One Person

Quote by Brandi Snyder:

To the world you may be one person but to one person you may be the world.

When we as human beings are in trouble and need help, it may be one person who comes to our aid.  To us, that person is the world to us because of their kindness, compassion and willingness to help.  If we all had to walk in the shoes of the person who is a refugee, someone who is homeless and has nothing to eat or feed their family members, a war prisoner who is being tortured, individuals with no access to water, people who are suffering pain, or those who are dying.  "But for the grace of God, go I."  Why am I privileged to be comfortable and have adequate resources for my life? Our lives can change in an instant, with no warning.  We can lose someone we love by death, lose our job, our home and our world as we know it in the blink of an eye.  There is no guarantee. the kindness we do for others will come around and someone will be compassionate to us.  Let us be the first one to reach out and care what happens to those we come in contact with.  We don't have to "save the world."  We can make a difference for those we know are hurting. We are only one person. To the person who needs us, we are the the representative of the world.  We can empower each other to become a better person.

Power of Love

I recently saw a bumper sticker:

When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will find peace.

 A very simple statement with so much wisdom.  I think about the political debates and world issues.  It comes down to the difference between love and greed/power.  If we can reach in our hearts and find love and acceptance of each other, we can make decisions based on love rather than power and dominion over others.  The world is growing smaller with technology and limited resources.  We are all in the world and need each other if we are all going to be able to survive.  We need peaceful means to preserve our world by reducing pollution, waste, landfills, global warming, wars that take away needed resources for creative and sustainable endeavors, disease, and marginalized communities.  We can begin to collaborate to solve world-wide issues such as renewable energy, adequate food and water for all, jobs, housing, education, medical advances, safety of our environment, peace, and provide hope.  We have the resources and need to share them with each other.  There is no room for hate and greed, selfishness and prejudice. Anger is the absence of love.  Love can not co-exist with hate.  With forgiveness and tolerance, we can begin to move forward to make this world a beautiful, safe and satisfying experience for each person.  Life is so brief but we have the opportunity to make a difference.  Choose love not hate.  Peace instead of war.  Do the right thing because it is the right thing to do!  With God all things are possible!

voting with hope

I pray today that voters will choose candidates who will rise to the occasion and become true leaders with compassion, courage, honesty, honor, and diplomacy.  It would be very sad to have a leader who promotes negativity, selfishness, anger, vindictiveness, prejudice, vulgarity and dishonors our country.  We have a responsibility to elect representatives who bring us back to our roots to promote peace, respect for all, freedom of beliefs, rights to peace and happiness, and safety from prejudice and terror.  Life is never perfect but in our country we can reach to the stars and have hope for the future.
We are a country founded on faith and a belief in the integrity of the individual and the country.  We can't be bought by empty promises, money and rhetoric. We can be proud and proactive.  Your vote counts!  Your life and the lives of the world count.  We are all human beings with the same basic needs and wants.  If we help each other, we can make this a better world.  Voting is powerful if we use it wisely.  I pray that God helps us in our choices.  I have a belief in the overall goodness in all of us.  Lets find it today and fight the good fight of love triumphing over evil and negativity!

Heroes, inspiration for the world

It is always fun and interesting to ask children who their heroes are.  Sometimes they choose rock stars, movie stars, presidents, and other well known people.  Some children name their parents or grandparents as their heroes.  I have had the privilege to work with many people who are heroes simply because they didn't give up or run away when the going got tough.  It is much easier to run away from responsibilities by using drugs, drinking alcoholic beverages excessively, by hiding from life by withdrawing mentally and refusing to do day-to-day routine tasks or consider suicide. It is much harder to face life crisis head on and to figure out how to make life better and easier for yourself and others.

Many of us face death of spouses, parents, children and friends and yet have to continue on with our jobs, our roles as parents, community members, church members, friends and caregivers.  We face job losses or job stress, illnesses, pain, financial crisis, divorce, loss of homes to disasters or fire, war, gangs, violence, hatred and indifference.  We face huge obstacles when we look the the future and begin the long journey of an education while we are family members and working.  The heroes pick up the pieces and take one day at a time as they gather the courage to live.  They learn to take adversity and make it into opportunity,  When we can learn from our mistakes and press forward, we become a symbol of hope and an example of how to overcome negativity. True heroes are invincible with God's help and the love of  family, neighbors and friends.  True heroes make a positive difference with honesty and conviction!

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going!"  The everyday heroes provide the true inspiration for the world.

I hope to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am

This was listed as an Animal Truism in my church bulletin.  I remember a recent sick joke I heard. "A man put his wife and his dog in his trunk. Who do you think loved him when he let them out an hour later?"  A dog loves unconditionally and with loyalty if he or she is treated well.  When we are loved unconditionally, it should make us want to reciprocate by loving others unconditionally. It is very difficult to leave our judgmental attitudes behind and replace it with forgiveness and acceptance.  If a dog can do it, it must be possible for humans to achieve this simple faith and devotion.

All of us make mistakes and none of us are perfect.  It is a special gift to receive and give unconditional love.  Another dog truism--"Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful!"  We don't have to be wonderful to receive unconditional love.  It should be our goal to be the best that we can be.  God loves us unconditionally and forgives us when we are not wonderful, just human.  He is always there for us to support and love us no matter what happens.  We are never alone.  God loves all of his people in the world.  God asks us to love Him and love our neighbors as we love ourselves.  We are all neighbors to each other.  When we stop condemning and start loving, appreciating and accepting each other, the world will be a kinder and welcoming place.  Each of us has to try to be "the kind of person my dog thinks I am."

My dog rejects daylight savings

I have a visiting dog who does not recognize the need for daylight savings,  She refused to get out of bed an hour early no matter what time the clock registered.  She refused to go outdoors (her kidneys are not used to the time change either).  She would not eat and was indignant that she was forced to get up with a bright light and activity.  Maybe we should pay attention to animals who don't see the value in disrupting an established pattern of life in which our internal clocks govern our awake, sleep, eating and bodily function timing.

Many people wonder about the wisdom of rearranging our lives periodically to presumably save money and daylight.  I do know that it takes days to readjust our lives to the artificial time change. Maybe this perceived savings of money and daylight is no longer cost effective and certainly no longer convenient or easy for our biological adjustment.  My vote is to ban daylight savings time changes and make our lives easier and less complicated.  Tara, the dog, happily got up, went outdoors, ate breakfast exactly one hour later on the clock but the same time as her internal clock from yesterday.

Our lives have increasing stress and demands on our time.  It would be wonderful to have one less time issue to worry about!  I'm with you Tara as you fight the system!