FedEx couldn't make it?

So Christmas came and went and yet some people did not get the Christmas gifts promised by companies like Amazon.
How tragic,the world must now stop because some spoiled child could not get that perfect gift on that perfect day.
I'm sure this child will be scared for life.
I work in health and can tell you many people now days are self centered and arrogant.
Most believe their needs are the only ones to be met and no sympathy paid to the FedEx and Ups works who have worked 60 hour plus weeks to make your life acceptable.
There is no longer any such thing as empathy for others and the fact that everyone does not drop everything,the minute you walk into a room,is a clear indicator of this.
I can not tell you the number of times while at work,while on the phone with a doctor or writing an important message down,that people become indignant that i have not dropped the phone or looked up to acknowledge them.
Selfish self centered people,that is what this country has become and the fact that you feel your entire Christmas was ruined because certain,last minute gifts, did not make it to your doorstep,just goes to prove that people do not understand the true meaning of Christmas.
May be you should be glad you did not receive the gifts your precious child must have, because now,they can learn the lessons of patience and endurance.
Afluenza,that's what this whole country is turning into.
Recently a wealthy 17 year old, who has never had to answer for anything,took his car and ran over 4 people ,killing them and got let off because of this new thing called afluenza,or what used to be call spoiled rotten brat.
Political correctness does not allow us to say what we mean and call a shovel a shovel,I would say a spade a spade,but some one might be offended,even though a spade and shovel are both digging instruments.
This country is going into the toilet because people just think its all about them and their needs,just like the Cesar's of Rome.
To much opulence is never enough.
From cradle to grave everyone,including the government,has to protect and take care of people who are to spoiled to realize that maybe if you ordered your gift early and not two days before the holiday,this whole problem would not had affected you.

Understand Where You Stand

St.James talks about how we need to not only pray but love our neighbor and live our faith.
Many people talk about a war on Christ and Christians.
True in the middle east,the Christan population out there are being imprisoned and killed for their beliefs.
80% of all  religious persecution today, is happening to Christians.
We are lucky to live in this country,because at least we are free to practice our faith.
Recently in a GQ magazine,the patriarch of the duck dynasty show, gave an interview in which he espoused his religious,biblical beliefs of homosexuality, bestiality, casual and multiple partners sex and adultery.
As always the media spun it out of context and a gay rights group felt they were offended by what was said in the article.
We as Christians need to come to terms with the fact that we are "in the world,not of the world."
What does that mean?
Basically,don't expect the world to live by your christian standards because it is a fallen place,in which you morals and values will be ripped apart so as to make evil seem good and good seem evil.
If you as a christian speak out on the beliefs in the Bible,your words will be twisted and you will be considered crazy.
My priest Fr.Preble says "you are free to say what ever you want,but understand you will face consequences for you words and  actions."
With that said know that taking a stand always means resistance and you must weigh out if you are willing to lose everything for you point of view.
We Christians know that the heat will be on but no matter if we have to lose it all our gain is greater then our earthly loss.
Just because critics want to silence you,does not mean you are wrong,this is where faith in God comes in.
Jesus said "the world will hate you,just as it hated me."
We are lucky to live in a country where its o.k. to speak out and if we feel we are losing our christian rights and values,9 time out of 10,it because we choose to remain silent.
In the end most people who believe as you do will band with you,just as they are trying to do with this duck dynasty patriarch.
If you feel you are being wronged then make it right,but know this saying you are  christian means non violence and clearly understand that in the end you may lose all you have built up in this world.
But then again it was never about this world its about the next.

