Living in Thanksgiving Daily

That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you. (Book of Mormon | Alma 34:38)
When I was younger, I had this as my favorite scripture because I am a huge fan of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy.

Now that I am a bit older and perhaps a weensy bit wiser, I love it for another reason entirely.

My life is truly blessed. I do not know true need. I have not experienced the hunger suffered daily by my brothers and sisters upon this earth whose names I do not know.

I have not been compelled to live in a military state with my rights apportioned to me by whatever regime has the biggest guns at the moment.

My family is free to pursue happiness in manifold dimension without let. We are free to travel, to dress in whatever fashion or un-fashion we so choose. I am free to post this blog and even say things that distress me without fear of reprisal or jail based upon an opinion that runs counter to that of someone in power.

I am thankful that God has blessed my life. I say that with the understanding that because I have been so blessed, He expects me to reach out as His hands and bless the lives of people not so fortunate in this world. God hasn't withheld blessings to His other Children as some bizarre condition of His Divine favor, but instead has allowed for sorrow in the world so that I can be grateful and learn to share my bounty with someone that lacks.

There are some who would determine that to be a dichotomy of circumstance, that some of God's Children are blessed beyond measure and others are lacking and in desperate circumstance.

In a world that is truly equal and fair, we would not allow despots to cruelly abuse their citizenry, starving them out of existence. We would intervene and make sure everyone was blessed to have freedom from oppression and freedom from hunger.

The Norman Rockwell paintings of the "Four Freedoms" are among my favorite works of art. As Children of God, we should all be blessed with being "Free From Want" - that is to say, the necessities of life are ready at hand. Sadly, this is not the case for multiplied millions who hunger, thirst and lack adequate shelter, clothing and medicines to survive and thrive.

The world has enough and to spare - if only the greedy would share.

"Freedom From Fear" is particularly poignant to me right now as I consider with adult understanding the many men and women who are working and living in harm's way - either because they chose the life of the military warrior protecting our freedoms, or because they are living in a war zone not of their choosing and from which they lack an escape.

As the guardians of freedom, we have a responsibility to shed the light of liberty upon all nations and into every darkened corner where a single soul is threatened for daring to speak up to say "This should not be so!"

The Rockwell painting of "Freedom of Worship" is especially important to me now because I know that there are those under the guise of being free to worship really mean that THEY ALONE want to be free to worship according to their fashion and they desire to achieve this by removing MY right and privilege to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of MY conscience.

It is important that people have the freedom to worship as they see fit. It is equally important to me that everyone understand that their personal freedom to worship should NEVER drown out or silence any other person's right to reach up to the God of their beliefs in the way that pleases them best. When we silence one, we silence all.

And that brings me to the last, and possibly the best, of the paintings, namely, "Freedom of Speech".

We live in an age of gold gilt cynicism. The speech of the popular and the noteworthy minority is celebrated above and beyond the speech of the common, the average and the often silent majority. Everyone has a voice - if only we choose to listen and truly HEAR what is being said.

Even in the walls of our own homes, how often do we shunt aside what is being said for our own interpretations of what is wisdom or even half-hear while tasked on other projects as we congratulate ourselves on our ability to multi-task?

By the way, multi-tasking is the grossest lie of all - it means that everything we are working on gets the shaft instead of the diamond standard of perfection. It means that nothing receives our best so that everything can receive an appointed portion of our worst under the guise that we are able to do much with little.

To be free means that we should be free to say "NO" when the trivial interferes with the Eternal.

It means that we are living in Thanksgiving daily because we are daily recognizing the eternal amongst the trappings of the mortal and temporary. To be free means that we understand our responsibility to bless the lives of others as we have been blessed through the sacrifice of our time and talents and energies.

To give thanks means that we gratefully receive ALL conditions of mortality, even those that are not optimal, and find the lesson we are meant to learn from the journey.

God is indeed good and worthy of more thanks than my works and words measure up to even on my best days.

What a blessing to know that each sunrise is a new opportunity to try and show and tell my Father in Heaven just how thankful I truly am!

Happy Thanksgiving, today and always.

Whirlwind tour

As part of the ongoing process of trying to sort out 'what comes next' in his life, Thomas and I went up to Virginia this week. The idea behind the trip was to have a campus visit at SVU - Southern Virginia University - and to examine the suitability, cost and potential for attending.

