America In Crisis

Good Sunday Morning! As we watch the SECOND major hurricane hit our Country in less than a month, I am struck watching Americans face these crises with hope and courage. We are NOT Republicans or Democrats facing this horror, we are AMERICANS! We MUST once and for all put away the issues and individuals who would choose to DIVIDE us and come TOGETHER to build an AMERICA FOR ALL! One America built on the foundations laid out by our Forefathers. One America where EVERY child has an opportunity for education and success! One America where NO CHILD goes hungry. Whether white, black or brown, whether Christian, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or agnostic we must WORK TOGETHER for the common good of ALL or find ourselves divided and dying like so many civilizations before us. It is TIME to STOP the name calling and hateful rhetoric and find a MORAL COMPASS for the good of America and all mankind!

A Person's A Person, No Matter How Small!

Last night I had the opportunity to watch a very talented group of young people put on a musical at the Macon Little Theater.  It was absolutely Marvelous!  Seussical the Musical is a great little story, but what was completely amazing was that these kids along with two talented adults, Mrs. Voss and Mrs. Hanie, put this together in just ten days of two hour rehearsals!  It was funny and entertaining.  The voices of some of these kids would knock your socks off! 

The musical itself was wonderful, but I also hope that some of the kids as well as the adults listening heard the message of that musical.  Actually a couple of messages.  "A person's a person no matter how small" is repeated numerous times by Horton the Elephant as well as others.  Sometimes we forget that in this world.  We have gotten so self involved and self serving that we forget about all the "little people" out there.  Those people who are less fortunate in so many ways.  We as Americans have been blessed for a very long time in this country.  There are some tough times out there now, an we need to start looking out for the common good instead of what just serves each of us right now!  I don't know about you, but the fact that there are CHILDREN  in this country who are going hungry every day bothers me!  The fact that there are over 300 homeless children in just one local county alone bothers me!  No, I don't believe in handouts to adults who will NOT WORK, but I don't believe in letting little children go hungry either.  We have got to find a way in this country to look out for those to small to look out for themselves.  Sometimes I feel like there is more emphasis put on suffering dogs and cats than suffering children.  Again, I love dogs and cats, and they are "little people" in their own way, but people we need to come together and find a solution for caring for the feeding and education of the children in our Country NOW!

The musical last night showed me what a bunch of kids can do with a little time and attention.  Those kids last night knocked my socks off!  The only sad thing is...I know how much it cost for those kids to attend that "acting camp."  How many other talented and gifted children are out there who could never dream of doing that and what can we do to change that?  C'mon people, children ARE the future.  Things in this Country and this World will never get better if we don't ALL work together to make it happen.  I have watched this country become ever more and more divided over the last twenty years by crooked politicians.  We need to get rid of the two party system, and find a better way to elect our Congressmen, Senators and Presidents.  We need to get rid of excessive benefits for the rich Congressmen, Senators and Presidents and focus on putting more effort back into EDUCATING and growing our future!  Instead of being split down the middle all the time we need to be working at a common cause of improving instead of destroying this Country. 

Okay, I'm gonna get off my soapbox now.  Again, I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the play last night.  If you are in the Macon area, you need to buy a $10 ticket and go see it.  They will be doing it again today at 2:30 and 7 PM.  Then One more performance tomorrow at 2:30.  SEE IT...HEAR IT, it will touch your heart and soul, I promise you. 

GOD BLESS - Peace, Love and Joy!!!

America The Beautiful

Sometimes as we get too wrapped up in all the politics and talking heads spouting off in the media...television, internet, radio, etc.  Driving home from the Gulf Coast, which in itself is captivating, we drove through miles and miles of beautiful farm country.

I love seeing those huge expanses of land, some freshly plowed, some covered with waving wheat nearly ready for harvest.  I love seeing the cattle in the hilly fields peacefully munching along and their tiny new calves following along behind.

We live in such a large and diverse Country which offers such great possibilities.  I don't think I even realized this fact until I had the opportunity to travel to Europe where you can easily drive from one Country to another in a matter of hours.  We have gorgeous oceans, gulfs, lakes, rivers and mountains.  We have trees and fish and wildlife of all sorts.  And, despite the  news, there are still opportunities out there for people.  Yep, times have been tough recently, but we have had tough times in this Country before, and have come out on top of it by working TOGETHER! 

