Made It! Now For The Next Step!

My brother, John, and I have returned safely home from our little jaunt across the pond.  I’m grateful that he was willing to take his “first step” and my “first step” with me.  Having lost our spouses nearly two years ago (a week apart) we are both living in a new and different kind of reality than we’ve ever known before.  We were both apprehensive about the trip to the UK, but we made it!  And we “made it” well!

Now, I must take my next step on my own.  That next step will be a solo trip to Flagstaff, Arizona, to visit my youngest son, Luke, and his family in a few weeks.  I’m very excited, but still a bit apprehensive, but I can do this—I know I can—and I must!

Who knows how many “next steps” there may be.  I have no idea, but I do know it is important to take as many as I can, while it is day.  

Is Love At The Heart of Things?

"And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rehab coming to meet him.  And he saluted him and said, 'Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?'  And Jehonadab answered, 'It is."  'If it be, give me thine hand.'"  (2 Kings 10:15)

“But although a difference of opinions…may prevent an entire external union, yet need it prevent our union in affection?  Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike?  May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion?  Without all doubt, we may.  Herein all the children of God (that includes everybody) may unite, notwithstanding these smaller differences.  These remaining as they are, they may forward one another in love and in good works.”

“Every wise man (person), therefore, will allow others the same liberty of thinking which he desires they should allow him; and will no more insist on their embracing his opinions, than he would have them to insist on his embracing theirs.  He bears with those who differ from him, and only asks him with whom he desires to unite in love that single question, “Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?”

“I do not mean ‘be of my opinion.’  You need not:  I do not expect it or desire it.  Neither do I mean, ‘I will be of your opinion.”….Keep you your opinion; I mine; and that as steadily as ever.  You need not endeavor to come over to me, or bring me over to you….Let all opinions alone on one side and the other:  only ‘give me thine hand.’

“…love me: and not only as thou lovest all mankind; not only as thou lovest thine enemies,…. I am not satisfied with this,—no; ‘if thine heart be right, as mine with thy heart,’ then love me with a very tender affection, as a friend that is closer than a brother…Love me as a  companion…”

Something Happened....

 

When I was 12 or 13 years old, “Something happened…and now (after all these years) I know, He…She (God, Jesus, Spirit, A Love at the Heart of things—Something?) touched me and made me….What?  The song says “and made me whole”. But, no, I’m still, even now, at nearly 80 years old, seeking wholeness.  No, He/She touched me and offered a way…a path…His/Her way.  I was to follow. But the nature of the adolescent years is to go “my way” and so I did.

Four years later, Something happened…and now (after all these years) I know, He/She touched me and reminded me of the path.  That second touch was convincing.  I followed as best I knew how, but often wandered off on my own (doing my own thing).

Another four years went by.  Then, Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me…again!  Unlike the blind man in the Gospel story, who required a “second touch” in order to see…this was my third!  (Or was it?)  I still couldn’t see clearly, but felt an overwhelming urge to enter the Christian ministry, and so I did.  Even so, the “following” was, and always has been a challenge.  

Seven years later, Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me…again. Another five years went by, and Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me.  Then, ten years later, Something happened…and now I know, He/She touched me…urging me to follow more closely.

How many times has “Something happened…?”  I often think of only those “big moments”—those moments when Something happened that literally changed my life, my path, my journey.  

Something happened,…and now I know (after all these years) what Albert Schweitzer meant when he wrote:

“He comes to us as One unknown, without a name, as of old, by the lake-side; He came to those men who knew Him not.  He speaks to us the same word:  ‘Follow thou me!’ and sets us to the tasks which He has to fulfill in our time.  He commands.  And to those who obey Him, whether they be wise or simple, He will reveal Himself in the toils, the conflicts, the sufferings which they shall pass through in His fellowship, and, as an ineffable mystery, they shall learn Who He is.”

My New Dog....

During the past year and a half many friends have suggested I get a dog, a cat, an aquarium of goldfish,  or something,  to keep me company.  I appreciate the concern and the suggestions, for I know they are offered with love and care.  But, a dog, a cat, an aquarium of goldfish, or whatever, would be an added burden, rather than a comfort.  

A dog requires food, a daily walk, and visits to a Vet.  Forget the cat—I’ve never cared for cats!.  An aquarium requires cleaning and fish need to be fed.  If I wanted to go somewhere I’d have to find someone to care for the dog (or take it with me).  Someone would have to feed the fish, too, for it is difficult to take an aquarium on a trip. Such responsibility and work is more than I want to take on these days.

Yet, I want my friends to know I appreciate their suggestions.  So, I am pleased to share the news that I now have a dog—thanks to my daughter, Rachel.  I asked her to find me a dog that would not shed, or require food, a daily walk, a bath, or visits to the Vet, etc.  Amazon had just such a dog and “Tipsy” arrived at my home last week.  

"Tipsy" 

Please be assured that I am not tipsy!

Another Definition of Inflation

We are currently experiencing economic inflation.  In the world of economics, inflation is a general increase in the prices of goods and services in an economy.  When prices go up, our purchasing power is reduced.  Our reaction is complaint!  We feel the pinch and we don’t like to be pinched, especially in our wallets.

There are manifold reasons for this present dilemma. Whatever those reasons may be, they are not limited to the United States.  Economic inflation is happening around the world.

There is another definition of “inflation” that has nothing to do with economics, but has much to do with our attitudes.  It is the action or condition of being inflated, like the inflation of a tire or a balloon.  This definition applies to our American mentality.  We suffer from an inflated “right” to comfort, both in our lifestyles and in our wallets.  We are a spoiled people.  While folk in Europe and other places around the world have been paying a small fortune for gasoline for years, we have not!  “To Europeans $4 a gallon is nothing.”

This inflated “right” to comfort (in every sense of the word) has been with us for a long time.  We want everything, but we don’t want to pay for whatever that “everything” is!  Ninety percent of all the consumable goods produced on the earth are devoured by a fraction of the world’s people who live in one country:  the United States of America!  Enough said.

Holodomor

While reading The Trials of Harry S. Truman by Jeffery Frank last week, I became aware of the Holodomor in Ukraine (1932-1933).  It is amazing how much we don’t know!  I had never read or heard of the Holodomor—a term coined using the Ukrainian words for hunger (holod) and extermination (mor).

The Holodomor was a man-made famine.  It occurred when Soviet leader Joseph Stalin tried to collectivize agriculture in Ukraine (then a part of the Soviet Union).  The Communist Party forced peasants to relinquish their land, personal property and housing to collective farms.  This policy was resisted by the Ukrainians.  Rebellious farmers, towns and villages were prevented from receiving food (the “police” took everything edible from them).  They were not allowed to leave the Ukrainian republic in search of food.  

The result:  3.9 million Ukrainians perished from hunger.  Mass graves were dug all across the country—just as they are being dug today.  

Yesterday, May 8, 2022, 2:15 PM ET — “A UN official said that Russian forces are stealing and destroying grain in Ukraine, which may result in food shortages there and around the world.  Warnings of famine carry an echo of the Holodomor, when the Soviet Union’s decision-making resulted in the deaths of some 5 million people across the U.S.S.R., at least 3.9 million of whom were Ukrainian.”

Mother's Day 2022

My mother was also the mother of my six siblings.  She was born in 1919, and graduated to a new realm of existence in 2014.  Mom was unique, beautiful, wise and loving.  I miss her.

My Mother in 1960.

My mother in 2012

I’m grateful for the mother of my children today as well.  I use to tell my children, especially on Mother’s Day, that she was my wife, not my mother.  She was their mother, but on this day, I join my children in “missing” her.