Dear America,

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, 

now it looks though they're here to stay, oh, I believe, in yesterday...

everybody join in now...

First, let me just say, yesterday is what happens when you blosh...rushing a blog is no way to go around life, you know what I'm saying... What, was I on speed, barreling through the the turns in run on after run on, not really coming to a complete and full stop if ever, not even once.  Crazy, I tell you, simply crazy.

Nothing good comes in a rush, that's all I'm trying to say; and going back to how the seasons greetings each year find congress suddenly in a rush, I think the point is made all the way around -- rushing legislation is no way to circumvent the people and create an even bigger government.

And besides, who was it yesterday who basically called the central government out on this, highlighting the history of Rome in the process, coming to the conclusion that the congressional body might just be pretty much for show nowadays -- the real damage gets done by executive order, czars, by special committee, and under a new system of governing and social order -- a.k.a. community organizer in chief. 

Oh it's subtle alright; half the country doesn't even see it coming, or rather, happening right under the mistletoe.

Let us slow down today, and pay attention to what we are doing, shall we?

And given it is clearly permissible to congregate by community prayer vigil, let's have one:

(and can we have a great big shout out to JoAnn Watson, City Councilwoman of Detroit...kudos to you...I give the ACLU, or our very own Justice Department, about ten more minutes before they shut that kind of behavior down)

In Mother Teresa's own words, found in her book, A Simple Path...

"God is everywhere and in everything and without Him we cannot exist.  I have never for one moment doubted the existence of God but I know some people do.  If you don't believe in God you can help others by doing your works of love, and the fruit of these works are the extra graces that come into your soul.  Then you'll begin to slowly open up and want the joy of loving God."

Mother Teresa made herself wholly available to God, to use her in whatever capacity He chose for her, being led down a simple path of austerity, grace, adding in an extreme duty and allegiance to the welfare of others, all her life. This reverence to the Most High became her life's work.

Not all of us can be a saint, like a Mother Teresa; some of us become Aretha Franklin's or Paul McCartney's showering the world in the love of song, sharing in community that one still voice; as a people, we can glean much and often through the power of lifting spirits higher, in joy or in sorrow, through words and melodies in song.  Music can sometimes change everything.

Let us consider then, music's ability to act as prayer, and come away with perhaps, a resolution, in hopes that we use our gifts, and support each other to do the same, and welcome the prospect of congregating with those who use God's gifts for good as often as we might possibly can; let us ponder, that while congregations sing on Sunday, everything from Gospel to Evangelical, from the Torah to the Koran, the reality is we sing in God's glory throughout the ages, in all communities, all the time. 

Tell me, we are not changed in that moment we recognize, altogether, that we are connected to the source of All Good; when we commune with each other in song, and in prayer, we lift our spirits to the heaven's above, and we let go of all the troubles of the earth and by the earth -- even if only for a moment.

When we pray, we do this; when we sing in the car, we do this; and when we do, things change, we change.

Doesn't this tell us and affirm, the essential element in life, and perhaps our success through it, might be eased simply by being mindful and cognizant of just about everything we say and think and sing and pray then?  Isn't it required of us to display this faith, actively and in community with one another, in order to teach our children, everyday, the importance of joining together in prayer for the betterment of the entire community, like glue, as the directions say?  

How is it okay to pray for a cultural icon, as in our dear Aretha -- openly, publicly, in the town square, and fully advocated by an official in the business of public service -- and yet, to do so for someone of lesser "value," or to even think of attempting such an act within the walls of public school, we say, heaven forbid?!

Isn't it just as important to display this faith, to unite in prayer, everyday?  In order to create a community in peace, and love, and respect, for all faiths, of all things, isn't it vital for the growth  and wealth of such a nation to practice what we preach in our daily affairs?  Why is it only allowed, and not ashamed, when it is hovering into an the realm of only for the elite, only for a few, only under certain conditions, only warranted by that which we deem politically, or culturally, correct?

Ball players do it; musicians sing it; Muslims demand it; the natural world revels in it; even birds do it -- chirping in God's grace the whole day through.

