Aaron and I saw the movie, Darkest Hour, Sunday.

I am a rabid Winston Churchill Fan!

I have been intrigued in the power of his leadership of Great Britain during World War II.

The excellent movie, with Gary Oldham portraying Churchill, illustrated the dire condition that England was in when he was named Prime Minister in May of 1940 following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain.

Chamberlain, who was the Prime Minister of England for the first nine months of WWII, declared after his signing of the Munich Agreement that it meant, ‘peace for our time.’

‘The Munich Agreement was a settlement permitting Nazi Germany’s annexation of portions of Czechoslovakia along the country’s borders mainly inhabited by German speakers, for which a new territorial designation, the ‘Sudetenland,’ was coined.’   Wikipedia

The, Darkest Hour, so expertly illustrated the almost certainty of defeat for England…if they did not negotiate surrender.

Churchill was pulled back from the brink of surrender, as portrayed in the movie, by a ride in the London subway, The Tube, and talking with London residents on the train.  When he was exposed to the extreme courage of the people of England…he knew that they must fight to the end of either victory or a noble defeat.

The majestic power of Winston Churchill’s oratory and his unshakeable conviction of the strength of the English people…was inspiring.

Our friends, in London, have told us of the vivid memories that many Londoners have of the nightly bombing and the fear and the devastation of the Luftwaffe.

We are sorely in need of a Churchill in our time.

We need someone who has the ability to rally the American People to rise to become their best selves.

As depicted in the film and as is born out in history…Churchill believed in the people of Great Britain and they believed in him.

Their bond was forged in the fire of War.

Indeed, our great nation…with its’ myriad of problems and divisions…desperately requires a leader that will unite us rather than divide us…and who has the motivation of a stateswoman or statesman.

Nothing else will take the simple humanity of an elected human being…and endow them with the extraordinary vision that is required for…the,  Darkest Hour.

Aaron and I so enjoyed seeing, Churchill’s Bunkers depicted in the film, as we had toured it during our first visit to London.

Much of England’s prosecution of the War occurred from the Bunkers.  The Bunkers had sleeping and eating facilities along with clerical facilities and a small office for Churchill.

To walk through the small and somewhat claustrophobic area that the Prime Minister of England planned War maneuvers…was sobering and inspiring.

Today, a book about President Trump’s White House, has been released.

I went to our local Barnes and Noble Booksellers, this afternoon, and it is already sold out.

Mary Jane ordered the book, Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff, who has written for both USA Today and Vanity Fair.  It appears that they have sold out as well.

The President’s, former, key policy advisor, Steve Bannon, is quoted extensively in the, already, bestseller.

President Trump tweeted on January the 3rd saying that Bannon, ‘had lost his mind’ after leaving the White House.

‘Trump expected to lose the presidential race to Democrat Hillary Clinton and had already planned to return to private life after the campaign was over.  Wolff explains what Trump was thinking toward the end of the campaign:’   CNBC

‘Once he lost, Trump would be both insanely famous and a martyr to Crooked Hillary.  His daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared would be international celebrities.  Steve Bannon would become the de facto head of the tea-party movement.  Kellyanne Conway would be a cable-news star. Melanie Trump, who had been assured by her husband that he wouldn’t become president, could return to inconspicuously lunching.  Losing would work out for everybody.  Losing was winning.’   Fire and Fury

‘Early in the Campaign, Sam Nunberg was sent to explain the Constitution to the Candidate.  ‘I got as far as the fourth amendment,’ Nunberg recalled, ‘before his finger is pulling down on his lip and his eyes are rolling back in he’s head.’   Fire and Fury

‘Trump retreated to his own bedroom-the first time since the Kennedy White House that a presidential couple had maintained separate rooms.  In the first days he ordered two television screens in addition to the one already there, and a lock on the door, precipitating a brief standoff with the Secret Service, who insisted they have access to the room.  He reprimanded the housekeeping staff for picking up his shirt from the floor.  ‘If my shirt is on the floor it is because I want it on the floor.’  …’Also he would let housekeeping know when he wanted his sheets done, and he would strip his own bed.’   Fire and Fury

‘Bannon says meeting involving Jared Kushner, Donald Trump Jr., and Russians was ‘treasonous’ and ‘unpatriotic’.   Business Insider

‘On Friday, Wolff said White House officials say the president repeats himself with alarming frequency.’

‘They’ve all tracked this,’  Wolff told Guthrie.  ‘In the beginning is was like every 25 minutes or 30 minutes you would get the same three stories repeated.  Now it’s the same three stories in every 10 minutes.’

