Thursday, July 24, 2014

CRASH AND BURN...

My candle burns at both its end;
It will not last the night.
But oh my foes and oh my friends;
It doth give a wondrous light. ~Edna St Vincent Millay

This was always one of my favorite poems and I would quote it to my children my late husband, and currently to Tom.  I quoted it to my Dr. yesterday, as I am learning, through all of the recent tests once again being performed, that I am battling health issues and she informed that my “body is burned out.” 
“I got news for you “Doc”;  I AM BURNED OUT… and there is not a damned thing you or I can do about it.”
Burnout, as I am fully aware, is a condition caused by unbalance; too much work or responsibility, too little time to do it, over too long a period.  I have been cruising in the fast lane but I have been running on fumes rather than on fuel for years.  I have always thought that burnout is something that just happens to other women – to workaholics and perfectionists, as well as caregivers. To those women who care deeply about their children, work, relationships, parents, siblings, friends, communities and other issues; which in this day and age sound like every woman I know.  Perhaps I would have paid more attention to burnout if it were as dramatic as a heart attack… oh wait, I have had a couple of those.  Duh!  You see, a smoldering flame really can become as deadly as a flash fire. L 
Sometimes burnout manifests itself as a sense of complete exhaustion at the end of a project that has taken months of challenging and intense work. Taking a week off to rest, then resuming work at a slower pace is usually enough to bring about a speedy recover. But first-degree burnout, the soul snuffer as my oncologist called it yesterday, comes from living unbalance for years; when what was supposed to be a temporary situation becomes a lifestyle.
Burnout often begins with illness – anything from a bout of flu you can’t shake to chronic fatigue syndrome – to heart attack – to cancer.  It is usually accompanied by depression. Sometimes, burnout is hard to distinguish from a creative dry spell, especially if you are good at denial; ( meet Cleo).
It’s burnout when you go to bed exhausted every night and wake up tired every morning – when no amount of sleep refreshes you, month after weary month.
It’s burnout when everything becomes too much effort; combing your hair, going out to dinner, visiting friends, walking your beloved dogs.
It’s burnout when you can’t believe, under any circumstances that you will EVER want to make love again.
It’s burnout when you find yourself cranky all the time, bursting into tears or going into fits or rage at the slightest provocation ( wish my daughter could read this one)
It’s burnout when you dread the next phone call (which may explain my increasing urge to throw my cell phone into the nearest toilet)
It’s burnout when you feel trapped and hopeless, unable to dream, experience pleasure, or find contentment.
It’s burnout when neither big thrills nor little moments have the power to move you – when nothing satisfies you because you haven’t a clue what’s wrong or how to fix it.
It’s burnout when you feel there is not one other person on the face of the earth who can help you..
AND YOU ARE RIGHT!!!
As health issues, the economy, family problems, etc continue to engulf me ( and others) in growing waves that are beginning to feel like tsunami, you are the only person on earth who can help because you are the only one who can make the lifestyle changes that need to be made.  To call a halt, to take a slower path, to make a detour from the road you are currently on.
True, I (nor my readers) can change the economy, health issues, even family problems, but we can change our attitude to them or the time we invest in worry.  We can draw boundary lines, insist that we are as important as the next person, and learn to live with a little less to have a little more.
When you have no strength left, as is currently my situation, then you have no choice but to rely on the strength of a saner Power to restore you to Wholeness.
In the pursuit of our souls, the Creator takes no prisoners.
Burnt offerings
Burned to a crisp
Burned beyond recognition
Burned alive
Burned out….

I am letting go and letting God.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

What Have You Learned?

I've learned that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back

I've learned that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned that it's not what you have in your life, but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned that you shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do, but to the best you can do.

I've learned that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it.

I've learned that no matter how thin you slice it, there are always two sides.

I've learned that it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I've learned that it's a lot easier to react than it is to think.

I've learned that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I've learned that you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I've learned that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I've learned that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place. (Amen to that!)

I've learned that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I've learned that learning to forgive takes practice.

I've learned that there are people who love you dearly, but just don't know how to show it.

I've learned that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time.

I've learned that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I've learned that I'm getting more and more like my grandma, and I'm kinda happy about it.

I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learned that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I've learned that just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.

I've learned that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I've learned that you should never tell a child her dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if she believed it

I've learned that your family won't always be there for you. It may seem funny, but people you aren't related to can take care of you and love you and teach you to trust people again. Families aren't biological.

I've learned that no matter how good a friend someone is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I've learned that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I've learned that sometimes when my friends fight, I'm forced to choose sides even when I don't want to.

I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned that sometimes you have to put the individual ahead of their actions.

I've learned that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I've learned that if you don't want to forget something, stick it in your underwear drawer.

I've learned that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I've learned that the clothes I like best are the ones with the most holes in them.

I've learned that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I've learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I've learned that there are many ways of falling and staying in love.

I've learned that no matter the consequences, those who are honest with themselves, get farther in life.

I've learned that many things can be powered by the mind, the trick is self-control.

I've learned that no matter how many friends you have, if you are their pillar, you will feel lonely and lost at the times you need them most.

I've learned that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I've learned that writing, as well as talking, can ease emotional pains.

I've learned that the paradigm we live in is not all that is offered to us.

I've learned that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.

I've learned that although the word "love" can have many different meaning, it loses value when overly used.

I've learned that it's hard to determine where to draw the line between being nice and not hurting people's feelings and standing up for what you believe.

WE ONLY HAVE TODAY

I met with my GP yesterday... She cojoled, we argued. She scolded, I laughed. She admonished, I said ENOUGH!  

We are running some of the basic tests but I have declined some of the more detailed tests she wanted to run.  I declined going back to my Oncology team until my next actual appointment. She asked me why.  I said I am tired, I don't want to know any more and no one is cutting on me; not any more.

All I want now is for the fatigue to go away.  I can manage the pain.  I just want to enjoy life a little again. I want to run and play with my beautiful shepherds.  I want to hike the Superstition.  I want to stay up late to watch Orion appear in the sky. I want...

I want to enjoy today and perhaps tomorrow without worrying about tomorrow or yesterday or even just an hour ahead.  I am tired.  I am really tired of being afraid of what tomorrow will bring or being fearful that some angry so called loved one from my past will come running up to pull the rug out from under me yet again.