Mother Teresa explains,

"We are working for the Kingdom, we have devoted our lives to the Kingdom of God, so He definitely has to be the one who guides us and leads us and provides for us.  For instance, we never lose sight of God's providence, so we try to store the things that we need, and just manage with whatever comes as it comes.  I think in this way we will continue to receive God's blessings, especially if we don't become extravagant and if we don't get caught up living for the future, instead of right now in the present.  We need to be flexible -- when it is God's time things are easy and when its not His time things are difficult.  We must really listen to the invitation that God extends to us in whichever way it is manifested...

Let Jesus use you without consulting you.  [wow, that is good]

We let Him take what He wants from us.  So take whatever He gives and give whatever He takes with a big smile.  Accept the gifts of God and be deeply grateful. If He has given you great wealth, make use of it, try to share it with others, with those who don't have anything.  Always share with others because even with a little help you may save them from becoming distressed.  And don't take more than you need, that's all.  Just accept whatever comes."

"If he has given you great wealth..." this isn't just about material wealth and financial freedom, it is more about the gifts of talent and influence we live from a place of being in communion with one another.

"We must really listen to the invitation that God extends..." this isn't just about who we are individually, how best to purposely use our gifts, endowed by our Creator,  it is more about who we are how we unite, as a whole, with these gifts; collectively, what do we stand for, and how do we best give reverence to God, while shaping our society in gratitude for all that comes our way.  

Do we begin to take it all for granted, and move on.org, or do we make manifest a brighter, purposeful world of co-creators all around, never forgetting to give thanks and praise for where THE ALL comes.?

This is a time that try men's souls without a doubt -- but in relation to protecting all that we have worked for, it can be utterly detrimental and permanently destructive of everything if we ever come to a time when forget from where we came. 

A genuine effort to build community coming from faith, a belief in something greater than ourselves, Something so Great and Wonderful, that It guides us and directs us, even if totally unaware or accepted, is the only way true progress can me made.  To live a life connected to the Source of all things, and live a life of true faith -- the kind of faith the majority of us say that we are, and a nation that celebrates this very foundation from it's birth  -- we we must actually connect!

It was Glenn Beck, yesterday, who stamped out the fall of the Roman Empire across his handy dandy chalkboard; how did they fall from being an upstanding Republic?  Through the degradation of social and moral values, a show of rampant incivility between one another, overextending the growth of the central government increasing the power over the people, restricting the everyday rights and freedoms and liberties of the whole...in other words, letting too much power into the hands of way too few in every attempt to play God;  little by little they began to control God's gifts.

Our society is doing everything backwards these days -- instead of praying for guidance and direction, in the community of one another, we are separating, polarizing the issues, dividing the hearts and minds of a faithful people, and dismissing the one, true, simple path right in front of us.  Our troubles of yesterday will never go away until we pray about it today.

And to pray on it, never ceasing.

We really don't know what will happen tomorrow, do we. At this point, as the world turns, just about anything goes and just about anything could.

If we paid more attention to how we live today [for it might be all we have], freely, in the presence of one another, anywhere and often, and undoubtedly under God [have your pick],  our troubles may not miraculously fall far, far away, if ever, if at all; but it would be a matter of record that we would know precisely where they lay... and more important, know just where to put our hearts and minds in order to make manifest a resolution, and everyday create a more perfect union.

Make it a Good Day, G

and by the way, we really should pray for Aretha today...and while you're on the line, throw in a few good thoughts for all the rest of us, too.  We all need a little love, be it for yesterday, in this very moment, or whatever tomorrow may bring...

Dear America,

What Price Happiness?

That is what grabbed me mid Sunday afternoon with a football game in the background.  It was the title of a rather intriguing contemplation, from an author I normally cringe at the thought of reading what she will say next, Naomi Wolf; but this time, color me surprised -- and pleasantly, I might add.

Where she really got to me was really towards the end...long after making profound comparisons of Freud, neuroscience, Betty Friedan -- and The Feminine Mystique (1963), and that of Simone de Beauvoir --  and The Second Sex (1949) ...all chiming in with their own morning alarm "that women too possessed selves that were not defined by others..."

