Category Archives: Article.

The Gift Of Memory At Christmas And The New Year.

26 Saturday Dec 2020

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Found on Pinterest on December 10, 2015. Dave Bowman.

At times, like these, when we are going through so many difficult challenges, it can seem like the world is a lonely place when you are isolated from the people and the things that have always been so much of a part of the holidays. Many of us were unable to fly and see important people, those family members and friends who are so dear to our hearts. Some of us, because of health problems, were unable to make it to our places of worship.

Even though modern technology has made it possible to attend church on the internet, or our tv’s, not all of us do so. We each have choices we can make regarding how we get through this Christmas season.

Pinterest on the internet has wonderful pictures of Jesus and His birth. Most of us have holiday DVD’s we can play, Christmas carols we can listen to, Christmas books we can read. But most of us also have a gift we can tap into that can make our lives more enjoyable, and that can leave a warm fire burning in our hearts. We have the gift of being able to remember past Christmases. We have been given the ability to store experiences in our brains. The older you become, the memories become more vivid and real.

I can remember, as if it were yesterday, going to candlelight services on Christmas Eve with my husband and son. We stood in a room full of soft light from the candles, lighting up the faces of people around us, and celebrated the birth of Jesus while singing songs that drew us together as one. 

The next day, I heard my young son get up, and I laughed as I heard the pitter-patter of little feet running to the living room. The excitement in his voice was infectious as he called for us to join him. The manger was lit up that he and I had put together. He ran and got a gift and brought it to me to open, and together we placed a new piece of the manger scene where Christ slept. I can still hear his chatter as he opened his gifts in front of the Christmas tree we had all decorated. Later, he stood on a little stool as he helped me make Christmas dinner. That evening, we baked cookies and smacked our lips as we ate them. I remember so many wonderful memories.

This Christmas, we could not see each other, but we both cooked Christmas dinners. We shared over the phone what we had made. He baked for the holidays, and I am about to bake toll house cookies today like I did years ago. We  connected the past and the present and found some Christmas joy. I am grateful to God that I have the gift of memory.                                                                                                       

Found on Pinterest on 12-6-15. Capturing Joy by Kristen Duke Photography.

Yu/stan/kema.

My Point Of View As An American Regarding: Not Funding Libraries and The USPS.

25 Saturday Jul 2020

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When I was young, I never read books unless I went to school. We were too poor and lacked the transportation to get to a library. My parents never read to us. They were alcoholics, and they were busy doing other things they deemed more valuable to their lifestyle.

When I became ten years old, I was taken away from them. I had the opportunity to read from a library full of books. First, I read poetry from so many writers: Henry Van Dyke, Longfellow, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, and Keats. I started writing poetry of my own after that. I read volumes of books in the area of psychology from Sigmund and Anna Freud, Carl Jung, Karen Horney, and others. I read literature like Moby Dick, Red Badge of Courage, Albert Payson Terhune’s books about collies, Heart of Darkness, and books written by great authors. I read medical books.

As an adult, I went to the public library when I was job hunting, wanting to repair something broken, and I checked out books I could not afford to buy. I used a computer to look up information because I did not own one. It was safe there and it was filled with resources I could not get any other way. A library is an important part of a community. For the poor, it is an essential tool for climbing the ladder up to a better job. It does not make sense for the Federal government to refuse to help fund libraries.

The same could be said of the USPS. It is used a lot by the poor, the old, and the disabled who are also Americans. The costs were kept low to help all American citizens have access to a delivery system that put people first. It is used to deliver medicine, deliver letters of those Americans who lack transportation, or can’t afford the upkeep or cost of a computer. It has always been reliable until recent changes were implemented by an Administration that does not want to fund it.

A mail man has always served the American people. They check on the old, collect food for those in need, step in when help is needed. They serve a vital need for every American community. It doesn’t make sense for the Federal gov. to refuse to bailout a service that can help people through the pandemic and economic difficulties we are facing at this time.

I encourage everyone to contact senators and representatives and tell them to fund the libraries and the mail service. They have always been there for us. Let us be there for them in these difficult times.

Yu/stan/kema.

The Gift Of Mothering.

11 Monday May 2020

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Found on 2-11-17 on Pinterest. Vladimir Volegov. Don’t be afraid..volegov.com.

Mother’s Day is a special day in which we seek to thank those people in our lives who have nurtured us, accepted us, and protected us in ways others have not. They  hold us close when our hearts are breaking. They give us faith in ourselves and tell us that we are capable of amazing things. They are people who guide us through the difficulties of life and hold us up when our legs can no longer carry us. They are the ones who tell us things we don’t want to face and they encourage us to grow. They accept us with our weaknesses, our mistakes, and sometimes our unfairness towards them for they know we are capable of learning, growing and being a blessing in this world.                                                                   

Sometimes, it is the Mother who gave birth to us, or a grandmother who  steps  in to help. Often, it is a teacher, a pastor, a mentor, a neighbor, or an older friend. It may be other people who enter our lives and give us nurturing, guidance, and acceptance for a time. We find it is important to honor the women in our lives and appreciate what they do for us. God sends these special women into our lives as a gift, a rare gift of love.

