Yesterday's horrific tragedy in Connecticut has once again outraged our country's population. Facebook is teeming with prayers for the lost, opinions about the situation itself, and praise for those who put their lives on the line for the students and adults that survived. These are all natural reactions from people who truly care about others. We're numb with frustration and confusion...
but what do we do to change?
We don't like change in general--we like our comfort zones. Unfortunately, our current "comfort zones" are not working for more and more people. We have "politically corrected" ourselves into a total state of helplessness...followed by the creeping in of hopelessness.
If we don't change this path, we're only going to see more devastation.
Our country is broken--we're going to have to work together to fix it. And, since our public leaders have abandoned the idea of working together in favor of personal greed, personal ego, and a host of other deadly sins, it's going to be up to us as individuals and as small communities and neighborhoods to get back to our basic beliefs and make the change we wish to see in the world or our own back yards.
And we can do this. It takes guts and determination, but we can do it.
We need to remember that we're not always going to be comfortable; we're not always going to be treated with kid gloves by others; we're not always going to get our way in life...sound familiar? This is exactly what my mom and dad told me growing up. Yours probably did, too. If they didn't, then heed the message--that's life. It's not a bad thing...it's just life. Get over it.
We've painted ourselves into a proverbial corner. We've become hypersensitive to every little remark or action even if it's perfectly and rationally justified; as a result, we've turned into an "anything goes" society. We've given common sense the old heave ho...
We've lost site of our basic rule book--to us Christians, it is the Bible. In our 21st century world, we don't always like the absolute honesty of it, either. It doesn't fit our lifestyles very well--it doesn't fit in with our comfort zones. So we skimp in the reading, we avoid the obvious messages, we attempt our own interpretations, we soften the edges...and we suffer for it. The Bible was not written on our terms...it was written on God's.
How on earth do we bring back together such a fractured country where we currently reside? First, we need to pick up a mirror. What is that person staring back at us going to do?
Maybe start with that Golden Rule and truly do unto others as we would have done unto us. Don't like being cut off in traffic? Don't cut others off in traffic. Don't like to be talked down to? Don't talk down to others. Et cetera, Et cetera. Hour by hour, day by day. Creating a less hateful atmosphere where we truly look out for one another based on how we want to be looked out for might be a good start.
Just think...if we all start practicing this today, by Christmas Day there could actually be a bit of Peace on Earth in our corners of the world.
What a lovely birthday gift to our Savior.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Truly Be the Change You Wish To See
Gandhi once stated that we should be the change we wish to see in the world. Many of us know that quote well--it's on t-shirts, bumper stickers, pins, you name it. It's a nice sentiment.
How about we make it real?
On this day after election day, the hand-wringing, the belly-aching, and the angry words have begun in earnest. Everyday folks become psychics and seerers; sometimes I wonder if they themselves will be hugely let down if their dire "predictions" don't come true.
I don't know about you, but I personally can't make the gas prices go up or down, I can't keep the Christmas commercials not be on way too early in the season, I can't change how people half a world away have viewed our country for the past century+. I can, however, be the change I wish to see in my immediate world.
I can be kind; I can be helpful; I can be spiritual; I can be forgiving; I can help my brother and sister in need.
I'm a big believer in people; I still believe they are wondrous creations of a loving God. I will forever believe that once we remove our own egos from our daily lives and faithfully serve, we can see change in the world for the better.
We have energy to use each day--we can expend it for good or we can waste it on negativity.
My challenge today to all of you reading this--be the change you wish to see in the world. Set your sights on a kinder, healthier world--then do your part to make it happen.
Peace.
How about we make it real?
On this day after election day, the hand-wringing, the belly-aching, and the angry words have begun in earnest. Everyday folks become psychics and seerers; sometimes I wonder if they themselves will be hugely let down if their dire "predictions" don't come true.
I don't know about you, but I personally can't make the gas prices go up or down, I can't keep the Christmas commercials not be on way too early in the season, I can't change how people half a world away have viewed our country for the past century+. I can, however, be the change I wish to see in my immediate world.