There are two days in every week about which we should not worry. Two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension.

One of these days is yesterday with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains.Yesterday has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the world cannot bring back yesterday.We cannot undo a single act we performed.We cannot erase a single word we said. Yesterday is gone.

The other day we should not worry about is tomorrow. With its possible adversities, its burdens, its large promise and poor performance. Tomorrow is also beyond our immediate control. Tomorrow's Sun will rise, either in splendor or behind a mask of clouds, but it will rise.Until it does, we have no stake in tomorrow, for it is yet unborn.

This just leaves only one day . . . Today. Any person can fight the battles of just one day.
It is only when you and I add the burdens of those two awful eternity's - yesterday and tomorrow that we break down. It is not the experience of today that drives people mad.      It is the remorse or bitterness for something which happened yesterday  and the dread of what tomorrow may bring.

Let us therefore live but one day at a time.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Worry Steals Precious Moments.

Once again, life seems to be throwing health obstacles in my way.  I have an appointment with my GP today but know it will quickly escalate to heading me back to my Oncologist and cancer team.  I have been battling some serious fatigue issues, upper jaw pain and the blurring in my right eye, the only one I see out of, is getting worse.  There appears to be a small tumor forming in that eye.  (yep, I am scared to death).
As I fight the symptoms to stay on my feet, ensure I get myself to work, as even one day off will throw my budget severely out of whack, and take care of my two German Shepherds; my worry and fear are beginning to grow.   I am a worrier in full worry mode right now and I know it is NOT helping the health issues.
Are you a worrier?  We all are to some extent, but some of us are more pessimistic than others, and WE worry; it’s always the worst possible thing that first comes to mind.  In battling cancer, in the loss of my beloved husband to alcohol and drug addiction, the alienation from my children, I have learned that worrying is not my friend but it is a great thief of my precious time.   I have learned that, in worrying over something, I am NOT doing a dammed thing positive about the problem.  In truth, worry simply increases my stress level (not good for the cancer), and sets me off in an escalating spiral that can ruin an entire day – not only for myself but for those around me. 
Now, when I find myself fretting over an issue, instead of working myself into an absolute frenzy, I stop, whisper a prayer, and count my blessings in so many other areas of my life.  I have learned that simply to ask a blessing upon my circumstances, whatever they are, somehow improves them. As Marjorie Holmes writes “ I came upon one of the most ancient and universal truths – that to affirm and claim God’s help even before it is given, is to receive it.”
So today, as I battle these health issues, I will life those worries and ask for grace to get through the rest of the day.  I know that there is an abundance of amazing grace available to all of us is we simply learn to ask for it.
“Desire, Ask, Believe, Receive”, says the mystic Stella Terrill.  Begin by praying or conversing with your higher power in that order and you will understand why.
After praying about your worries, is there a friend you can share your problem with?  A good friend who will not pass judgment or try to fix everything?  If not, sit down quietly and write out what’s troubling you. Write out what the worst case scenario, your greatest fear, your coping mechanism etc.  If you don’t have an answer for any of these things than write out “I don’t know.”  It’s okay NOT to have the answers. Mark Twain admitted, near the end of his life; “I have spent most of my life worrying about things that have never happened.
Difficult times have tuaght me how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way and that so many things that most os uf worry about really are of no importance whatsoever.
Worrying about the future robs all of us of the present moment. Try to observe how much worrying you do and if the nagging worry follows you relentlessly throughout the day than follow Scarlet O’Hara’s example (lead character in Gone With The Wind) and simply tell yourself “I’m not going ot think about this right now, I’ll think about this tomorrow.”
After all, tomorrow is always a day away.  Right now, I have this precious gift of today.  May it be wonder-filled!

Friday, July 18, 2014

High School Reunion - 40 years?

We all have them – high school reunions, if our hearts are still ticking.

My 40th reunion was held this month in my little hometown of Albion, NY; a tiny hamlet close to SUNY of Brockport (where I attended college), and in between Buffalo and Rochester.

How I loved high school. It was a moment in time when we were all so innocent; and yet…thought we knew it all. I was the girl who was not much into a social calendar. Oh I did attend Football games; particularly the one's held between our arch rivals the Medina Mustangs and our team the Albion Eagles... The purple and white.  Homecoming parades and bonfires. I would be there, until the end.

I belonged to the student council, Spanish club, drama club, marching band and symphony where I lovingly played the French Horn for four years, loving the practice and the performances while living in semi fear of a fantastic music instructor; Moses Sherman.


I loved working in the library with my mentor Mrs Rodden and listening to her words of wisdom and stories of life.

Dances? Are you kidding me? I lived for them. Boys?  I found that one special one at a school dance... Douglas James Pike (3 years my senior) and married him when I was 18... God would take him from me just 24 years and 3 weeks later.

However it was the world of academics that really held me. My need to get those A’s in order to be accepted into college AND prevent the dreaded look of disapproval from my parents.

Yep, I loved my high school years.

So, one could conclude (logically) that if someone “LOVED” their high school experience, they would naturally want to go to their reunion. This was NOT quite truefor me. My mind and heart continued to battle it out, right up until that very weekend…

The word, “REUNION,” is almost a misnomer. Considering we were never REALLY united when we were in high school. What? Sorry, it’s true. Most of us had our group of friends whether it be The Breakfast Club of: Jocks, ASB, Social Butterflies, Surfers, Nerds, or the Stoners. Never really speaking to each other, much.
And then comes the time to REUNITE. That seemingly awkward “Hello” or “Hug” after 40 years, frantically searching for each other’s name tag. Or even worse…they know yours and you don’t remember theirs.

And how about the people who attend just to energetically say, “Look at me…I made it! Someone loved me enough to pronounce ’till death do us part,’ and I have two kids who have just received Honor Roll, while being the STAR athletes on the basketball courts of our old Junior HS. My home is paid off, and I am just about to retire…How are you?” All the while, still proving to themselves that they are enough by their accomplishments, titles and money. Forgetting that they are enough…just by being born.

Then there are those who don’t make an appearance, such as myself…because they buy into the illusions and think they are too poor, fat, old, sick and worthless. Or, they tell themselves that they just don’t care.