Responsiblity

Are you a responsible person?
Do you feel everyone around you just gets to slide by and wonder why you are so concerned about follow through with projects?
I work at a job where responsibility is job one.
Being a nurse puts me in the position of never being able to drop the ball,though those around me choose to.
When my son was small,and I was a single parent,the responsibility of raising him laid on my shoulders,my saying back them was "its tough to be the responsible party."
So is there something wrong with the attitude of it has to be done and done right.
Few people see the need of being responsible,most people will do what they need to just to get by and if they know they should do more,they choose not to.
Leaders are people who are willing to take on the tough stuff and go to the end of the line trying to keep the train on the track,til it makes it safe to the station.
In other words follow through right to the bitter end,no matter how long or how hard.
The world spins around and life goes on,but some people need to get it right,or figure out why and finish it.
Is it a gift or curse?
Solomon in the Old Testament,was considered wise,everyone expected him to make those hard decisions and follow through.
What about Moses?
Talk about taking on a job and seeing it through to almost the end.
It can be a tiring position to always have to be the  follow through person.
Now days most people are quick to blame others and feels they are victims,many young people do not understand what real responsibility is,and are to easy to blame circumstances for the out comes,rather then themselves.
Fewer and fewer people are ready to take on leadership unless they are willing to take blame.
Our current president is a person ,who feels fault is always for someone else to take,not him,to the detriment of our own country.

Christmas And Charity..How Tiring

With the Christmas Season comes the Christmas giving,not just our list of friends and family members,but also charitable giving.

Today while going through one of my friends' face book posting,I came across a picture he put up,about giving to an animal shelter or adopting a pet.

Someone posting under the comment section,took offense to the fact that people would ask for donations for animal shelters,but not children's orphanages,which this person thought a more worthwhile endeavor.

Every day that I choose to shop at the nearby grocery or retail stores,I am bombarded by check out people asking me if I would like to round up my tally,or donate a dollar to their favorite charity.

Now don't get me wrong,most charities are in need,but when it comes to shopping,like most people,by the time I get to the check out,I am not only tired but done with spending money.

We as a nation are a most charitable group,but I do not appreciate being asked to fund a favorite charity,when all I want to do is go home.

Money may make the world go round,but at this point I am done feeling charitable.

Now I am no scrooge,but then again I am also no Rockefeller,with money falling out of my pockets.

Not only do I deal with world interest,but also my work place and church.

Everyone seems to feel at this holiday season,that money somehow grows on trees.

I don't know about you but come January,I have payments to make on house and property taxes,car and house insurances,my son birthday and our anniversary.

Its not that I am trying to be cheap,its just that in 4 years I would like to have enough saved to retire,or semi retire.

Money,money,money is just making me tired and unable to fully enjoy the holidays.

At present my house is in need of cleaning,decorating and gifts bought and wrapped.

The reason for the season is Jesus birth,which is what I would not mind centering on.

The best part of this holiday season is preparing my special cupcakes for our church community meal,this Thursday, and going out to spend a nice Saturday evening at sturbridge village and night out for new years eve at our favorite new years tavern.

The rest just seems to be a mess,with no time to deal with it all.

Keep It Simple

Today while banking I decided to stop at the Family Dollar store and then the new General Dollar store,in Webster mass.
While there I picked up some toys to put in the "toys for tot" box at work and my present for the patients Secret Santa Party.
My theme this year is "keep it simple stupid" or kiss.
To many years I run my self ragged trying to do all the things people who don't have a time crunch do.
This year while at the general dollar store I bought a pretty box with a ribbon on top and filled it up with lotion,soaps,powder and body spray,for my patient .
This was the simplest gift idea yet.
This year I will also try to buy gifts that will in some way help my small town businesses and charities,cause if your going to give to your friends and family why not help others at the same time.
Once I returned home,I picked up all my fall decorations outside and plan to work slowly on Christmas decorations,with no intentions of over doing it.
Christmas should be a time of family and friends,doing for others and keeping an eye on what is important.
So this year keeping it simple will be my goal.
No anxiety,no stress and no depression cause  nothing in our lives is perfect.
I'm glad this year that I have Christmas off and plan on making it a nice quiet day with my family and maybe we will do pot luck this year instead of a whole formal meal.
Being a laid back kind of person I can appreciate a laid back kind of celebration.