I can be kind; I can be helpful; I can be spiritual; I can be forgiving; I can help my brother and sister in need.
I'm a big believer in people; I still believe they are wondrous creations of a loving God. I will forever believe that once we remove our own egos from our daily lives and faithfully serve, we can see change in the world for the better.
We have energy to use each day--we can expend it for good or we can waste it on negativity.
My challenge today to all of you reading this--be the change you wish to see in the world. Set your sights on a kinder, healthier world--then do your part to make it happen.
Peace.
Friday, August 10, 2012
A New Road to Travel
Mercifully, this morning's weather makes it a pleasure to sit on the deck, sip a cup of coffee, and take it all in...even with a light sweatshirt on. Quite the drastic change from morning after morning this summer when it was easily 80 by 8 and 90 by 9. I sure welcome the change.
Change is a big part of my thinking today. As I scroll through the morning's news on the "virtual back fence" of Facebook, I see picture after picture and post after post about the BIG day today--the first day of school in our district. And a big day it is--for students, for teachers, for parents, for lots of folks that all work together to make school a good place to be. Lots of anticipation is stuffed into that first day--a gentle morning is a quiet blessing in disguise for all of them.
The whole idea of change comes to me as I sit here writing...for the first time in 27 years, I've not been involved in some aspect of formal education. No elementary school, no middle school, no high school, no junior college, no university, no consultant roles. THAT's a change. All those years of getting geared back up for another school year were unique and wonderful and a blessing in many ways, shapes, and forms. But now there's a new road to travel...
Starting down this new road, I'm finding my way of looking at the world around me has be allowed to shift somewhat. It's come at a good time in life--one's 50's just more or less gives one more freedom to expand with a lot less apprehension. It's a good place to be on life's journey, time-wise, if a new road pops up to be discovered and traveled.
I pray each morning that on this new road I'll be of good help to those around me; not so different from the prayers of the last 27 years, come to think of it. I guess once the compass is set in life, it varies little.
If you find yourself reading this and feel that little tug to take a peek or set a foot on a new road to travel, I hope you won't deny yourself the chance. We head down many roads throughout this phase of the journey---don't let fear or doubt keep you from trying it out. After all, you were once that little person in that picture in on your first day of school...and it all turned out okay. Just remember to check the compass and remember that roads in life's travels come with good guides; we just have to keep our minds and eyes and souls open to find them.
As I start down this road of complementary health care, I find my own feelings reflected in the eyes of those little people in the pictures on Facebook...a little anticipation and a lot of happy curiosity. New roads will do that for a traveler--it's an ageless experience.
Have a fine day.
Change is a big part of my thinking today. As I scroll through the morning's news on the "virtual back fence" of Facebook, I see picture after picture and post after post about the BIG day today--the first day of school in our district. And a big day it is--for students, for teachers, for parents, for lots of folks that all work together to make school a good place to be. Lots of anticipation is stuffed into that first day--a gentle morning is a quiet blessing in disguise for all of them.
The whole idea of change comes to me as I sit here writing...for the first time in 27 years, I've not been involved in some aspect of formal education. No elementary school, no middle school, no high school, no junior college, no university, no consultant roles. THAT's a change. All those years of getting geared back up for another school year were unique and wonderful and a blessing in many ways, shapes, and forms. But now there's a new road to travel...
Starting down this new road, I'm finding my way of looking at the world around me has be allowed to shift somewhat. It's come at a good time in life--one's 50's just more or less gives one more freedom to expand with a lot less apprehension. It's a good place to be on life's journey, time-wise, if a new road pops up to be discovered and traveled.
I pray each morning that on this new road I'll be of good help to those around me; not so different from the prayers of the last 27 years, come to think of it. I guess once the compass is set in life, it varies little.
