Thursday, December 29, 2016
HARD WORK/KNOWLEDGE: PATH TO THE FUTURE
It is hard to believe that we are about to ring in another New Year but we are. In this past year we learned of the death of friends and family and of national, international and local notables, We enjoyed moments of joy and accomplishment in education, science and sports.
We heard and acknowledged the calls to improve the process of fair and equitable justice and began to do something about it by taking action that will continue. We have come down and off the roller coaster of elections and financial upheaval and uncertainty. Societal, environmental and atmospheric discoveries and changes have been made even as we reveal our misgivings about where these changes were going or how would we deal with them?
We are mindful that at times we may seem lost at sea without the human energy drive to overcome fear as we navigate the uncertain shoals of change but we need not be.
As we welcome 2017 we need to move on. Life is not a "tweet." It is a pathway to secure a future
that acknowledges knowledge, science and technology that takes us to the hard work of dealing with change which we can and will make.
May the Year 2017 be a discovery of patience, respect and humility for all of us..
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
THE UNOPENED THANKSGIVING CANDY BOX
I met Rose Mass in 2014. She was a small, dynamic, older lady. I was a stranger to her and to the City she loved. She became a good friend.
She and I seemed to have had similar life experiences. She shared my zest for life and for living, fearing no stranger or new experience.
In her youth she broke quite a few glass ceilings before we understood what a glass ceiling really was.
She wore her "titles" of student, teacher, wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother as well as dear aunt with dignity and humility, yet always independent and seeking justice in many ways.
She was a loyal and encouraging friend to many with whom she shared wide interests: from bridge, to tennis, to music, to reading, to food, to politics and to humorous asides which she used to break intense moments.
Her love of travel took her on a a freighter trip to sail the sea, She saw much of the world, visiting with still more family as she went along the way.
Toward the end, it was difficult for her to remain mobile. She did so with the love and help of her four sons, their prodigies,and a loving capable care giver.
I would stop in to visit with Rose every once in a while and when I did, I would take a small token
that could please her. She seemed glad to see me, always reminding me that I should have voted one way or the other.
Ten days ago, I bought a box of Thanksgiving candy to take with me for Rose. I never did get to visit her. As I write this, I learned that Rose Mass had died and the Thanksgiving Candy remains unopened.
During this holiday and this time in the history of our country, it seems worth remembering that
my friend leaves behind a virtual army of people whose lives she affected in a positive way, reminding each one of us that the richness of life is here for each of us to enjoy regardless of who we are or what we may have.
MAY THE HOLIDAY BE A GOOD TIME FOR YOU AND YOURS.
Tuesday, November 8, 2016
THANKSGIVING 2016
THANKSGIVING 2016
WE COME TOGETHER TO ENJOY THE HARVEST
AT TABLES SOMETIMES ELABORATE, SOMETIMES MEAGER
BRINGING DISHES ACKNOWLEDGING WHO WE ARE
AND FROM WHENCE WE CAME
GATHERED TOGETHER WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
LISTENING TO STORIES, MEMORIES OF THOSE NOT HERE.
Beverly D. Rehfeld
Friday, October 28, 2016
VOTING, ASTRONOMICAL DISTANCES & GRAVITY
Recently, I joined a friend to attend two fascinating scientific lectures.
Both presented the advances in answering questions once thought to be without merit.
The titles alone could have been off-putting: "Splitting Hairs Over the Distance to the Nearest Star," by Dr, Keter M. Murch and the other "Unsung Heroes of Quantum Physics by Michael Ogilive."
Each lecturer was knowledgeable and related scientific information and exploration to the technology we now take for granted. Each lecturer brought an excitement for inquisitiveness and teaching.
As we listened, often to theory and language strange to my ear, I thought of the questions now before us as we go to the polls to vote for candidates and issues that will affect us in very human ways.
Will we vote for our own personal priorities? Do we vote to advance the opportunity for many or do we dictate the "right way" to be designated by a few? Do we question our own responsibility in respecting and maintaining or destroying communal behavior?
So it is that I think of the vote we need to make in the important elections of 2016 and the questions we need to ask ourselves as well as the questions we need to ask of those who want to represent us.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS!
Both presented the advances in answering questions once thought to be without merit.
The titles alone could have been off-putting: "Splitting Hairs Over the Distance to the Nearest Star," by Dr, Keter M. Murch and the other "Unsung Heroes of Quantum Physics by Michael Ogilive."
Each lecturer was knowledgeable and related scientific information and exploration to the technology we now take for granted. Each lecturer brought an excitement for inquisitiveness and teaching.
