Practice Love and Stay Strong
Please enjoy a great Blog from Jonathon Brooks.
Love is the strongest force I’ve ever encountered. I’ve been studying the Holy Bible for over seventeen years. There’s a lot of passages about love in those 66 books and 2,000 pages. It is the love of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost that has carried me this far and made my life beautiful.
Fear is a strong force. Sin also has great strength. Hatred has its powers too. The person I have hated the most and loved the most in my lifetime is the same person. Christ Jesus was and is and will always be His name.
I used to hear the Christian idea of love isn’t based on emotion. This idea used to be foolishness to my ears. When I was playing the part of the fool I had no time or interest in true love. When I grew in wisdom and love and faith it dawned upon…
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‘Brother Can You Spare A Dime?’
‘They used to tell me I was building a dream
And so I followed the mob
When there was earth to plow or guns to bear
I was always there right on the job’
‘They used to tell me I was building a dream
With peace and glory ahead
Why should I be standing in line
Just waiting for bread?’
‘Once I built a railroad, I made it run
Made it race against time
Once I built a railroad, now it’s done
Brother, can you spare a dime?’
Once I built a tower up to the sun
Brick and rivet and lime
Once I built a tower, now it’s done
Brother, can you spare a dime?’
‘Once in khaki suits, gee we looked swell
Full of the yankee doodly dum
Half a million boots went sloggin’ through hell
And I was the kid with the drum’
Oh, say don’t you remember, they called me Al
It was Al all the time
Say, don’t you remember, I’m your pal
Buddy, can you spare a dime?’ Songwriters; E. Y. Harburg/ Jay Gorney
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‘A record 7 million Americans are 3 months behind on their car payments, a red flag for the economy.’ Washington Post
Although many economic indicators are pointing to a booming economy…there are millions of, hard working, Americans…that are having great difficulty in making a living!
Many, middle class, families are discovering, to their chagrin, that they are receiving little to no tax refunds this season…when they customarily relied on those refunds.
Could it be that the tax cut, which primarily benefited the rich, was funded on the backs of the middle class?
‘Credit card debt hits record high….The average American has a credit card balance of $6,375, up nearly 3 percent from last year, according to Experian’s annual study of credit and debt in America. Total credit card debt has reached its highest point ever, surpassing $1 trillion in 2017, according to a separate report by the Federal Reserve.’ CNBC.com
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The United States national debt has reached 22 trillion dollars. This is up 3 trillion in the past two years.
The last tax cut added 1 trillion dollars to the national debt!
‘According to Make Lemonade, there are more than 44 million borrowers who collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the U.S. alone. The average student in the Class of 2016 has $37,172 in student loan debt.’
Those economic prognosticators and experts that contend that our economy has recovered and all is well…do not see the suffering people that I see on a daily basis!
In all of our, little Southern Illinois, communities we have either food kitchens of food pantry’s…and the people that are in line for some food…are, often, not homeless…but rather people that have jobs.
All too often…the poor of the land are invisible to our political leaders.
I, vividly, recall when former president Reagan, who I voted for, said that he knew that there were people who were making as little as 30 thousand dollars per year and trying to survive….when at the time of his, demonstrated understanding of the poor, I was making well under 30K!
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Many of our grade schools and high schools provide both breakfast and lunch to their students…and have food programs for the summer recess…as these are the only meals that many of the students receive.
Often students do not eat a meal from the close of school on Friday until Monday morning.
‘As of 2007, the richest 1% held about 38% of all privately held wealth in the United States, while the bottom 90% held 73.2% of all debt. According to the New York Times, the richest 1% now own more wealth than the bottom 90%.’ Wealth inequality in the United States
I began life, solidly, in the middle class. We had a beautiful home in the Chicago suburb of Sauk Village and the environment was much like the, ‘Leave It To Beaver, television show.
Suddenly, my mom and dad began having martial problems and we moved to Southern Illinois…to Eldorado…the city of gold!
Soon, mom and dad…divorced…and mom and I were destitute! I saved my pennies…until I could garner a dime…to purchase a glass of milk and a local restaurant…as all we could afford was powdered milk.
A family change or an employment reversal or a bought of bad health…can devastate your economic reality!
If I see someone who gives a damn about the working poor or the middle class or the homeless…they will receive my vote in 2020!
I have considered that many of the, super, rich have gotten to their lofty perch on the backs of their hard working staff…and that usury…has not gone out of fashion!
