We the People

  There was a series on TV called “Life After People” (www.history.com). If you ever get a chance to see it, check it out. It doesn’t give an explanation of what happens to all people, it’s just showing what the world and the animals, plants, ocean life would be like without us around anymore.

  It’s a fascinating show to watch. There is incredible imagery showing what the deterioration will be like for various elements all throughout the world. It’s amazing how nature can just take over.

  For instance, consider that without us keeping up the dams, how many cities would be washed over, completely underwater. Wind and rain would batter the homes and buildings, even carving away at stone and concrete. Fires started by lightning would rage on.

  They said the Washington Monument would last several hundred years. The top pyramid part is made of aluminum. The monument could fall of course, but the very top, the pyramid part is pretty durable. And they also noted it has a phrase engraved on it: “Laus Deo” - Praise be to God.

  Will that be the final piece to fall when America goes under? Will anyone be around to say we Americans believed in God , we praised Him, we revered Him, and we lived by His word?

  The original Constitution is protected under an air-tight glass fixture. The show notes that it can be protected for over a 100 years, provided the structure around it keeps out the elements. Once the dome fractures, and sunlight hits the document, those beautiful words will further fade, I guess literally into the sunset.

  We the People who were here, did we live by the Constitution? Did we elect servants to abide by it and honestly act on our behalf for our best interests? Or was the Constitution just a bunch of words nobody really cared about or payed attention to?

   Before the monument deteriorates, before the words fade, let’s see if we can live up to the ideals our founding fathers built for us. Let’s hope we can endure. Theresa M

                                 Clara Don on Flickr  https://www.flickr.com/photos/florida_photo_guy/4352233691

Today's Voices, Tomorrow's Leaders

   Yet again another tragic shooting. A school in Florida. It happened on Valentine's Day. I'm sure you know about it.

   Love vs. Hate. Hope vs. Fear. Empowerment vs. Establishment.

   This time we find a phoenix emerging from the sorrows. From the very ones who were gunned down, come the voices of hope, voices for change, voices demanding protection.

   Again and again we see various viewpoints as to the whys and wherefores of lack of change in gun control laws, mental health treatment, and the like.

   Why does it take so many, many shootings for those in power, ie, our government, to see the real problem and do something about it? In a nutshell--money is their goal--which they get from special interest groups to empower them.

   Like Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) said at a CNN town hall meeting in Sunrise, FL on Feb 21, 2018, when asked about accepting NRA donations, he replied:

       "People buy into my agenda...I will always accept the help of anyone who agrees with my agenda."

   The teenagers who survived being gunned down have not stayed down. They are addressing the issue head on: this is not a 2nd Amendment problem. We have the right to own guns. But why do we need "weapons of war," as some of the teenagers have fittingly described it?

   We don't, bottom line. We have the military to defend our country, we have police to defend our neighborhoods. We may have a gun or two in our home to defend ourselves. Why in the world would we need weapons of war in our homes?

   May God strengthen these teenagers, help them to grow through this tragedy.   May they become the true leaders we so desperately need to protect us all.

   We stand with you, students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.  And all others joining the March for Our Lives on March 24, 2018.       Theresa M.

                 "Wisdom is better than weapons of war." Eccl. 9:18

https://www.flickr.com/photos/bigleaftropicals/26593597298/in/album-72157692080293461/

photo by Barry Stock on Flickr

Adjustments

  Why am I so drowsy today?  Yes, I stayed up late, mindlessly watching TV.  Slept in because I didn’t have to get up early but wanted to so I could study and write.

  Instead of beating myself up for doing what I knew I shouldn’t, I need to first accept I’m just tired.  I screwed up. No one’s fault. It just is. So get on back to the original plans for the day.

  Then of course something else comes up.  The toilet runs water off and on. Tried to figure that out, tampering here and there with adjustments levels, looking up utube fixes.  Always you can find it on utube!

  Back to plans for the day.  But the chair I’m sitting on keeps slipping off one of those do-hickeys, the bar you put your feet on.  Looked for ways to fix that. Adjustment here and there, well darn it, I’ll fix it later.

  Again back to today’s plans, but gosh I’m hungry, I haven’t eaten all day.  Go to take care of that.

  We all have days like that.  Probably, worse ones, huh? We always seem to have to go find adjustments.  Adjust to the situation, to the problem, to the plans, adjust your life.

  This adjustment-making seems to go hand in hand with acceptance--accept the things you’re powerless over, doesn’t mean you like what’s happening.  That’s just the way it is. Once you accept it, look for ways to adjust to the situation, ways that are helpful, useful, purposeful. That helps clear out a lot of the anxiety and restores power within.  I can deal with it. That reminds me of a favorite bible verse: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Phil 4:13.

Yes, and I tend to “adjust” that scripture a tad sometimes with “I can do all sorts of things through Christ…”  I say it with a chuckle of course believing that the Lord finds humor in that just as much as I do!

  So if there’s a problem--think it over.  Review it. Talk with others. Accept it for what it is.  Then make adjustments to deal with it. The problem could then very well go away.  Or at least not be as bothersome.

  If only life were so simple.  I think I’ll take a nap.    Theresa M

quote:  “Live in the solution, not the problem.” - AA wisdom

Theresa M

Wish You Were Here

A nightmare. Finding one’s self being taken from home, merged into a holding place; people rounded up like cattle. Being stripped of everything you own, including driver’s license, job, but especially of family, friends, and community. Country.

I try to imagine what it would be like if I was forced to go back to a place I lived in my childhood. A place not so pleasant. For any one of us, let’s imagine if it was a place of poverty, crime, torture, unrest. What would that feel like? To lose everything you have now in America and be forced to leave, to go back to a country you do not recognize, where you do not have friends, likely no family, no job. Nothing.