As we listened, often to theory and language strange to my ear, I thought of the questions now before us as we go to the polls to vote for candidates and issues that will affect us in very human ways.
Will we vote for our own personal priorities? Do we vote to advance the opportunity for many or do we dictate the "right way" to be designated by a few? Do we question our own responsibility in respecting and maintaining or destroying communal behavior?
So it is that I think of the vote we need to make in the important elections of 2016 and the questions we need to ask ourselves as well as the questions we need to ask of those who want to represent us.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS!
Saturday, October 8, 2016
"TRUMP, TAXES & CITIZENSHIP"*
David Brooks columnist described the dilemma so many of us face with the 2016 elections.
Sure we believe in following the rules but what do we do when the rules seem to apply to others rather than ourselves?
What do we do when the political process we have seems to have broken down and the only choice we have is to look to the lesser of evils in candidates or political parties?
In his September 4th column Brooks said, "If you are a tax payer your role in the country is defined by your economic and legal status. Your primary identity is individual. You're perfectly within your rights to do everything you can to look after your self interest.
"As Trump and his advisers have argued, it is normal practise in our society to pay as little in taxes as possible. There are vast industries to help people do this. There is no wrong here.
"The problem with the taxpayer mentality is that you end up serving your individual interest short term but soiling the nest you need to be happy in over the long term.
"A healthy nation isn't just an atomized mass of individual economic and legal units.
"If you orient everything around individual self-interest, you end up ripping the web of giving and receiving. Neighbors can't trust neighbors. Individuals can't trust their institutions and they certainly can't trust their government."
So, as Citizens maybe we need to question whether or not the candidate's political rhetoric is in keeping with our understanding of democratic pluralistic, communal life?
How will what we hear and read affect each of us as well as others, increase our broader understanding and participation of the Citizen's role in a democratic society?
And how will each candidate help us meet the changes we will need to make which will affect each of us, our lives our ambition and our security?
No easy quick answers to be sure. But if we shirk from our responsibility to vote as Citizens we are less than we have always been as a people and as a nation.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS!
*David Brooks, September 4, 2016
Sure we believe in following the rules but what do we do when the rules seem to apply to others rather than ourselves?
What do we do when the political process we have seems to have broken down and the only choice we have is to look to the lesser of evils in candidates or political parties?
In his September 4th column Brooks said, "If you are a tax payer your role in the country is defined by your economic and legal status. Your primary identity is individual. You're perfectly within your rights to do everything you can to look after your self interest.
"As Trump and his advisers have argued, it is normal practise in our society to pay as little in taxes as possible. There are vast industries to help people do this. There is no wrong here.
"The problem with the taxpayer mentality is that you end up serving your individual interest short term but soiling the nest you need to be happy in over the long term.
"A healthy nation isn't just an atomized mass of individual economic and legal units.
"If you orient everything around individual self-interest, you end up ripping the web of giving and receiving. Neighbors can't trust neighbors. Individuals can't trust their institutions and they certainly can't trust their government."
So, as Citizens maybe we need to question whether or not the candidate's political rhetoric is in keeping with our understanding of democratic pluralistic, communal life?
How will what we hear and read affect each of us as well as others, increase our broader understanding and participation of the Citizen's role in a democratic society?
And how will each candidate help us meet the changes we will need to make which will affect each of us, our lives our ambition and our security?
No easy quick answers to be sure. But if we shirk from our responsibility to vote as Citizens we are less than we have always been as a people and as a nation.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS!
*David Brooks, September 4, 2016
Monday, September 26, 2016
ROCKETS, TRAINS & THE ELECTIONS OF 2016
Recently on one of the walks we took through the Mall, we noticed three windows worth mentioning.
One depicted a desert scene complete with cacti almost six feet tall, dessert shrubbery and potted plants, all made out of canvas stretched over plaster board.
Another depicted a rocket on its way to the planet Mars .
The third displayed real railroad train tracks with a plaster board image of an old steam engine, coming at us with its head light bouncing off the display window.
My friend mentioned how far automation and technology has brought us today and suggested I take a look at The Amazing Railway Track Laying Construction Machine on YouTube.com
So what does all this mean to me as a voter in terms of the 2016 elections?
It means that somehow I need to get my head around the fact that things like building railroads
and maintaining our infrastructure, or exploring unfathomable distances between planets are no longer a matter of ideological, or environmental discussion but a scientific fact.
I need along with my fellow voters to begin to acknowledge where we are in terms of the education science and training we need to have to move forward toward the future.
This is not the time to be cursing the weather but to learn more about it.
This not the time to be talking about ideas that belong to the past but to recognize who we are now.
This is not the time to be advocating walls to hold back tides or people It is a time to recognize how much we have achieved economically, scientifically and educationally.