‘When Guthrie pressed Wolff to say what that suggests, Wolff replied: ‘I will quote Steve Bannon: He’s lost it.’   People

A few days ago our President tweeted, in response to North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un’s assertion that he had the nuclear button on his desk, that his, ‘Nuclear Button’ Is ‘Much Bigger’ Than North Korea’s’   New York Times

Many of the assertions in Mr. Wolff’s book have already been corroborated and many more are troubling exclamations that have been spoken throughout 2017.

So, concerns are real.

It is not about Republicans or Democrats…it is about the safety of our planet.

The New Year is in it’s infancy…do we want to end it in nuclear war?

Let us remove all political differences.  Let us remove all partisan politics…I am an Independent…but I do feel strongly regarding the viability of the human race!

I fully understand that if President Trump was removed from office for health reasons or criminal activity, High Crimes and Misdemeanors, that Vice President Mike Pence, would become the President.

It is past time for our elected legislatures, both Democrat and Republican, to step up to their sober position and seriously examine the competency of our President.

Does it really take the hurt and injury and damage of our elected legislature, both in the House and Senate, family and friends, and personal viability for re-election,…before they have the political and, Statesman and Stateswoman courage to do the job that they were elected to do and that we, the taxpayers, are paying them to to do?

Will the end of this nightmare be…nuclear fury and fire and holocaust…and the sad realization that we should have seen the signs and heard the alarms sounded and and thought more about the health of the world and the protection of the people…than or own political expediency and pocket book?

New York, UNITED STATES: TO GO WITH AFP STORY “Americans mark 9/11 anniversary with new questions on vulnerability” – This 11 September 2001 file photo shows Marcy Borders covered in dust as she takes refuge in an office building after one of the World Trade Center towers collapsed in New York. Borders was caught outside on the street as the cloud of smoke and dust enveloped the area. The woman was caught outside on the street as the cloud of smoke and dust enveloped the area. AFP PHOTO/Stan HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

UNITED STATES – SEPTEMBER 11: Firefighter covered with ash after World Trade Center collapsed in terrorist attack. (Photo by Thomas Monaster/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images)

‘

I am trying something for the first time in the New Year.  Writing from the Coffee Shop.

I have thought about bringing my lap top to the Shop and enjoying the freedom of mobile writing and the inspiration of the people that pass by…for seven years.

I am not prone to snap decisions.

We have a few coffee shops in Carbondale but Panera seems to be a busy happening place.

Thus far the New Year is good and productive.  I have written eight pages, or the Forward, of my book.

Now I have written significant parts of books before but this one promises to be a more fluid experience as it is the story of my career at Southern Illinois University.

Mary Jane has been, gently reminding me, for many years that I could write a book regarding my experiences at SIU…and I finally decided to take her advice.  She is often right.

As I said, earlier, I often take a long time to make a snap decision.

It is cold here in Southern Illinois.  Bitterly cold.  Colder than it has been since 1998.

And, before the winter of 98’…the prolonged frigid weather for our region was 1989.

Our Boston Terriers have winter coats…but they do not like them.  Brody runs from his and then comes back into the house and shivers for several minutes.

As people pass the window of the Coffee Shop…they appear very cold.

Mary Jane and I, when considering a Caribbean  cruise for this year, had the option of January or the spring…the spring appeared better in September…now I have doubts about our decision.

Well, this year can be what we make of it.  I have found that there are many elements of life that I can not control.  However there is one that I can…and that is my decision on how to react to what life brings me.

Attitude is the key to happiness.

There will always be negative people who see the dark cloud hovering over their every move.  Changing a persons’ bleak outlook is an interesting challenge….but it must not take all of your time..

There is a transition to life after the Holidays.  For six to seven weeks, from Thanksgiving to New Years Day, regular patterns of life are disrupted.  Now, this disruption is often a enjoyable experience, but it is not ‘Ordinary Time’ as the Presbyterian Church would say.

However, the ability to see the excitement and joy and possibilities of life throughout the year…is the road that leads to happiness and purpose in the seemingly, Ordinary Days.

Peace in our troubled world begins with us.

I like to reflect on the many seemingly ordinary or mundane or repetitive elements of my life that I would sorely miss…if this was the last day that I could engage in them.

Now, there is a constant stream of hungry people entering the Coffee Shop.

I hear bits of conversations about; closing on a house, purchasing a cell phone, the terrible cold, and University matters.

I just saw the former President of SIU pass by my window.  A friend of mine.

Our life is comprised of millions of Ordinary Moments and repetitive actions mixed with love and concern and challenges and rewards.

A birthday celebration has just erupted!  The singing of Happy Birthday To You…sounded like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir!

Is it not great to be…in the game!

So, it is New Year’s Eve and the promise of adventures and accomplishments and love and laughter…await us!

