A truth about life became apparent to me, since my retirement in 2010, and that is life is comprised of chapters.

As a newly married, young man of 20, I seriously wanted to better Mary Jane and my life…to attain employment that would allow us to buy our own home and have enough money to start a family.

At the age of 20, as the old saying goes, ‘the world is your oyster.’

Those days of our new babies and the thrill and the fear of doing parenting right…were awesome and scary!

My Mom and Dad divorced after eighteen years of marriage.  I was six years old.  I can remember the confusion…and fear…and uncertainty that I felt as a child.

What had appeared to me to be an idyllic relationship and home life…that I have often likened to the popular television show of the era, ‘Leave it to Beaver’…was apparently just the opposite.

I remember, as if it were yesterday, Mary Jane getting her Master’s Degree at the age of 40.  I was, and am, so proud of her for going back to school and achieving this noteworthy accomplishment.

Around the age of forty I was named Superintendent of Building Services.  This was the department that I had been hired into, at the age of 20, as a Building Service Worker I…which is a janitor.

Shortly after my promotion…my stepfather died and my mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s’ Disease…came to live with us.

A more challenging and stressful three years…I have not experienced.  If it had not been for Mary Jane’s herculean efforts in caring for my Mom…we could not have kept her.

Over the last fifteen years our wonderful sons, Aaron and Jonathon, have grown into such outstanding men!  It is the joy of my life…just to be in their presence!

At 53 years old I retired with over 32 years of service to the University that I love.

Since our retirement we have been blessed to travel to many great destinations, including Europe, and renew our life long friend ship with our dear friends, Margo and Jeff.

Illness has visited our little family…more than once…but we are still here and grateful to God for looking out for us!

Your might say…what is your point of this Christmas Letter?

My point would be when you think that your life is so bad that it will never get better…you may be at the dawning of a beautiful sunrise.

I am now knocking at the door of 60…and it seems young!  I recently had a health scare…and worried for six months…but by God’s grace…I dodged the bullet!

When I looked into Mary Jane’s eyes, during my waiting period, I could see the care and concern and love that she had for me.

Do not make abrupt decisions…when it appears that your life will not improve without a radical change.

Life is like a pendulum…it swings back and forth.

The beauty and bonding of a shared life together…often develops into a carefully and masterfully stitched Quilt of Life…that is valued beyond measure!

‘Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, better known by the alias Lenin (April 1870 – January 21, 1924) was a Russian Communist revolutionary, politician, and political theorist.  He served as head of government of the Russian Republic form 1917 to 1918, of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic form 1918 – 1924, and of the Soviet Union from 1922 – 1924.  Under his administration, Russia and then the wider Soviet Union became a one-party communist state governed by the Russian Communist Party.  Ideologically a Marxist, he developed political theories know as Leninism.’   Wikipedia

‘We will take America without firing a shot…we will bury you!’

‘We can’t expect the American people to jump from capitalism to communism, but we can assist their leaders in giving them small doses of socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have communism.  We do not have to invade the United States, we will destroy you from within.’  Nikita Khrushchev.

‘Good evening, my fellow citizens:

This Government, as promised , has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba.  Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island.  The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western Hemisphere.’  President John F. Kennedy Cuban Missile Crisis Speech delivered on October 22, 1962

‘Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday mocked the attention paid to meetings between President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Germany, saying perhaps the two even met in the men’s room.’

‘Maybe they went to the toilet together, Lavrov jokingly injected.’   According to The Hill.

The above Photo is from the New York Times.  The Times Headline for this article is, ”Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation.”

The photo was taken at a meeting in the Oval Office the morning after FBI Director Comey was fired and no Americans were allowed into the meeting and no American journalist.  However the official Russian News Agency TASS was allowed in the meeting and snapped the above photo.

“Putin mocks claims of Russian meddling in US polls.”