This is the part where my plans and his plans didn't exactly coincide. Being no dummy about long distance travel, I wanted to be out on the road almighty early so we might be able to miss the morning traffic as we crossed hill and dale heading east. My rationale being that they are an hour ahead of us, so by starting early, by the time we reached the next time zone, work and school traffic would be somewhat diminished.

We managed to get out the door just in time to hit all the rush hour traffic all along the way.

So much for my timing versus his timing, but since Thomas was doing the driving, I could enjoy my day in profitable pursuits like flinching when semis got too close to the car, wincing when people cut in front of us or a next lane over semi with whole inches to spare, or when some yo-yo pulled in front of us only to slow to a snail’s pace for our amusement.

Some people shouldn’t be granted driver’s licenses. Ever.

I know I annoyed him. But that is a perk of being a parent instead of a seasoned driving instructor who is so jaded that nothing except a loop-de-loop from the top of I-440 garners any attention at all.

About 150 miles from our goal, Thomas swapped with me so I could drive and he could nap. While the swap did nothing to endear me to the truckers who continued their game of chicken with each other and the small cars that defied their mass, I did all I could to keep well out of the way of them all. I’m not a coward, but I’ve already experience the dubious thrill of being treated to a ping pong session with a semi and I’m not anxious to enjoy a repeat now or ever.

We arrived at our destination late in the afternoon in a nice little town named Buena Vista, Virginia. For whatever reason, the locals call it “boonah veestah” instead of the Bwayna Vistah that I normally associate with that spelling. The campus of SVU is situated atop a prominent hill overlooking the town. It is truly an idyllic setting.

The school itself is a zillion years old and has a charming Victorian hotel for it’s main administration building/men’s dormitory. There was even a bell at the front door that had a rotary ringer like the one of which Harold Hill pretended to be a passionate collector in the movie “The Music Man”. That tickled us both to see.
The main hall is dark red with white trim and is a beautiful beacon of higher education atop the mount.

There is a statue in the front yard of a knight prepared for battle astride a large horse. His shield bears the initials of the school and his horse is ready for the charge. It is a striking symbol of gaining education in the face of what is sometimes stiff opposition, whether physical, financial, inadequate preparedness or society itself which conditionally chooses those who can have opportunity and values them above those who are not so fortunate as to have the doors open to them.

We took a quick couple of photographs in the fading light of late afternoon before setting off to check into the hotel in which we were spending our night.

Thomas at the statue:

After our dinner at a nice restaurant that had seafood and steaks, we returned to tuck in and prepare our tired selves for a full day of activity on the campus Friday, November 12^th.

The next morning, we arose and prepared ourselves and checked out of our hotel. There was ice on the car and covering the window. Brrrr! I was truly thankful the heater in the motel room worked as the temperature dropped into the 30’s. I am not a fan of the cold.

We packed up and headed up the hill to the campus and Thomas got us parked near the knight statue again. The main hall administration sections had the offices of financial aid and the office for advisors where we’d meet up with the folks that would help us negotiate the moolah issues and start Thomas on the campus tour.
He toured the dorms, classrooms and the library before we met up again.

A friend from years ago was working in the financial aid office and it was nice to catch up a bit with her. Transcripts were tendered and information regarding the upcoming spring term would be exchanged and discussed. A printout of possible money from the school scholarships, grants and other aid were rendered as well as information regarding work-study programs available.

While there, we attended a lecture forum and ate in the cafeteria. That was good food! Plus, Thomas having access to a majority of his meals in that setting with all of the other students and faculty will be helpful time-wise for him as he attends.

Part of our day including visiting the orchestra rehearsal and the instructor and Thomas spoke briefly before Thomas was asked, “You didn’t bring your horn by any chance, did you?” Since he’d already scheduled an audition with Dr. Del Vecchio for the jazz and pep band programs, he had brought it along. Thomas got to sit in with the orchestra and have an impromptu run through audition with them. They are losing their first trumpeter to December’s graduation and were happy to hear that Thomas plays first trumpet. He did pretty well for sight reading through the music. I was tickled that he got the chance to sit in. It was an unexpected little bonus.

After the orchestra rehearsal, Thomas went to talk to the instructor for the computer science program and found out that he speaks German! That pleased him very much. I think he’s planning to take some German classes since they offer them at SVU as well.

We also made a pit stop at the maintenance building and picked up a job application. They should be able to offer Thomas 15-20 hours a week around his class schedule so that he can earn some money that won’t go against the financial aid he is eligible to receive. Frankly, any hours a week would be a blessing since he currently isn’t working steadily anywhere and still has bills to be paid.