Yu/stan/kema

In Hard Times, We Must Persevere.

11 Wednesday Mar 2020

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As a child, I lived through a lot of adversity. I was born prematurely and had to fight to survive. I spent my first months in a hospital with few resources  to deal with premature infants. I went home later with my parents who were hard core alcoholics. My mother also had depression and spent a lot of time in bed. My siblings and I learned early how to find food on trees and bushes to eat. We even ate grass and flowers when we were hungry enough. In the winter, we ate nuts we cracked open with rocks, and we went down the alleys foraging through trash barrels to find empty beer bottles and pop bottles. We would haul them to the beer joint and grocery store in a little red wagon for refunds. We used the money to buy food. Four of us slept in a double bed at night.

There was domestic violence in our household. When I was ten, three of us were placed in a Children’s Home. By the time I was nineteen, I had moved 17 times. Eventually I went to college and worked hard to earn two degrees. I learned to survive by enduring and using resources I could find. I became a teacher and a social worker for 30 + years. I married, had a child, and wrote in my spare time. I learned to survive by having persistence. I learned to live by having hope in the future, faith in people and God, and love from others along the way.

I am an old woman now with a severe illness and have to have treatment every two weeks at an infusion center. The Social Security and Medicare payments that were taken out of every pay check I made while I worked were to be there when I retired. I had a 401 k but the recession in 2008-9, took some of it. I believed in the US Government that took my money from my pay checks. I believed they would honor the contract we had.

But Congress decided to change the law and allow them to raid the Social Security Fund for their own interests and they have year after year, leaving worthless IOU’s behind they never intended to pay back. The old are being threatened over and over that their money may be cut or Social Security may be eliminated. They are told their Medicare will be gutted so the rich can have more tax cuts. Notice that their benefits are not on the chopping block (Congress).

We are now facing financial and health problems that will affect us all. We will have to be strong. We will have to endure the months ahead with Wall Street being unstable and the new virus spreading. Maltbie Davenport Babcock said it best when he wrote this poem, “Be Strong.”          Yu/stan/kema

 

Be strong!

We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;

We have hard work to do, and loads to lift;

Shun not the struggle–face it; ’tis God’s gift.

Be strong!

Say not,” The days are evil. Who’s to blame”

And fold the hands and acquiesce–oh shame!

Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God’s name.

Be strong!

It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,

How hard the battle goes, the day how long;

Faint not–fight on! To-morrow comes the song.

MALTBIE DAVENPORT BABCOCK

I Grieve For What I Have Lost.

09 Sunday Feb 2020

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I grew up in the 50’s and 60’s in a country I was proud of, the United States of America. I said the Pledge of Allegiance every day at school. We learned to say all the names of the presidents in the order they served in America, the country in which I was born. We sang the names in a song,  and every time I sang the song, I was proud of them, the men who represented our Nation. They were about service, a deep commitment to our laws, a respect for the Constitution of the United States of America.

They weren’t perfect men but they were men who put their Country first, above their own selfish interests and party. They were dedicated to making the United States a place of opportunity, freedom, respect for others, helping those who needed a helping hand. They believed that in serving the American People, facts were important, truth was necessary, and what was right must prevail. They believed a man’s word was his bond, that honor was important, and most of all, they believed one should never betray the Trust of the American People.

These men knew that the right to vote was sacred and no one should lie, cheat, or steal, manipulate the votes in an American election. Falsehoods had no place in the Government. They trusted that the three main branches of the United States Government would see that the people’s voices were heard and their needs would be addressed. That those three branches would work together as intended to find solutions for all the people. They believed the United States Government would serve the American people with integrity, compassion, and respect. They also believed in protecting the American People from harm. These men could be trusted to do the right thing. I was proud of my country back then, proud of the men in congress, proud of the Presidents as the years went by.

In the year 2016, changes occurred in the United States. The Nation started to slide down hill and the years that followed were filled with laws being broken, elections manipulated, other countries interfering with American elections, and candidates for office being slandered by political parties who could no longer be civil with one another. Corruption was present in the highest offices of our Government.

The American People were being lied to, and others were being discriminated against on a daily basis. Fear was used to confuse and distract voters and keep political party members in line to please the leader. The American Press was being attacked relentlessly in order to discourage them from sharing honest information. The more immediate issues of gun violence, climate change problems, and rolled back safety regulations that prevented pollution were being  set aside so the political party in power could raise more money for their campaigns, increase their political power, and  win regardless of the cost to  the people they were sworn to protect and be accountable to.