Let The Preparations Begin

Well its that time of year,cleaning the house and decorating,not to mention food preparations and gift buying,then wrapping each and every item.

But before we get to any of those things decisions need to be made and time,short though it may seem,must be spent in how best to tackle each project.

With Thanksgiving arriving two days before the end of the month of November,an entire week of planning has just vanished leaving most of us with only 27 days til Christmas.

Being a good Christian,I try to remain focused on the fact that Jesus is the reason for the season,but then, so is my family and friends.

With age comes the understanding that not all things need to be done in the same fashion they where when my son was a child and Santa made that special day of December the 25th magical.

Now I tend to make my decorating last for more then just the Christmas Holiday,hanging things like snow men,snow flakes or other winter type themes,so when New Years Day arrives less Christmas things need to be taken down and stored for another year.

Today I will plan to start working on my hall and bathroom,putting away the more fall colored items and adding reds and golds to the bath and shower area.

It all seems like a big amount of time and effort to make the house festive,but I do it slowly and Christmas just seems to fall in place.

Some people in my neighborhood,started setting up their lights and trees the day of Thanksgiving,and some even before.

Seems rather out of place since Advent is in full swing and we should be focusing on Mary,her pregnancy and birth of Jesus.

Of course back in her day having a child,did not require all the things we present day parents think so necessary.

No strollers or car seats,no mountain of baby clothes,or boxes of disposable diapers,no doctor appointments or lab test and no, definitely no, sona grams to find out what the baby sex is and if it's healthy

Back then mother nature took care of the baby in the womb and mom the preparations of the home.

In all honesty, we should not be  putting up our Christmas tree until,December 24th.

But like the birth of any new baby who can not be excited and want to spruce things up for that special little someone who will be visiting us soon.

Today will be my lets try and get this house into what will become a special day,on December the 25th.

A day to enjoy my family and friends and hopefully spread a little love and happiness to those in need this holiday season.

The nice thing about the birth of a new baby is the joy it brings to not only the immediate family,but all those who come in contact with it.

Lets face it babies just have that special something that can make even the crabbiest person smile,no matter how hard they try not to.

O.K lets let the preparations begin.

World News ?

This morning,I got into a discussion on face book,with a friend,about world news and our media.
A story was printed about some nuns who where kidnapped in another country.
He said it was on fox news,npr and the bbc.
Since I had not watched any of those stations last night,it was inevitable that I had missed the story.
Back in the the 1960's and 70's, world news came on every evening from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. and contained what seemed to be,a large amount of  real news  information,going on around the globe.
In the 1980's I recall watching,a once a week  morning news station,aired from Russia,which contained world news not being shown on my local channels.
Today the bbc shows more current around the world  news events, then the American news media does.
It makes me feel a bit cheated when my own country has news organizations around the globe,yet little real information is aired, making one assume they are either  lazy or complacent.
Since I, like most people,work long hours, it's not in my time span to be able to sit and flip through all the channels to find news going on outside this country.
My friend claims that most people don't want to hear this sort of news,so its not brought to the regular main stream medias like abc,cbs or nbc.
Folks I have spoken to feel the news is slanted and we are being lead by a liberal media with an agenda to support our president at all cost,even to our own ignorance.
Maybe its a little of both,but I feel slighted by the fact that we are now an enclosed society, being fed what our incompetent,lazy,self serving media may feel we need to know or not know.
Ignorance is not bliss,nor is it smart.
We live in a world that is making us complacent to the activities around us,causing us to wonder why things like 9/11 happen and why we are so unaware.
True there are stations like fox news,cnn,msnbc and multiple talk radio stations,but those I fear,tend to leave us living with slanted view points,becoming bad consumers of the world and current events.
There is only so much time in a persons day for both media and our daily living.
Unfortunately allot people,below the age of 35,really have no concept or interest,in up to date world information,related to their time spent with social media,gaming and movie watching.
Leaving me wonder if news is an older person sport.
Ignorance of world events, puts us in the position of not understanding our  global friends or enemies,allowing them to take advantage of  our slowness to act and stupidity of events.