I am truly hoping and praying – keeping a prayer in my heart as well – that this will be a good opportunity for Thomas to enjoy friendships with people his own age and to help him develop himself to become what he needs to be and to prepare to be a husband and father in due time.

We also visited the institute building. It hosts 5 wards from the college population. That should make for more exciting activities for him to enjoy. They apparently have a number of activities going on every week in addition to the classes.

The audition with Dr. Del Vecchio went well and he is looking forward to working with Thomas and seeing about adding some money to the scholarships and grants that he is eligible for at this time. It just feels like all of this is a blessing that is just falling into place and settling into our laps – both for the family as a whole and for Thomas as an individual son of God.

The reference to this being a whirlwind tour is apt, because we left the campus about 4:30 and headed back southwest toward home making our arrival on Saturday morning a bit before or right at 12:30 a.m.

Funny thing about these particular whirlwind travel tours is that the regular household chores still need my attention the next day no matter how tired I am. Kind wish there was some sort of ‘pause’ button that would help make time slow down for the world, but be lengthened for me so that I could catch up on sleep.

Now, we are just down to decisions and preparations for Thomas to make a successful transition from being at home to being on campus to live, study, work and enjoy the experience.

That will be a whirlwind all on its own.

Tea Party overflow

The influence of what had been deemed a 'protest movement' has made waves in the national body politic.


To ignore the message would be both ill-conceived and ill-advised.

We, the people, are sick of our elected representatives ignoring the voice of ALL whom they are charged to represent.

When an election comes to a conclusion, the person who is duly chosen to represent the people of a particular district, state or even the nation as a whole take the oath of office, it becomes incumbent upon them to represent the viewpoint of EVERYONE in that representative slice of American pie, not just a few random blueberries or red raspberries that make up the whole.

Our Constitutional principles dictate that we are free to pursue happiness, but there are no guarantees to any of us that we will catch it in this lifetime. But does that give a free pass to our elected officials to thwart our every effort to indeed pursue the sometimes elusive banner of happiness that floats somewhere over our outstretched hands? I believe that it does not offer them license to ignore us, who indeed are the 'we the people' of Constitutional fame.

There is truth in the time honored axiom that you can't please everybody. That, by and large, is impossible. Our personal desires run afoul of the desires of our neighbors, friends and family members often enough that we should know and understand that by now.

But knowing that doesn't keep some from believing that they alone have the inviolable right to make the rules the rest of us must quietly endure or be branded as some kind of enemy of the state. To have divergent beliefs shouldn't make us enemies, but often it does.

What should occur is thoughtful dialog that is respectful and open in honestly dealing with the fact that we, all of us, are very different in our approach to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as we define it. What should occur is that we sit down in measured approaches, beginning with checking our ego at the door and seeking for thoughtful and rational compromise.

I don't get everything I want - but neither do you. It's called compromise or détente, for the more sophisticated mind. Détente means that we ease the strained relationship that exists when party considerations and re-election clouds the room to the point that the elected officials charged to represent us can no longer  even see us because of the darkening gloom of partisan wrangling and censure.

Now that we have had the results of the national election cycle and seen that the Tea Party did indeed have a voice and an effect in our choices, it's time to stop patting ourselves on the back if our party won and stop crying foul if our party lost and start acting like grown ups who truly want to make America strong and vibrant.

No one can accomplish everything, but if we are willing to sit down, have a cup of tea or cocoa together, get over our own dadgum selves and start truly working together to hammer out some meaningful changes, some realistic proposals and some by God budget cutting and salary trimming from the top of the executive food chain down to the lowest paid clerk in the government, we can come together as a nation and truly become, once again, the envy of the world.

We have an opportunity.

Our job is to ensure that we, the people, speak eloquently and loudly enough, write enough email, snail mail and make enough phone calls to have our voice be heard by those who are in the D.C. Beltway and in the state and local offices for which they have been selected to serve. And, we must have the courage of our convictions to make them pay politically when they don't listen to us. In other words, throw the bums out when they serve themselves instead of the people whom they swore an oath to represent.

Let's ease the tensions and pray for all of our elected leaders as we would pray for them to do what is right as if they were family. Let's begin by starting a serious dialog that refuses to sanction the opinions of any voices. And let us all be more willing to be a lot more humble, tolerant and open to the fact that being an American means that we are free to act for ourselves and to accept the consequences of those actions - even when they are not the popular choice of the majority.

