Aaron began MJ and my day with breakfast biscuits from Hardees. It is a beautiful fall day. We made our Sams Journey this afternoon and purchased a little Bullit Rye for slow sipping…after all, it is the Holiday Season. MJ also bought 12 Mary’s Restaurant tickets…and I knew that we were on for our Christmas Eve Dinner at our favorite Southern Illinois Eatery. Carsie Blanton is live now… online…and she is a wonderful singer and songwriter. If you have not heard her…Google her…she is one of my favorites and has a unique voice and is a courageous social activist for poor and disenfranchised people.

So, everything is not centered around politics or religion or our much-needed technology and infrastructure needs. Many of us admire Religious Studies and Political Science and Chemistry and Engineering and Technology…some of us are Liberal Arts. We love literature and art and creative writing and music and Social Work…and Theatre. We walk a mile to hear a good poem…or hear a Jazz Quartet…or a philosopher speak to us about the meaning of life.

Nature is important. It is where we live. The earth is our only home…we have nowhere else to go. When we die…we return to the very soil that we seem to have little concern about…at present. When I say we are not all into religion or politics…I expressly mean the faux religions of cultism and separation of people. We are not into the politics of hate and fear and the idolatry of conspiracy theory…

Heart emerges as the focal point of so many of us. We go out into our world each day looking for good things to happen. We look to love people…we look for people to love us…we seek an understanding heart and a listening ear…and an open soul… Kind eyes are a winning therapy for the soul. Mental health is real and relevant for every human being. We all are connected by inextricable cords…and we run into significant mental issues and physical issues and emotional maladies…when we seek to sever the cords that we were born with and which are meant for our peaceful and happy survival as we travel home…

Creativity is a gift that we all have. Creative human efforts wrote every song that we enjoy. The spirit of creation wrote the Bible and gathered countless millions to the following of its writings. We read our stories and we are inspired and we are transported and we love our fellow man and woman and child…and those who look different than us or love different than us… or who worship differently than us…or who speak another language…we suddenly realize…are us…

We are here…and then we are gone…be kind along the way…

‘The body turns to dirt…but love goes on and on,’ is a verse from a Carsie Blanton song…