Out of the Basement

They are paving one of the side streets that we walk on every morning. At 5:30 am, it looks a lot like a movie set of a battle taking place on the moon! My first thought was why they left it in such a mess. Then, I thought I am sure all my neighbors dont mind the mess for a few days to get a smoother road! Its about perception. Sort of like the old saying, "one man's trash is another man's treasure." Or maybe in today's vernacular... "you say hoarder, I say collector." It really boils down to how we look at it. We live in a time when there is no moderation. There is no place to meet in the middle. The views of people today have gone from dissenting but malleable to polar and rigid. There's just no room for common ground anywhere anymore... But that's really not so new either.  Its really as old as time. People have always had to be ready to make choices... choices are driven by perception... perception is fed from one's reality.  Thats the

I had a visit from an old friend last night. Its been a minute since we just sat an talked and laughed... mostly laughed... as was usual for us back in the past! We talked about gifts and sharing them. See,  we are all wired in very unique ways. Each of us brings something purposefully different to the collective experience. Purposeful means it was intended to be so. In the current hour and climate, differences are used as tools to pry us apart or its  leverage that individuals can use to rile others. God tells us that there are many parts but only one body... each can serve a common good... His common good for us all. In His economy,  He knew that one's strength would support another's weakness; that the individual lessers would create a strong whole. Each of us has a talent, a strength, a gift that none of the rest us of has... we need each other! The right answer is not derision, detachment or divisiveness... the right answer is community, care and concern for each other

I picked up my emotional commitment at the station this morning at about 5:15 am. It decided to take an extended vacation in July. The rest of me returned as ordered after what seems now like a brief respite around the 4th of July! Its funny how we can just go through the motions with only modicum regard for the why. I have heard that "where there is no vision,  the people perish."  Its so true. It may not be in a physical sense, but in a very tangible way our hopes, dreams and aspirations die in a slow and sensory numbing manner with little alert or alarm. We just look back one day and... But, when we commit to the journey and we chase the exileration of accomplishment all of our senses turn to high alert! What's next? Where now? When can we go back? Who can we tell? Its as if we become driven to be driven! The emotional, spritual, intellectual and physical columns that hold up these temples are built on continued growth. The house unlived in soon meets its end...