If you find yourself reading this and feel that little tug to take a peek or set a foot on a new road to travel, I hope you won't deny yourself the chance. We head down many roads throughout this phase of the journey---don't let fear or doubt keep you from trying it out. After all, you were once that little person in that picture in on your first day of school...and it all turned out okay. Just remember to check the compass and remember that roads in life's travels come with good guides; we just have to keep our minds and eyes and souls open to find them.
As I start down this road of complementary health care, I find my own feelings reflected in the eyes of those little people in the pictures on Facebook...a little anticipation and a lot of happy curiosity. New roads will do that for a traveler--it's an ageless experience.
Have a fine day.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Gifts from the Garden
It's been a long, hot summer already. With the lack of rain, the yards have become somewhat crunchy, the evergreens are turning ever brown, and our once beautiful hydrangea bush is now full of droopy leaves and browned flowers.
As beautiful as the spring garden was, the hopes and ideas I had for the garden this spring have pretty much become dust. Instead of rows of leeks and summer vegetables of all kinds, there are several rows of just prepared dirt.
It's just too hot and dry to try to plant things...
or is it?
Garden plants never cease to amaze me. Once I pulled the bolted lettuce and picked the end of the spinach to put into the freezer, I decided to take the gamble and plant a cucumber hill and a zucchini hill. By that time, rain was sparse at best. As you know, it's not been much better.
But I have beautiful cucumber and zucchini vines...miracles in the making.
Today, I gave a little sweat equity and hoed out the crab grass and the starts of the morning glory vines. In return, I received some beautiful gifts from the garden. And tonight, I enjoyed a lovely supper from those gifts. Even in the worst of conditions, I was still able to pick tomatoes, zucchini, onion, and bell pepper. It looked beautiful and smelled wonderful cooking away for supper along with some fresh parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, chives, and garlic chives--more gifts from a small garden spot.
The peace and satisfaction that comes from growing food is a feeling that defies words. To see something mature from simple seeds to beautiful, thriving plants is worth every blister and sore muscle it requires. To work with soil and watch it recreate life is nothing short of a spiritual experience.
The weather will eventually break, the rains will come, and the yard will once again spring to life. The evergreens may not make it and the hydrangeas may need to be replaced. That's just part of the life of a gardener.
Nevertheless, the gifts from the garden will always make these things less discouraging.
Have a fine day.
As beautiful as the spring garden was, the hopes and ideas I had for the garden this spring have pretty much become dust. Instead of rows of leeks and summer vegetables of all kinds, there are several rows of just prepared dirt.
It's just too hot and dry to try to plant things...
or is it?
Garden plants never cease to amaze me. Once I pulled the bolted lettuce and picked the end of the spinach to put into the freezer, I decided to take the gamble and plant a cucumber hill and a zucchini hill. By that time, rain was sparse at best. As you know, it's not been much better.
But I have beautiful cucumber and zucchini vines...miracles in the making.
Today, I gave a little sweat equity and hoed out the crab grass and the starts of the morning glory vines. In return, I received some beautiful gifts from the garden. And tonight, I enjoyed a lovely supper from those gifts. Even in the worst of conditions, I was still able to pick tomatoes, zucchini, onion, and bell pepper. It looked beautiful and smelled wonderful cooking away for supper along with some fresh parsley, oregano, basil, rosemary, chives, and garlic chives--more gifts from a small garden spot.
The peace and satisfaction that comes from growing food is a feeling that defies words. To see something mature from simple seeds to beautiful, thriving plants is worth every blister and sore muscle it requires. To work with soil and watch it recreate life is nothing short of a spiritual experience.
The weather will eventually break, the rains will come, and the yard will once again spring to life. The evergreens may not make it and the hydrangeas may need to be replaced. That's just part of the life of a gardener.
Nevertheless, the gifts from the garden will always make these things less discouraging.
Have a fine day.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Good Things Come in Small Packages
I was helping out some elderly former neighbors with their yard which, due to health issues, has now become overwhelming to them. I was glad to do it; I had spent plenty of time in that yard over several years as a kid, and figured it was the least I could do for them...and the yard.
