You Are Cordially Invited

You are cordially invited for afternoon tea and sweets.

I want to show you my new flower beds filled with exotic flowers.

We can catch up on old times and friends as we sit in the garden.

Oh, by the way, don't let the hedge bother you. My gardener has a strange sense of humor. Besides, he thinks he's artistic.

"Did you hear about 'so&so'? Oh yes, they broke up. It was a nasty thing."

"Buzz, Buzz, Buzz........ etc, etc, Blah, Blah, Blah, etc.....," thinking all the while, "There! That will fix them!"

But don't be led down the garden path by sweet promises of sweet treats.

Evil lurks in the Garden of Even.

Ego vs. Will

What a grand and glorious world we live in!

It's filled with love and doubt, peace and chaos... that list goes on ad infinitum. I see the facets and am amazed.

First I wonder how people can think that this world has evolved. Can't they see the sense of order amongst the ruins of what we humans do? One only needs to look skyward to see the order of things. Why would this not include Earth and all its beauty?

Second, as far as the dis-order is concerned... Who caused it? I doubt it was the animals or the vegetation of the earth that did it. No. WE were the ones who God gave dominion over this earth and its creatures, great and small. We should hang our heads in shame over what we have done.

And third... there is no problem without a solution. In fact, a problem is merely a solution in disguise waiting to be discovered.

The way I see it, some things don't need to be fixed. They simply need to be left alone. The 'civilized' world isn't all that civilized. It's a brutal system of haves and have-nots. My thinking is that God should have adjusted that gene or the DNA to further the humanity of mankind. But then it wouldn't be free will would it?

The world is a perfect example of free will run riot. The haves steal from the have-nots to further their own inner cravings while the have-nots spin deeper and deeper into poverty and worse. It's a tale as old as mankind, but that doesn't make it right.

People spend millions of dollars to feel safe behind locked doors with security systems at their fingertips, complete with panic rooms, electronic safety cards and the ever present system of cameras invading the very privacy we relish so much. What ever gave people the idea that this world is a safe place to be to begin with? Or that it is supposed to be? Ask any person living in a place where there is none of this... a jungle or outlying plain... about safety. See what their perspective of safety is.

"Oh, I couldn't live that way," you cry. You're probably right. This society we live in has softened our instincts. This society with all the trappings of safety and overindulgence is a far cry from the pioneers who built this country. This society is a nation of crybabies and whiners who want something for nothing. And those with the most cry the loudest. We should hang our heads in shame over what we have done.

Out of disorder comes order. Not the other way around. 'Solutions' come in the form of trillion dollar fixes, money, which by the way, isn't even available. The government, in my opinion, should let us take care of ourselves. Certainly there will always be people in need. For those there should be provisions.

But even within families now there is the idea that people are disposable like so much garbage. You get old, you go to a nursing home. You have some sort of mental or physical disability, you get institutionalized. Except for extreme cases, that was unheard of when I was growing up. People cared for their older family members. They cared for their children and other members who were challenged. They didn't throw them away.

But people are 'too busy' now. After all, they have their own lives. They can't be bothered to do the right thing. That would be too much of a burden. Poor, poor babies that can't do the right thing.

Who said that we are supposed to accumulate material things at a rate that is beyond our income? Who said that our children deserve more and better than what we ourselves had? And at no cost to them? No cost meaning no discipline, no chores, no responsibilities? I worked in my household from the time I could stand on a chair to help out with doing the dishes and I'm not dead yet. Going out to play was something I did IF there was time, time after the chores and my responsibilities to my household were done.

Who said that when people get old that they should sell off their life accomplishments and go live in a room that resembles a jail cell and let strangers tend to their personal care needs? My grandfather lived in my mother's house until the day he died when he could no longer take care of himself. He was in his 90s. My mother, now in her 80s, still lives in her own home and my sister lives with her continuing the legacy. Who said people outlive their usefulness? We should hang our heads in shame over what we have done.

The world has grown at a rate never seen before. The population has exploded. But Earth can take care of itself. Everything is too fast... the population, the way things operate at full speed ahead. People weren't meant to live in huge cities stacked on top of each other in skyscrapers. It isn't natural. We have basic needs that aren't being met.

