Dear America,

You know what's a beautiful thing, besides the weather under this glorious southern California blue sky, is that we share much of the same thoughts throughout the country.  We feel each other and gravitate to those who share the same concerns, the same worries, the same love of country, the same pressures to raise a family, the same faith or something quite similar to -- we feel much of the same things.

They say the inherent need for human touch is vital to our well being and security; I believe it to be true more than ever.  While being able to actually reach out and touch someone via the Internet does not allow for the physical connection, emotional and intellectual minds can come together and find peace.

If you noticed the latest addition to my page includes the characterization and belief system created by the brilliance of Glenn Beck's 912 Project.  I think I'm going to keep it up for awhile.  It comes on the wave of my latest attachment to an organization called simply, As a Mom; a "sisterhood of mommy patriots". I latched on to it only yesterday and already find myself returning to a deeper sense of calm.

I didn't need anything more than feeling the sense that I am not alone.

Last evening, after my girl and I ate breakfast for dinner -- our favorite thing to do combining comfort food and the smell of bacon -- my girl just stopped me, dead center in the middle of the room, and gave me a hug.

It was a good hug.  It wasn't the kind with the pat on the back; it was a solid thirty seconds at least of both arms wrapped around me and mine around her and we both just stood there.  Now, given it was initiated by my little teenager, that in and of itself makes a mama's heart sing; but more than that, in all of it's simplicity in the moment it stood as the very reminder how important it is to teach the importance of touch, and the strength we can gain from it, in a matter of seconds. 

My girl, at some level, recognized this; and whether for her benefit or mine, that reach, that extension, proves as humans we yearn for it, rely on it, and sometimes we just need it.  I didn't ask her if it was her need to be hugged or her sense that mama needed some love that propelled her to wrap herself up and around me.  It didn't matter.  But through her action we both stopped and took it all in...

Our children have been used in the discussions of the day -- from both sides of the aisle -- to impress upon the opinions of constituents and fellow members of congress of what changes must be made and why. What immediately comes to mind is how our children must be feeling, having been the subject of what debts we burden them with or what our world will simply look like when they are all grown up.

and later in the evening I got my answer -- like someone shaking me to the core -- my baby girl actually turned to me and said that she "didn't want to hear any more about it." She was so sick and tired of hearing the news of climate change, Obamacare, the deficit, the national debt, death and taxes -- she wanted none of it and just wanted it all to stop.

It became a teachable moment for both of us, again (don't we love it when we become the student and the child, the teacher).  She is old enough now to understand the bigger picture and questions how things may or may not affect her years down the road; but the realization that she feels the trouble of the world too is unmistakable and without question, commands our attention as parents.

As a mom, we feel everything through our children; we wish they would never feel pain, never have their hearts broken, never be without, and never lose their faith.  We ache when they ache and smile when they smile -- and if they feel stress, yes, we stress.

How do we thoughtfully and carefully maneuver the world and it's events and challenges around the lives of our children without ultimately scaring the living daylights out of them?  They hear things.  They see things. Matter of fact, they say children see more and know more than we may think at any given time; those spectacular little creatures that they are. 

The thing is, the decisions we make today ARE being handed down to our children and on some level they actually know it; scratch that, they feel it.

I am reminded of the importance of our mindfulness through the words of Daphne Rose Kingma, in a little book of hers called Heart & Soul.  It should be noted the book's intent was for the rediscovery of a deeper connection in our intimate relationships, but I think one of her observations applies here:

"There is no neutral moment or action in our experience.  Everything we do, every action we enact, every nuance of movement, each word we utter either creates the further illumination of our souls, or moves us in a direction in which, in a moment of dark unconsciousness, our souls can be utterly compromised.


The potential for loss of soul -- to one degree or another -- is the affliction of a society that as a collective has lost its sense of the holy, of a culture that values everything else above the spiritual.  We live in such a spiritually impoverished culture -- and in such a time...