The first thing I noticed was that everything seemed smaller than I remembered. Wonder why that is? I've heard lots of people make that comment upon returning to a childhood haunt. What is it about adulthood that shrinks our reality? Or rather what is it about our childhood that enlarges our memories? As I stood on the porch for a bit trimming a bush, I remembered how several of us managed to squeeze ourselves into the porch swing hanging there. Now, looking at it, my first thought was how small the chain looked...guess that's a built-in preventive measure to keep our bones in tact as we age.
Reality can be a bit of a kill-joy.
Later, as I was hauling some trimmings down to the bottom of the yard to put in the brush pile, I looked over at a side of the yard and immediately recalled one afternoon, many years ago, when we had a sled-perfect big snow. That little, narrow patch of hill kept the neighborhood and my brothers, returning home for the fun, happy for hours. We used sleds, an old car hood, water skis with the lower fins removed, metal disks...if it would slide that day, we tried it. That hill looks as though it could never have held that much fun--but it did.
I was given a gift today--a trip back into the time of being a kid with not a care in the world. Later, driving back home, I decided for sure that good things do come a small packages.
Have a fine day.
The first thing I noticed was that everything seemed smaller than I remembered. Wonder why that is? I've heard lots of people make that comment upon returning to a childhood haunt. What is it about adulthood that shrinks our reality? Or rather what is it about our childhood that enlarges our memories? As I stood on the porch for a bit trimming a bush, I remembered how several of us managed to squeeze ourselves into the porch swing hanging there. Now, looking at it, my first thought was how small the chain looked...guess that's a built-in preventive measure to keep our bones in tact as we age.
Reality can be a bit of a kill-joy.
Later, as I was hauling some trimmings down to the bottom of the yard to put in the brush pile, I looked over at a side of the yard and immediately recalled one afternoon, many years ago, when we had a sled-perfect big snow. That little, narrow patch of hill kept the neighborhood and my brothers, returning home for the fun, happy for hours. We used sleds, an old car hood, water skis with the lower fins removed, metal disks...if it would slide that day, we tried it. That hill looks as though it could never have held that much fun--but it did.
I was given a gift today--a trip back into the time of being a kid with not a care in the world. Later, driving back home, I decided for sure that good things do come a small packages.
Have a fine day.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Silly Complications
I noticed it had been awhile since some official meandering had been done here at Highbanks...once the cold weather takes over and the writing chair goes from chair on the deck to chair in the living room, I guess the inspiration shuffles a bit. However, from the chair in the living room last night, I viewed something that, unless I had been told what it was repeatedly, would never have recognized it.
It was, I understand, the Miss America pageant.
What I viewed was kind of like a bad mix of a reality show/pageant/trashing of tradition--all at hyper-speed. Yikes!
I hadn't watched one of these for a number of years; now I'm wondering how it got to this train wreck status.
Hopping into the way-back machine, I can remember as a kid watching this show as an event. I know, our choices back then were limited, but this was kind of a big deal, especially to us little girls who would line up their Barbie dolls to view the event along with us. What I remember were beautiful ladies with lots of hair, walking very straight, speaking politely, and doing everything with more grace than could be believed.
What I saw last night was excessive fast talking, lots of twisting and exaggerated walking, that ever-present "hand on the hip/back arch to make me look fashionable", and talent presentations on a floor space that was squeezed as tightly as the bikinis on the now undernourished women competing. Only once did I hear my beloved say, "She's actually shaped like a real woman." I'd have to agree.
Back in my living room of long ago, I would always get a piece of paper and I would rank my top five. Mom and Dad would play along, being the good sports that they were. Sometimes, my top five would be obliterated in the top 10, so my kind parents gave me a do-over for my top five from the new top 10.
Last night I was confused and mortified in the way that all the women were marched out to await their turn only to be singled out for elimination and then being asked that long-standing, idiotic perennial question by one of the "hosts"..."How does it feel?" I would have to guess pretty rotten... And, the "people's choice" young lady picked from the start? Do we have to participate in everything that's produced for TV anymore? Can we not just sit back and let them put on the show without our direct involvement? Yikes again!
