Train Riding in the Georgia Mountains on the Blue Ridge Scenic Rail Road!

 

After Storms Comes Fresh Air And Clear Days!

I am not surprised by the lack of empathy many Christians show towards foreign and domestic issues. We have become desensitized to crises and accept them as inevitable.  It often seems we will do nothing, and those with money and power use their influence to deceive the public.

 

People will always have concerns and issues.  We worry about family, new neighbors, jobs, politicians, traffic, and health, to name a few anxious moments.  Some of us worry about the radical right not addressing the violent threats made by the MAGA followers towards government officials involved with the Trump indictments.  I remember how concerned the radical right was about the liberal left Antifas and the Black Lives Matter Movement.  Are the Republicans afraid of the Nazi-like monsters they created by following Trump?  Or, more afraid of not being reelected?  The Klan was formed after Reconstruction to promote fear, hate, division, and superiority.  After the Civil War, the founder, Nathan Bedford Forrest, couldn’t disband the Klan; they had become too powerful, and the group was uncontrollable.  Hate can be overpowering in its darkness.  Trump tapped into that hatred, kept the Civil War regrets heated, and Republicans ran on his coattails to get elected.  Europeans left indentured servitude to come to America for freedom.  Ironically, their descendants put other people in chains and took away freedom that didn’t look like them.

 

I've heard that Trump is complaining about double standards, but he didn't consider this when pushing the "Lock Her Up" slogan about Hillary Clinton.  As President, he appointed Republican judges to the courts with support from Congress, using the Evangelicals as a shield.  Trump aspires to be like a dictator and clearly thinks he's above the law, yet he claims to be a victim.  He's an adult used to getting his way and well-versed in lying.  If you repeat a lie enough times, people will eventually believe it.

 

America has a growing peace movement as people unite against extremism.  Women are tired of old white men telling them what to do with their bodies, and the young are tired of seeing the same old men in positions of authority not listening to them.  People who have been ignored for too long are now standing up to be recognized.  Students want to know America's history, even if it is disgusting, humiliating, and embarrassing.  Policies should not be beneficial only for those who make the laws; they should be beneficial for all, and partisan beliefs should be kept out.

Malachi 3:5-7 Bible New International Version

 

5.  So I will come to put you on trial.  I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, against those who defraud laborers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive the foreigners among you of justice, but do not fear me,” says the Lord Almighty.

 

6.  “I, the Lord, do not change.  So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.  7.  Ever since the time of your ancestors, you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them.  Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.

What A Beautiful Morning in St. Helena's, SC!

6:30 AM Huntington Beach, South Carolina

 

Grandparents Appreciation Moment!

            People show appreciation to your grandmothers, grandfathers, great-grandmothers, great grandfathers.  They are the unappreciated, silent heroes and heroines that are taken for granted for simply being who they are.  We salute you and thank you!  Those still living kings and queens, thank you for helping keep our villages together.  It doesn’t matter the color, culture, or creed.  They stepped in and cared for the children when no one else would, closed the loops on what wasn’t taught, and passed on to the children their wisdom and experience.

 

            Grandparents, as a whole, saw the world much differently than we did.  Of course, times were different.  Technology and the environment were different, but the outcome of the various cultures and the treatment of people is still about the same: wisdom.  Our grandparents saw the world through clear glasses, learned from their experiences, and still thrived in the midst of it all.  Now that they are much older, they share those experiences with their grandchildren.  Grandfathers worked their hearts out to build a decent life for their families back then, and many died without reaping the benefits.  Women have always been the family's heart, but they can’t do it alone.  It takes a family to stand together.

 

            It’s no secret that several caring grandparents opened their once-empty homes to their returning children.  I can relate to looking forward to the children leaving home once they’re grown.  There’s a surreal stillness and silence once they’re gone; one can say that they miss the noise and action.  When the grands started visiting and getting into mischief, they reminded us of their fathers or mothers who grew up in the home.  Single grandparents who are alone welcome back the sound and busyness, mainly because the other spouse isn’t there to share laughter together anymore.

 

            I don’t need to stray too far; the fact is, grandparents leave positive, lasting impressions on their grandchildren more than they realize.  Most of the time, they only see it in their children.  Children and grandchildren should feel blessed that they have them in their lives.  Appreciate your grandparents more, people.  They may not always get it right, but they are all you got.  They can be great baby-sitters, too, if you treat them right.

Blessed Be The Widows And Vulnerable!

I visited my 101-year-old godmother the other day.  When I saw her, I had to hold back my tears.  She had called me a few days ago that she had fallen asleep in the table chair and fell onto the floor.  She didn’t call for help and felt all right as long as she could move her legs.  She did call her one of her granddaughters, who came over immediately.  She wanted to take the petit, fragile centenarian to the hospital, who said she didn’t need to go.  My godmother is an old-school woman who worked hard all of her life and dealt with all types of challenges during her lifetime.  She could handle it.  She enjoyed being on her own.  Sometimes, we could use some help, and none of us are young anymore.  

 

She had fallen on her face with her glasses on.  There were big, dark bruises all over her small face.  One prominent bruise was on her forehead, another on the right side of her face, and you could see the imprint from the bridge of her glasses over her nose.  I could only imagine her facial appearance a day later.  Yet, my godmother was in great spirits even though the rest of us were deeply concerned.  I got emotional when she said, “First, we start falling, and then we die.”  I never cared for hearing that statement and others from the elderly.  I knew that they were serious when they said things like that.

 

What was determined by all medical experts was that my godmother had blacked out from bending down too low to clean coffee and other stains from the floor using a little amount of bleach.  She got up too fast.  I’m picturing a 101-year-old cleaning the carpet and inhaling a powerful irritant, using much energy, then immediately sitting down from being tired.  Thinking that she had fallen asleep because she was tired, she passed out from the blood flow as her head was lower than her heart and rising too quickly.  The same thing had happened to me months ago, except I “woke” up in a wheelchair at a hospital and underwent wires, IVs, and blood tests.  I ended up wearing a heart monitor for two weeks.  My diagnosis was severe dehydration.  That’s another story.

 

My godmother is very independent.  She'll do it herself if someone doesn’t notice what needs to be done around her.  Well, she’ll try to.  We could do those things when we were younger.  The granddaughters and her son offered her to stay with one of them, which she declined.  She likes to come and go whenever she wants to and enjoys doing things for herself.  Like most seniors, including myself, we don’t want to be a burden.  As long as we can do for ourselves, let us be; we’ll let you know when we need help.  As we age, we realize the end time is coming; it’s inevitable.  Living in our circumstances has taught us how to adapt, positively or negatively.  We learned from our parents and those before us that good times and challenging times exist.  What we do with those times is up to us to learn from them.  My mother, grandmother, and godmother exhibited what it takes to survive.  They all told me they wouldn’t be around forever, and neither will I.  We are in this world for a short time.

 

I’ve always tried to push people away because I didn’t want to miss them or be missed.  It was an error in my judgment.  Some people care and don’t have any other motive but to share that love with you.  No matter how old we get, we will have broken hearts and regrets, but it’s never too late to accept love.  I guess, eventually, we have to let the barriers down and give love a try.  Make peace with those you care about; time waits for no one.