Are you HERE Bonnie, It’s Me, The Universe? Time is running out lady. Grab that golden ring!

When it finally came down to it, I still really wanted to go.  It was where I needed to be. Simply because it was a reminder of a more innocent time. Their innocence and mine. It would help me to remember that…we are all ONE. And this time, maybe I could do it differently. Maybe this would have been my last chance to UNITE… for the FIRST time.

So there you have it. The one thing I absolutely VALUED about seeing my fellow classmates again, is that they remind me of my youth. A time when I can remember what it was like before my “so-called” struggles and when my body was intact and when Doug walked and held my hand. A beautiful bridge that we ALL have in common, if we are just willing to take the time…to cross it.

As I am shedding layers upon layers of my protective and egocentric walls of fear, I am slowly being re-born to the innocence of Love. I will hold on to that even though it was finally Cancer and work that prevented me from going home to see old friends and catch up on lives of those who still touch mine in gentle ripples.
My oldest friend and good luck charm Kim Wright Pritt was on the planning committee for this 40th reunion and through her I was able to attend; albeit vicariously.  She kept me apprised through letters and emails of all that was going on and today even sent me the information package that all who attended received.  To my surprise, even though I could not be there, and have not been back home since 2002, I was included in the package... and she honored me by calling me what I always dreamt of being; an author - a writer.

I also got to find out what so many old friends have been doing and silently slipped in beside each of them for just a few minutes.

I know I will never see my home again, but with dear friends of 50 plus years, I will always be able to be there in my heart and mind and I know I will never be alone.

Happy 40th Reunion to the 1974 Graduating Class of Albion Central High. 

(From the Information Package)

Did You Know...
A lot of interesting things have happened to all of us over the last 40 years. Here are just a few bits of information to help start some conversations so you can learn more about your classmates lives!
Two couples are currently married to fellow class of 1974 classmates:

o Rodney Woolston and Donna Celmer Woolston

o Tom Maxon and Suzanne Greene Maxon

Becky Allen Prophet is a professional clown and teaches others to be clowns

Bonnie Breuilly Pike is a published author - she wrote three books of poetry and is working on a novel

Maggie Strickland Parsons has been in radio for over 30 years and is currently a DJ on Rochester radio station Legends 102.7

Maggie Strickland Parsons lived on Guam for about 10 years - she was a missionary with Trans World Radio and served as the morning announcer on their local radio station. She also worked at another local station as a news anchor/reporter. She has enjoyed extensive traveling - she's been to Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Hawaii.

Pat Neal was not able to attend because she is using her vacation this year to go to the Antarctic, which completes her bucket list goal to see all seven continents!

Several 1974 classmates have retired from the prison system within the last couple of years: John Borello and Renee Schoonover Colonna from Orleans Correctional and Marilyn Wright Kilborn, Deb Engle Martillotta, Rodney Woolston, and Donna Celmer Woolston from Albion Correctional - sorry if we missed someone!

Chris Rodden Capurso was the first person to get married in our class that is currently still together. She married Al Capurso on August 24, 1973 and they are still married 41 years later!

Kathy Murray True was the second person to marry that is currently still together - she married John True on Dec 28, 1973. Kathy and John are also still married after 41 years together.

Bob Fleming worked at DC Comics for a while!

Anne "Michelle" Johnson Dicureia lived in Reno, NV from 1980-1985 and would dearly love to return!

John Borello is still actively playing music in a local band called The Who Dats

Kevin Georgitso was the mock "Police Chief" when our senior class took over the Village government and, coincidentally, he had a 30 year career in law enforcement as an officer and detective in the Arizona Dept of Public Safety (the Arizona equivalent of State Police), retiring in January 2009

Carol Hollenbeck Duke has lived in some pretty interesting places: Birmingham, AL, Richmond, VA, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Bangkok, Jakarta, Reidsville, NC. She has traveled "across the pond" three times to serve as missionaries and to pastor churches. All told, she has lived in 24 homes in 31 years of marriage!

Laurie Tully has lived in Louisiana for most of the last 37 years and has been married for 19 years!

John Strausburger couldn't be here because he will be in Vancover, British Columbia. He lives in Fort Worth, TX, has a daughter in Denver, two sons in Nashville, TN, three grandsons, and a granddaughter on-the-way!

Kim Wright Pritt lived in North Carolina for 26 years and recently retired and moved back home to Albion......who says "no one ever retires and moves NORTH"?

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

The Mystery Of The Soul

Christina Baldwin (author of one of my favorite books Life's Companion: Journal Writing as a Spiritual Practice) said "How we remember and what we remember and why we remember form the most personal map of our individuality. I concur with her belief in this area and I think it explains why some people cling to immaturity, anger, resentment or fear... they stop their own introspection far too soon. So, with the help of good friends, some great doctors, and my own faith, I am going to continue this spiritual dig that I know will eventually lead me to discover the Mystery of where my soul abides.

Whether you realize it or not, each of us has lived many lives. and each one has left an indelible mark on our souls. No, dear reader, I am not talking about the metaphysical such as reincarnation. I am referring to the episodic and sometimes cyclical ways in which our lives evolve: childhood, adolescence, university, career, marriage, motherhood, retirement, widowhood, and onward. At each and every stage in our lives we have experienced both laughter and tears. However, even more important for the interests of this topic, we develop personal preferences. Each live experience and how we CHOOSE to view or interpret it, leaves a layer of memory like a deposit of rich sediment: things we have loved and moments of contentment we have cherished that when recalled reveal glimmers of our true selves.

I have known many who are hesitant to recall their past because they are afraid they will dredge up painful memories or have to face some sad realities they would so much prefer not to own. But I believe that just like each new battle with cancer has brought a gift for me if I am but willing to look for it, so too will each painful memory come also bearing a peace offering. In truth, there is nothing to fear for the past only asks to be remembered.

Today and for the days that God lets me have, I expect many things as I sit around the campfire of my heart and you will around yours and if you invite me, I will gladly share with you. Remember, dear reader, that someone is always listening. Someone is always talking to you and encouraging you to take that next step as you embrace the Mystery of your soul.. as I embrace the mystery of mine.

Expect to have hope rekindled. Expect your prayers to be answered in wonder filled ways for the dry seasons of life are never permanent.

Blessed be.

NATURES SHADOW.