Naomi intermingled relationship with ourselves, the world, and specifically, the last forty years, answering to a study that found women to be "less happy" now than before woman's lib; she didn't want to believe it herself, and low and behold, set out to disprove the findings, or at the very least, try to understand the why and comprehend the how.

Of course, for this American Girl, it wasn't until she rounded about to the discussion of happiness itself -- what is it, and how it might be defined, when -- of all things -- she turns to the founders for a little help.  As she explains in short history first, the Declaration of Independence which pronounces one of America's most treasured beliefs, as evident by what we might find here, in streets paved of gold, I'm sure  -- is the timeless phrase of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Naomi immediately addresses the fact that this patriotic tidbit, this "promise of America," is far from being "personal" -- no, no -- and she is right on the money here. She goes on saying,

"personal gratification is not what happiness meant in the eighteenth century.  It had much more of a connotation of the fortunate condition of using one's fullest capacities in the service of the larger good.  Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and even Jane Austen all use happiness in this sense...this is a nice place to start redefining."

Indeed.

As we come to find out, happiness rests on the shoulders of a life that is full, if not, overflowing -- and how we best manage ourselves through it with any sense of grace, reasonable dexterity, with perhaps a greater consciousness holding us all together; the modern world is a good trick to pull off, especially, if one wants to bring in the joy of parenthood, while "using one's fullest capacities in the service of the larger good."

If only we really did just that, is all I have to say.

Somehow, we complicate even the simplest of things.

"Should we consider that the very burdens of our freedom -- our having problems of our own choosing -- are gifts as well?  Should we see that defining a credit card as perhaps the easiest route to happiness may have hidden costs?  Should we outgrow the oppression of the very idea of "perfect"? ...Maybe you find it in spite of, not because of, cultural "happiness" scripts."

Yes, Naomi "I'm not half as afraid of you as I was before" Wolf.

I love it when the left and right meet in the middle of happy town, USA, sipping a latte and eating a gingerbread man head first.  This is a good day.

Truth be told, the article is from last April! nestled in a MORE magazine, of which, I was using to craft together my own intimate collage of inspiration -- creating a muse of my own, so to speak -- in keeping with the detail of stoking my fullest capacities for the maniacal week ahead.

Let's just say, having various pots on the fire, I am being challenged in the process of maintaining the right amount of heat on one, while an unwelcome char is happening on another...while those in between, are simply  not getting stirred often enough.  But I'm cooking!  I'm cooking up a storm!  And that makes me happy.


The gift of the feminist movement is finally returning home -- with a brand spanking new Viking range waiting for you.  We are coming full circle, after years of bearing false witness to the traditions that kept things simple and sane, returning to a greater understanding of how all the moving pieces of life come together successfully, not only for ourselves, in our own little world, but in the service for the larger good, is what it's all about, man. ya dig?

Black Friday and Cyber Monday does not define my America -- and certainly, to be as clear as I possibly can be, it is a far cry from defining my pursuit of happiness in my free time, as well;

I am happy, having a roof over my head, when the skies are so clear, it dips to freezing, even here in sunny, southern California.

I am happy, that my local VONS sold turkeys for $8.00 -- not by the pound -- but the whole entire bird!

I am happy, that when it came time to saying our prayers last night, my girl piped up and said "for Korea...both of them" -- and expanding on that with a question to me, asking if it was appropriate to pray for North Korea, too?  To which I said, "of course, and maybe more so"...distracted by some kind of Godfather flashback in my mind, "keeping your friends close, but your enemies closer." And if the good Lord willing, maybe they will change their ways, saying a little prayer couldn't hurt (good news, free will leans both ways -- bad news, free will leans both ways).

I am happy, that I am capable of loving this world, and my country, with enough passion to heat the sun for lifetimes to come...yes, if in doubt, global warming, is all me.

I am happy, that I can create a home, and a life, that inspires me, that enlivens my spirits, to bloom wherever I'm planted; my mama taught me a lot of that, from the experience of being uprooted from time to time as wife of an officer and a gentleman -- or maybe, having dated back to the time her own childhood, her father being a contractor, who made a life building a home, living in it, selling it, and earning his keep living to the fullest of his capacities -- both men, in service to a greater good, interestingly enough.