I have a book planned for the New Year that I want to complete in the first quarter.

Upon completion, if I can not find a publisher…I think that I will self publish.

Jonathon and i began the task of putting up the Christmas decorations for 2017.  Mary Jane suggested that we put up all but the Christmas Trees, today, and then the remainder tomorrow.  It was a great idea.  Mary Jane is so smart!

As I placed the family heirloom Christmas Nativities and Santa’s and Dickens Christmas Village in the Christmas Closet…I thought how I hope that I will be getting them out next November.

This life is tenuous and brief and full of surprises…enjoy every minute!

Also, life is what we make it.

I have discovered things that I love to do and they awaken me with excitement, each morning, as to what adventures they will bring me that day.

I think that we must stop gauging ourselves by what others think of us?

It is okay to be different.

I saw a homeless person, in the bitter cold yesterday, and drove by.

Jonathon and and I went back to see if they were still there…but they were gone.

Actions speak much louder than words.  I am going to look into volunteering at the Good Samaritan House in our town.

I am going to investigate my ancestry in 2018.

My sister Tammy has already found many of our ancestors…and I hope to add to the number.

I wonder if each of us can wake up in the morning…and believe that January 1, 2018 is, indeed the first day of our lives?

What have you always wanted to do but been afraid to try?

What country have you always wanted to visit…but have been apprehensive regarding the different language or customs or just the long flight?

What have you always wanted to say and to express and to exclaim…’This Is My Truth!’

2018 is the magical year that all of these wishes can come true!

How many people can you help in 2018?

Karma is real.

How many people can I make smile in 2018?

The world is full of possibilities and we are here for a reason…let us practice…for 2018…Immersion in what could be…if we just believe!

Jonathon and I attended our friends’ funeral today.

John Q. was the type of person that you just enjoyed being around.  He had a wonderful sense of humor and he enjoyed people and he would be extremely honest with whoever he was speaking with.

John Q. was genuine!

Genuineness is magnetic.

I came away pondering a great thought regarding a person’s spiritual journey.

It is impossible to know of another human being’s spiritual journey.

One, good christian, may attend church every time the doors are open and give their money and serve on committees…and the spiritual journey of life…is lost upon them.

Another person may work hard and enjoy hunting and fishing and the camaraderie of their friends…and love people and treat them as they would like to be treated…and know the Creator in their heart and spirit…while their’ church may have been the woods and their pew a boat on the lake and their testimony…the love of many friends.

Pansy J. has passed from us.

Pansy was one of the kindest people that it was ever my privilege to know.

Pansy did so many wonderful things for those in need and we who crossed her path.

I remember Pansy being the President of the Civil Service Council, in my early years as a member of the group, and her words of encouragement to me as a new member.

I recall one instance, in particular, where a colleague was making, veiled, disparaging public remarks regarding me and my subsequent decision to resign from the Council rather than endure the untruths that the person was perpetuating.

My friend, Pansy, told me to not resign and that the Council needed me and that she needed me.

That was enough for me…and I stayed…and I am glad that I did.

Pansy has been battling illness for some time and periodically we emailed each other and she always told me that I was a special friend…I was humbled and honored.

Pansy and I both talked about how we came from a poor start in life and the blessings of God and SIU and our roads to some achievement.

When Pansy was in my corner…I knew that I was alright.

Have you ever known someone that was soft-spoken but powerful…and a person that used their power and influence for good and to mentor many others?  That was Pansy J.

Not goodbye, John and Pansy,  we will see you again.

Jonathan and I just saw the movie, The Greatest Showman, and enjoyed it immensely!

This was a feel good movie with a message for our time.

The movie is an adaption of the life of the famous Circus founder, P.T. Barnum.

Barnum’s Circus was noted for its’ performers who were different or out of the ordinary.

General Tom Thumb was a dwarf.

There was the Bearded Lady.

There were giants and very the obese and Siamese Twins.

There were also people of color who performed alongside the others in an equal setting.

‘Being called different is like being called limited edition.  Meaning you’re something people don’t see that often.  Remember that.’   http://www.livelifehappy.com

‘I don’t set out to be Different, I set out to be ME…people think its’ different.’

There is a compelling compulsion to follow the crowd in social and religious and political and all facets of life.

I wore a necktie during the entirety of my 25 year career at SIU.

I hate neckties.

Our churches, often, attract people who look like and act like and come from similar life and economic situations.

We are born with no preconceived notions regarding race.

If we have prejudice or bias…we…first….were taught these concepts by our parents and our ‘Tribe.’

Children, gather on the playground or in the gym or in their cliques of people that they perceive are like them…and segregate other children who for a variety of reasons…do not make the cut.