In the shadows of
this foreboding storm,
thundering, echoing
lighting darkened sky
I ponder the truth of a chrysalis- beyond an enchanted dream
Suddenly my life is wonder filled for a transforming arty scheme
A "Free bird" amidst a rainbow canvas,
a work divine
Intoxicating breath of heaven, on sweet well water wine

Delicately woven intricacy
of nature’s luminous parfait
Even as the wonder of a waning summer
brings an elegant bouquet
It’s easy to dance with "Heavenly Wings"
Letting-go of the old for new 'exciting' things

Caught-up in the moment,
the beauty of Nature's word is true
The “Goddess of second chances” creates all things new
Now, like the butterfly, the old is left for dead
Enraptured by living scenes of beauty and wise words said

Liberated to limitless heights, free to soar and roam
With every negative there is a positive; now I rest at home
Humankind , symbolic of a butterfly, "here today and gone tomorrow"
We need truth and thankful days ,
while surrendering ourselves
to the Natural ways....

Bonnie Pike; from Shadows of Love 2/2011

Shadows of Growth and Miracles: Stay Warm My Children... stay loved.

Shadows of Growth and Miracles: Stay Warm My Children... stay loved.:

Live Each Day As If It Were Your Last

“It has done me good to be somewhat parched by the heat and drenched by the rain of life,” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.
A few years ago, at my 50th Birthday party, my young granddaughter asked me how I felt about being “old”. I was taken aback, for I did not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question and I would ponder it, and let her know. Now, as I near 60, have been seriously battling cancer (Stage 3 breast) for 7 years, have lost contact with her and other family members due to anger and resentments of things beyond anyone’s control, I am finally ready to give an answer to that question.
Old age, I have decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my scarred, battered, aging body­- but I don't agonize over it for long.
As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so perfect on my southwestern patio. I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many family members and dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.
Whose business is it if I choose to stay out in the desert and watch the sky will with stars? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's and 60's and 70’s , and if I at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will. Despite my daughter’s embarrassment over my show of emotions over a poem, a song, etc., I enjoy the fact that I can feel and know such joys and sorrows.
I know I am starting to be a little forgetful, at times. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten ­ and I eventually remember the important things.
Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.
I am so blessed to have lived long enough, despite the cancer and the struggles, to see my hair turning white and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves around my eyes.  So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.
 I can say "no", and mean it. I can say "yes", and mean it.  As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.
So, to answer the question, I like being old. It has set me free. And, despite what some people now think, I like the person I have become. I have learned that liking ME is the most important things I can do and it took me over half a century to do it.
Cancer has, in its own way, been a blessing as it showed me early on that I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. For the first time in my life, I don't have to have a reason to do the things I want to do; other than hold down a job to pay the bills.  If I want to read a book on the patio all day, lay on the couch and watch old movies for hours or don't want to go to the mall or a movie, I have earned that right. I have put in my time doing everything for others, so now I can be a bit selfish without feeling guilty (even when others try VERY hard to make me feel so.)
I have learned a few facts in this circle of life that I would like to share with those who are still young:
  •  Don’t be bitter with your life path for it’s a path you and only you chose. Don’t ever lay blame on others (loved ones, God, ex-colleagues, whoever) for the choices that you made along the way. You had the choice to stay, leave, learn, forget, forgive, live, say and act. By blaming others, you become a victim of circumstance rather than a purveyor of choice.
  • Put love before money and memories before things when you measure your success. I often wonder how wealthy the 60-year-old me will be in comparison to how happy the 60-year-old me will be. One thing I pray is that beyond wealth, I will know the joy in life’s real successes: happiness, love, family, time and health.
  •  Hear younger people, take an interest in their lives and ask them questions about their adventures. Make it about them and not about you. You’ve lived already; your story’s old hat. They’re the exciting, next generation, they’re still bumping their heads and writing their stories. Don’t interrupt them in their playful journey by expecting them to be interested in your already-forged, world-view. In any case, there’s probably a thing or two to be learned from people younger than you.
  • Following from this, let go of your children. Let them run free and live their lives away from the apron strings. No one ever liked a meddling or interfering parent who — out of boredom or dissatisfaction with their own lives — gets overly involved. Balance your involvement but maintain the strong sense of family and togetherness without the toxicity; if they will let you and you will let them.
  • Don’t use this time as an excuse to slow down, watch more television and forget what it means to keep active. The best 60-year-olds are the ones who still have the energy to live. And of course a sedentary lifestyle will make you wilt. So keep moving: cut the lawn, paint the kitchen, walk the dogs and clean out your cupboards. And if you’re up to it, cycle races and climb mountains and swim rivers. Don’t become a prisoner in your own body because you’ve neglected your health over the years and it’s now too late to fix.
  • Maintain stimulating friendships and don’t sink into solitude. I don’t think people plan to be old and lonely and yet so many turn out that way. Be a person you would want to hang out with, debate interesting things, keep thinking, have a sense of humor and be interesting. Don’t push people away because you’re 60, completely uninteresting and an emotional drain.
  • At 60-years-old, your childhood is no longer an excuse. Read, rediscover and reinvent who you are rather than using a lifetime-ago childhood as an excuse for bad behavior. We are never too old to change or grow. Our life’s work should be to constantly improve on our younger self.
  • Don’t live in the past or drag people into yours. The past is one of the best teachers we will ever have but it’s also the greatest waste of now. Appreciate today for what it is and get on with the now.
  • Forget the small stuff -- small fights, nitpicking and nagging. Chill out, stay even-tempered and have a good time.
You know, I sometimes feel sorry for the young. They face a far different world than I knew growing up, where we feared the law, respected the old, the flag, our country. I never felt the need to use filthy language in order to express myself. And they too will grow old someday.
I am grateful to have been born when I was, into a kinder, gentler world. I am grateful for the wonderful man I met and married almost 40 years ago and who now waits for me, just on the other side. I am grateful for the chance just to be.
We have but one life to live and it is never long enough… therefore, make it count!



Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Take the Leap of Faith

I am blessed, but then we all are; we just all tend to forget that fact far too often. We all, also have hidden talents just waiting to be excavated from our souls… from our dreams.
 In secret, I continue to nurture the nascent dream – the life’s work entrusted to me for safekeeping – in the sanctuary of my soul.
In quiet moments, such as when I am out by the Superstition Mountains or sitting by the water at Canyon Lake, I literally overflow with excitement at the golden possibilities that still stretch endlessly before me. Often, because happiness is a difficult emotion to “bear” alone, I will later often confide my dreams to my partner, my dearest friends, or my children.
Then the gold starts to show that it was only paint at their lack of enthusiasm hits me as point-blank range.  The “for your own good” lectures pour forth:
·         You are too old
·         You are too ill
·         You are too overextended
·         You are too poor
·         You are too inexperienced
·         You don’t have the resources
·         You don’t have the talent
·         You don’t have the contacts
·         It’s one chance in a million this could even work
·         You have more important things to do
·         This is not you…
Oh really?   And just how many dreams have they successfully brought into the world?
Sadly, I have learned, the hard way, to be very careful about confiding my sacred dreams, especially the first trimester after creative conception; the periods referred to as “the dreaming consciousness” prior to conception. Remember, a disgruntled dreamer is a lousy mentor. NEVER seek someone’s advice if you even suspect you will know what they will say.  You cannot afford to hear the negative tape again.
Second thoughts have aborted more dreams that all the difficult circumstances, overwhelming obstacles, and dangerous detours fate could ever throw at you. Undermining your “life’s work” by succumbing to someone else’s second thoughts is a sinister, subtle, and seductive form of self-abuse. Few of us are immune to the opinions of others. We need to learn how to dispassionately assess advice, ponder the source, and weigh the opinion. If the information is insightful and is something you hadn’t considered, retain it.  If it’s discouraging, let it go; end your conversation politely but firmly. Better yet, in the future, don’t even start it.
The leader of the 1951 Scottish Himalayan Expedition team that scaled Mount Everest  urged the dreamer in all of us to take a leap of faith “Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issue from the decision, raising one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.”
So today, dear reader, commit to discovering, acknowledging, appreciating, owning, and honoring your dreams; the work of your soul and may you know happiness.  We are all blessed so take that leap of faith.

Monday, July 14, 2014

LIFE IS A KIND OF LOVEMAKING; APPRECIATE IT TO ITS FULLEST

In my previous studies of world religions, I was told a story about the Chinese wise man Lao-Tzu, a man born 500 years prior to Christ.  As the story goes, Lao-Tzu decided to leave the province where he lived because he became disillusioned with the corrupt decaying dynasty that ruled it. (Very similar to how many of us currently feel about the corruption and decay running through our government and country here in America.)  When he arrived at the border, a guard asked the wise old man if he would write a book before he left, instructing seekers in “the art of living.”  Lao-Tzu willingly agreed.  He called his book the Tao Te Ching. When it was completed, he left China and was never seen or heard from again.
The Tao Te Ching is the sacred text of the Chinese religion known as Taoism and one of the most widely translated books of all time.  Its followers strive to live according to the principles of the Tao which they believe governs the order of the Universe.  Similar to Zen, Tao, or “the Way”, is a spiritual path; it must be intimately experienced instead of intellectually comprehended if insights are to be discovered.  One of its main themes is unity, based upon yielding rather than resisting.  When a seeker commits to “the Way”, he or she sheds all expectations, becoming an empty vessel to be filled to the brim with both the yin and the yang energies of life; career and home, dark and light, sadness and joy, intimacy and solitude, aggression and passivity, etc.
How can the enigmatic advice of an ancient Chinese philosopher help any of use to get our own lives in order? If our souls are so preoccupied with undoing, how does anything ever get done.
The truth is that is gets done by pausing.  By reflecting on the way in which our life proceeds day in and day out. What works and what doesn’t work. As we pause to reflect before doing, before speaking, before reacting, we come to an awareness of how the nature of all things – even the minutia of domestic life – contributes to the harmony of the whole.
One of the illuminating lessons that Lao-Tzu left us is that “naming is the origin of all particular things” and that “mystery and manifestation arise from the same source”  I have taken this wisdom to heart and have learned that even drudgery can be transformed through a willing and open heart. It can be changed into labors of love.
Begin with the words that describe, or name, your creative efforts.  Let “chores” becomes “tasks”  Stop calling your daily round “housework” and try calling it  “home caring”.  Start enjoying that job of walking your dogs as a time to enjoy nature. Redefining our work casts a subtle but powerful spell over the subconscious mind.
Our daily work, be it at the office or domestic theophanies, are visible manifestations of the devine throughout our lives. We find them by looking for Mystery in the mundane, seeing the Sacred in the ordinary.  Lao-Tzu urged seekers in “regard to the small as important” and “to make much of the little”.
Today, dear reader, try to glimpse everything you do, no matter how insignificant it may seem, as a part of your journey to wholeness and creativity.  Remember that each day is wonder-filled.
You just have to pause, look around, and see the wonder of it all.
I want to think of life itself as a kind of lovemaking… the chance to appreciate what I live with and cherish to is fullest.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

The Lost Art Of Letter Writing


There was a time when writing letters was our only means of communicating over long distances. Women (and men) went to great effort to make those letters beautiful and meaningful, sometimes adding their own lace or drawings to the writing paper, scenting them with lavender or rose, and honing their handwriting skills until the pages looked as if they were filled with delicate lace etchings.
Over the course of the last three months, as I attempt to wean myself from electronic letters, text messages etc (accept for business), I have returned to this beautiful lost art.  I purchased pretty stationary and note cards, pulled out my old sealing wax and stamps, made my own address return labels, bought a new lamp for my writing desk along with pens and pencils, and began writing to close friends.  I forgot how much I loved doing this; how much I missed it and how very much I used to look forward to receiving that hand written, personal letter in the mail.
Sadly, we have stopped writing letters and notes to loved ones, friends, family… and I firmly believe it is a great loss to our society.

The proliferation of long distance services has brought the cost of speaking to out of state friends via telephone down drastically, giving us yet another reason to pick up the phone instead of writing. True, most people enjoy the one on one of a personal conversation. After all, interacting is an important component of communication. However, I firmly believe that there are times when writing is better.