I am happy, that when it came time for my mama to choose a career, the most important one was Mama -- having also worked in her own capacity as a teacher over the years...but when push came to shove, her primary duty was to the family, and the rearing of children, who in turn, would go out one day to make a life, living to their fullest capacity for the greater good -- and if nothing else, to do no harm.

I am happy, that I am not ashamed of living a life from faith -- similar to Naomi's sentiment of vanquishing the need for "cultural happiness," so must we awaken to the modern takeover of our faith in this world...

"...the kingdom of Christ is not of this world...The greater the difficulty, the closer it drives us to Christ. Only in Him do we find refuge.  We truly become pilgrims and strangers.  We carefully examine and cling to the basics of the faith.  They become an anchor in the storm.

Ironically, peace and prosperity have the opposite effect.  When all seems to be going well, we tend to forget that we are engaged in warfare.  The intensity of faith that gets us through the tough times tends to languish when life is easy.  The Church becomes assimilated into the culture and cultural Christianity replaces authentic faith.  The distinctions between Church and culture become blurred." 

from William Wilberforce, in a revised edition by Bob Beltz, Real Christianity

It doesn't have to be Christian -- but God help us, let It be Something; we have lost our authenticity -- whether it be about our connection to the Creator, as maker of our free and wondrous world, and Inspiration to live to our fullest capacity for the greater good -- or in finding our own happiness.  The foundation of being morally, ethically, conscientiously, and virtuously coming from a deeper place in our soul, is keeping us from being our cultural, and oh so personal best, at home and around the world.

Life in the last forty years has become so modern, so easy breezy beautiful COVERGIRL, so life in the fast lane, so I have an app for that  -- whether masculine or feminine -- the roots underfoot never stood a chance.

We are dying on the vine, we are letting our children fall in between the cracks, we are not sustaining LIFE and all that is required of it, as the ever so humble, respectful, gracious servants, the pilgrims and strangers we once were.

If we don't teach our children, of the importance of all the little things that add up to a great big wonderful life, who will?

If we don't build the character inside them to become the next great something, something, who will?

If we don't stop and thank God once in awhile, that oh my gosh, look at all the people who can rush out and buy a flat screen TV the day after Thanksgiving without thinking twice about it -- or break all records today on the wide world web, because even though shipping's a hassle, it's free today...

We are about to descend into another war and we run out, stampeding over our neighbor to buy every electronic we can get our hands on? -- because if it's buy one and get one free, all the better?  really?


Today, call me fickle, but I revel in a new appreciation for Naomi Wolf -- the power to live from a place of our own choosing is fundamental in this land we call America; keeping all the pots on a slow simmer, basking in the glow of a warm, inviting fire... blushing in the light of a life well satisfied and savory, sexy and saintly, is a real calling, and a huge task, requiring every bit of our full capacities in every which way to Sunday and back; a heritage where Martha Washington meets Martha Stewart, intercepted perhaps, by Mary Tyler Moore, Rhoda and Gloria Steinem...but we are onto something...indeed... I can just feel it.

The pendulum is swinging -- trading the Cosmopolitan for the simple goodness of an Old Fashioned, yummy; move over MadMen, women have come into their own, again!  And this time, we might just know how to have it all without losing touch with our kids, unbuttoning our blouse to the store bought boobs, or misplacing our faith (somewhere with the car keys) all before work in a career we love...and be all giddy happy about it...ah, maybe giddy is taking it a bit too far...but a girl can dream, can't she?

For we recognize, America's real bounty, is neither packaged or tied up in a bow; it is unleashed in our duty to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" and our ability to align with that spirit of "using one's fullest capacities for the larger good," each and every one.

this reminds me of a saying birthed out of the seventies too:  happiness is...

Make it a Good Day, G

My gift to you today, recipe for an OLD FASHIONED: get a short glass, drop a sugar cube to the bottom and drizzle just a wee bit of water, just enough to dissolve...add a couple hits of Angostura Bitters, an ice cube, and Bourbon Whiskey, stir.  Maraschino Cherry, optional. Sip and be really happy...for awhile.