Such changes have been hard for me to see and  live through. My moral values are being challenged constantly and the need to act becomes more pressing, for I want to live in a democracy and have freedom and justice for all. I want to feel safe in America and I want others to feel safe too. I grieve for what I once knew and for what my children may never have unless brave men of honor, compassion, and integrity come forward to work together to change our world into a better place.

Yu/stan/kema.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The Choices We Make In Voting.”

23 Thursday Jan 2020

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As a nation of people, we come together to choose how we want to live, and how we will act toward others. We are given the right to vote as citizens, as individuals, to cast a ballot, and those who actually vote will determine how we govern, what values our Country will ascribe to, what laws we follow, and how we treat others in our Country, and the other countries in the world.

Each vote is important.  It is fortunate that we live in a democracy. It is up to the voters to insist we have fair elections, that people follow the rules of voting, and respect the rights of other citizens to vote. Those who refuse to do so must be held accountable in order for a democracy to work. Bullying voters, stealing elections, manipulating the voting system always threatens a democracy. Such behavior cannot be tolerated. It breaks the trust of the American people. It often ends in an abuse of power.

Each time we vote, we must ask ourselves the hard questions in order to make wise decisions. We need to evaluate whether or not the people we elect are working in the best interest of the American people. Are they seeking to meet the needs of all Americans or are they being bought to put party before the needs of all Americans? Tough questions must be answered and we need to vote accordingly.

Are the people we voted for safeguarding the trust of older Americans who for years had money taken out of their paychecks to pay for retirement and who were told the money was put in a trust fund they could draw upon in their old age, and live their last years with dignity and be independent? Are they upholding  their contract with the old, or are they taking money away from the old to pay for their own political interests? No matter what law they manipulated into taking the money that did not belong to them, congress needs to honor the contract. To refuse to do so is stealing, fraud, and abusive. Voters must vote accordingly and hold them accountable.

Are the people we voted for taking care of the needs of the disabled? Are they removing the obstacles that keep the disabled from receiving their benefits so they can survive? Are the people we voted for abusing and neglecting the most vulnerable in our Country in order to give tax cuts to the rich? If so, we must hold them accountable for neglecting the disabled, the sick, the dying, the poor, and the children who are hungry.

As a Nation, are we making sure the people we vote for are not creating suffering for the American people, but are trying to prevent and relieve suffering for those who need help? Do we believe in justice, freedom, compassion, and kindness for others? What kind of world do we want to live in and leave for our children? We have choices in whether we vote or not. We have choices in who we pick to rule over us. Choose wisely the people you vote for. We determine the kind of Country we live in.

Yu/stan/kema.

 

 

” The Difficult Truths Found In The Midst Of Reality.”

20 Monday Jan 2020

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We now live in a world where things are changing with every breath we take. We are bombarded on all sides with thoughts, emotions, and the behaviors of others and ourselves. The media exposes us to events occurring halfway around the world. Pressures are exerted upon us to influence us or control us.

Even in the middle of all the chaos and the changes, we have the capacity to make choices. Whether we do or not is up to each one of us as an individual, a human being. We can choose to do nothing, ignore what is happening around us, or absolve ourselves from all responsibility by telling ourselves it really doesn’t matter because it is not a problem for us. In doing so, we allow what is happening around us  to happen by not acting, by doing nothing.

We can choose to take action, to respond with morals, integrity,  and compassion. We can  accept responsibility for our role in making the world a better place for others and ourselves. We can decide to do what is right, what is kind, to accept others, to help those who are in need, and to become more aware that each of us is part of the earth and every living thing, and acknowledge that we need each other to survive and thrive. We can chose to respect one another, give to one another, and strive for peace.

We can also choose to do what is selfish and what benefits us. We can decide to let evil triumph over good, to do harm to others or allow others to do harm. We can choose to disregard all the rules of law, and decency. We can encourage others to disrespect those who are different from us, gain control over people who disagree with us, and make life miserable for those who annoy us or who refuse to conform to our way of thinking. We can choose war, create chaos, and encourage division in our Country.

No matter what we decide to do or not do, we still have the capacity to make choices. The difficult truth is: we also carry responsibility for the choices we make and the consequences that follow from those choices.

Yu/stan/kema.

To The Congress Of The United States Of America: “The Merits Of Beauty.”

31 Thursday Oct 2019

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Beauty surrounds us daily in all kinds of forms. Most of it, we take for granted or we are so engrossed in technology, we have no time or energy left for anything else. But when the weight of responsibilities, the hard disappointments of life, and our souls become overwhelmed by all the evil deeds we are forced to witness, we are drawn back to beauty that always reminds us that no matter how bad it gets, there is something we can grab on to that creates hope inside us when nothing else can.