Sure, it's nice to hear someone say, "Honey, I love you." But to read it in a letter, knowing someone took the time to write it, makes it much more meaningful. It is permanent. And even if, at some time in the future, they take those words back, you still have a permanent record of it. Once written, you can read it over and over again, and cherish it time after time, knowing that someone cared enough to take the time to write. After all, writing is not an automatic response. It requires thought and concentration -- and effort. People often speak
without thought -- it is, for the most part, an automatic response.
And, let us not forget the evermore ubiquitous e-mail and Instant Message. Why take the time to write a heartfelt letter when you can sit down, put your thoughts into a few brief sentences (often incomplete and wrought with abbreviated language -- <ugh!>) and send it off into the ether of the internet? People forget that the gift of time is the most precious gift we can give another and nothing shares that gift better than a hand written letter with a hand written envelope, written with love and care.

But, the phone and internet are not the only reasons that people have stopped writing. The greeting card, as well, has usurped letter writing. Is there something meaningful you need to say? Not only  "Happy Birthday" and "Get Well Soon" are available on cards. Today you can go to the store (even the grocery store) and buy a card to say just about anything. "I Miss You", and "Sorry we had a disagreement", are just some of the cards available today. Granted, they are nice gestures, but they're still somebody else's words. Who really meant what the card has to say -- the card's author or the sender? Am I to be touched by the sentiment because you passed the aisle with cards on your way to pick up toilet paper? Or even better, that you sat in front of your computer and sent electronically?

I'm sorry to be flippant. I know that most people truly feel what the card is trying to convey. I myself sometimes buy cards like these, but I write a note or letter to say it in my own words as well. Several of my friends still do this and it always touches my heart and keeps me closer to them.

How I long to receive a three page, heart-rending, soppy letter, filled with words carefully chosen and eternal. (OK -- I'd be happy with one page -- I'm not hard to please.) And yes, I have written such letters -- with no reply, thank you very much. Maybe I'm just a hopelessly romantic dreamer, or just downright old-fashioned.

Alas, the advent of the telephone in the late 1800's, cheap long distance services of today and the ever-growing internet have made writing letters a lost art. But modern technology offers us the opportunity to (almost) bring it back. Forget the tedious chore of putting pen to paper, writing and re-writing. Worry no more about your handwriting, spelling and grammar. Welcome the personal computer with word processing, spell checker and grammar checker. If you're the slightest bit creative, you can even buy software to create your own beautiful,
heartfelt cards, too.

Gone, too, are the use of sealing wax, scented papers, or drawers filled with ribbon tied letters from that special loved one or child.  Oh, could we PLEASE bring those back?

Imagine, cards and letters filled with genuine sincerity from both the author and sender -- you. Try it -- you'll like it, and so will your loved ones when they receive it. And who knows, maybe they'll write you back. Won't you feel special then?

Friday, July 11, 2014

"IT DOES NOT DO TO LEAVE A LIVE DRAGON OUT OF YOUR CALCULATIONS; If YOU LIVE NEAR HIM

Self knowledge is not easily acquired; not by a long shot. It takes tenacity, strength, and courage to travel to the darkest interior of one’s self. Goodness, who knows what we might find there? J.R.R. Tolkien, writer of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy, advised us that “It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him.”
As I believe our dragons are our fears, our shadow stalkers, our night sweats, I could not agree more with Mr. Tolkien. 
·         Fear of the Unknown
·         Fear of Failure
·         Fear of starting something new and not finishing
·         Fear of rejection
·         Or the real fear, the ones that sends shivers up our spines: the fear of succeeding, of becoming who we were truly meant to be and facing the changes that it will inevitably bring.
We might not be happy with the way we are living now, but at least we are comfortable with its familiarity.
When we begin our true journey of life, we don’t know where we are headed and it is terrifying. Old dreams are resurrecting, new desires are wooing. Instead of clarity, we feel disoriented, befuddled. At moments like this, it is comforting to consider the belief of one of my favorite Poets T.S. Elliot: there is really NOTHING to fear from self-awareness because at the end of all our personal exploration, we will arrive back exactly where we started and know in our hearts that we finally belong there.  You see, all roads lead to where you already are.
Mothers and Fathers have always known how to deal with dragons hiding under beds or lurking in closets. We turn on the lights and reassure worried souls with love. We need to slay the dragons in our minds in the exact same way.
So today, dear readers, when you feel frightened or unsure about the future, join me in picking up a double edged sword of light and love.  Always remember, it’s simply not an adventure worth telling if there are not any dragons. Just know that, at the end of your journey, you will live happily ever after.
Sending you Light and Love

Thursday, July 10, 2014

The Hegelian Dialectic Of Change Is Almost Complete

Revolutionaries in government have created economic chaos, shortages in food and fuel, confiscatory taxation, a crisis in education, the threat of war, and other diversions to condition Americans for the “New World Order."

The technique is as old as politics itself. It is the Hegelian Dialectic of bringing about change in a three-step process: Thesis, Antithesis and Synthesis.

The first step (thesis) is to create a problem.

The second step (antithesis) is to generate opposition to the problem (fear, panic and hysteria).
The third step (synthesis) is to offer the solution to the problem created by step one: A change which would have been impossible to impose upon the people without the proper psychological conditioning achieved in stages one and two. 

How about that Hope and Change you Obama Zombies?  Like it do you?

Applying the Hegelian Dialectic, and irresistible financial influence, concealed change agents seek to dismantle social and political structures by which free men govern themselves — ancient landmarks erected at great cost in blood and treasure.

Their objective is to emasculate sovereign states, merge nations under universal government, centralize economic powers, and control the world's people and resources."

Those who voted for this impudent bastard... this communist... have stole our children's and grandchildren's birth right.  You have managed to destroy the greatest country on this earth by your immoral, lacadasical, let the government take care of me attitude.

But hey... he brought the country together didn't he?  And how about that birth control for the whiney assed women who can't take care of themselves so want daddy Obama to do it for them.

Thank God I have cancer... I don't want to live to see the end of this great nation.  God willing, he will call me home before the final nail is put into America's coffin.

It was a wonderful experiement while it lasted.

Immorality Claims The Moral High Ground

Mexico strictly enforces some of the harshest immigration laws in the world that either summarily deport or jail most who dare to cross Mexican borders illegally, much less attempt to work inside Mexico or become politically active. If America were to emulate Mexico’s immigration policies, millions of Mexican nationals living in the U.S. immediately would be sent home.