The British Comedy ..The Infidel...

Last night i watched a British comedy called "infidel".
It was about a Muslim man and his family.
One day while cleaning out his mother house,he comes across a paper saying he was adopted.
He goes to the foundling and orphanage only to find that his birth parents where Jewish.
He decides that since the parents who raised him are now both dead,he would try to find and meet his biological parent,his father,who is dying in a Jewish nursing home.
At the same time he is also trying  to be supportive to his son,who is about to marry a Muslim girl,whose step father, is an Imam,and feels Muslim laws should be followed.
His mother neighbor,who is Jewish,and difficult to talk to,agrees to call a truce,and help him to understand his father Jewish heritage and religion.
The issues that seem to keep stepping in his way are a rabbi,who will not allow him to enter his father room,until he can understand the Jewish traditions and the Imam who feels that things like strict adherence to religion is all important.
Balancing between these two worlds puts him in the position of understanding that tradition and strick adherence to the rules are making him and his family unhappy.
First because he can not meet and connect to his birth father and second he can not make his future daughter in law family happy,because he occasionally drinks alcohol and listens to an old rock band.
In the meantime his nine year old daughter is running around with a plastic sword,saying things like "death to the infidels".
When finally he comes across evidence of the Imam past,that he was a rock singer 20 years earlier,he is able to prove to his fellow Muslim members that we,none of us,no matter how much we confess to be great religious followers,are all perfect all the time.
Basically being a part of religion is not just about the rules,its about how it affects the lives of those around us.
We have to not just live the laws but understand every thing we do as a cause and effect, and in the end if we are hurting the well fare of those around us,then we have to examine how far the rules are to be taken.
When the story finishes,he becomes friends with his mother Jewish neighbor,his son gets to marry the woman he loves and the daughter learns that she needs to be tolerant of others,even though she did not fully understand the things she was saying,since she was only nine,she began to start acting more like a little girl and less like a warrior.

Racism Or Lack Of Community Concern

Back in the 1960's race relations were terrible,especially in the deep south.
Being born and raised in Connecticut there was no segregation or hate speech here,because there was no minorities in our town.
The six p.m.nightly news brought to our attention how bad things were in other parts of the country,places we where immuned to.
Because of those times,there arose men  and women of great courage,Martin Luther King,comes to mind.
Today we have a president and leaders like Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson,who seem to feel the time as come to relive these days,even though we are living in a different time.
The word racism,seems to keep raising its ugly head.
Yes we still have issues,but if after 60 years we have not,at least in these leaders minds,come to a better state then who as failed who?People say all this is due to lack of jobs,bad neighborhoods,drug problems,guns,violence,people of color being arrested more and given harder sentences then white men and greater amounts of poverty.
From 1960 to 2013 times have changed,greatly.
The new younger generation,those under 40, do not understand how far we have come.This shows how little they know about the past.
Being a female I can honestly say that times for women are so much better then they where even back in the 1970's.
When I was in High  School back in the early 70's,it was unheard of,in my town, for a female to join the track team,there was no equality in sports and girls did not argue about it.Now there would be no such idea.
The problems that seem to be arising isn't about race, its about lack of guidance in communities that do not want to take charge and call people out about real problems in their communities.
Hand outs are easy,drugs are easy,violence is a way of life,for people who do not want to attend school.
All this robs people of the view that hard work and  the potential for achievement and pride in self, go hand in hand.
Its not about race issue,its about community issue.
Several years ago Hillary Clinton,name was put onto a book,called "It takes a village",I'm not much of a Clinton lover but she did have a point.
It's not about social services its about community caring.
I've heard it said,by forty plusers"back when I was growing up,if my neighbor saw me do something wrong,not only would they correct me,but they'd go tell my parents." We have lost this principal of we are one community and we help each other and teach all our children.
Today we allow high paid government agencies and their employees,to do the jobs we,as a neighborhood, should do for our selves.
Most things in life come down to right,wrong,and morals, but many people today,refuse to instill such ideas into our next generations.
In the end this generation of adults becomes our future and at this point that future looks very sad.

