Monday, March 18, 2024

One of many

One of many. (Not a Star Trek character. You're thinking of Seven of Nine). I was just thinking though of one marvelous thing, but as I did, I realized that it wasn't the only marvelous thing. There are tons of marvelous things and more keep on coming. It was simply one of many.

When you eat a mouth-watering candy bar, remember that there are more where that came from - it's just one of many.  When you have a wonderful day, think of it as one of many. When you hear a great song for the first time, be happy about that, but realize it is one of many. How about that fantastic breakfast you just ate, of the beautiful flowers you saw during your morning walk? There are wonders just about everywhere you look. We are surrounded by all kinds of goodness, but sometimes we just don't see it.

As you go through today, make a mental note of every positive or joyful thing you experience - all kinds of candy bars?  beautiful flowers?  perhaps smiling faces?  As you do it, think of the fact that your list keeps on growing. We aren't just talking about one thing - we are talking about one of many!

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Are you happy?

What makes you happy?  Are you happy because we have a new president?  Are you happy because zoom and youtube and other platforms help us to attend church and concerts and ballet?  Are there material objects that bring you happiness?  What about food or maybe music or art?  Are you happy because of the work you do or the people you associate with or because of your hobbies or because of some great past memories?  
 
What?  I'm assuming you ARE happy.  Perhaps I should have first asked if you are.  Well, what's the answer?  Are you a happy person?  Do you share that happiness with others?  (Sharing happiness can also bring you happiness).  It is wonderful to make others happy!
 
I think that happy is one of those wonderful things that is very easy to share.  If you are smiling it invites others to smile as well.  If you seem to be happy and pleasant, I'll bet you will find others picking that happiness up from you!

Saturday, March 16, 2024

how much can you give?

Someone calls you on the phone and asks for a donation or you receive a letter in the mail or perhaps there is a posting on someone's blog that you regularly read. You want to make a donation but you don't think you can afford it or you think the small amount you might give is not really worth it.

Very few of us can donate money to every single cause that comes along, even if we want to. So, just how much can you give? When is it time to step back and donate no more?

In the few lines I write here every day, it would be impossible to give all of the answers on any subject and giving of money is one of the most difficult of all. The best advice I can give is to plan. Don't just reach into your pocket every single time someone asks. Very soon the well would be dry!

Another important thing to remember is that when giving money, EVERY SINGLE DONATION MATTERS. Sometimes we tend to forget that. We think that smaller donations don't matter, but it is those numerous small donations that add up to the big ones!

One thing I like to do is collect money at home for various causes. You can take a few envelopes or jars or even piggy banks and use them to grow donations. One might be for the money you want to give to your church (apart from what you usually give) for some special program or ministry. Another container might be to give money to fight AIDS or cancer or any number of other diseases. You get the idea. You can even have a collection for an unknown cause, just in case something comes up that you want to give to.

Do you usually buy yourself a desert every afternoon, or maybe a coffee? Skip a day (or two or three) and put the money you saved in the jar(s). If you earn a little extra at work (overtime maybe) or doing some special job, put all or at least a part of that in your charity collection jars. Every time you have a little extra money in your pocket, add it to that jar or envelope.

By planning to give something to various causes, you can do so comfortably without fearing that you will leave yourself broke. Saying no is okay too. Always be aware of your limits.

Friday, March 15, 2024

That's beautiful!

Did you ever look out your car window and say "That's beautiful!"? How about taking a walk through the community where you live and you stumble across a scene that moves you because it's just lovely?  The "beautiful" here in this picture is from the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, not far from where I once lived.

Here in Arizona where I live now, there is a lot of beauty too.  Even in the wide open desert there is beauty.  I seem to see beauty everywhere I go.  It's not just on the ground or in the sky.

Beauty can be on the buildings and even on the clothing that people are wearing, and lest we forget, beauty can be within the people we encounter, too (even when we are wearing masks).  It's actually very rare to find a person who does not have beauty within.  You don't have to even look hard - just open your eyes and open your heart.