“Asked abut the ‘fingerprints’ he, (Putin), asked sarcastically.  ‘Hoof prints?  Horn prints?  Technology experts can invent anything and put the blame on anyone.”   Press TV

I was alive during the Cuban Missile Crisis.  I and my family and my friends truly believed that we were on the verge of nuclear annihilation…because we were!

I watched a television news program, with highly respected Journalist Andrea Mitchell, asking a question of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson…while Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov looked on… smirking…as Ms. Mitchell is MSNBC’s State Department Correspondent and she was covering Mr. Tillerson’s Russian visit.

“NBC News reporter Andrea Mitchell drew the ire of Russia’s foreign minister, who snapped at her for continuing to shout questions his way.”

“Mr. Lavrov, Mitchell began, asking the diplomat about Syria.  ‘The Russians don’t believe the [U.S.] intelligence.”

“Who was bringing you up [as a child]” Lavrov boomed, cutting her off.”

“Who was giving you your manners, you know?”  He asked sounding annoyed.”

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson can be seen smiling as Lavrov rebuked the 70 year old Mitchell.

Earlier this week President Trump is questioning his Pardon Powers for himself and his family.

President Trump, indicated in an interview with the ‘failing’ New York Times, that he thought that if Special Counsel Muller investigates his finances…that he would be crossing a line.

The President’s lawyers and staff are searching for information regarding conflicts of interest pertaining to Robert Muller or his staff.

‘One in eight people in America Struggle With Hunger’

‘Sixteen Million Households In America Face Hunger’

‘There are more than 42 million people in the United States who struggle with hunger and more than 70 billion pounds of food from manufacturers, growers, and retailers that go to waste-more than enough to feed them all.’   According to Outnumber Hunger

Many of our schools have gone to providing both breakfast and lunch to their students.

Many of these same schools have breakfast and lunch programs for the summer recess, due to the sad fact that their students would not eat during these months…if the schools did not provide the food.

Wednesday, Mary Jane and I delivered Meals on Wheels.  The precious people that receive these vital lunches…are so grateful for them.  Everyone that I delivered…the recipient thanked me…often numerous times.

How is it that one of the richest and most prosperous countries in the world…has rampant hunger and deprivation?

Is this the free market system in all of it’s glory?

Is this the pristine example of trickle down economics.

Would this be God blessing the rich…and the poor and destitute are somehow not making the Biblical Standard for Economic Prosperity?

‘And when Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.  And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.  And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.  He said, Bring them hither to me.  And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and two fishes,and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the the disciples to the multitude.  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.’   Matthew 14:14-21   KJV

You may be attending church with an individual or a family that is hungry.  Many people who have known nothing but taking care of themselves and their families’ needs… are often to proud to admit their suffering.

Southern Illinois University, recently, started a food pantry for needy students.  I know from my thirty two years with the School..that many students are hungry.  They simply do not have the money to pay for all of their expenses… and eat.

Our President promises that he is going to address the substantial needs of the working and middle class…that has often been forgotten.  He told us that he is going to bring jobs back to our country.  He is going to give us health care that is the best ever…at a fraction of the cost.

If the Affordable Care Act is repealed…32 million Americans will loose their health insurance.

He is going to insist on ‘America First’ in manufacturing…and yet his daughters’ businesses sell…exclusively…clothing made overseas.

John McCain, a war hero and a statesman, has brain cancer.  A man who serves the Constitution and his Country before blind party loyalty.

Heaven help us…when he is gone!

Mary Jane and I have been vacationing in Gatlinburg, Tennessee since Jimmy Carter was President.

The sublime beauty of the haunting Smoky Mountains is captivating!

During our first sojourns to Gatlinburg…we often traveled with friends from a church that we all attended.  I recall, so fondly, my old friend, Jim Dunmyer, enjoying the East Tennessee Town and its’ surroundings…so very much.

A few years later, we had two little sons, that enjoyed visiting Gatlinburg abundantly…and especially swimming in the Hotel Park Vista’s swimming pool!