‘May He Live In Interesting Times’
‘In 1966 Robert F. Kennedy delivered a speech that included an instance: There is a Chinese curse which says “May he live in interesting times.’ Like it or not, we live in interesting times. They are times of danger and uncertainty; but they are also the most creative of any time in the history of mankind.’ (The author of the quote is unknown.)
Certainly, whether a curse or a blessing, we do live in interesting times!
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‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.’ Charles Dickens
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I was watching a film, the other night, regrading the excesses of our current age. It explored the lives of some, extremely rich, individuals as well as others who desired to be rich…and their excesses and the subsequent unhappiness that the spoils of money brought them!
The movie is entitled, ‘Generation Wealth’, where, ‘Lauren Greenfield examines materialism, celebrity culture, and social status and reflects on the desire to be wealthy at any cost.’ Generation Wealth
The film was a fascinating study in people pursuing what capitalism and modern society has identified as success. It included a mother dressing up her, very young, daughter, to appear as a mature woman and to promote her performance as a person, well beyond her years, for the purpose of obtaining prize money and awards.
‘Generation Wealth,’ highlighted the excesses of a culture in decline. This included people who obtained money having an obsession with sex, with massive houses or mansions and high dollar clothing and automobiles.
All of the covered people in the documentary; insisted that when they obtained the nirvana, of money and what it brings…they felt empty and unhappy.
A German, millionaire, stated that the rewards of money was…’air’…and that it all evaporated!
We have made the mistake of equating money and riches and real estate holdings and the bling and the accoutrements that accompany it…as a sign of wisdom and knowledge and success…and someone to be a mentor to the rest of us!
There is nothing wrong with money. We all require money to survive in this world!
There is something, desperately, wrong with equating the rewards of capitalism with the, marker, of success that we should all strive for…or for the sign that God is blessing the rich…and the poor and homeless are doing something wrong!
In Ms. Greenfield’s film, one of, the actor, Charlie Sheens, girlfriends is highlighted and her struggles examined. She spoke of the, hollowness, of pornography and appearing nude, and her return to her, minimum wage job in a tanning salon…and her happiness in returning to herself!
When society points to the rich and says…be like them…we have a prescription for disaster!
When society points to actors and actresses and says…be like them….we are setting up our young people for disappointment!
When we laud sports stars as the example of, ‘making it,’ we have forgotten our; teachers and our policemen and our authors and our poets and our nurses and our firefighters…
When we tell our, christian, congregants that if they serve Christ…according to our directives… that they will become rich…what does the, lack of the development of those promised riches…bring?
Was Christ…or Mohammed or Buddah…or Moses…obsessed with money?
And, so, we have one life to live as responsible and enjoyably as our opportunities and belief system, allows us to do.
Life presents, each of us, tremendous opportunities and terrific challenges!
It is up to each of us to decide what makes us fulfilled and what makes us happy?
It is not what someone tells you…it is what is in your heart!
Happiness Is Internally Generated
I watched Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, announcing her candidacy for the presidency of the United States…and she looked happy…in a snowstorm!
As the snow covered her hair and the hair of the large, hearty and resolute, audience that were listening to her, I felt inspired!
Indeed, the inclement weather was not controlling the happiness level of the candidate or the crowd!
It has been raining, off and on here, for months…but I am happy!
Happiness comes from within!
Often, when my ideas were unaccepted in the workplace or my fight for those who had no voice seemed doomed to failure…I was happy…that I had stood firm in my convictions.
One of he greatest chancellors of SIUC was, unjustly, terminated, and I was threatened and cajoled and marginalized…and I was happy…because I stood up for her and…against the wrong that had been wrought by the president of the university and the Board of Trustees!
I believe that every human being on this Earth is important…and that they can not be segregated by their color or their religion or their ethnicity or their countries location…and I am happy!
I love Southern Illinois…and I love the people of Southern Illinois…and I love them when they disagree with me…and I am happy!
I learned, many years ago, to keep my own counsel…and to, ‘thine own-self be true’, and I discovered not to seek the praise of others…but the peace of a satisfied mind…and I am happy!
Happiness is not a geographical location but a nirvana of the soul!
Happiness is a truce or a pact with your surroundings.
‘God give me the serenity to accept the things that I can not change,
The courage to change the things that I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.’ Reinhold Nebuhr
Happiness is not family approval.