Intent And Acts

Yesterday while reading some face book post,I can across one written by my husband second cousin.
She lives in Indiana,has several small children and she and her husband work,very hard, at low paying jobs.
Several days ago her air conditioner stopped working and they were forced to turn to a small window unit,until they could get theirs fixed.
Since she has m.s. the heat makes her joints swell and body ache,but in spite of this they where trying to find someone who could fix this possible costly problem.
Later in the day,seeing their problem may be resolved,she and her husband decided,they needed to run an errand.
While proceeding to there destination,they spotted a jogger,leaning against a building,in the sweltering heat of the early evening.
Being good and caring  people they decided to stop at a local convince store and bring the runner a bottle of cool water.
Upon their return they found the lady jogger gone and no where to be found.
Feeling sad about this situation,turn of events,my husband cousin, posted on face book,that they where trying to do what God calls for and that is help those in need.
I posted back that it is not the fact that they did not find the woman and give her their thoughtful gift,it is always about purity of heart and intent.
Sometimes we do things thinking that we are going to help someone but in the end we may either help another more in need or even our selves.
We are tested and our acts of generosity do not go unnoticed.
Just because our intended target is who we perceive,it may not be who God sees in need.
You can not judge random acts and you can not second guess that which is preformed.
This morning I saw someone post,that he wishes he could help those in need but his schedule is to busy. He feels bad,since his community has lots of needy people.
He went on to write, "I do try to pray for them and that counts for something."
Truer words were never spoken.
We have to realize that one simple step is OK.
Prayer or even a donated hour here or there at a food pantry,community meal or simply buying a canned good,is just as important as becoming Mother Teresa and giving your life on a full time basis.
We are all called to preform different jobs in our lives.
You may push a broom for a living or bag groceries but giving all you can and being the best at your job affords others around you, comfort.
Pride in your work and helping strangers or fellow employees in your day to day life,is just as important as donating time to help the poor out on the streets,this is your gift to the world around you.
Never underestimate the power of one simple,selfless act.
Your intent of a pure heart, doing the right thing for someone,is all God really wants from you.
Asking nothing in return is the gift of giving,even if its just a simple bottle of cool water for an over heated jogger,who was not there to receive this well intentioned gift..

Evil In The World

Living in Connecticut put me in the position of  the constant coverage of the New Town School shootings.
No one can explain why some one,could do such things to innocent children.
Some claim that gun control is to blame,like  high power rifles,that anyone can buy.
Some feel that uncontrolled mental illness is to blame,But I feel evil is to blame.
We live in a country that has blurred the lines between what is right and what is wrong,we never call anything right or wrong,because we feel that everyone has a right to anything and if we voice our opinions that what someone is doing is evil,then we are told that we are some how wrong.
Evil abounds in the world,just as good does.
Some have said that since we took God and prayers out of the school,then how can we expect God to be in the class.
But evil abounds everywhere and it is not uncommon for people who have lost their bearing of right and wrong to end up going toward the dark side and becoming more and more evil.
If a person chooses destruction then any weapon,be it gun,knife,bomb or anything else,is all on the table.
In Oklahoma City the person who blew up the federal building used fertilizer.
Its not about the choice of weapon,its about the intent.
People say this man in Connecticut had mental illness,well if you want to kill innocent children then I agree you are mentally ill in some way.
But there are lots and lots of people walking the streets everyday who are mentally ill and don't kill children.
So evil is what is in the equation.
We attend Churches that to this day will not talk about the devil and his legions,my own church will not use his name because they feel we are calling him down to us.
Fine so if no one talks about the Satan and his evil  then how does any church expect people to understand who he is.
Jesus himself talked about the devil and in the Our Father prayer we ask God to "deliver us from evil,now and at the hour of our death".
Why would we ask for strength in overcoming evil if it where out of the picture.

