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Saturday, January 26, 2019

America wasn’t good enough for you?

You had to Make it Great Again?

Didn’t your momma ever tell you?

Don’t fix what ain’t broken!

A rising tide is said to lift all ships.

So what happens when we tear down everything good in America?  What happens to our institutions, our people and our children?

What happens when we demonize one group of people just to lift up another?

That is when the tide turns.

The tide is on its way out.  A little gratitude for living in a free society, a little compassion for those who want to live here too, would have made America Greater.

Meaning of Love

Remember the famous line from the movie/book Love Story: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

The spoken line was so emotional, and back in the 70’s it was quoted everywhere as well as printed on all sorts of merchandise.

Despite crying through the end of the movie, I never really understood why Love means never having to say you’re sorry.  What did I know of Love?

Were the characters saying I love you and I automatically forgive you, or were they saying I love you and I understand you.  I know you are sorry.

I know you did not hurt me on purpose and I know you never want to do that again.

Yet, the apology must be spoken, because it lies pregnant in the perpetrator’s soul until the words are at last spoken.

The response is a spoken form of forgiveness, a dismissal of the offense: Love means never having to say you’re sorry.  Except, that it does.  An apology is the balm that soothes the soul.

An apology of heartfelt sorrow delivers a message of love, and a wish to heal the wounds of the relationship.  The hearer wishing to forgive and forget utters the famous words.  Or something like that.  It’s ok.  Forget it.  Or I forgive you, and friends hug and make up.

The duality exists here as it does in all facets of life.  Never forget to apologize.  It’s like forgetting to love.  You didn’t mean to cut her, but how will she feel if you don’t bandage the wound.




Monday, January 7, 2019

An Eye for an Eye

A 7 year old girl was killed when a man drove by the car her mother was driving and opened fire.  The car was full of children.

This thug shot into a car full of children to get revenge on the mom, and it was the wrong mom.  It was a case of mistaken identity.

Just think how reckless, how evil that is. What immoral soulless monster does this?

It’s a lot like a drone bombing a house full of children to get at an enemy.  If one is wrong, what makes the other right? 

Is the difference in the shooter? One is a criminal and the other, the man behind the gun, is a soldier and by extension a government?

Does the needs of the many really outweigh the needs of the few? Does not evil only repay with evil?  We take our opportunity to destroy one evil, and create more hatred, more pain and death and more evil.

This is why every single attempt at peaceful resolution of conflict has the potential to cancel lifetimes of suffering.

The thug will go to jail.  The child will be buried.  Both lives are over.  Many lives are crushed  in both households.  Nations go to war and the dead never go unavenged. 

Every trigger is a cycle of death.  There is no way to weigh the outcome of righteous evil.  Such is karma an endless war.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Ringing in a New Year 🔔

Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow;
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.

An old church custom, ringing the bells was a more-than-symbolic tradition for warding off evil.  This is significant because bells vibrate and carry the message of our spirits with the sound.

Joyful bells ring in the start of marriage and they toll to mourn the passing of a loved one.

The bells ring in a new year with good intentions and high hopes!

As we welcome a new year, I remember those I lost and pray for those in need.

We don’t know what the new year will bring, but we can brighten and cheer and lend an ear when needed.

As Pope Francis said ‘You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. This is how prayer works.’

No one is perfect, but we can choose to be God’s instruments, to shine a light in the darkness and ring a bell to spread cheer.  Make someone smile when you remember them.  Ring a bell.  Today you will find them on doors and phones 😇

God bless each of you and your families and Happy New Year! 🔔 🎵 🛎 🎶  ðŸ”” 🎶