Happiness is not being a part of the club…or the group…or the social clique in school….or the faith assembly…or the accepted normal…of society!
Happiness is being real!
Happiness is being true to what you believe!
Happiness is being true to yourself!
Happiness is being genuine!
All to often we seek the approval or praise of others, who may not believe the truths that we believe and who may not come from our life experiences!
This is an exercise in futility!
It has been said that I would rather be a live dog than a dead lion…but…how about being a live lion…that sings your own song and speaks your own truth…and is true to the unique person that you are?
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It Is Nice To Have People That Care About You!
It is another rainy day in Carbondale, Illinois!
We have had our share of rain over the past few months.
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The fenced in, portion of our yard, that the four legged members of our family use for their, multiple, daily constitutionals…is a swamp!
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Mary Jane and I went for our, Mall Walk. It was nice and calm and sedate.
Mary Jane had a lovely email from her, lifelong friend, Margo. The proposal of visiting with them in the fall is exciting to us both!
My buddies, Ron and Ira Kaye, have asked us to take a trip with them…and we are looking forward to it…in the spring!
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I literally think of my friends, Ryan and Elizabeth…every day. They are two wonderful people who have been so nice to us…and who we care about their success and wellbeing, very much!
Saturday evening, we had dinner at a, wonderful, Mexican restaurant with our friends, Joan and Jim. They are both retired professors, and they are so interesting and engaging! We talk politics and movies and books and food…and Maine…which is our mutual love!
After the flood lights of career have dimmed and the accolades of workplace accomplishments have grown silent…friends loom extremely bright!
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I often said to my, good friend, the fallen chancellor…that it is a gift to have someone who cares about you!
We encounter and interact with many people during the course of our lives.
We, often, have hundreds or thousands of friends on social media.
But, as the old folks used to say, ‘when you shell down the corn’, you may have only a handful of people who are your, true, friends!
I witnessed, several, true friends in action when Mary Jane was recovering from her spinal surgery.. Many people, from our church, brought meals to us and stayed to visit with us and I felt more love and concern from a church family…than I had ever felt…and I have been a member of several churches over 50 years!
All of us feel a bit alone in the world.
We see the world through our eyes and the impulses of our brains…and for the majority of our existence we live in our own heads.
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That is why friends are so refreshing to us! They show us how others see the world and how they see us.
Friends, assure, us that we are not on the road of life by ourselves!
Most of us experience sickness in our life…at one time or another. There is not a more lonely feeling than to be sick…or have a loved one who is ill…and it seems that no one cares or understands.
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A hidden illness is mental illness…of which a majority of humanity experiences at some point during their life. It can take a variety of forms and the most debilitating component of it is to not have anyone to talk with you about it or help you through the ordeal…or who has, genuine, empathy for your life’s walk.
It has always been a mystery to me how a person can have cancer or heart disease or diabetes…and there is not, implied, stigma…but mental illness is kept in the closet with the door closed and securely locked?
Do we realize that our brain is housed in the same body that our gallbladder and pancreas and liver and lungs and heart….are housed in?
My mom took sleeping pills…and attempted to commit suicide…and I saw my dad carry her….with her night gown flowing….and he was weeping…pass my bedroom door…and I was five years old.
Let us be friends to one another!
Rhetoric Is Not Wisdom
I have more than one friend who have accomplished, well in excess of, several lifetimes of endeavors, in one, short, life.
Have you ever listened, intently, to a colleague describe their career successes…and after you added them up, there was more rhetoric than reality?
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On many occasions, at the university, I witnessed the uplifting and beatification of new leaders and administrators…well before they had demonstrated any, measurable, policy or student recruitment or student retention actions.
Political leaders tell us the things that we enjoy hearing and promise us the moon…while we receive a moon pie!
I have read, on several occasions, that our president is an ‘unholy’ person…that is being used by God?
We have been promised that the president will return jobs to America…yet General Motors is in the process of laying-off thousands of American workers.
Many of the people that voted for the president, discovered, that if Obama-Care is done away with…they will no longer have insurance!
Farmers have been devastated by the president’s tariffs causing their crops to, dramatically, decrease in value…yet many contend that they are, foursquare, behind him!
Many of our religious leaders instruct their congregations to give of their finances…until it hurts…
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If you examine the financial stability of many congregants in fundamentalist churches…you find, abjectly poor people…and rich and flourishing ministers!
We humans are suckers for a good line!
We want a hero and a savior!
