Small Things Count

Tomorrow (12/10) is U.N. Human Rights Day. The aim is for us to think about and act on improving the human rights of all people worldwide. That’s a tall order. But we can start with the people around us. Those attacked for their ethnicity or religious beliefs. Adults and children living with abuse. The homeless. The addicted. Prisoners. We begin by adjusting our attitude toward them, leaving behind the feeling that they are somehow to blame, abandoning the “us/them” stance that places them at a lower level, with less dignity and fewer rights that we have. In short, remembering that they are actual human beings. Maybe, after we take thoughtful stock of ourselves, we don’t need this attitude adjustment — although most of us do to some extent–we know someone who does. Then it’s our responsibility to act, to speak up when we’re in the presence of the destruction of human dignity. It’s up to each of us, individually and together, to stand up for the rights even of strangers. Every day should be Human Rights Day!

Today’s Thursday Thought comes from a reformed Grinch.

We’ve begun our Christmas shopping, or at least our gift list. Think about gifting not just Uncle Ralph but strangers you’ll never meet. In other words, shop for fair trade items (NOT the same as “free trade”). Google “fair trade gifts” to find some usual and unusual items.  Buying fair trade means that you’re helping families support themselves by selling their goods at a fair price rather than being taken advantage of by middle men.  It means they receive fair pay and safe, decent working conditions.  It supports communities—housing, health, schools.   Meanwhile, you reap the benefit of quality products free from genetically engineered ingredients, the satisfaction of helping the environment, and the fun of your gift-recipient’s joy of receiving something handcrafted and unique.  In so many ways, then, a fair trade gift is a perfect gift.

Lent has begun. You believe in the modern idea of spending the 40 days doing positive things rather than the traditional practice of sacrificing, or “giving up,” something you enjoy. Yet, the old ways call to you.  Let yourself have it both ways.  Join the movement started in 2007 by a Bishop in Liverpool: give up carbon for Lent.  Yes, carbon–that substance that is adversely affecting our planet and endangering our lives but that we can’t seem to live without producing.  You’ve heard about some carbon-reducing actions, like maintaining your car, turning off lights and appliances when not in use, and running full loads in your dishwasher.  There are so many more small things you can do.  Not everything every day.  But how about one carbon-reducer each day for 40 days? Get 25+ ideas how to do this—go to https://cotap.org/reduce-carbon-footprint. It’s an amazingly simple way to spend a meaningful Lent and respond to God’s call to care for His creations, the Earth and its inhabitants.

In my files, I ran across an article from half a dozen years ago that appeals to my sense of justice.  A group at a Montana college held a bake sale.  Their delicious-looking cookies were priced at 77 cents for women buyers and a dollar for men.  Outrageous?  The idea was to call attention to the wage gap in America, with women earning 77 cents (up to 82 cents in 2022…wow!) and men a dollar for the exact same job.

You have the munchies, guy, but don’t want to spend the whole dollar?  Listen to what women employees are being told when they question the wage gap:  That’s the way the cookie crumbles.

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Today’s Thoughtful Thursday quote is from George Washington Carver: “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong—because someday you will have been all of these.”  

  [I wonder, if we walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, aren’t we just trying them on for size for a time we’ll need them ourselves?]

Here’s a winter to-do list: 1) Check and turn on your heater & be sure your outside animals have warmth and protection from the cold.  2) Dig out heavy coats and sweaters for your family & set aside those in good condition that no longer fit or you don’t use and drop them off at a charity or shelter for the homeless.  3) Buy more groceries at one time so you don’t need to go out into the cold so often & donate some non-perishable food items to a local food bank to help hungry families. 4) Cook heartier meals for your family & dedicate some hours to a soup kitchen to help feed the hungry. 5) Lay in a supply of board games to play with your kids when it’s too cold to go out to play & call to chat with someone who is alone and not able to go out even when it’s warm. — This winter, think of both your immediate and your extended family.

On Saturdays, I offer a “Sensible Saturday” thought, one that’s related to our environment. Often it’s a tip to contribute to our planet’s health. Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow, I’ll post it today instead:

Cook that Thanksgiving turkey in a reusable roasting pan. If everyone in the U.S. did that, 46 million disposable foil pans would NOT be thrown out this year to harm our Earth.

[For more easy, money-saving, Eco-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/7000, choose a format, and download to your computer or e-book device. For a description of the book go to My Free Books).

Thanksgiving Day—it wouldn’t have been the same without the Native Americans who joined with the Pilgrims in a feast of friendship.  Yet, to many Native Americans, that annual holiday is a day of disrespect.  Some schools have the kids draw themselves as “Indians.”  Some parents think it’s harmless fun to let their kids stick feathers in their hair and whoop around.  We read stories to them about the wonderful, loving first Thanksgiving, ignoring the truth about how the colonists would subjugate the Native Americans within 50 short years, forcing them into disease, genocide, theft of their lands, and loss of their culture–all while the newcomers prospered. Thanksgiving should be a time that we give thanks for all that we have.  It should also be a time to remember the native people who were here before us, to pray that what was done to the Native Americans (and other countries still do to other peoples) never happens again, and to celebrate their dignity as human beings. 

It’s true.  I’d get so nervous and upset while riding that I’d become irritable, unreasonable, and, well, bitchy.  It’s all because my husband and I had great differences of opinion about such matters as how often to change lanes, how close to travel behind another vehicle, what to do when another driver makes a stupid mistake, and what sort of language (and level of sound) to bestow on other drivers.

Then I took up knitting.  I’m good enough at it that I don’t need to stare at the yarn and needles, which lets me look around.  But I found that knitting calmed me, diverted my attention just enough that I was less bothered by my surroundings.  I was more serene and far less bitchy.

No, it’s not my imagination.  Studies are showing that such crafts really are therapeutic. Occupational therapists use them to help reduce the symptoms of depression, among other things.

There is a neurological basis as well as well as a psychological basis for the stress-reduction and cognitive benefits.  If you’re interested in learning more, go to the Washington Post Health and Science article titled “Might Crafts such as knitting offer long-term health benefits?”