If Ignorance is Bliss, Why Aren't More People Happy?

Whew! These have been a tough couple of weeks in America.  Snake mean and brick stupid aren't anything new around here but it's been quite awhile since we've had our national patience tested by this many overwrought, ill-informed fellow citizens. Hurling slurs at congressmen, making death threats, plotting to kill police officers  to spark a religious war. Please, people, go crack open an icy beer, put a cold washcloth on your heads, read the Sermon on the Mount, scratch the dog behind his ears, and relax. 

In honor of taking a deep breath and pausing between stimulus and response, here's a poem to ease you into tomorrow:

O Karma, Dharma, pudding and pie,

gimme a break before I die:

grant me wisdom, will, & wit,

purity, probity, pluck, & grit.

Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, kind,

gimme great abs & a steel-trap mind,

and forgive me, Ye Gods, some humble advice --

these little blessings would suffice

to beget an earthly paradise:

make the bad people good --

and the good people nice;

and before our world goes over the brink,

teach the believers how to think.

                                    --Philip Appleman

The Tombstone List

Do you ever hear an aphorism and think "Yes!  Exactly!  I want that on my tombstone! (No? Perhaps you're not as enamored of getting in the last word as I am!) One of the big contenders for Ann's Tombstone List is "never mistake a clear view for a short distance." I like the heady split second of mental suspension before the meaning of the adage clicks into place.  I also like the way it honors aspiring to the heights while warning that getting there may not be easy.  The maxim spares us from false optimism and teaches us what real change can require.  I find that sort of realism to be downright bracing!

Today's front yard critter count:
Raccoons: 5 (Crabby Mama and the 4 Young Adults)
Deer: 4 (all does)
Mouse: 1

Money Talks and Sometimes Money Also Walks

Ever wondered what you can do about the economic crisis?  In the March 2010 issue of Sojourners Magazine, Jim Wallis said:

Clearly, the financial crisis is a structural meltdown that calls for increased government regulation of banks and other financial players.  Members of faith communities around the country are helping to push for this sort of reform.

But at its core, this is also a spiritual crisis.  More and more people are coming to understand that underlying the economic crisis is a values crisis, and that any economic recovery must be accompanied by a moral recovery.  This should be a moment to re-examine the way we measure success, do business, and live our lives; a time to renew spiritual values and practices such as simplicity, patience, modesty, family, friendship, rest, and Sabbath.

Yup.  On a more pragmatic level, why not move your money out of a bank that helped caused the mess to a bank or credit union that has been better behaved? Check out moveyourmoney.info for a searchable database of options close to you.

Today's front yard critter count:
Raccoons: 5 (Mama and the 4 young adults)
Deer: 2 does..

In Which the Author Muses about Darkness and Light

 

Recently I learned that an acquaintance has received a grim medical prognosis.  I don't know her well but I like her very much.  As is typical when we hear such news, the room turned gray and so did my heart.

So here I sit, thinking yet again about sorrow and suffering.  Job offers no answers -- although I must admit that watchiing his pompous blowhard friends get smacked upside the head is quite satisfying.

What can I learn about all this from the nature of things around me?  Sunlight gleams through white curtains.  There is such a thing as ecstasy.  Muttley the Dog kisses Charlie the Cat.  And, yet again, spring comes.

Darkness may bear down, but it does not prevail.

Today's front yard critter count:

Raccoons: 6 (Mama, the 4 teenagers, the New Guy)

Deer: 0

Squirrels:  Lots.  Very loud.

Just Wondering....

 

So why is it that I'll pay for a gym membership but I won't walk up two flights of stairs to my office?   Seems kinda cheeky to make the planet expend the energy to haul an entire elevator plus me up to the third floor when I can get there perfectly well under my own power.  Ditto with regard to the electric can opener and electric toothbrush.  And I've totally never understood the concept of an electric knife.  What's next?  An electric drinking straw?

Today's front yard critter count:

Raccoons: 5 (Crabby Mama and the 4 teenagers)

Deer: 0

Daffodils: Almost blooming

Squirrels: Increasingly vocal out in the woods.