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Our ears perk up when we hear a, quality narrative, and we are intrigued by a good story!
There is a, subtle and insidious mixing, of theatre and television and media…with the, concrete truths, of people being treated fairly and equitably and with their elected representative, looking out for their constituents prosperity.
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We hear a wonderful speech, written by an adept speech writer, and we say, ‘what a leader we have!’
We contend that if minimum wage rises…businesses will be devastated and people will loose their minimum wage jobs.
Of course…we who contend the folly of raising the minimum wage…have not worked for such a paltry sum…for many years…if ever!
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It is agreed that we Americans have an economy that requires a minimum of $15 to survive…and the great majority of us make, significantly less…what is the answer…two jobs…three….four?
Political speech is damming in its lack of profundity!
Religious speech is only as good as the positive works that it produces for humanity!
We, sadly, are influenced by the 140 characters that are tweeted on twitter.
Our enamored, state, with celebrities and the culture of entertainment has caused us to debate, and some to contend, not only what truth is…but, perhaps, each of us have our own truth.
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‘Wisdom – The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment, the quality of being wise.’ Dictionary
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.’ Proverbs 1:7
‘But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.’ James 3:17
I think that a primary component of wisdom is a respect for all humanity.
Empathy is wisdom. Can you place yourself in the other person’s shoes? When your neighbor has no food…are you disturbed and restless…as if you were hungry?
When someone is mentally ill…do you understand and care for them and consider their illness as any physical illness?
If you are a supervisor do you treat your staff as you would like to be treated? If you have to, engage, in constructive job related criticism, do you do it with an eye on not destroying the person…but rather encouraging them…all the while solving the job performance issue?
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If you terminate a member of your staff…is it your, paramount desire, that the individual leaves the meeting feeling that you cared about them and that you had confidence in their many abilities and that those abilities were going to be an excellent fit…in the job that they will, ultimately, secure?
Do you practice trusting those around you?
Can you smile at those who have spoken ill of you?
Can you greet your enemies…like your friends?
Can we understand that each day is a gracious gift and that we are all, fellow, travelers on the road of life?
Fortunate, Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale!
Although SIUC has faced, significant, challenges over the past twenty years…it is yet, very fortunate!
The university began as a teacher’s college in the nineteenth century, located in a rural farming and coal mining section of Illinois.
Our region has often been referred to as Little Egypt due to our, most southern town, Cairo. Cairo was a stop on the underground railroad during the civil war.
Albeit, my family is from Southern Illinois…I was born in Chicago. My parents had immigrated to Chicago, as many of their generation did, in search of gainful employment.
I can, vividly, recall traveling to Eldorado for our family vacations. I noticed the, beautiful rural setting and the chickens in grandma’s back yard and the cold milk that she served me from a porcelain coffee mug…and the, beloved dog, Nugget, who she later named Narky, who barked and snapped at me on many occasions!
When Narky, later, passed on to his reward…grandma told me that when I finished my milk and cookies that I should join her…for the purpose of praying for him…I drank my milk and ate my cookies…very slowly!
But, in any case, I heard of the wonders of the university that was in Carbondale…and I reveled in the theatrical performances that McLeod Theatre, student, performers brought to my grade school.
I wondered, as a child, if I would ever get the opportunity to see Southern Illinois University…in person?
I was not on the college track…in high school…none of my family had attended university.
My s best friend since first grade, Jackie Brooks, later enrolled in SIU, with any eye toward an accountancy degree…and I considered how nice that would be to further my education.
So, I began working at the university, over forty years ago, and I immediately noticed what a different world I had entered!
CAVU, was one of former president George Herbert Walker Busch’s favorite terms and it stood for; Clear Above Visibility Unlimited. This is an aviation term and was welcomed by the former president when he was a World War II fighter pilot.
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Suddenly…I understood that my world of opportunity…had just expanded beyond my wildest dreams!
No longer was I Bradley Jay Brooks, high school graduate, and the seeker of some type of employment that I could succeed in paying my bills…but now I was a member of a world class university that had unlimited opportunities for me!
From my first days at SIUC I encountered person after person that was, totally, immersed in the school! The norm was to work alongside fellow faculty and staff that had the university’s success as their mission.
I saw a photo of my friend, the chancellor of SIUC, John Dunn…laughing and exuberant as he held a flag alongside many international students as they marched on campus in commemoration of our international students!
Chancellor Dunn is a native of Pickneyville, Illinois and he has a heart for the region and for our university!