Live your life there, not here is what DACA immigrants (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) are facing.

Yes, there needs to be respect for the law, to follow immigration policies to enter and/or remain in our country. Yet those who came here as children really had no choice. But here they are living their lives, contributing to America (students, doctors, teachers, military, blue-collar workers). This is the country they know. This is the country they respect. This is the country they love. A path to citizenship is something they deserve.

I sent a letter to my congressmen in January about this. Here is an excerpt:

“How can an American stand back and watch the cruelty of leaving DACA immigrants struggling to breathe, struggling to trust, to understand his/her life’s values (while being) shaken about like loose change, waiting to be tossed into a wishing well: Maybe you get a chance, maybe you don’t…

“How cruel to make one linger in anguish. Is this not a form of torture?...Is this not inhumane? A lack of basic spiritual principles?...

“Will our America now be known as a nation of inhumane torturers?” Or we can help the DACA immigrants get a path to citizenship and thus be seen as a great nation worthy of being called “UNITED.”

Whatever your views on this, simply remember the sweat, the blood, the tears, the sorrows, the inhumane treatment, the shunning - of your own immigrant ancestors.

Yet here we are. Theresa M.

Quote: “If we fail to suffer with those who suffer, even those of different, religions, languages, or cultures, we need to question our own humanity.” -Pope Francis

Power to the People

   Squeals of delight! Cheers! ‘Thank you’s’ shared. Is 

this a ball game? A wedding? No, it is simply that

someone turned the lights on.

   This was in a school in Puerto Rico late January 2018.

I saw and read on news programs how delighted the

children were to have electricity - lights back on!

Back in September 2017 a horrible hurricane devastated

Puerto Rico. Most of the country has been (and still is)

without electricity for months.

   So this was like a miracle for these kids.  They had been

delayed returning to school to begin with due to

destruction of these buildings and their homes.

   The power of electricity is far-reaching.  It's impact on

our daily lives is pretty much taken for granted.  In my 

lifetime it was always there.  Except once in a while

when it wasn't.  As a kid there were times our electric was

cut off due to dad not being able to pay the bill.  I

remember late one fall hurrying home from school to be 

able to do my homework before it got dark.  I don't

remember us even owning a flashlight, and candles were 

sparse.  I remember feeling sad, feeling scared.

   Food couldn't be kept fresh.  I don't even remember

what we ate, bread and something.  It sure was good

to have a hot meal at school.  Just think - the kids

in Puerto Rico couldn't even get that for months.

   One afternoon walking home from school one of my
sisters caught up to me to tell me "the electricity's back

on!"  She was delighted!  So was I! I ran home to see. 

Yes, there was light! I don't remember squealing; I don't

remember cheering; I don't remember thanking anyone. 

I do remember feeling grateful.  (All these years later I

give thanks to the Lord who makes all things possible.)

   Some of us today need to remember times in our lives

like this.  To remember what we've gone through,

what we felt.  To remember as a child we were powerless

to fix the problem.  Children depend on adults to help

them through with problems big and small.  That help is

not only from immediate family but extends on to those in

government, with programs like FEMA, state agencies etc.

   And if you've never had such an experience, you can
still imagine it.  Better yet, turn off the power yourself, and

live without it for awhile.  Not a good feeling, huh? Let us

bring power to the people.          Theresa M

Addendum:   CBS reporter David Begnaud reported from

Puerto Rico this weekend that the power there is still

not on in many places, and even where it is there have

been blackouts.  Let's keep them in our prayers;

may God empower them.

Living Lessons of Life

     Should we know where we’re going? Aren’t there many “experts” out there who direct us to make goals, make money, become powerful, become - somebody? Is one not enough just to be?

     This sounds too philosophical for me so I dare not venture too far (as if I’m an expert on this)! I’ve made goals from time to time, and money, oh, yes that huge requisite for ownership to get by in life. Powerful? Please. I do believe however, that we are all sending powerful lessons to others throughout our lives, simply by living our lives.

     Whether we want to or not, we constantly teach others about life, about attitudes, about values, about priorities, about what it means to be human.

     We don’t always have a choice in what the outcome of our “lessons” will be for others. A lot depends on the receiver’s ability or their own willingness to learn from others and to take a self-inventory to determine if one needs to grow, change, adjust or simply continue as is.

     The lessons start of course in our childhood. Parents, guardians, teachers, other adults are living their lives - some conscious of their behavior, some not, but the child absorbs the lessons, with the mind of a child. Concrete. I remember when I was about 5 or 6 years old, having my mom be told by another adult that dad “got fired” from his job.   I could sense something wrong, fearful, was going on. I remember thinking he had actually caught on fire! I really believed he was burned! Only later when I saw him I found he wasn’t burned at all! Somebody along the way explained what being fired from a job meant. Still I sense dread thinking of that phrase today. 

     But growing up and on - so many factors will affect the lessons. Sure, structured lessons like school, college, job training; and unstructured ones from friends or from busy-bodies knowing what’s-good-for-you. A lot of these are obvious. But not so obvious is what I said before - simply living our lives.

     One person may be impressed by you and want to emulate you; another may think you’re crazy! You don’t have a choice in what they learn. You are simply the teacher.

     We certainly can get an idea of what kind of lessons we’re providing to others. Take a self-inventory. Do I lie? Do I cheat? Do I work hard or am I lazy? Do I pray? Do I care? Do I have to be in the limelight? Do I have to receive constant approval? Do I accept my faults? Do I forgive myself and others? I could go on and on.

     Personal choice.  Personal inventory. You are a teacher and a student - simply by living life.         

          Theresa M.