It was not unusual, in those early years, for us to make two and perhaps three trips to our preferred destination…each year.

We fell in love with Cades Cove.

‘Cades Cove is an isolated valley located in the Tennessee section of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA.  The valley was home to numerous settlers before the formation of the national park.  Today, Cades Cove, the single most popular destination for visitors to the park, attracts more than two million visitors to the park because of its’ well preserved homesteads, scenic mountain views, and abundant display of wildlife.’   Wikipedia

Needless to say…we liked Cades Cove so well that…we brought it home with us!

In the late 90’s and early 2000’s we traveled several times to Gatlinburg over Christmas to be with our friends, Steve and Faye, and enjoy the brilliantly lit pageantry of the Holiday Season.

We shared a condo, in the mountains and there is no better way to celebrate the joys of the Season…than in Gatlinburg with your dear friends!

I have written about it earlier…but it bears repeating…we visited this past April with my brother, Brock, and my sister-in-law, Marcy, and my niece and nephew, Jamie and Jeb, along with Jeb’s’ girlfriend, Morgan. We simply had a wonderful time!

With the sampling of Moonshine and a hike through the park and the pristine, peaceful, restful…beauty of the Smoky Mountains…and being with new found family…that you love…nothing could be finer!

I have been to few places that afforded me more peace and contentment than Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains.  From the Dollywood Christmas Pageant, in Pigeon Forge, to the melodic music of the Little Pigeon River…there is nothing else like it…including the Black Bears!

I love clouds!

For many years I said that I preferred the night to the day.

Of course, it must be noted, that for almost twenty of my over thirty two year career at SIU…I worked nights.

Mary Jane and I visited Portland, Oregon, several years ago.  We loved the laid back lifestyle and the scenic beauty and the jazz…and I loved the clouds.

It was a work related trip to Portland, and so I told my Director, Harry Wirth, that we had enjoyed the city so much…we were thinking about relocating there when we retired.  Harry, noted that it rains in Portland much of the year.  I responded that would be perfect for my taste!

Clouds and rain and gloomy days…are a metaphor for life…to me.

The wonderful all encompassing magnificence of the sun and it’s illumination is always so welcome…but it is not illustrative of life in it’s infinite shadows.

Clouds and storms can be comforting…when your faith assures you that it is always darkest before the dawn.

You will forgive me if I liken this analogy to my University?  There have been clouds of lack of resources, or no money,…and there have been clouds of changes in leadership…and clouds of a lack of focus or Vision…and clouds of not fully appreciating the complete value of each and every student that attends SIU.

But, as in life, so as in the life of Southern Illinois University…the sun comes out again…and hope is renewed…and a rededication to the fundamentals that made our School great!

A wonderful poem that my father-in-law, Berl, quoted me was;

“Don’t You Quit”

‘When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,

When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,

When care is pressing you down a bit-

Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,

As every one of us sometimes learns,

And many a fellow turns about

When he might have won had he stuck it out.

Don’t give up though the pace seems slow-

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than

It seems to a faint and faltering man;

Often the struggler has given up

When he might have captured the victor’s cup;

And he learned to late when the night came down,

How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out-

The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,

And you never can tell how close you are,

It might be near when it seems afar;

So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit-

It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.’

psalm 40.org

It seems that…the joy and the sorrow…jubilation and sadness….energy and health and pain and suffering…go together to comprise our life experience.

Clouds are important and they are lovely!

I am sitting in my screened in porch and listening to the most lovely music.  The birds are warbling a most melodious tune.

At night, the frogs in our pond, croak to each other in a syncopated rhythm.  When we first moved to our ‘new house’…which is now sixteen years old…I could not believe our good fortune as I listened to the songs of the pond!

So much can be expressed in music…that words, often, do not do justice.

I have been busily re-forming my vinyl record collection…that my mother disposed of sometime after I moved away from home at the tender age of seventeen.

