I've been thinking about a lot of things I want to say. There's so much, and I keep adding more to it. I figure it's time to write some of it down, for posterity.
In high school, I took a creative writing course. The first semester, we wrote poems. The second semester, we wrote a short story. The final for each semester involved each student presenting what they had written to the class. For the poem, we were to follow a theme, research and collect a few poems to read that fit the chosen theme, and then write an original poem. My theme was desperate or peculiar people. My original poem was about a woman who lived alone in a tiny apartment. She was confined to her bed, dying, and had no friends or family to help her. She looked forward to the sunlight falling across her bed every morning. She knew she was dying, but didn't want to slip away, until the sun rose and her friend, the sunbeam, visited. Just as the sunlight touched her blanket, she passed away peacefully. I rewrote the last stanza of the poem a few times, to try to help the listener understand that the old woman was waiting for the sunlight. No matter how I wrote it, all the listeners believed that the visitor she was waiting for was Jesus.
I'm a spiritual person AND a religious person. However, not everything I write about death and dying has to do with Jesus.
In 1991, I took a young woman from church to see Guns 'n Roses at the new Riverport Amphitheater. We had tickets close to the back of the reserved seating area. I had been a huge fan of G'NR, for years, since their beginnings. I had seen them in concert two or three times prior to this. I knew the temperaments of the band and of Axl Rose. I was not surprised, when Axl jumped off the stage to attack a guy who was taking pictures, which was not allowed, and was apparently being allowed to do so, or at least was not being stopped from doing so, by security. Before jumping off the stage, Axl shouted to security to take the camera away from the guy. When they didn't, he decided to do it himself. After he got back onstage, he announced they were through. He threw down the mic and left the stage. The other band members followed him. Slash made it clear they would not be coming back to the stage. I told my friend we should go and get a jump on traffic leaving the venue. A lot of people were hanging around and shouting, expecting the band to come back onstage. I knew they wouldn't be returning. As we left, I turned on the radio, which was playing G'NR songs. It took awhile to get out of the parking lot. Many folks had the same idea as me. I didn't know about the riots and destruction of the venue, until the next morning.
I LOVE G'NR. However, I won't EVER damage property or people because I'm angry about something that happened, regardless of how it got started or why it happened. I can't and won't speak for the actions of others and why they do what they do. Only they know why they do what they do.
In 2012, I was pondering how to vote in the Presidential Election. I wasn't fond of either candidate and didn't feel either candidate represented what I wanted for America or for me. The candidates were Barack Obama and John McCain. Barack Obama was President, at the time of this election. One of my nieces posted on Facebook that she had voted, or was voting, for President Obama. (I don't remember if her post was before or after the election.) I asked her, on Facebook, why she voted for him. Her reply included something along the lines of, "He's doing a good job, and he hasn't done anything wrong." Those words really sank into my heart. From then on, that was basically my philosophy on the Presidency. Each past President seems to have spent the majority of his term pushing Congress to make bills and law on things he is passionate about, to leave a legacy, as well as undoing the things the previous President had accomplished. I have learned that local and state governments define my way of life more significantly than the federal government. Who is President is no longer important to me. I'm more concerned about my council person, my mayor, my county executive. I have Facebook friends from both sides of the aisle and a few who are extreme, whether to the left or the right. In 2012 (and 2008), my right-leaning friends were sharing posts claiming President Obama was a Muslim, didn't celebrate Christmas or say "Merry Christmas." That December, I watched the lighting of the National or White House Christmas Tree, out on the lawn. Upon lighting it, President Obama wished everyone a "Merry Christmas." I heard it. Perhaps those against him won't believe me. Ever. What I learned from this is that only Barack Obama really knows Barack Obama. No one else can really know him. Sure, some can come close and can know him intimately or very well, but no one really knows him, except him, and God. This is true for everyone living. I don't really know anyone else. The only person I really know is me. Of course, I believe God really knows each of us. Perhaps I could ask God to show me what someone is really like, to show me the heart of a person, but what would be the use of that?
No one really knows Donald Trump, but Donald Trump. No one really knows Nancy Pelosi, but Nancy Pelosi. No one really knows Joe Biden, but Joe Biden. No one really knows Mickey Mouse, but Walt Disney. I could go on, but I won't. Or will I? Maybe I'll think about it. But no one but me knows what I'm thinking and feeling. I'm not saying there AREN'T bad people in the government. I'm not saying there ARE, either. I AM saying that our government leaders should pay more attention to the wants and needs of their constituents and stop saying hateful things about other government leaders they disagree with or don't like, for whatever reasons. All that does, in my opinion, is further divide us. When I read hateful or hurtful comments from either side of the aisle, I'm disappointed in the person saying them or sharing them. I don't block these persons or unfriend them. After all, I don't really know why they're doing what they're doing; I don't know what's in their hearts. What was it Thumper's father told him this morning? "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."
Finally, to try to get my point across and to share a little something of myself: Many people might surmise that, because I'm spiritual and religious, I'm against abortion. I'm not against abortion, but I'm not necessarily for it, either. I'm pro-life AND pro-choice. Isn't everybody? The reason I'm not against abortion is because I've had one. There are probably some folks reading this who are going to decide to hate me, because I've had an abortion. That's okay. I'm not here to judge those people for their feelings. That's on them. But I do have to deal with my own feelings, and I'm the only person who truly knows and understands my thoughts and feelings. This is something I did before I was an adult. It was a very personal decision and something I rarely talk about. As I've gotten older, I've resigned not to participate in discussions of abortion. I have been known to change the subject, when abortion enters a conversation. I'll say, "I'm more concerned about the children who are already born and are being neglected or abused." That's why I became a foster parent. Would I have become a foster parent, if I hadn't had an abortion? Perhaps.
Anyway, I say ALL this, to encourage you to put the welfare of others before your own. You are not ever going to be able to really know the people you read about in the news: the celebrities, the politicians, or the game show hosts. You have a better chance of knowing the people around you a little better, if you look at them as if they are more important than you are. That homeless person on the corner; that neighbor struggling to get groceries from the car into the house; that neighbor who needs groceries, but doesn't have a way to get them; that neighbor who has a sign in the yard that doesn't fit your opinions ... what are you going to do to make that person's day better?
Okay, I'm done. Thanks for reading and commenting. When I acted up, my mother would say to me, "Don't be ugly." In keeping with that, ugly comments will be deleted.
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