The mountains, the canyons, the forests, the rivers, and valleys remind us that something bigger than us exists. Beauty leads us to the Almighty God. It connects us to Him for the rest of our lives. Beauty has the ability to challenge us, develop our character, and teach us lessons in life. Children instinctively know this and are drawn to the outdoors which has the ability to heal us and comfort us.

Over the years, wise men of honor and character have recognized this and have protected these sacred places. Let us hope we still have men and women of honor in high places of power that have the courage to protect and care for that which God entrusted to all of us and not be blinded by status, power, or greed. Our very souls are at risk if they do otherwise.

Yu/stan/kema,

Pat Eagleman.

“Katherine Lee Bates wrote, America The Beautiful. The first stanza of her poem, song says it all:

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountains majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea! “

KATHERINE LEE BATES

 

 

Seeking Asylum In The USA. (Part One.)

25 Wednesday Sep 2019

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These are difficult times we live in. Climate changes are disrupting our lives in ways we never anticipated. The hurricanes and the tornadoes are stronger and more intense. The floods more numerous all over the country. Homes are being destroyed, lives broken with the losses, and some have died. Temperatures are rising in the oceans and on land. Animals, birds, and insects are decreasing in number. In some parts of the world, the weather is already effecting the production of food, and water is scarce. People are on the move in order to help their families survive.

Wars are being fought because of greed and power. Corruption is rampant, even here in the United States. Terrorists and internal rival gangs are shooting people, threatening the lives of children outside our borders, and mass shootings are occurring at an unacceptable rate in our country. People leave if their children are in danger. They are looking for shelter, food, water, and safety for their families. Something we would do if we were trying to save our family members.

In America, we can choose to ignore migrants, threaten to hurt them or their children if they don’t leave, punish them by taking away their children, hold them in wire cages like animals and withhold resources, or we can treat them with the dignity and respect most of them deserve. At the very least, we can treat them with kindness and help if we can. Children do not deserve being treated like political pawns. They do not deserve to have bombs dropped on them, or to be torn from the arms of their mothers. Traumatizing them  by moving them away for long periods of time does nothing but handicap them for the rest of their lives emotionally. They are innocent and they are being punished which is wrong. There is no justification for it. A long time ago I heard a history teacher say, “What sets apart a civilized country from one that is not, is how the vulnerable are protected and cared for. “(This post comes in two parts. Part two will follow.)

Yu/stan/kema

” What Matters To The Old.”

31 Saturday Aug 2019

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In my previous post, I shared with my readers the poem: “Growing Old,” written by Ella Wheeler Wilcox. As I read it, I was reminded that we move through different developmental stages while walking down the road of life. Our goals and what we choose to focus our energies upon change from one developmental stage to another if we are growing as mature human beings. Our thoughts, feelings, and fears change as well.

As I grew older, I became aware that friendships and good relationships with others increased in importance, and a sense of family and belonging was necessary for survival. It mattered more, in the long run, than being rich, having adventures, being successful in what I attempted, or having a lot of status. These things are often lost along the way. As we age, loving, being loved, and being protected matter. We cherish the memories we form from such experiences, the human touch from those that care for us, and the resources, information, and feelings of belonging we get from being connected with others.

I am in my seventies and have encountered many losses along the way. My income has decreased, my status in society has dropped, my health has deteriorated, and I can no longer do the job I loved because of health problems. I have struggled to make sense of a Country I love becoming a place I no longer recognize or respect. I have lost faith and trust in Her. My former ideals have taken a beating. Yet, I still fight for what She once stood for.

Even though life has brought losses, it also has brought blessings and wonderful connections. I have friends, contacts with family, and supportive people in my life. I have shelter, water, and food to eat. My mind still works, and I have people who encourage me to grow emotionally and spiritually. They have taught me valuable skills, and I am in the process of changing.

Growing older, I am less preoccupied with dying and more focused on living in the here and now. I appreciate others more and say “I love you” to those who matter, because I may not get another chance later. I am more attuned to what is just, what is true, and what is morally good in life rather than following the crowd. My need for silence and solitude grows with every year that passes, and i have less desire to interact with technology and the media which is time consuming. Being comfortable is more important than being stylish. Talking about things of value is desired rather than superficial conversations. I think more about God and spirituality than clothes and the shoes I should wear.

My environment and the beauty of nature is essential for my survival. I will fight to protect them. All human beings are necessary for survival. We are connected to one another as human beings and spiritual entities. We all suffer losses, feel joy, share sadness, dream dreams, and have the need to be accepted by others, to feel we belong. We share the earth and resources so we can survive. Being compassionate towards other human beings does matter.

Yu/stan/kema