During my years at SIUC I was not only immersed in the task of making SIUC great…but until this day…it is never far from my mind!
Mary Jane and I had lunch, today, with our friends, Ryan and Elizabeth. What wonderful people they are! And, they are Pickneyville natives, as well!
The secret of Southern Illinois University’s success is contained in the hearts of it’s people!
Dedicated professionals that will work around the clock and rest a few minutes…and then begin again!
Southern is full of skilled technicians who think about the university when they are not at the university and who hate to leave…when it is quitting time!
Several years ago, then, chancellor Wendler, commissioned a study of Southern @ 150.
Contained in the group were members of the campus community like, Glenn Poshard and Sam Goldman…as well as a member of the Building Services department named Brooks.
Many big plans were formulated…for what seemed to be a long time off…
Now, Southern @ 150 is upon us! Some of the goals and aspirations of the committee were unattainable, in the best of circumstances, and others have been impacted by financial shortfalls from the state.
However, one of the primary components of the vision of Southern @ 150…is stronger than ever…and that is a world class university containing dedicated and singular in purpose; students and staff and faculty…and the weather forecast is…CAVU!
Fog
‘Mother, what was it like before the fog,’ said the boy?
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‘Well, sometimes the days were bright with sunshine and warm breezes,’ said mother.
‘What was snow like, mother,’ asked the boy?
‘Snow was a, brilliant, white…and it was cold to touch…and we made snowmen out of it, and had snow ball fights,’ said mother.
‘There were, actually, four seasons in our year, and each was unique and enjoyable…for different reasons,’ mother went on to say.
‘Mother, dad once told me that, occasionally, it rained so hard that the yards and streets flooded,’ said the boy.
‘Yes, the rains came heavily during the last year of America…before the great war and the bombs,’ mother noted…with her eyes full of tears!
We were all searching for our own facts and for the truth that was accepted by the people that we valued.
We sought a strongman and a leader and someone who would tell us what to do…and who would do the hard thinking for us!
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We christians compromised our, ancient beliefs of God raising up a righteous leader…and believed that he had given us a rough hewn man with a dull ax…to do the destructive work that needed to be accomplished,’ mother said, slowly.
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‘But, mother, what of the old documents such as the constitution and the Declaration of Independence…and the Bible,’ asked the boy?
‘Insidiously and gradually…we laid the human rights that the Constitution guaranteed us…aside…for the, temporary, feeling of safety.
We, first believed that the Bible was revealing the justness of our cause, to us, and then we were convinced that God was really…only…interested in a small group of chosen people…and that the rest were, but, kindling for the fire of his judgment!
That is when the re-education camps began…and so many were gathered and placed in them…for the purpose of re-orienting them into what we were, convinced, was God’s will.
‘But mother…they took dad away and placed him in one of the camps…and we never saw him again, cried the boy!
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‘Your dad…was what we used to call a liberal,’ mother responded.
‘It seemed that we got mixed up and we could no longer see the difference between political parties and christianity!
What began as a, seemingly, reasonable exercise in christian people running for political office…for the purpose of having some, limited, influence in our government…or the government that we had…became synonymous with various segments of the christian faith!
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When a person proclaimed that they were a fundamentalist christian…they were announcing, as if a klaxon horn was blaring, that they were a republican!
Others who were liberal in their theology and identified with the democrats…often had a, faux, intellectual arrogance and perceived themselves to be enlightened followers of Christ!
All the while…the earth burned…and the glaciers melted…and the oceans rose and covered the land.
As times, progressively, worsened…we humans determined that, obviously, the others…were at fault…and the solution was to eliminate them, mother said as the tears streaked down her face!
‘When did the fog come,’ asked the boy?
‘It seemed to me…that it began…when we stopped standing up for people that were suffering…or who looked different than us…or who had a different way that they worshipped God,’ said mother.’
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‘The fog settled in…when the golden rule did not mean anything anymore…and we looked to a flesh and blood leader…to be our god,’ mother whispered.
‘We decided that who a person loves…is the governments business.’
‘We decided that certain races were superior and other were inferior.’
‘We decided that God was only interested in a hand full of his creation…and that he hated the same people that we hated!’
‘We extolled our abhorrence of other religions law and rules…and created our own religious laws…that were most grievous and heinous… mother intoned…over long periods of silence.
‘What can we do…mother…to return to how things used to be, asked the boy?
