My Cyber Paper-trail.

Someone asked me recently "why do you blog? Nobody reads it, what's the  point?"  It's not the reading that's the magic. It's the writing. 

For now...back in 2000 I took an extended leave of absence from teaching, from writing and I missed it.  I felt myself begin to shrivel up inside until one day in February 2010, sitting at home, nursing Laura back to health after a surgical procedure, I decided to explore "a blog." 

 I discovered it's great therapy, keeps me engaged, demands rigorous thought and teaches me a great deal as I work through the process.  It's the creative process that keeps me on the edge.  It's like cardio for my brain and makes me a stronger thinker.  It's the creative process that God uses to move me closer to the person He has created, called and gifted me to be as I run toward the prize waiting at the end of my life.

For later...I'm leaving a cyber "paper-trail" that my friends, family...especially my kids and grandkids...can log onto and "hear" me, remember me; who I was, what my passions in life were, how I thought and what I valued--glimpse a snapshot of my enthusiasm for my opinions, my love for God, my compassion for people, my desire to make a difference.   I'm hoping they will glean wisdom about what's important, and why.   I pray my words about substantive issues, my poems about the way I see life,  my anguish over loss, errors, regrets--my hope and certitude about my future in Christ, will make a difference in their lives someday and play a role in making the hard places in life, easier...can you spell l-e-g-a-c-y?

Grateful to live in an era that has empowered me "go on the record" and leave something of what makes me, unique, behind.  Father in heaven, may the words of my mouth, and the meditations of my heart, be pleasing in Your sight--my God and my Redeemer.  Through Christ, let it be.

bN tGit

Science AND Art.

The election of 1800 required 32 elector ballots before Jefferson prevailed to become the nation's 3rd President.  Talk about controversy.

In his first inaugural address, March 4, 1801, President Thomas Jefferson made this remark.

"All will bear in mind the sacred principle, that though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful, must be reasonable.  That the minority posses their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression.  Let us then, fellow citizens, unite in one heart and one mind."  

There is Political Science, then there is the Art of Power.  Today we have leaders, in both parties, who are not schooled in exercising the art of power.  Then there are the citizen groups, the "red meat freaks," on both the left and right who can't/won't tolerate the Art of Power.  The result is what we see in DC today.

In less than a year we will go to our polling-places to elect the 45th President of the United States (along with a new Congress)--and of course the primaries begin next month. So much hangs in the balance.  I hope that we will be blessed with leaders, on both sides of the isle, committed to making the American "idea" (NOT the Dream) a reality again.

May God bless America's leaders in 2016 with "art" (statesmanship) to empower our process to work justly, compassionately and humbly and...with integrity to act in the best interest of the people, rather than their parties or own self-interest. 

May He also deliver us from ALL those bad actors in Citizen groups, without regard for their orientation,  seeking to force the country on a path that suits only their vision of what America was, is and must become.

Let freedom ring. 

 bN tGit

Saying Good-bye.

I have loved dogs since I was very young boy and a little poodle mix followed by brother home.  We named him "Yogi" (the dog not my brother)  and he filled our home with love for just about 11 years.  One evening we found him lifeless, out in the yard.  We speculated he'd had a stroke.  I was crushed.  

I've reprised that loss four more times--Alphie age 8, Max age 13,  Barely age 14 and Kate age 15.  Each time they pass into my memory--I'm crushed, again.  Yet once I move through my grief, I can't resist the compulsion to find our next dog companion and start the cycle again.  My lovely Lab Lily sits with her chin wresting on the top of my feet as I type these words.  Chance, our dashing Dachshund, is rattling (his tags drag on the laminate floors) round the kitchen.

So somewhere down the line I have a least two more gut-wrenching "letting-go" passages to make.  I have a friend who just today put her lovely dog, Karma, down.  Karma was loosing her battle with cancer and it was time for my friend to let her best K9 friend go.  Why do we do it?  My friend posted a quote this evening on her Face Book feed.  It explains why pet owners put ourselves in the way of certain heartbreak.

"There is a cycle of love and death that shapes the lives of those who choose to travel in the company of animals. It is a cycle unlike any other. To those who have never lived through its turnings or walked its rocky path, our willingness to give our hearts with full knowledge that they will be broken seems incomprehensible. Only we know how small a price we pay for what we receive; our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given."

Suzanne Clothier

That's it!  Look at that, "...our grief, no matter how powerful it may be, is an insufficient measure of the joy we have been given."  My life has been better because of my love for my dogs, and most especially, FROM  my dogs.   

So, tonight I celebrate a lovely dog named Karma, her big empathic eyes and lovely brindle coat are a magnificent memory now.  She "got" my friend, she loved my friend; she trusted my friend.  A wonderful tribute to the connection they shared for 8 years.  Yes, dogs make life better...and parting? Parting is surely sweet-sorrow.

Grief, Remembered. Reminded.

December 7, 1941. 

   2400 dead. 1200 wounded.
   18 US Ships and 300 planes destoryed or damaged.

"A date that will live in infamy"   President Roosevelt

"I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and instilled in him a terrible resolve."  Admiral Yamamoto

Both men were right; the world was rescued from an "Axis of evil," but not before millions lost their lives and the planet was gashed by nuclear weapons. 

America, an idea that produces passion to sacrifice.
Freedom isn't free.

bN tGit