You're my Best Friend!

On the way home from Church this afternoon, after a wonderful service and message, and a great version of Amazing Grace sung by the congregation I heard You're My Best Friend by Queen. I think that God is telling me something. That song put the cherry on top of my Sunday!! Pastor's message told us not to keep Jesus at arm's length, that we should openly welcome him into our hearts and lives. The whole service moved me to tears especially when I consoled a friend who had recently lost his sister-in-law suddenly, they are a very close family and I know he was hurting. "I was lost, but now am Found!" A-men!!!

Oh my...

My prayers go out to the people of Japan in the wake of earthquakes, Tsunamis, and a possible nuclear meltdown (not clear to this writer what the situation is, something happened, but it has not been fully told) The Japanese are a proud people rich in history and culture. They will pull through this. I am also very impressed how this whole disaster is being handled, the Japanese people are working together; helping each other. There is a genuine concern for their fellow countrymen, something not really seen in past disasters or recent crisises in other countries. May God watch over them.

90 Days

Not much to say about this, something personal I need to do. It's high time I faced my demons, I need to start doing what's right. I know what to do, I know what needs to be done, I just have to do it, I have a wealth of resources at my disposal, I just need to reach out. I don't know why I haven't been. Instead of sitting alone in silence and suffering, I need to realize I am part of a community of knowledgeable people. I have to take the bowl off my light- it's time to shine!!

Ashes, ashes...

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the season of Lent. A time when it customary to 'give up' something. I always have a hard time with this, each year I try to make this item more and more meaningful. I will come up with something, but... I started to think along with giving something up, why not give also? Give more of myself to others? It's just a thought.

Thank you for your Support

We all need support, if you care about someone, and they need a shoulder, let someone know by your actions that they have your support, give them the love they need to succeed. Let them know that if they stumble or fall that they have a safe place to land. Having support puts success at arms reach.

Friday... Monday?

Friday is here again, yay. The weekend is supposed to be rainy and windy, I'm not sure in what order that will come, but whatever comes, I hope the weekend will be fun for me and the kids. I would like to do something fun to take my mind off a few things. Nothing bad, just need to clear my head for bigger and better things, in several posts previously I stated I have a lot going on in my personal life, I am changing into someone I will be for the rest of my life, I am praying that person is someone I can enjoy spending time with. I want to meet Monday saying that I have used up my weekend.

Freedom of Speech

Well, our decency as a Nation has finally full circle to bite us where we sit- "High Court Rules for Anti-Gay Protesters at Funerals"
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution reads in part:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Yes, everybody in the US is entitled to free speech, I don't know if the founding fathers even considered what speech was to be protected in the coming centuries. I am sure that they would be appalled at the speech that we consider free. Our Declaration of Independence also states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

We also have certain unalienable (absolute) rights. Hmmmm... I see a problem here, by defending the rights of a few citizens, we are also dying other people (citizens) of THEIR rights, their right to Liberty (freedom).

This is undoubtedly a tough call, but it all boils down to the fact that while the speech (vile as it is) for the Westboro Baptist Church is being protected under our laws, what about the protection of rights for the grieving families of our military who have paid the ultimate sacrifice? These souls who were fighting for the very rights that now comfortably shroud these hate mongers that unsuccessfully pass themselves off as a Church? I think that the rights of the Declaration of Independence should have some bearing in this case, I firmly believe that. I don't know what to do, the High Court has spoken- I always thought I would be a good judge, I am fair, I can see both sides and feel that I could rule on the side of the right. But when you are talking law it is hard to rule on the side of 'right.' It usually rules on black and white, but the vibrant gray that always exists simply become collateral damage to this judicial machine.
I am against these protests, these families should be allowed to bury their family members in a peaceful, somber ceremony. I don't know what else to say except that we do have a God in heaven, he gave us Jesus who went to die on the cross and cleanse us with his blood. We are, ever since that day, 'free of sin' by that very sacrifice. But, there is one caveat- we need to recognize this sacrifice, we need to accept Jesus as our savior. I don't know how this Church can exist, given my previous statement. Anybody who accepts Jesus as their savior can not, by definition, behave the way they have been, and thanks to the High Court ruling, will continue to. I pray for strength for these grieving families, the words that these protesters speak do not represent the opinion of this author, OR the overwhelming majority of this great Country. God Bless America.