The real kicker for last night was, however, the "let's choose our best playground buddy" in what was called the "save"...the poor women had already been eliminated, so then three were called back and their peers voted them back on this merciless merry-go-round not by a dignified secret ballot, but by running to them like kids on a playground when choosing up sides for a game of tag. The poor woman in the middle last night was doubly humiliated by just a smattering of supporters. That goes beyond a yikes, right into a WOW.
So by the end of the evening with all the speed talking, the speed walking, the speed performing, and the speed question answering, we did end up with a new Miss America...and I think many of us ended up with a dizzy spell.
Sorry...but I'm going full-out old school on this one. Let's face it and not hide the fact...this is a beauty pageant...and it's okay! Not everyone will qualify--also okay. There are plenty of things for the rest of us to do. And, since it truly was originally meant to be a beauty pageant, let's get back to treating it as such and allow us to just sit back and watch a couple of hours of talent, poise, grace, and some good, old-fashioned pretty.
I have to give the young ladies in last night's fiasco some real credit. They pretty much achieved the impossible. Even with the lousy direction of people who thought they were being clever, these young women were able to do what they needed to do and represent themselves as beauty queens from their home states...good on them.
Maybe there's hope yet, Bert...
It was, I understand, the Miss America pageant.
What I viewed was kind of like a bad mix of a reality show/pageant/trashing of tradition--all at hyper-speed. Yikes!
I hadn't watched one of these for a number of years; now I'm wondering how it got to this train wreck status.
Hopping into the way-back machine, I can remember as a kid watching this show as an event. I know, our choices back then were limited, but this was kind of a big deal, especially to us little girls who would line up their Barbie dolls to view the event along with us. What I remember were beautiful ladies with lots of hair, walking very straight, speaking politely, and doing everything with more grace than could be believed.
What I saw last night was excessive fast talking, lots of twisting and exaggerated walking, that ever-present "hand on the hip/back arch to make me look fashionable", and talent presentations on a floor space that was squeezed as tightly as the bikinis on the now undernourished women competing. Only once did I hear my beloved say, "She's actually shaped like a real woman." I'd have to agree.
Back in my living room of long ago, I would always get a piece of paper and I would rank my top five. Mom and Dad would play along, being the good sports that they were. Sometimes, my top five would be obliterated in the top 10, so my kind parents gave me a do-over for my top five from the new top 10.
Last night I was confused and mortified in the way that all the women were marched out to await their turn only to be singled out for elimination and then being asked that long-standing, idiotic perennial question by one of the "hosts"..."How does it feel?" I would have to guess pretty rotten... And, the "people's choice" young lady picked from the start? Do we have to participate in everything that's produced for TV anymore? Can we not just sit back and let them put on the show without our direct involvement? Yikes again!
The real kicker for last night was, however, the "let's choose our best playground buddy" in what was called the "save"...the poor women had already been eliminated, so then three were called back and their peers voted them back on this merciless merry-go-round not by a dignified secret ballot, but by running to them like kids on a playground when choosing up sides for a game of tag. The poor woman in the middle last night was doubly humiliated by just a smattering of supporters. That goes beyond a yikes, right into a WOW.
So by the end of the evening with all the speed talking, the speed walking, the speed performing, and the speed question answering, we did end up with a new Miss America...and I think many of us ended up with a dizzy spell.
Sorry...but I'm going full-out old school on this one. Let's face it and not hide the fact...this is a beauty pageant...and it's okay! Not everyone will qualify--also okay. There are plenty of things for the rest of us to do. And, since it truly was originally meant to be a beauty pageant, let's get back to treating it as such and allow us to just sit back and watch a couple of hours of talent, poise, grace, and some good, old-fashioned pretty.
I have to give the young ladies in last night's fiasco some real credit. They pretty much achieved the impossible. Even with the lousy direction of people who thought they were being clever, these young women were able to do what they needed to do and represent themselves as beauty queens from their home states...good on them.
Maybe there's hope yet, Bert...
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