Sunday, March 29, 2009

Can I Have a Hug?

So anyway, I was on Facebook the other day. This new web page is awesome and let me tell you why: I moved from Texas to NJ 3 years ago, and lost contact with everyone I knew and loved. This was because cell phones are lost, ergo numbers are lost. People get new deals for their e-mail accounts, and those are lost. So for kicks and giggles I sign up for Facebook. Vioala! Everyone I know and love is on Facebook! So now I get to see what everyone is up to...what they are doing, who's happy, sad, frustrated....

I just got poked and superpoked too! I don't know what that means, however...I didn't "feel" like I've been poked. That got me to thinking.

I think I would really like for someone to poke me. Really, someone just come up to me, thrust their finger into my arm and say "hey!". At least there would be some human contact involved, don't you think?

Which leads me to the title of the blog. "Can I have a hug?" Really, it's been forever since I've gotten a hug. Other than my kids, I've been e-hugged, e-poked, e-mailed, IM'd, cyber-kissed and even sent a cocktail which I could not imbibe! I've had cyber snowball fights, sent "airline meals" thru cyber space and have been even asked out by some cyber stranger I've never met. I guess he didn't read that I'm married with children.

I think for kicks and giggles, I'll have a REAL party this upcoming spring/summer. I'm going to invite with real invitations through snail mail, all my friends and family. We'll have a REAL back yard barbeque, where we WILL poke and superpoke, and hug (hug not e-hug), and have real contact, real smiles, real togetherness.

Hey, if they can bring low rise bell bottoms back from the 70's, maybe we can bring back human contact!

The invitation is open, and all are welcome. This may have sounded corny, but don't worry, I don't expect everyone to hold hands and sing "Kum-by-Yah". I'm just getting tired of staring at my PC screeen.

Grace & Peace.

Sunday, March 8, 2009

The Cornerstone

It's said that Jesus is the Cornerstone of every Christian church. I believe that. The Cornerstone is what keeps our faith just. Remove that cornerstone, faith disintegrates. We become lost. Nothing holds the church up anymore. Ergo, the reason the Christian church has stood for over 2000 years is the people's faith in Christ, our Cornerstone.

Let me apply that to everyday life.

I am from a family of 8. Five boys, three girls, one mother and one father. One half of the cornerstone of this family was my father. I say "was", because my earthly father has passed this life. When he was with us, we were one Big Happy Family. It was difficult losing him, we were all there, we saw, and it hurt. Me, being a woman of faith, I know where my dad is. I'm sure my siblings are aware of that too, and that's their own personal journey or belief. There's also my mother, which is the other half of that cornerstone: the foundation has been shaken.

Before this "earthquake", if you will, this family pretty much stayed together. We talked, we got together, etc. Nothing to write home about, but we are family. One thing I've noticed, since the "cornerstone" has been rocked, the rest of the building is unstable.

My mother, the other half, is in despair, and has every right to be: she lost ~literaly~, the other half of her cornerstone. That's a whole other issue. But the rest of the building, my siblings, have crumbled. No one wants to talk about it. No one wants to discuss the "elephant in the room". I do. So therefore, I'm out. It's just me. And my faith.

I want to rebuild. Jesus is still my Cornerstone. My dad, God bless his soul, knew this. My dad wouldn't want this family to crubmle, or deny, or excuse, or any other reason someone could come up with to deny the reality that my dad is with my Father in Heaven.

Everyone grieves. I grieve to this day. But I accept. And I have faith. Although I have the utmost faith in my Father in Heaven, which gives me comfort, my grief is also filled with loneliness, My father left a void in this family the size of the Grand Canyon. I'm in the middle of this canyon, alone. I'm waiting for my siblings to realize the cornerstone has been rocked, but it can be rebuilt on faith, love, and acceptance.

Jesus was the cornerstone to His church, and look how much was learned, respected, and loved. My dad was part of our family cornerstone; he did pretty much the same thing. I know where my dad is, I just want to know where the rest of my family is.

The cornerstone to my family still stands. It will stand as long as it's underlayer will stay together, come together, and merge. If the remaining cornerstone crumbles, and all the underlayers can't uphold it, the entire foundation collapses. I know I'll still be here, even if I'm alone: Because I still hold to the one Foundation that is my faith. It can be lonely, or it can be shared. I invite anyone who wants to share.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

That's it.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

The Golden Rule

Okay, unless you were born yesterday, you know that the Golden Rule is "treat others as you would treat yourself". (Or Do Unto Others)

Being a woman of faith, I know Jesus has told His disciples to do the same. They were all Jewish. Jews. People from another country, of another faith.

Now to my point (or message):

So now we have a new President. He just happens to have a different skin color than, say, a caucasian. He has relatives from a foreign land. Who in this nation doesn't? I myself am a mutt. I have ancestors from all over.

Now one thing I will give to "African Americans": They were originally brought to America against their will. They were slaves. That was an abomination. Lincoln freed them. They had a HUGE struggle to get to the place where they can even vote. So God Bless them.

My parents always taught me to treat others as I would treat myself. They took me to church, where I was taught the the same thing. So I did. I never saw color as an issue.

So can we now get past skin color? Black, White, Yellow, Red? Native Americans, still living on Reservations: Where does it end? This is America. The United States of America. In God We Trust. Let's finally unite. Let us do unto others, as we would have other do unto us. Because if we don't....we will fail.

God Bless America.