It could be body image or ethnicity or clothing or religion…that places some children on the outside…looking in.

When will we realize that our diversity is our strength?

There is a terrible rationale to compare ourselves with others who are different than we are and to believe that we are better than them.

The predominate Value System we have, in our Country and across the world, is to measure a persons value and wisdom and leadership ability and worth…by the money they have been able to accumulate.

Rosa Parks was not rich…but she was courageous and she had a mighty effect on U.S. society.

Helen Keller, who was deaf and mute and blind…was wise and a teacher and a tremendous leader.

Mother Theresa lived among the poorest of the poor in India…and her ministry reached around the world…today she is a saint.

When we finally choose to open our eyes to the beautiful diversity and wonder of the entire human family…then we can solve any of our world’s problems and set at the same table to break bread and give thanks…for what God hath wrought.

There are 4 days left.

Each year, about this time, I think back on the year that was.

I remember watching our new President looking, fondly, at his youngest son at his Inauguration.

Mary Jane and I were invited to Florida by Ron and Ira Kaye and it was so unexpected and such a nice surprise.  Mary Jane drank, my favorite drink, a Dirty Martini…and enjoyed it.

We had a lovely trip to Gatlinburg, Tennessee at the end of March and the first of April…and the wonder and beauty and gift…of our new family…warmed my heart…and I want to repeat the experience.

I was afraid that I might be very ill… and found out that I was not…and wondered again…and appreciated the gift of life that God has given me.

Massive budget reductions at my great University, SIU, made me aware of discussion of privatization of services…such as the department that I worked my career in…Building Services.  This worst fear…did not happen…and I am grateful to the President and Chancellor, at that time, for their consideration and wisdom.

I have been inspired to write in a manner that I have not experienced before.  Others may not care for the prose…but it has been the counterpoint or lodestone of my life in 2017.

My dear brother, Brock, and my sweet sister-in-law, Marcy, and my precious niece, Jaime, visited in July…and we missed my handsome nephew, Jeb.

Again, at our kind buddies invitation, we spent a week in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We attended the Opera.

We had the great opportunity to visit, again, with Brock and Marcy in October.  I would like to see them everyday!

And, so, the Holidays are here.  We had a Happy Christmas and look forward with prayer and kind thoughts toward a New Year of Peace and Inclusiveness and Understanding and Communication.

We end the year with a new Tax Plan for our Country.

We are getting a tax reduction as is our son.

AT&T, upon the Tax Plan being voted into law, gave many of their employees a $1000 Christmas Bonus.

AT&T announced that they are laying off 2000 people.

A number of AT&T Staff who received the ‘capital freeing $1000 Bonus’, are on the chopping block.

‘Donald Trump ‘will take care of it’ after North Korea fires ballistic missile ‘capable of striking anywhere in US.’    The Telegraph

My friend, Peter, sang this James Taylor song at our Christmas Eve Service:

‘Some children see Him lily white,

The baby Jesus born this night.

Some children see Him lily white,

With tresses soft and fair.

Some children see Him bronzed and brown,

The Lord of Heav’n to earth come down.

Some children see Him bronzed and brown,

With dark and heavy hair.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,

This Savior whom we kneel beside.

Some children see Him almond-eyed,

With skin of yellow hue.

Some children see Him dark as they,

Sweet Mary’s Son to who we pray.

Some children see him dark as they,

And, ah!  they love Him, too!

The children in each different place

Will see the baby Jesus’ face

Like theirs, but bright with heavenly grace,

And filled with holy light.

O lay aside each earthly thing

And with thy heart as offering,

Come worship now the infant King.

Tis love that’s born tonight!’

Songwriters: A. Burt/W. Hutson

I walked around Campus Lake today, as is my custom on Christmas Eve, and saw the majesty of God’s Creation and the demonstrated love for Christmas.

I happened upon a flock of Geese…which is unusual for me.

I thought of the passage of scripture in the book of Isaiah 11: 1-9

‘And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;

And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.

And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.

And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.’   KJV

The tradition of decorating the bare trees that line the walkway around Campus Lake, has flourished this year.

I received some very sad news today that my friend and colleague, of many years, John Q., had passed away yesterday due to a heart attack.

John was a gentleman and a professional and an extremely hard worker.

Whenever there was a job, in Building Services, that needed to be done in a excellent manner…I called on John Q.

I take with him earlier this year.  He was, as always, refreshing and funny and genuine.

My son, Jonathon had lunch with him Friday.

John told Jonathon that he missed me….I miss him.

So when we gather around our Christmas Trees and share gifts and love and laughter…give an extra hug or kind word… or express what a loved one… and friend …means to you.