Of course there is going to be chaos when we don't get them. We need sunlight and fresh air to breathe. We need clean water and nutritional foods. The air is foul due to pollution and our bodies struggle with all manner of diseases in reaction to the nutrients we are depriving ourselves of. Our foods are tainted by genetic altering and human growth hormone and antibiotic additives.

The world is a mess. But as I said, the Earth can take care of itself. There is a reason all those diseases exist. It's a biological reaction to the toxins creating the chaos. And so Earth kills off a few hundred thousand people every year just to try to remain alive.

Earth's atmosphere is delicate and any imbalance will set off a series of actions and reactions. Did you really think that the increased frequency of natural disasters is a coincidence? Famine and disease in our faces should show us how to be helpful and compassionate. But does that really encourage us? Not likely. We're too busy over here in our own little corner doing things that don't really matter.

Six words could cure the world of all its ills if it would only listen. SIX WORDS!!! "Too simple", you say. I beg to differ. Because if while we were in our little corner of the world we truly TOOK CARE OF IT, the world as a whole would lack nothing.

• TRUST GOD
• CLEAN HOUSE
• HELP OTHERS

Those are the six words that could cure the world.

Trust God - In every action, every thought, trust God with every aspect of your life. Know in your heart of hearts that He will guide you and take care of you and that without Him you are lost... forever.

Clean House - Take care of your own little corner of the world. My corner of the world consists of a few people. I should do everything in my power to be right with them, get along with them, be good to them... and to myself... and mind my own business. After God, this is the most important thing to be concerned with... just my little corner of the world.

Help Others - If I am right with God and the few people in my life, THEN I should seek to help others. It means taking care of your own... your own relatives, your own friends and THEN, the rest of the world. And again, and I can't stress this enough, mind my own business.

No matter where you live, the USA or the bottom of the world, if you were to apply these principles then the world would be in better shape than it is now. If every 'have' minded their own business, they would most likely retain what they have. If every 'have-not' tended to their own affairs and took some responsibility for inhaling the same air that everyone else does they would perhaps not feel so helpless and hopeless.

In the end all we really sacrifice is our ego and it wasn't worth anything anyway. EGO = Easing God Out. If we find Him, we have the whole world at our disposal. In conclusion, let me ask you... Will you live a life that in the end you have to hang your head in shame over what you have done? I am here to tell you, it doesn't have to be that way. Have a great journey...

A Long Walk Off A Short Pier

A long walk off a short pier doesn't seem very appealing. It has always felt like a brush off from someone you wish would like you. Being cursed to the deep is a pretty lonely stretch of plank. It signifies the final thrust into the unknown. It combines being up the creek without a paddle and being sold down the river into a translucent jelly-like state of non-existence. So why is this scene so peaceful?

It is a near exact replica of a place I used to go in the not too distant past. I would go there to find solace amidst pain or to 'ground myself,' as I always said. The mornings were always misty with the veil of a wispy fog until the sun rose high enough to burn it off. Then you could see clear across the lake. I always thought it strange what hides behind the fog.

I'd sit for hours sometimes waiting for that first peek of a ray. The sky would lighten from darker to lighter and with the coming sun I felt my hopes rise. Whatever the problem, it was always easier to deal with in the light of day. The sharp edges of the night cut like a knife and the shadows are the hiding places of bogeymen and goblins. But that one ray - that gave me a renewed vigor.

And so today... far removed from this peaceful sight, I sit cyberly staring out over the water trying to pierce the fog with my myopia. There's not a ripple on the water and the birds have not yet taken their heads out from under their wings. The dragonflies are revving up their wings for flight while I hear the faint sound of traffic in the background as the town beings to come to life.

My big toe touches the water and the ripple begins...........................

As it radiates out in concentric circles, I realize why I have come. Each circle is like the next. Each one entrapped inside another. All from one tiny push in the center, layer upon layer they spiral outward. Suddenly I don't feel so all alone. Suddenly I know what the circles mean.

I am reminded of a day long ago in 1989 when I had heard that my father had passed on. We had changed our differences into a special bond. The song you're listening to is one I heard just after he died. "The Living Years," that was a new concept to me at the time. All I know is I was glad once I heard it that we had mended our fences.

