#SoCS – Filling Frames

“The key to happiness is not to get more, but to enjoy what we have and to fill the empty frame of our lives instead of enlarging it.” ~Albert Szent Gyorgyi~ I like this – a reminder that I have plenty to work with inside my own frame and don’t need to turn an 8×10″ into 20×24. Friday reminded me that I have special people who make up part of my life’s photograph…spending the morning with a friend who IRead more

The Measure of Humanity

In a beloved episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, a cyberneticist arrives on the starship Enterprise with the intention of dismantling Data, the android, for scientific discovery and for the goal of creating more androids like him. Data would not survive this, and when he tries to give up his commission as an officer so they cannot order him to submit, Data is told he is not human and cannot make that decision for himself. He is a machine.Read more

Origin Story

I went back to physical church this past Sunday after one year and four months of watching the weekly service online. It was weird – the smaller attendance, the lack of the usual treats and coffee that were always present, and saying hello to people I had not seen since I was last inside the building. One of those people was Brenda, who is a very sweet soul and who I have helped with volunteer opportunities in the past. OnRead more

What Lingers Forever

When in grade and high school, I earned “nicknames” from a certain few. Twiggy, Jolly Green Giant, and variations of my last name. At the time, I was thin and tall for my age (5’9″ by 9th grade) and my last name was not a simple “Smith” that everyone knew. I also was picked on for wearing glasses and an overbite, neither of which helped with personal esteem or confidence in self. I was never self-assured in school, never partRead more

A Change in Leadership

“Let us then, fellow citizens, unite with one heart and one mind. Let us restore to social intercourse that harmony and affection without which liberty and even life itself are but dreary things.” ~Thomas Jefferson~ Today is Inauguration Day in the United States. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will take an oath of office as our next President and Vice-President in Washington D.C. This day will look historically different as there will be no crowds on the National Mall, andRead more

All of Us…

“None of us are free until all of us are free.” -Emma Lazarus (1800’s) (variation) -Fannie Lou Hamer and Martin Luther King Jr. (1960’s) -Janelle Monae (2017) -Kamala Harris (2020) This would be the preferred motto of democracy. That all people are free, not held in chains, not held back by law or public opinion. Acceptance and love of all. No judgments, no grudges, no feuds, no wars. Acceptance and love. Honoring. Respectful. Viewing humanity in color, but treating everyoneRead more

I am white

I am white. I don’t know what it’s like To fear Discrimination, bigotry, name-calling, death under a knee I am white Brought up in a white community With white friends I don’t know what it’s like To feel how you feel To live your existence To have a history of constant oppression and special rules Fighting, protesting for survival I am white I have been privileged In ways I still don’t understand My fear is different and now feels likeRead more

“Gee, that was stupid!”

“The words we use for ourselves and others have weight.” So said one of the worship team members a couple of Sundays ago. It’s a call for us to respect ourselves and others in what comes out of our mouth. To not call ourselves, spouses, friends, or family bad names. To grant peace to our neighbors and our negative thoughts. To verbalize love and acceptance to self and the human community. Overcoming religious, political, economic and ethnic differences when weRead more

#WATWB: Restaurant of Order Mistakes

Most of you know that I lost my mother in February to the complications of age and dementia. Dementia is a disease that I witnessed firsthand and one that had me always looking for the bright spots as mom’s memory and health declined. So, it’s no surprise that the following story captured my complete attention and heart. It comes from Tokyo, Japan. The story is from 2017, but its premise is completely positive for people with Alzheimer’s and dementia. “TheRead more

A Letter to Humanity

Dear Humanity, This is not what our Gods, our spiritual being, our conscience have taught us. We were not born this way. To hate. To espouse bigotry. To injure and maim. To kill and start wars. To pound our fists on the table. We have done this to ourselves and to others. We have not learned to truly love our sisters and brothers, our mothers and fathers, our friends and relatives. And those we see as different. We don’t acceptRead more

Where is Peace?

That is a great question. I wish there was a pat answer. I feel peace hiding, trembling, afraid to show its face of late. ISIS terrorist attacks in Paris and Beirut, and the bombing of a Russian airliner over Egypt, have the world’s humanity on edge – fearful, filled with anxiety, and witness to suffering. From NBCNews.com:  “SAINT-DENIS, France — A woman blew herself up early Wednesday (November 18) as an elite police unit raided an apartment while hunting theRead more