How, then, are tens of thousands of Central American children crossing with impunity hundreds of miles of Mexican territory, often sitting atop Mexican trains? Does Mexico believe that the massive influxes will serve to render U.S. immigration law meaningless, and thereby completely shred an already porous border? Is Mexico simply ensuring that the surge of poorer Central Americans doesn’t dare stop in Mexico on its way north?

The media talks of a moral crisis on the border. It is certainly that, but not entirely in the way we are told. What sort of callous parents simply send their children as pawns northward without escort, in selfish hopes of soon winning for themselves either remittances or eventual passage to the U.S? What sort of government allows its vulnerable youth to pack up and leave, without taking any responsibility for such mass flight?

Here in the U.S., how can our government simply choose not to enforce existing laws? In reaction, could U.S. citizens emulate Washington’s ethics and decide not to pay their taxes, or to disregard traffic laws, or to build homes without permits? Who in the pen-and-phone era of Obama gets to decide which law to follow and which to ignore?

Who are the bigots — the rude and unruly protestors who scream and swarm drop-off points and angrily block immigration authority buses to prevent the release of children into their communities, or the shrill counter-protestors who chant back “Viva La Raza” (“Long Live the Race”)? For that matter, how does the racialist term “La Raza” survive as an acceptable title of a national lobby group in this politically correct age of anger at the Washington Redskins football brand?

How can American immigration authorities simply send immigrant kids all over the United States and drop them into communities without firm guarantees of waiting sponsors or family? If private charities did that, would the operators be jailed? Would American parents be arrested for putting their unescorted kids on buses headed out of state?

Liberal elites talk down to the cash-strapped middle class about their illiberal anger over the current immigration crisis. But most sermonizers are hypocritical. Take Nancy Pelosi, former speaker of the House. She lectures about the need for near-instant amnesty for thousands streaming across the border. But Pelosi is a multimillionaire, and thus rich enough not to worry about the increased costs and higher taxes needed to offer instant social services to the new arrivals.

Progressives and ethnic activists see in open borders extralegal ways to gain future constituents dependent on an ever-growing government, with instilled grudges against any who might not welcome their flouting of U.S. laws. How moral is that?

Likewise, the CEOs of Silicon Valley and Wall Street who want cheap labor from south of the border assume that their own offspring’s private academies will not be affected by thousands of undocumented immigrants, that their own neighborhoods will remain non-integrated, and that their own medical services and specialists’ waiting rooms will not be made available to the poor arrivals.
Have immigration-reform advocates such as Mark Zuckerberg or Michael Bloomberg offered one of their mansions as a temporary shelter for needy Central American immigrants? Couldn’t Yale or Stanford welcome homeless immigrants into their now under-occupied summertime dorms? Why aren’t elite academies such as Sidwell Friends or the Menlo School offering their gymnasia as places of refuge for tens of thousands of school-age Central Americans?

What a strange, selfish, and callous alliance of rich corporate grandees, cynical left-wing politicians, and ethnic chauvinists who have conspired to erode U.S. law for their own narrow interests, all the while smearing those who object as xenophobes, racists, and nativists.

How did such immoral special interests hijack U.S. immigration law and arbitrarily decide for 300 million Americans who earns entry into America, under what conditions, and from where? 

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Its About to Get Much Worse

Rome burned as Nero fiddled. Today, the American-Mexican border is going up in smoke while Obama plays golf and pool, Pelosi becomes more deranged, and Reid sells more of Nevada to China.

America is being invaded and successfully occupied. Obama is fanning the flames of border violence and artificially contrived human destitution through his unyielding attitude of corporate servitude resulting in providing the globalists with an endless supply of cheap, illegal alien labor regardless of the cost to the American people and their safety as well as the safety of the immigrants themselves. And on a more grand scale, this crisis is one more nail in the coffin in America and Obama knows exactly what he is doing.
Documentary filmmaker Dennis Michael Lynch warns that the invasion is only the beginning of the crisis being created by the Obama administration.

“It’s about to get worse. . . Entire villages are emptying out and coming from Central America through Mexico to the United States. They’ll be hitting in the next couple weeks. What you are seeing right now is the tip of the iceberg.”

The Daily Caller reports, “a leaked estimate by a top official in the Department of Homeland Security says the 12-month inflow will reach 90,000 by October, and then grow by another 142,000 in the next 12 months before October 2015.” That’s over 230,000, nearly a quarter million that the Democrats hope to dump on US taxpayers. Soon, this number will have grown by millions.
A Phoenix TV station reported June 6, DHS program that buses immigrants to AZ, no signs of stopping. The story follows the script of “humanitarian crisis” rather than a created crisis, but again, make no mistake about it, this administration is following script to undermine this country.
 
If you oppose the current and dramatic increase in illegal immigration, some will ask you, “What are you afraid of? Don’t you like people that speak Spanish and have brown skin”?  The race card is the default position of this administration. Let’s consider the fine work of a Lis-Marie Alvarado, an immigrant from Nicaragua, who presently resides in the Miami suburb of Homestead, FL.  Last year for a documentary produced by Al Jazeera America TV series, Borderland“, she rode the train that they refer to as the” Beast”.  Alvarado and five other Americans traced the journey of immigrants who died while making their way to America on a train that departs from Nicaragua and heads north to the United States. The train illegally brings an estimated 500,000 people per year to the United States. Alvarado described the circumstances aboard the train as being very dire and life-threatening. Scores of people die on this train. Alvarado states that “… Not only with the sun, but also the water. There’s very limited water, and that’s a constant, you know. People are taking the journey because you do want a better future and you’re willing to do whatever it takes, there are a lot of people who aren’t going to make it.”  Where is Obama in all of this?