I was listening to the Lake Street Dive, the other day.  I marvel at their seamless harmony and their lead singer’s, Rachael Price,  tremendous voice.

The power of music helped to fuel the Civil Rights Movement.

‘We shall overcome,

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome, some day.

Oh, deep in my heart,

I do believe

We shall overcome, some day.

We’ll walk hand in hand,

We’ll walk hand in hand,

We’ll walk hand in hand, some day,

Oh, deep in my heart,

We shall live in peace,

We shall live in peace,

We shall live in peace, someday,

Oh, deep in my heart,

We shall be free,

We shall be free,

We shall be free, someday.

Oh, deep in my heart,

We are not afraid,

We are not afraid,

We are not afraid, TODAY

Oh, deep in my heart

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome,

We shall overcome, some day.’

‘The first eight measures derive from ‘O Sanctissima,’ a hymn to the Virgin Mary that was first published in 1792 and later arranged by Beethoven,’   according to Spiritual Politics by Mark Silk.

I remember viewing a Christmas Production in Shryock Auditorium, many years ago, when the performers who were playing the Kings of the East coming to visit the Christ Child in the Manger, unexpectedly proceeded up the aisle of the Theatre from behind us…singing in magnificent bass tones!  I was transported and suddenly became part of the performance!

The other Sunday, as Elder John Baker was delivering the sermon…he asked, Carlyn Zimmermann, to sing a song that beautifully illustrated the message he was delivering.

Often our Pastor, Rev. Janice West, sings a prayer…she has a beautiful voice!

Have you ever listened for the music of Nature…even in silence?  Often nature has it’s own musical accompaniment…even if you have to be still and quiet and anticipate it’s melody.

Or…the magnificent…majestic…peaceful sound…of the ocean?

A supervisor told me, many years ago, that I could be a philosopher.  I pondered on the meaning of his comment.  But, it does seem that my Blog Posts, of late, have leaned toward the philosophy realm?

I was watching the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song ceremony for Willie Nelson.  We were privileged to see Willie perform live at the DuQuoin, Illinois State Fair, a few years ago.  He is a dynamic performer and I was left with many thoughts and memories after the music ended.

Willie performed, at the conclusion of the tribute, Living in the Promised Land, and received a standing ovation for the songs moving…timely…lyrics.

‘Give us your tired and weak

And we will make them strong

Bring us you foreign songs

And we will sing along

Leave us your broken dreams

We’ll give them time to mend

There’s still a lot of love

Living in the Promiseland

There is a winding road

Across the shifting sand

And room for everyone

Living in the Promiseland

So they came from a distant isle

Nameless woman

Faithless child like a bad dream

Until there was no room at all

No place to run, and no place to fall

Give us our daily bread

We have no shoes to wear

No place to call our home

Only this cross to bear

We are the multitudes

Lend us a helping hand

Is there no love anymore

Living in the Promiseland

Living in the Promiseland

Our dreams are made of steel

The prayer of every man

Is to know how freedom feels

There is a winding road

Across the shifting sand

And room for everyone

Living in the Promiseland’

Songwriters: Paul Madeira; Jimmy Dorsey

Time…has always fascinated me.  The idea of a year…or ten…or one hundred…being a long period is a false construct that is formed by our relatively short lives in comparison with the Universe that surrounds us.

My lifelong friend, Jeff, asked me last year when we were visiting he and Margo, in the United Kingdom…If I ever thought about my mortality.

I must admit that the older I become…the more apparent that there is an end to this life… is evident.

I responded to Jeff…that I have often thought that death may be nothing like we have feared…but indeed a revealing of our true life and purpose…or our first ‘Big Break!’