In such a world the soul struggles for survival; in such a world a man can lose his own soul and have the whole culture support him, AND in such a world, conversely, the light of a single, great soul that lives in integrity can truly illumine the world."

As parents to our children, we are given this great responsibility of choice every day; what power we have to create their world securely and with accountability -- with love and understanding, peace and grace.  Yet, along side this parental right and loving obligation, we must also be on guard for what they absorb from outside sources --when not under the protection of our home -- or within, and under the influences of television.

For our children hear it, know it, see it, fret about it and feel it.

The makings of the day and the legislation of our lives within the walls of congress are testing our culture, compromising our values, and causing so many of us to STOP and share in the same thoughts.  I find comfort and joy in both the season of honoring the birth of the baby Jesus and in the arms of fellow patriots whom I don't know.  Just knowing we share in the same thoughts wraps a warm blanket of hope and faith around me.

I find myself at peace and give great thanks this morning for the "minute-moms" around me and the father of Re-founding America, Glenn Beck.  I would wrap my arms around each and every one of them this morning if I could; and I'm pretty sure it's not because G wants a hug -- I'm quite certain it comes from a place in my heart that feels the need to show how grateful I am for them, for their influences on a culture gone wild, and their ability to connect like minds and affect change for the betterment of the whole.  Giving thanks for the people in our world who love us, nurture us, teach us, enlighten us, protect us, save us or just plain touch us with their soul is what life is all about.
 
I would like to think that was why my girl stopped me smack dab in the center of the living room and cradled me in her arms -- coming full circle thirteen years later and dozens of times over -- it doesn't even begin to tell you how proud it makes a mama feel each and every time. The power to illumine is inside each of  us -- including our children.

Is there a chance today our congress may finally feel that way too -- that they may return to a level of integrity, find a deeper connection to the American people, revealing a much higher consciousness -- worthy of transforming a culture back to it's founding values and principles?

I have to believe they, Congress, are mamas and papas like us; understanding the responsibility of raising America with "honesty, reverence, hope, thrift, humility, charity, sincerity, moderation, hard work, courage, personal responsibility, and gratitude" (9:12) -- and a little less fear, control, manipulation, deception, waste, fraud, overhead, redistribution of wealth, corruption, darkness, and loss.

Perhaps today will be the day Congress STOPS the madness, becomes illumined from within, and blankets the nation with a feeling of warmth, security and the return to grace...a girl can only hope.

Make it a Good Day, G

Hug a tree, your children, your dog -- just reach out and touch someone and let them know you care and redistribute the wealth that's inside you -- or not, the choice is yours.

Dear America,

DECLARATION of INDEPENDENCE; means something different to everyone...

What is coming to light over the course of the last year -- marked by the day we elected Barack Hussein Obama to the highest privilege of our land -- is not only cause for great celebration that we have finally reached the day entrusting our dear America in the hands of the very first African-American, but a chance for pause.

Asking, what in the world have we done?

For THIS is what's called the morning after regret; this is the product of nine months later, and taking on the liberal mindset, along side the realization of this woman's right to choose -- along with everyone else -- that that opportunity has long passed and quite certainly can't help us now. The damage has been done.  The bun's been baked and burned.

All I can say is I didn't vote for the guy.  Now don't all of you "moderates" and "independents" and "libertarians" feel pretty scorched now.  Oh, it's such a sick feeling that buyer's remorse, that 'wudda shudda cudda' gut reaction -- the sinking feeling that oh, I've really done it now.

What we've got here is a failure to communicate; or is it just we can't handle the truth?

We didn't want to see the truth; we didn't want to hear the issues; we ignored the signs; we dismissed the associations and never stopped to connect the dots.

Why oh why didn't we pay attention?  How in the world could we not see it?  Did he have us that starstruck and googly-eyed?

How ironic, a warning from the first lady herself to think before we punch -- making sure we don't vote for the one with charisma just because "she's cute"; and what did we do, we voted for the handsome man who's showing enough chutzpah now to blow our America up to smithereens.