It is a time to provide the opportunity for others to do well also when we vote in November.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS.
.
One depicted a desert scene complete with cacti almost six feet tall, dessert shrubbery and potted plants, all made out of canvas stretched over plaster board.
Another depicted a rocket on its way to the planet Mars .
The third displayed real railroad train tracks with a plaster board image of an old steam engine, coming at us with its head light bouncing off the display window.
My friend mentioned how far automation and technology has brought us today and suggested I take a look at The Amazing Railway Track Laying Construction Machine on YouTube.com
So what does all this mean to me as a voter in terms of the 2016 elections?
It means that somehow I need to get my head around the fact that things like building railroads
and maintaining our infrastructure, or exploring unfathomable distances between planets are no longer a matter of ideological, or environmental discussion but a scientific fact.
I need along with my fellow voters to begin to acknowledge where we are in terms of the education science and training we need to have to move forward toward the future.
This is not the time to be cursing the weather but to learn more about it.
This not the time to be talking about ideas that belong to the past but to recognize who we are now.
This is not the time to be advocating walls to hold back tides or people It is a time to recognize how much we have achieved economically, scientifically and educationally.
It is a time to provide the opportunity for others to do well also when we vote in November.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS.
.
Monday, September 12, 2016
UNLOCKING THE GATE OF FEAR!
Recently we took a scenic route to view the great Mississippi River. As we came to a clearing overlooking the river we found a huge black iron gate.
Foliage framed the gate but we still could have gone around had we wanted to be closer to the river
but we were unsure of our footing and did not go further.
A number of small locks bearing initials were on one side of the gate. Whether placed
by individuals as part of a romantic tradition or simply to help strengthen the gate we were not sure.
I thought of that gate recently as I pondered the dilemma we are in with our political campaigns.
In some instances it is as if we are standing before a river bringing a surge of questions. We need to make choices for political candidates we don't like. Nor do we understand why others support the other side.
So where do we go and what do we do?
The leadership of political parties is confusing. Conservative doctrine seems voiceless in the face of bombastic promises.
Liberal voices are silenced by failure to recognize the very real concerns people have no matter where they are in terms of income, education,or different cultures or life style.
Personal insults and cartoons aimed at all political candidates seem to have become particularly vicious. Fact finding has become a game of "gottcha."
Voters in many instances are focused on single issues as we and those who represent us, and those who would represent us are polarized in state capitals, Congress and in the White House.
Yet as individuals we have been able to overcome enormous disasters and life threatening changes not from fear but by working with others. We worked to build a better future.
Sometimes that future wasn't fair to others but we resolved our differences through compromises we made together under laws that encouraged and provided opportunities for others to be heard.
If the iron gate, like the one near the Mississippi is holding back our enthusiasm for the 2016 political elections because of our fear for the future, we need to unlock it,
We need to cast our votes for candidates who will respect the need for fairness as we work together to meet future challenges as we have done so often in the past.
As difficult as it may be, we are called upon now to vote in November.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS!
.
Foliage framed the gate but we still could have gone around had we wanted to be closer to the river
but we were unsure of our footing and did not go further.
A number of small locks bearing initials were on one side of the gate. Whether placed
by individuals as part of a romantic tradition or simply to help strengthen the gate we were not sure.
I thought of that gate recently as I pondered the dilemma we are in with our political campaigns.
In some instances it is as if we are standing before a river bringing a surge of questions. We need to make choices for political candidates we don't like. Nor do we understand why others support the other side.
So where do we go and what do we do?
The leadership of political parties is confusing. Conservative doctrine seems voiceless in the face of bombastic promises.
Liberal voices are silenced by failure to recognize the very real concerns people have no matter where they are in terms of income, education,or different cultures or life style.
Personal insults and cartoons aimed at all political candidates seem to have become particularly vicious. Fact finding has become a game of "gottcha."
Voters in many instances are focused on single issues as we and those who represent us, and those who would represent us are polarized in state capitals, Congress and in the White House.
Yet as individuals we have been able to overcome enormous disasters and life threatening changes not from fear but by working with others. We worked to build a better future.
Sometimes that future wasn't fair to others but we resolved our differences through compromises we made together under laws that encouraged and provided opportunities for others to be heard.
If the iron gate, like the one near the Mississippi is holding back our enthusiasm for the 2016 political elections because of our fear for the future, we need to unlock it,
We need to cast our votes for candidates who will respect the need for fairness as we work together to meet future challenges as we have done so often in the past.
As difficult as it may be, we are called upon now to vote in November.
SEE YOU AT THE POLLS!
.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)
