend of Laphroaig” and will soon receive via the mail, which in America and thanks to Louis DeJoy can take months, a personalized certificate of ownership with my individual plot number for one square foot of Scottish land. Bonus: I will also be able to enter the Friends of Laphroaig website and receive redeemable gift shop points for every bottle I buy going forward.
Was it worth the fifty bucks and the effort? Well, I am proud to be an owner of ground that may or may not contain the blanched bones of my Celtic warrior ancestors. But the fifty bucks? I can’t answer that till the bottle’s empty.
2.
I was watching an old movie made from an older novel recently called The Last Temptation of Christ. The last temptation, of course, had to be sex with Mary Magdeline. In movies and books written within the Judeo/Christian tradition sex is always a temptation, never a pleasure or a lucky break, but rather a tortured excursion into Satanville with the engine misfiring due to the corrosive wear and tear of guilt. But, I digress.
During the course of the movie, I realized, or maybe reaffirmed is a better term, my strong objection to organized religion. The problem, especially with the Christian religion, is not what was originally taught by teachers before their thoughts were turned into organized religion. Siddhārtha Gautama was not a Buddhist. He was a teacher who taught a way of life, a path to walk. Jesus was not a Christian. He was a Jew who had profound insight into human nature and taught us how to live with each other in peace. The problem lies with the application of what these men preached by the mysterious members of esoteric priesthoods who have their own agendas and, for most, those agendas directly correspond with their own perpetuation in an exclusive lifestyle. Beyond that, a matter of priorities takes over.
Most denominations of the Christian religion, for example, fixate on certain doctrines peculiar to the beliefs of their founders and then claim that his original leader was Jesus Christ, using some statement, or interpretation of some statement, from Jesus to support their claim. For example, there are sects that claim alcohol is forbidden, dancing is forbidden, blood transfusions are forbidden. Others claim homosexuals are going to hell along with Muslims, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists, as well as any Baptist, Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian, or Pentecostal that doesn’t accept the slant on the scriptures that built their particular group. The point I’m making here is simple. This need for material growth and expansion within each of these organizations causes the establishment of doctrines and dogmas that encourage the expansion. This, in turn, causes the most fundamental and important and universal of Jesus’ teachings to be pushed aside or forgotten entirely, namely LOVE. He wasn’t kidding when he said the most important commandment from any god is to love our neighbors as we love ourselves and he didn’t rhetorically define neighbors. The word was all-inclusive. Till we arrive at the point that we can understand and apply this most simple, yet most profound, of all human teachings, we don’t have much chance for a peaceful and morally productive world.
Jim McGarrah, Author 
Never mind the fact that the scriptures themselves are a grab bag of self-interested re-depictions.
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