Dear Readers and Other Friends,
May 2014 bring peace to every corner of your world. Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Jackie
Archive for December 31, 2013
Those Satanic Winter Games
“Satanic Winter Games” is what a militant Islamic leader called the upcoming Olympics in Sochi, Russia. He feels that, because the games are the work of Satan, bombs should be set off and people killed.
Let me understand this. The Olympics are games that bring people together from all over the world, forgetting their national grudges for a time. They require people to agree to abide by rules that foster cooperation and peace. Their participants actually root for others from different countries, encouraging them to do their best, taking joy in their victory and weeping with them in their defeat. They bring young people together in ways that offer hope for a war-weary world. In short, the Olympics celebrate the wonder of the human spirit.
Now, that’s not the Satan I’ve ever heard about. In fact, it’s a whole different Satan than any of my Bible-believing Christian or Koran-devoted Muslim friends would recognize.
To that leader quoted above I say, “May you enjoy an eternity with your friend, Satan!”
Rx for Down-on-Humanity Syndrome
If you have post-Christmas blues or feel that the world is going to Hell, I prescribe “26 Moments that Restored Our Faith in Humanity this Year.” It’s floating around in various formats, but my favorite–with its movement, sound, and musical background–is on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziApDm1KhmE
Put it on full screen and be uplifted by these 3 1/2 minutes!
“Super Fakes”–What a Deal!
Spending some cash you got for Christmas or after returning that sweater that was three sizes too large (or small)? As you walk along the street, you my find quite a bargain: a high-fashion, big-name handbag that normally costs $5,000 but is only $600. And it’s not cheesy looking like the $40 fakes. In fact, because even the experts have trouble telling these excellent copies from the real thing, they’re called “Super Fakes.”
Before you give in to temptation, be aware that the profits from these handbags go to some people you may not want to finance. That money funds child labor, organized crime, and terrorism.
Maybe they aren’t so “Super” after all.
For My Christian and OtherReaders
To all my Christian friends and readers, and to all of you who don’t share the meaning of the day but DO believe in its spirit of love and hope for the wold:
HAVE A BLESSED CHRISTMAS!
Shopping Hint to Gift the World
Here’s an idea to follow this shopping season and throughout the year: Pre-cycle. That is, before you buy think about which items have the most waste in terms of excess packaging, natural resources used, and useful life-span before taking up room in the landfill. Then buy accordingly, choosing from all the gifting possibilities the ones that help protect Mother Earth, the world we live in.
[For more easy, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/ view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. Or download a free copy from your favorite e-tailer.]
Disturbing At-Play Trend
Remember the excitement as a young kid of getting together with a couple of your friends to play? Maybe one would bring a ball, another his dog. You’d run around, devising games and new rules as you went. When you were tired, you’d stop, sit under a shade tree, and complain about your siblings or a mean teacher. In other words, you’d hang out together, enjoying each other’s company.
Contrast that to what was on TV’s 7 on Your Side earlier this week. The segment compared video games for parents thinking about getting one for their child for Christmas. What interested me, though, was the scene: three young boys, presumably friends who had come together to play, sit in a circle, each totally absorbed in his own video-game world. No words or glances were exchanged, no sharing of what was going on in the device clutched in any of the young hands. No indication that any of them knew that anyone else was present in that intimate-looking circle. In short, no interaction.
Me and my video game. Who needs friends?
World-Molding Thought from Rock Star Bono
Bono rocks with this Thursday Thought: “The world is more malleable than you think and it’s waiting for you to hammer it into shape.” –Bono
[Let’s all get our hammers and work on smoothing out the world’s rough, jagged edges.]
Stupid Woman of the Season Award
Today I saw the best candidate for Stupid Woman of the Season, if such an award exists. She pulled her car into a handicap spot (no handicap licence or placard, of course), jumped out, and ran into Walgreens to shop. Soon there was an announcement over the Walgreens speaker: The person parked in the handicap space should return to their car. You left the motor running and your child inside the car. A group of us stared as a woman ran from the store to the car and drove away. Before she pulled away, though, a man confronted her outside the store. Her response was what I hear all the time from less dangerous people, those who just park illegally in a handicap spot without putting a child’s life in peril–“I was just going to be a minute.”
Francis & Homeless: Just Another Photo Op?
Why did Pope Francis celebrate Mass and invite four homeless people to have breakfast with him at the Vatican hotel? Because it was his 77th birthday, of course. Some say he should have invited a whole bunch of homeless people to eat with him–why a measly four? My theory is that a crowd wouldn’t have accomplished as much in the long run. You can talk at but not with a few of those present in a crowd. Four is an intimate number, a number you can converse with, get to know as individuals, learn their stories, gain compassion for their problems, and hear their opinions of how the heartbreak of homelessness can be cured.
Was this breakfast simply another photo op? I don’t think so. Was it the Pope doing his job? Most likely.