 
 
Many Beast riders have suffered physical injury or death falling off the train or getting sucked into the wheels trying to board it in motion. In some areas, that’s the only way on. Most of these future illegal immigrants are making this 1,450-mile trek are not from Mexico, but rather from countries like Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, which has the world’s highest murder rate.
Both Alvarado and Dannemiller expressed shock about how many children were riding the train. But you see, this constitutes the main part of the Obama plot. Get the children inside of the United States and the authorities will have no choice but to permit the parents to come to this country as well. Again, entire villages are coming to America under the most dangerous of conditions. The governments of the countries of origins buy bus ticket for the immigrants to travel to the Beast. Poor people are dangerous to an authoritarian regime and these leaders are all too happy to see them leave.
 I live in Arizona and I see the manifestation of this inhumane immigration program. Very large segments of the central corridor of my State are under the control of the Mexican drug cartels. The citizens of Pinal County, which is adjacent to metropolitan Phoenix, are under siege by these former Mexican army soldiers turned drug runners. Their penchant for violence is well documented. For example, Pinal County Deputy Louie Puroll was ambushed and shot as he tracked six drug smugglers near Casa Grande, Arizona. In the Phoenix suburb of Chandler , Arizona,(where I work) a drug cartel rival was beheaded. Citizens have been terrorized and many of these have been victims of crime from the cartels. In a drug cartel related activity, Phoenix leads the country in kidnappings most of which are related to the sex slave and labor slave trafficking practices of the Zeta and Sinola drug cartel gangs. These events are the byproduct of this insane Obama plan.
 
By applying the perspective of history, it becomes clear that the agenda of the original SPP which was to bring us the concept known as CANAMEXAMERICA was to be employed and made legal by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The plan called for the creation of an international corridor of highways, controlled by the globalists, but paid for by the American taxpayer. The plan was designed to erase all national boundaries between Canada, Mexico and the United States. SPP, often referred to as the North American Union, was designed to promote the free movement of all people in Central America to the United States. This is precisely what we are witnessing as this was codified into law by the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).
What is going on at our southern border is not merely a series of spontaneous events, culminating in a humanitarian crisis. This is a manufactured crisis in which specific short-range and long-range political and economic goals are being carried out.

If these policies are not good for the people on either side of the border, then it must be good for someone else.

This administration needs a new influx of potential democrats as Americans are waking up the tyranny and recklessness coming out of Washington. Washington wants democrats that don’t understand when their rights are being violated. They want Democrats who do not understand that the Bill of Rights is for them and protects them against a growing tyrannical government. They want Democrats who will be thrilled to embrace the specter of Obamacare, because where they come from, there is no healthcare for most people.
Can you name even one thing the Obama administration has done to help the middle class? … I am waiting, please name just one thing…..  The fact remains that this “President” is on a mission to bring this nation into the North American Union and overwhelming the nation with lower socio-economic immigrants is Obama’s primary tool of subjugation.
One question that you will never hear asked on CNN is “How many third world immigrants does it take coming into America, before America is a third world nation?
If Obama truly wanted to be a humanitarian, he would enforce a humanitarian immigration policy. He would demand processing and screening of immigrants to keep out the felons and the drug cartels. That is not happening. If Obama wanted an immigration policy in which tens of thousands of immigrants did not die trying to get into America, we would have naturalization programs for successful applicants. The naturalization program would contain a requirement to pass a test on American History and Constitution to make certain the new citizens understand their rights and how our system is supposed to work. Further, successful immigration applicants should be provided with English speaking lessons in a naturalization process which would take seven years. Such an immigration program would promote Constitutional liberties, but Obama and his handlers want none of it. Yet, this is what we used to do as a country. We successfully processed 13 million immigrants at Ellis Island without computers. Obama has the ability to do the same. He has the tools to shut down the border, streamline the immigration process to months needed to apply instead of the decades as is presently the case! The solutions are within reach, but Obama has a different agenda.

What is going on at the border is no more than a cheap false flag event. If enough immigrant children are deliberately imperiled by this administration, of course Americans are going to open their hearts and wallets to these people. The fact remains is that we have 146 million Americans receiving some form of federal assistance. We simply cannot afford this. When millions of immigrants arrive under Obama’s “friends and family” plan, where are we going to find the infrastructure to take care of these people? Where will we find the water? Where will we find the money to build the schools to educate the children of these people? Asking these questions does not make one a bigot, it makes one a realist. And how many immigrants can a country take on before the country is stripped of its culture and traditions? Historically, when Americans have lost employment, they could find work further down the economic ladder in order to put food on the table. Increasingly, because of unchecked immigration, these opportunities are disappearing. Our future, as being determined by the Obama administration, has been foretold generations ago in a book by G.K. Chesterson.

America’s future has indeed been foretold in G. K. Chesterton’s, The Flying Inn (1914). The book provides present day Americans with an opportunity to understand what is happening to their loss of culture and of national sovereignty. The book consists of a “fictional” account of how England had been stripped of its cultural identity. The book was written at the end of the British imperialistic period of dominance in which England had collapsed under the sheer weight of attempting to maintain its vast empire.
 
In the book, Chesterton maintains that England lost far more than its preeminent position as the world’s sole super power. He postulated that England had lost its national soul through the unintended integration of its culture with more “barbaric cultures” that it had previously conquered.
 
The protagonist in The Flying Inn, Dalroy, proclaimed that great nations have frequently followed a similar pattern of progressive and complete self-destruction:
 1. The great nation declares victory over the barbarians.

2. The great nation begins to enjoy the fruits of cheap labor by employing the barbarians that it had conquered.

3. The barbarians become so enmeshed into the great nation, that an alliance with barbarians is formed (e.g., de facto amnesty including members of criminal organizations).

4. Assimilation is followed with the barbarians becoming a privileged class. Thus, the great nation is conquered.
 
Near the end of the book, almost every virtuous cultural tradition, of the great nation, comes under sharp criticism, while every cultural tradition emanating from the barbarians’ place of origin became praiseworthy.
Those of you who think Obama is crazy, you are correct. Obama is crazy like a fox.  He is merely the facilitator of a plot that was hatched more than a generation ago.
Yes, these Latin American immigrants are indeed children of God and do not deserve to be abused or taken advantage of. None of them should have to die as they attempt to enter our country. Their blood can squarely be placed on the Obama administration. This is a totally manufactured crisis and these people are the unwitting pawns.

America cannot afford to maintain our own social structure, let alone Latin America’s. What Obama is doing is by design and he is abusing people on both sides of the border. A sensible and reasonable immigration plan, such as the one we had nearly a 140 years ago is what is needed, not the contrived undermining of our country.
Obama should have been impeached long ago, this just adds one more reason to support the demand for his removal from office. Impeaching Obama, alone, will not reverse the course we are on, but it sure would feel good.