Low Bar For Entertainment

Tonight after having a nice supper out with friends,we all went to catch the movie The Lone Ranger.
It was a rather amusing film and after it was finished,we had much to discuss.
Most of our talk centered on all the good shows that where on t.v. back when where children
It could just be my age,but the fact remains that things always seemed better when we where children,as compared to living in our present day and age.
Today most of my t.v. watching consist of fox news and the history channel,mainly because television  just seems poor in taste and style, rather childish and boring.
Comedy now reminds me of high school toilet humor, learning childish words like boob,and using them a million times to see who will laugh.
Comedy back in the day,required talented story tellers,those who understood punch lines,while drama brought with it plot and substance.
Now don't get me wrong some of it was corny,but at least it had  story lines,morals and values.
The trouble is there is no longer any decent content to what we watch anymore.
Even reality shows,have no reality,most of it is written to make one think this is how a group or family of people live their lives,when its more about an idea and how far it can be stretched.
Maybe its a sign of the times and morals have no place in our world.
No longer fine lines of what to cross or not and no right or wrong,an anything goes kind of mentality.
I wouldn't mind the sexual innuendo if the shows had value or merit and what was being said or done was there to enhance a point.
But alas it is not meant to be.
Where are all the gifted people like Bill Cosby or Michael Landon?Those who could compile real humor or story telling,so it was an interesting art form.
Sadly it seems gone,by the  way of the low bar we set for our selves in the entertainment world .

Parish Community Growth

The other night,while watching the vicar of dibley,on net flicks,it dawned on me,that one of the purposes of church and ministry is not just worship,but growth.

Personal growth yes,but more importantly, congregational growth.

In this shows episode,a terrible storm hits the town and causes a tree to fall into the church,breaking the stained glass behind the altar.

With the money raised to replace the window,the discussion arises about what scene was actually on the glass,although they all looked at it every Sunday,no one could remember what the exact depiction it portrayed.

After checking church records it was found to be Noah Ark and not the Good Shepard,as they all though.

Everything seems set,to move forward for the replacement until,the vicar and some congregants hear about an earthquake in another country and the personal suffering going on there,they decide to make a contribution to this poor ravaged country.

In the end the church spends about 10% of the money on a clear glass window to replace the stained one,and everyone admires how beautiful the view of the valley behind the church is.

The rest of the money is sent off to help those in need in the earthquake area,with the blessings of the congregation.

To see the first episode of this series, is to understand how much of a step forward this church had made.

Our own church had this same sort of leap of faith.

Four years ago our vision community and priest,decided the time had come to go from being a solitary church on the hill,meeting our own personal needs,and to step forward and start a monthly community meal.

With little money to start,our Priest Father Peter,went before the board to ask for $1200.00,to make this dream sustainable for a year.

With nervousness Father brought forth his idea,and to his great surprise,one member said "Isn't this what a church is suppose to do,help those in need". At that point our community meal was born.

Today we serve 3 meals a month and have become a friend to the neighbors who eat our fine meals and share in our small table of non perishable canned goods and food.

So what happened?

We where blessed with a priest who understood the importance of teaching,preaching and showing the church members to be greater then themselves.

Sometimes we forget that the reason for a church is not about just money making and support,it is also about helping neighbors.

We have come along way in the 7 years when I first joined this parish.

Though the growth in spirit is greater then that of numbers,God has given us not what we want, but what we need.

There is a spiritual song that says"its a gift to be simple,its a gift to be free,its a gift to come down where we ought to be."

Little by little I see our church becoming that gift and the people sitting in the pews beginning to understand that there is more to church then stained glass windows and pretty vestments.

God surrounds us with his natural beauties and we in turn spread his love to others, and if we do it right,at some point,those we have helped and supported,they in turn will help better the lives of those of their neighbors.