And then I got to thinking about this magic democrats hold over people -- as if they are the party to bring the masses everything it needs -- and looking around at all the people who just want that now. 

That is part of the problem.  We've raised generations of people who expect it, want it, and feel entitled to it for far more reasons than I can count -- and for what?  Where has it really taken the poor, the minority, the addicted, or the lost soul?  Where?

What I also find disingenuous, is how can the Democratic Party continue to point fingers to the religious conservatives as evil and radical -- and continually use these extremes as a platform against the GOP -- and get away with it?  There is such a huge disconnect; somehow even though the majority of Americans truly believe that the truth shall set you free, that we live a life in faith, and deep down stand unafraid because of our religions, too  -- we have somehow created a divide between Americans.  And for what? 

Don't Democrats go to church too?  Don't moderates and liberals and independents and libertarians all go to church?  YES, they do (well, not all of them but you know what I mean).  Why do the Republicans get smacked in the face with this massive label that is perceived as weird, radical, God-fearing Americans -- when the truth is, we are pretty much all the same?

The Democratic Party wants to hypocritically cast our faith as illegitimate in an effort to benchmark their holier than thou people's liberation to choose -- to abort -- to live a life wayward and lost as if unbeliever's themselves -- in order for the party to win over the masses as the party who saves.  Really? 

A divided people are quite certainly broken -- as surely we lack the cohesiveness and inner strength. We need the government to save us and bring us health care and welfare -- and the more fanfare about it the better.  It just convinces us that much more, see, that the government really does care, and they really can come in a take over our lives and take care of us...as look, over there:

• they bring us medicare and medicaid -- Established in 1965...44 years later, and how are they doing...broke.   Truth is, it is actually below broke, for how else do you describe running deficits every year and getting away with it?
• they bring us homes to live in, thank you Fannie Mae (1938) and since it worked so well the first time, added Freddie Mac (1970)...that's right, albeit home's we couldn't afford in the first place, and leveraging bad loans on the resale market to the point of no return; insuring that the entire banking and credit market go boom.
• they even bring us retirement in social security, for all those hard earned dollars we've put into the system from our jobs over the decades.  Established in 1935... after 74 years, and for the record, broke...I'm not sure what you call it, robbing Peter right now to pay Paul?  Give it up Uncle Sam.  I've already worked it out, my retirement will be renting the back room of an am/pm and working the night shift, what's yours?

While here's a different angle:

Louisiana Senator,
Mary Landrieu (D)

Is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans .

Interesting number...What does it mean?

A.  Well ... If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New  Orleans (every man, woman, and child)

You each get $516,528.

B.  Or... If you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.

C.  Or... If you are a family of four...Your family gets $2,066,012.

Both sets of examples I was gifted yesterday in my Gmail box; a very big shout out to my Auntie Emm and her son-in-law, Jake -- who both have it going on and seem to be doing a bang up job spreading the wealth of perception interruption.  G THANKS YOU for being my muse today xxxxxx

But whattup?  Communication and perception is everything; and it is really important right now to stay on top of the message.  Find out who says it, why they say it -- ask what's in it for them -- or what they want from me or from our dear girl, America, to make it happen?  What does the message take our attention away from  -- truth or lies?  What does the message actually create -- division or unity? 

Where has this welfare state, this sense of entitlement, this expectation of our government to take care of those who are better off taking care of ourselves taken us after all these years, and more importantly, along with our hard earned money?  Absolutely no where, and then again...

My view is that everyone is better than we were in the sixties-- since the civil rights movement that is.  It's not rhetoric, it's the truth -- just look around.  You see anyone confined to the back of the bus?  Do you see anyone not being served or having to use a separate bathroom?  Do we separate school children anymore?

All people who want jobs, who want an education, who want to be a productive part of society -- not a product of society -- can make it.  There is no doubt in my mind that this comes forty years later -- after a huge breakdown in communication and loss of trust and life -- the reality that we are better today than we were yesterday. 