And, when we are the majority in power in any sense, humility is even more essential. We don't have "bragging rights" when our party wins, instead we have a sacred trust to serve as God would even to all those who did not vote for us - to show them that their concerns still matter and that we are willing to work for EVERYONE, not just the people who contributed loot to a PAC in our honor.

Serving in an elected office of any kind isn't a divine right bestowed upon a 'king', it is a divine privilege appointed for a short time only and it should be taken on with serious gravitas and a meekness that can overcome self and see beyond 'my will be done' to a "Thy will be done" ethic. If we truly seek God's will, then there will be harmony in due time.

God bless America and specifically, God bless our leadership to have the humility and courage to seek HIS will regardless of political expediency or popularity.

Tricks, treats and crackers

It sneaks up on me every year, even though the number date is the same. It doesn't float around like Thanksgiving's date or the day for President's Day.

It's always October 31st.

But there is always the mad rush to buy candy as if we didn't know.

This year we had THREE Trick-or-Treaters.

Woo hoo.

I'm sure most people attend parties at churches, schools or civic organizations. The number has dwindled down so much over the years, I wonder for those who aren't attending those types of events how many of them just turn off the lights and do nothing.

I remember years ago when I was just a kid myself, we ran out of candy because there were so many trick-or-treaters. We took to wrapping up marshmallows to give them. This was in the days before life itself was hermetically sealed to prevent the transmission of a single microbe.

They ate the marshmallows.

These days, you'd be reported to CPS for potentially passing out marshmallows dipped in crystal meth or some such rot.

I've often wondered how many people are reduced to making do for Halloween when the unexpected ghost or goblin stops by and finds them woefully lacking in miniature candy bars or jawbreakers in single serve packaging.

Whenever we go out to restaurants or travel to places requiring an overnight stay in a hotel, I shamelessly keep the packs of crackers, soy sauce, ketchup, etc. or in the case of the hotel, the soaps, toothbrushes, shampoos and various conditioners and lotions in those tiny bottles.

I'm forwarding a proposition that the little beggars get these items in their trick or treat bags.

Can you just imagine the confusion on their faces?

"Trick or treat!" they gleefully or by rote pronounce in the age dependent ritual of begging door to door at night when decent people are watching "Wheel of Fortune".

Imagine little Rochelle's surprise when she dumps her candy bag out to discover an assortment of soaps, shampoos and body wash in her bag? Happy Halloween and take a dang bath, would ya!!

Or the kid who opens up their goodies to find a toothbrush and some saltines from Denny's? Be sure and brush your teeth after you eat your tasty crackers! Nummers!

There are a host of things lying around that could go in the bags.

Let's consider...

Condiment packs. Kids seldom appreciate the multitude of uses for condiment packs. In addition to flavoring otherwise bland food from the various drive-ins of the world. Slip a pack under the edge of your neighbors tire. When they back out, a veritable fountain of ketchup (or whatever) erupts. It's like a condiment filled Vesuvius!

Ketchup is also good for playing dead. Dribble some down the corner of your mouth when you are playing GI's versus the Taliban and when the bad guys show up and kick you to see that you are dead, you can wait till their back is turned and resurrect just in time to mow 'em down with your cap guns.

Then there are those little pouches that come with some boxed lunches from KFC which contain a cleansing handiwipe vaguely scented like lemon pledge. If you have ever had kids, babysat kids or been in close proximity to kids, you know their hands are riddled with germy filth that makes them a worse choice for hanging onto than the average garbage can. And did you know most kids DO NOT wash their hands when they go potty? Just like their parents, I imagine... GROSS!

So when that precious little imp comes up to pat your face with their hands, imagine your relief when you know they have a supply of handiwipes to clean the goobers from their hands before coming in contact with your delicate skin.

Coupons for cough, cold and flu remedies would also be nice since that infusion of chocolate acts like agar in culturing up diseases. Their parents would appreciate it even if the kids didn't.

Of course, there are numerous options, I just mention these few as a guideline.

I do know people who give out spare change. I also know people who just turn out the lights, pretend not to be home and hope and pray they won't be egged by vandals during the night.

Next year, should you find that you are preoccupied with other more pressing issues and if the date sneaks up on you unprepared, don't be shy about giving the little darlings 'optional' treats for the year. It just might save your sanity when Halloween interrupts the second round of Wheel of Fortune.