Mother went to a dusty book hutch, and pulled the Holy Bible off of the, overburdened shelves. She began to read…
‘But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And unto him that smites thee on the one cheek, offer also the other; and him that taketh away they cloak forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.’ Luke 6:27-30 KJV
‘But love your enemies, and do good, and lend hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also in merciful. Luke 6: 35-36 KJV
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Spring Is Just Around The Corner!
Earl, my step-father, always said that the coldest portion of the winter was the last two weeks of January and the first two weeks of February. Well…we are almost a week into February!
I told my buddy, Ron, that it was my goal to spend January somewhere warm, but I have fulfilled that vow only half of the January’s of my retirement I recall, with bemusement, Mary Jane and my plans, years ago, to move somewhere north…once we retired.
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It seems that the cold wind of winter has an, extra bite, in it, as I have gotten older?
I was reflecting on last autumn, that seems like last week, and thinking of, the apparent death of the leaves and plants and grass…and all things green.
When in reality, we are surrounded with a natural world… that goes to sleep each winter…but does not cease to exist….as it comes back in vibrant and exuberance…in the spring!
The rich tapestry of fall seems to be the, final Hail Mary Pass of life, before the drying and decaying and death of nature!
We live in fear of our demise and bemoan our short stay on our planet!
We grow up as a green shoot and blossom into full flower…only to soon wither and wrinkle and die.
I think that we should look around us… at God’s creation to learn of the permanence of life!
‘While he spake these things unto them, behold there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live. And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.’ Matthew 9: 18 – 19 KJV
‘And when Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the minstrels and the people making noise, He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn. But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose. And the fame herof went abroad into all the land.’ Matthew 9: 23-26 KJV
‘What a Wonderful World’
The great Louis Armstrong reminded us that we live in a wonderful world.
‘I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself what a wonderful world’
‘I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself what a wonderful world’
‘The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do
They’re really saying I love you’
‘I hear babies crying, I watch them grow
They’ll learn much more than I’ll never know
And I think to myself what a wonderful world
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world’
Songwriters; George Weiss/Robert Thiele
As Jonathon and I were walking campus today, I thought of the beauty of life…the beauty of, seemingly, regular things and occurrences!
I read, on Facebook, that my good friend was riding with the top top down on their car and the music on the radio, tuned up loud, and the sheer joy of the narrative…took me back to the days when our sons were younger and the fun of, just, living!
We concern ourselves with who will win the next presidential election….and when will be purchase a new automobile…or take another vacation…when the miracle of life is surrounding us!
At times we receive lemons of life…and we think that all of life must be sour?
In reality…life surrounds us with the miracle!
Reflection is an enjoyable enterprise. When I interact with people who are younger than I…I travel back in time to their, approximate age, and remember what I was doing and thinking and feeling at that time.
I would say to the Millennials of the world…be not dismayed….we Baby Boomers had passions and ideals and plans and visions of the future….and were convinced that we were the generation to get the job done!
The history of a human life…is a short one!
In the morning of your life you are young and full of wonder….and everything is an adventure and a mystery and a challenge to be met.
In the afternoon you are in the midst of the struggle for career and parenthood and success!
In the evening…you say…let me make a difference and a mark and help someone along the path of life…you realize that it is all a plan…and you are a player upon the stage of, the grand performance of, life!
I can not imagine a greater failure than to not realize the, roll, that you have been assigned to play by the creator…or the thread that you are in the tapestry of life!
Sickness and suffering and hardship and death…often robs us of our joy of living. It is easy to feel that no one is going through the trials and tribulations that we are going through…I know, because I have felt this way…but in reality…all of it is but for a short time in comparison to God’s master plan for us!
When I was a youngster, I decided that a, brilliant maneuver to perform, would be to climb an extremely slick spillway to demonstrate to my friends, who were accompanying me, that I had some, wicked climbing skills!
Photo by Rodrigo on Pexels.com
As I climbed the mossy and, constantly, water soaked surface, I was reveling in my climbing prowess…and I was certain the my climbing buddies were amazed!
Suddenly…I fell…as if someone had pulled my legs out from under me!
I busted my upper lip so badly, that it retains a permanent mark, above it, too this day…that I cover with my 26 year old mustache!
I believe that when we enter, God’s heaven, we will recount our most grievous injuries, in this life, as little more than my fall on the spillway….in the, beautiful and majestic plan that God has for our life!
The Happy Traveler 