We need to stop focusing on our DIFFERENCES and realize that if we all work together this Country and pull together and be willing to give something back rather than expect everyone to GIVE to us things will greatly improve.  I find it horrifying that there are HUNGRY children in Seminole County Florida for example.  There are so many people in that area who have been so richly blessed.  How can they look around and ignore those who are less fortunate?  Oh come on, I'm not talking socialism, but just common decency.  I am talking about what the Bible actually teaches - love. 

If you want to call yourself a Christian then you need to have a "Christ like" heart.  You need to be willing to look outside your own home and neighborhood and help others.  When my children were little I taught them to "share."  This is something that seems to be falling by the wayside. 

I grew up in a home with two sisters.  There were three bedrooms and ONE, yep ONE, bathroom.  We were taught to be thoughtful and share in everything.  We didn't push our way to the front of the line or "butt" in.  I am horrified now when I go shopping and see people pushing and shoving and actually knocking others down to be "first."  What is going on here?

We live in a beautiful, bountiful Country where there is plenty to go around.  There is beautiful scenery to enjoy.  There are lakes and rivers and seashores to play on.  Let's quit worrying about the small stuff and focus on what is really important.  Let's quit looking for the differences and find our common traits and needs.  We all need food, water and love and shelter.  Beyond that what difference does it make if a person is a Christian, Muslim, Buddist or Hindi? If we all share love with each other I think we will learn to understand what life is really supposed to be about.  Life is short, it is limited.  We are all born and we will all die.  All of us need love.  Look around and enjoy the world today.  Live today and don't dwell on what happened yesterday.  Share joy and not bitterness. 

God Bless....

Way Down South In The Land of Cotton

We left home at 7:30 this morning heading for Okaloosa Island, Florida for our annual Thanksgiving getaway.  As we began the drive through South Georgia and on into Alabama, we passed field after field of cotton ripe for harvest, being harvested, and in HUGE compressed bales waiting to be loaded onto trucks to be sent to the local gin.

I couldn't help but think of how simple the process is now in comparison to the hand picking which used to be done by slaves and sharecroppers.  If you have never touched the spiky pod which holds the bloom of cotton, you can't imagine how sharp those points are.  I can visualize the bloodied hands of those who had to pick the soft cotton from the prickly pod.  It must have taken hundreds of people hundreds of hours to pick it and their backs had to ache as their hands became bloodied.  I can imagine that many of those bloodied hands even became infected.

How different things are now.  The fields are harvested by huge machinery and the cotton in dumped into the back of the equipment where it is compressed into huge bales which are then covered with plastic before being loaded onto trucks to go to the gin.  The machines are certainly faster, but not necessarily more efficient, as you see a lot of the cotton left behind by the harvesters.  Surely those who picked it by hand, and were paid by the pound if they were paid at all, didn't leave behind as much as the harvesters.  There is a lot of waste with the cotton that is left behind...but the time consumed in harvesting is certainly much less...so I guess it all balances out.

It was not difficult to picture how important this crop was to early Southerners and how much has changed since the days when cotton was first grown as a cash crop in this Country.  Now most of the cotton grown here is shipped elsewhere to be turned into clothing, towels and other items.  Most of the mills which dotted the South have moved overseas and left empty hulks of buildings behind and thousands of lost jobs. 

Our Country was built on the backs of hardworking farmers and laborers who helped create and maintain the growing cotton.  Times have certainly changed, and we have lost something in the process.  We need to grow more jobs in this Country and soon.  We need to start small businesses and revitalize the American Dream before it is lost forever.  It is going to take ALL of us to do this.  We can not count on Congress or the Senate or any Committee to do this...we must all take part in the process.

This year I encourage you to shop locally.  Buy products made by local companies, give gifts of a hairstyle from the local beauty salon, oil changes or tires from a local garage, groceries from your local store...and on and on.  Let's all start working toward rebuilding the American we grew up with so that our children and grandchildren can share in the American Dream.

Happy Thanksgiving ...