Avoidance or Tolerance...

As an addendum to my Social Slowdown Post.. While talking to my wife about my latest 'feud' with social media, her opinion was to just ignore posts that caused me angst, a simple solution to my problem, but my retort was that in order to find out if the post was unsatisfactory or not was to actually read it. But by then I was already befouled by it's banality. I would rather take a break from reading posts. Again she advises that I would miss good posts along the way. I really had no argument for that. Tolerance is usually the way to go, if I could just get myself to look beyond these posts and realize that people are people, and they will do what they do no matter what else may be happening. More simply put these things occur whether I read the posts or not, I need to rise above it. But, avoiding them takes them completely out of the equation, out of sight out of mind... tolerance on the other hand will cause me to see people for what they are, to learn about them. I am still up in the air, but I am grateful that I have other opinions to guide me. Time will tell...

Toastmasters

A group of us from work went down the street to visit another companies Toastmasters meeting to aid us as we make the hourbey to start up our own Toastmasters group.

We have visited 2 so far, both were very different in how they conducted their meetings, but the people are all the same, energetic, forward-thinking folk who want to broaden their lives (all aspects) and climb to heights that never would have been imaginable had they not taken the plung into this vibrant endeavor. Eventhough we have yet to get our group off the ground, we have the numbers on our side to form our own independent group, we just need to get our paperwork in order so that we can get off the ground. I am, needless to say, very excited to start our group, I will post often about this, maybe even post transcripts of speeches that I give. Wish us luck on our journey to further our self-development. Click here to learn more!!

Just what is a blog?

Whatever a blog is, it is very popular, I obtained the definition below from WikiPedia-

BlogFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A blog (a blend of the term web log)[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.[2]

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As of 16 February 2011 (2011 -02-16)[update], there were over 156 million public blogs in existence.[3]

Social Slowdown

I turned on my computer this morning, and I did not immediately go onto Facebook or Twitter to the latest whaty-what.

I must say I prefer Twitter over Facebook, I did finally get around to checking my social networks, what did I find... exactly, aside from the day-to-day updates I get from the many pages I 'like', there's the usual parade of attention seekers trotting out their news of the day as if that news would affect MY life, it does though... now, mind you this is news that while still relevant to that specific person, has little or no effect on me except for the fact that I am now forced to read it becuase we are 'connected' I know by being a member of the social media, I have jumped right into the fray of kids accomplishments, the latest event, or even home remodel. There is a saying that you can never get to much of a good thing, well social media has proven that pithy statement entirely wrong. Why do we as a society feel the need to get into other peoples heads? Shouldn't we use this time to get into our own heads? I am still trying to figure out what makes me tick, and I feel that reading each new post from 'friends' takes me further away from getting myself in order. At 46, I am always discovering things about me, while I am still getting my arms around my faith, and digging deeper into the Bible. There is also a saying that states don't believe everything you read, I think that is true when it comes to social media, or any media for that matter. So what am I saying? What do I mean to learn from this post? I guess I am saying that enough is enough! I honestly do not think I have my life in the kind shape that can handle all of this information from folk who post as if their lives are in perfect order, I am not one to wear masks (although I do) I am what I am, maybe that's the issue I have with my position in the social media combine. I have things that I want to do, lessons I still have to learn. I do not see any benefit in concerning myself with what everybody else is doing, sure I will go back at some point, but right now, this is where I feel at home. The only opinion of myself that matters is the opinion I have of myself, and before that opinion goes south, I intend to 'write' the ship! This is now my social network- RANDOM THOUGHTS!!