If we all take a moment to see the beauty that is all around us, I very certain we will realize how beautiful this great world of ours is!

Thursday, March 14, 2024

Who inspires you?

Just a few months before she died, I was helping my mother setup a new password for her television and telephone service and the service agent wanted as a hint (in case the password was forgotten), the name of Mom's hero.  Without hesitation Mom said "Dad."  Yes, my grandfather inspired me in many ways, but it was so nice to hear Mom call him her hero.

What about you though - do you have a hero?  Is there someone in your life who inspires you?  When I think of people who inspire me personally, they are not always people I have actually met.  Yes, it can be a relative or friend or co-worker, but we can be inspired by strangers too.  A guy I have written about many times here is one person who inspires me.  There are celebrities too and people long gone.

During the pandemic, I found more and more personal heroes.  The wonderful cellist who livestreamed concerts of his music, was certainly one of them.  All the people who showed care and concern for others, and the leadership we needed to get through it.  My friend Toan, who has been a hero to me since the day I met him, continues to be.  There is also Dinah, and Justin, and Kelly, and my wonderful sister.  It seems my life is full of heroes!

It is such a blessing to have people who inspire you.  The number isn't important.  It might be one person or it could be several.  The significance is that they inspire you.  Do you have such a person in your life?

Wednesday, March 13, 2024

colored water

I can remember as a youngster being in the supermarket with my mom and seeing the drinking fountains (remember them?) labeled "white" and "colored." I had no idea this was racial - I thought the water was white or colored! Naturally I wanted to drink the colored one. A woman witnessed this and scolded my mother for letting me drink where "those people" had put their mouths. My mother explained it all later, but it was several years later before I really understood.

Or do I understand? Why should someone drink from a certain fountain and not from another, just because of their race? Well the answer of course is that they shouldn't. Separate drinking fountains are illegal now, but sadly, we still have racial prejudice - I see examples most every day even now in 2024.

The whole drinking water thing apparently hit home with many.  Diane Bass, the mother of entertainer Lance Bass, wrote an essay several years ago which I just read the other day and in it she recalls her drinking fountain moment.  With her grandmother screaming at her to stop drinking from the "wrong" fountain, Bass writes "When I looked at the fountain it had the word "Colored" on it and she told me I had to drink out of another one. I was only 6 years old but I knew something was just not right about that."

Many of my friends are Asian and one time I was out with several other guys, all of whom are Asian. A group of white guys came upon us and started yelling at me "Why aren't you with your own kind?" They even chased after us, and since we were outnumbered, their senseless prejudice was not in the forefront of our minds - we simply wanted to get out of there safely.

I see the same kind of bias against lgbtq people often. I've been very fortunate and haven't been the victim of individual attacks, but all the laws that ban same sex marriage or that allow prejudice against lgbtq people in the workplace or anywhere else, are certainly attacks. They are saying I am not quite as good as someone else.

In all my years and will all that I have seen, the prejudicial treatment of people based on their membership - or perceived membership - in a certain group or category, just doesn't make sense to me, and yet it continues.

Is a world with true equality too much for me to hope for? Can we put aside all prejudice and discrimination? Will bigotry ever be completely erased? What do YOU think?

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

Forgive and forget

Forgive and forget? The late Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa had a few things to say about that.

“Forgiving and being reconciled to our enemies or our loved ones are not about pretending that things are other than they are. It is not about patting one another on the back and turning a blind eye to the wrong. True reconciliation exposes the awfulness, the abuse, the hurt, the truth. It could even sometimes make things worse. It is a risky undertaking but in the end it is worthwhile, because in the end only an honest confrontation with reality can bring real healing. Superficial reconciliation can bring only superficial healing.”

The archbishop further said “Forgiving is not forgetting; its actually remembering - remembering and not using your right to hit back. Its a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you don't want to repeat what happened.”