Obama proves it.  Condoleezza Rice proves it.  Colin Powell proves it.  Thomas Sowell proves it.  Juan Williams proves it.  Star Parker proves it.  O.J. Simpson proves it (in a very backwards way) Rodney King proves it (easy there, do your background check).  Alveda King (niece to MLK, might surprise you) proves it.  Shall I could go on...Oprah!

As a party with major momentum on it's side, the GOP needs to think and rethink how it communicates the message.

We should be the party of true American liberation, and freedom for all -- as that was just what our dear Lincoln did in the sixties of the eighteen hundreds.  It would be a hundred years later before it was tested again -- but from the sixties, no matter what century you look at, we arose as a better people for it.  We were the party then -- and should be the party now.

The problem now resides in the fall from favor in the eyes of people of color, and perhaps poor people of any color -- as they have been used by the unions and politicians, their bosses and their brothers, drug lords and absentee fathers.  They have been used up and sit disillusioned, while believing with their whole heart that this young, hip, really cool President has all the answers to their prayers.

Whether we are born a poor black child or a descendant of white and wealth, all of us share the same country -- with the same hopes and dreams.

So if the GOP is the party of religious fanatics, isn't this where we use it to our benefit?  Why not team up and partner with each other from one church to another?  Why can't we pair up, in the secrecy of the dark of night if we have to, and link white folk to black folk via the word of God and faith? 

Why can't we pull a g thang -- and go a little gangsta  -- and connect people who have the commonality of belief in times where it tests our faith?  One church at a time...one congregation to another...uniting people in love and kindness, stretching out to real needs of a community or neighborhood, lifting people up as one follower at at time to another.

Community organizers anyone?

If anyone asks, deny it -- just as our current administration gets away with everything.  What, what Czar?  Who, what organization?  Where, what about New Jersey?  You get my drift.

We have seen what grassroots does; we just need it to be of favor to the side of a limited government, not an unlimited bureaucracy and catastrophe waiting to happen.

We can teach our children well -- whether red or yellow, black or white -- Jesus loves the children in his sight.  Perhaps starting at a place which launches our weeks ahead, on Sundays, is where we need to be.

The Democrats have not brought salvation to the poor and downtrodden -- and have no intention of ever doing so -- otherwise they lose control, and without control, they don't have the power to control our lives. 

Now just what will it take to get us from here and into the hearts of those who really belong to us in the first place  -- as truth is, they've just been taken for a ride.

I say the story of creation wins over Darwin every time; it's just a matter of perception and how it equates to creating a new reality and quite certainly a new dialogue between us. The paradigm needs to be tweaked and shifted to the side where it belongs -- the right -- the true believers who have the ability to lift ourselves up without government assistance; for anything other than that is purely misguided allegiances.

From the words of our President:

"I stand here today humbled by the task before us,

grateful for the trust you have bestowed, 

mindful of sacrifices borne of our ancestors...

At these moments

America has carried on not simply because of the skill

or vision of those in high office, but

because We the People have remained faithful

to the ideals of our forefathers,

and true to our founding documents...

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation,

we understand that greatness is never a given.

It must be earned...

This is the price and the promise

of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence --

the knowledge that God calls on us

to shape an uncertain destiny...

Let it be said by our children's children

that when we were tested,

we refused to let the journey end,

that we did not turn back, nor did we falter;

and with eyes fixed on the horizon

and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift

of freedom

and delivered it safely

to future generations."

Interesting -- but okay, whatever you say, you're the boss, you're the big guy, if you say so...Actually, if it weren't for the last nine months, I'd be all over it.  Beautiful words.  Simply couldn't have said it better myself.  And yet,

I'm confused, is he not walking his talk, or is it just me -- where did this President wander off to? 

Those words were spoken this day, January 20, 2009, within his Inaugural Address to the nation.  Of course, same day he also swore upon Lincoln's bible to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" --
and look at us now.

We are the creators of our future -- with a little help from the big guy (not him, the other One).

May God bless you today,
May His light shine upon you and give you peace,

Make it a good day, G