Roger Ebert, the famous film critic, during the last few minutes before he died said, according to his wife Chaz, “The one thing people might be surprised about-Roger said that he didn’t know if he could believe in God.  He had his doubts.  But toward the end, something really interesting happened.  That week before Roger passed away, I would see him and he would talk about visiting this other place.  I thought he was hallucinating.  I thought they were giving him to much medication.  But the day before he passed away, he wrote me a note: ‘This is all an elaborate hoax.’  I asked him, ‘What’s a hoax?’  And he was talking about this world, this place.  He said it was all an illusion.  I thought he was just confused.  But he was not confused.  He wasn’t visiting heaven, not the way we think of heaven.  He described it as a vastness that you can’t even imagine.  It was a place where the past, present, and future were all happening at once.”

What if this life is nothing more than a Pop Quiz…in God’s Eternity?

Job said, ‘My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.’

Perhaps the Creator has placed us all in the Sandbox of life…to see how we will play with with each other?

Promiseland

‘You may be ambassador to England or France

You may like to gamble, you might like to dance

You may be the heavyweight champion of the world

You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls,

But you gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You gonna have to serve somebody,

It may be the devil, or it may be the Lord

But you gonna have to serve somebody.’   Bob Dylan

Although I have watched several documentaries regarding the Church of Scientology, the one that I watched last night, on Netflix, was extremely revealing.

The film, My Scientology Movie by Louis Theroux, was captivating in it’s examination of the power of mind control that the current Church leader, David Miscavige, has over the group.

One of the succinct points ,of the engaging piece of cinema, was the fact that the members of the church felt compelled to act and speak in only the manner that was approved by Miscavige.

Apparently, according to the film, Miscavige is prone to extreme mood swings…and is given to physical punishment of members…for the slightest perceived infraction or deviation from his norm…if you can discern what his norm is at any given moment.

I have watched, Presidential Spokesman, Sean Spicer, and his associate, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, seemingly perform for an audience of one.  Many of the assertions that they present as fact…are illogical and border on the absurd.  It is obvious that they are performing for the President alone.

How often have you been involved in an endeavor, be it church…or your employment…or your relationships, where you struggled to emulate or speak or act as a person in your life had indicated or instructed you to do?

How often have you, truly, wanted to say or do or act, in a manner that represented…who you are…and how you feel…and your honest thoughts on the matter?

There is something so refreshing when you meet an original human being!

Someone who is not saying or acting or mindlessly accepting what the, Boss, or the Preacher, or the President, told them to do.

A Lemming will follow their fellow Lemmings off a cliff

When something seems illogical or immoral or un-ethical…it probably is.

The freest and most enjoyable life that I know of is a life lived on your own terms…thinking for yourself…and acting on your personal convictions.

One of my best friends told me recently, that it appeared that I really did my own thing.  He is right…and I appreciated the great compliment.

Another friend, regrettably of my past, told me that I was a Renaissance Man,…of which I was honored and humbled.

Group Think and Mind Control are insidious aliments of our human family.

‘There are not may kinds of historical events in the world that are near impossible to comprehend.  Genocides, however, will always be one of them.  Possibly the most horrid and systematic genocide was the Holocaust, Nazi Germany’s mass murder of Jewish people in the 1930’s  and 1940’s.  There are many different arguments behind the causes of the Holocaust and the Nazi regime’s rise to power, but the problem is there is no one specific cause.  However, it could be argued that one of the most prominent causes was the psychological state of mind of everyone involved at the time.  Hitler’s anger and the country’s general anti-semitism, groupthink, fear and defense mechanisms, and deception are a number of key factors in an unstable psychological balance.  Though there were a lot of external causes, it was the way people reacted to these causes that truly infiltrated the Holocaust,’   according to Philadelphia University: Germany 2012

We must ask ourselves; are groups of people to be ostracized because our group says that they should be…is faith the ‘substance of things hoped for and the evidence of thing not seen’  or is it the marginalizing of large groups of our fellow human beings?

Is God so small that he created the Heaven and the Earth…and yet only cares about a fraction of his creation?