We are all connected, however briefly, however remotely, with each other. There are those who believe we are no more than six degrees of separation from any other being on this earth. I come here today because I hurt... again.

My brother died the day after Christmas. I cried as I read it in the paper. I cried more because no one thought I deserved to know. I cried more for me than I did for him. Isn't that the way of grief?

But I wouldn't have called it grief until two days ago. We had had our differences. What siblings don't? But our rift was like that fog, nothing really tangible, but placing each one of us in a line of vision that neither of us was able to see clearly. Sad, I know. And now with him gone, any hope of reconciliation is gone with him. I think that hurts more than anything.

But all too soon the fog will burn off and I will be left in the stark reality of the blazing sun. It isn't even here yet and I can feel the guilt and regret that comes with its scorching touch. Oh, how I despise the 'if onlys.' Perhaps he is wiser now wherever he is. I hope so.

In the meantime, I will just sit here a little while longer and drink in the start of a new day with all its hopes and dreams. I'll tap the water with my toe a few times to remind me of the inter-connectedness in this world. And I will set out to live this day so that, in any tomorrow I am fortunate to live, it will not become one of regret. And then perhaps when I revisit this place, it will once again be a place of solace and comfort.

Tap, tap, tap... Even though.....

"The" List

OK, OK... Enough already with the semi-idolatrous, borderline adulterous revelry of the weekend. Throw those paper hats away. Keep one of those stupid little horns though so you can announce your arrival at some distant party in June. Just think, you'll be the only one with a horn. My God, won't that be special?

And now for the other matter - the list. What list, say you? Come on!!! You know the one. Every sentence on it begins with I wish or I want to or I'm going to... Or maybe you are one who has the stark impersonal list filled with just nouns and verbs. It merely says diet, smoking cessation, less drinking. And it's typed. No harm done there in case it's seen by prying eyes. Ah yes, it's the New Year's Resolution List. You sit there doing your very best Bambi in the headlights impersonation. (You're not very good at it, by the way.)

Well, I outsmarted myself this year. It was the first time in a very long time I didn't even bother to make a list. I decided to revert to an old plan I have for lists, except I was never so bold as to use it for the New Year's List before. No, no. That New Year's List is no everyday, mediocre, run-of-the-mill list. No, Sir! It's unique, nearly sacred, the Lists of Lists, and is to be treated as such...

Until this year, that is. I am reducing it to child's play. I am taking the bogeyman out of it. I am exposing it, once and for all, for what it really is - just one more curve that life throws you that helps you to feel bad about yourself.

I RESOLVE TO FEEL GOOD ABOUT ME THIS YEAR... 2010... PERIOD!!!

So here's the plan...

My last post was about having a clean slate... each day, each week, each month... you pick the increment. (Personally, I like month. It gives me a good time span to really forget about the list - and that's a good thing, you'll see why.)

What I do is send myself an email from the calendar in my email to remind me to check the list... on the fifteenth of every month. I avoid the first of the month so that it isn't lost in the bill paying fiasco. By the time the middle of the month comes around, I'm looking for a lift.

Now you can go out and get yourself a slate, (the symbolism won't be lost on it), but, quite frankly, I find that paper works the best for me. (I have this new thing now. I'm obsessed with index cards for some reason... hoo hoo... there's my list!)

You can give it any caption you want. You can state what it actually is - The New Year's Resolution List, or you can have fun with it and name it George for all it matters. Just give it a name that suits YOU. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks about it. Mine simply says "Accomplishments." (You'll see why in a bit.)

Don't number it. In fact, don't write anything on it at all because here comes the tricky part. Let's say your goal is to lose 25 pounds. In your first week (if that is your increment) you have lost two pounds. On your list you would write... 'Lose two pounds.' If you have other ideas about what you would like to accomplish this year, then every time you accomplish one segment of it, whether it's losing a pound or being smoke-free for one day, write it on the list.

When you consult the list at the ordained time chosen by you, you will see a list of accomplishments rather than failures. In fact, if you write the list correctly, you can honestly say that you have done everything on your list and that you are succeeding in whatever your goals are.

It's an uplifting and encouraging exercise, a kind expression of love to yourself. Now who couldn't use a little of that in the coming year? Happy Listing!!!

p.s. everything on my list is done so far... except for that one thing... dammit!