Dear Reader:

Yesterday I ran across a humorous, but also poignant, commentary on how we treat the pizza deliverer…because it tells a lot about our own character.

I have had many after school and part-time jobs from the age of fifteen (legal work age back then in SC) through college and even after….on weekends after teaching all week. They were all great learning experiences…some better than others…but still lessons about life were learned at both ends.

I remember (besides babysitting) my first job was at a very inexpensive shoe store in Laurens (we’re talking really cheap here) and boy, was that a lesson in patience. Feet that were never meant for a size 8 (were an 11) were pushed into the shoe by the consumer’s desire to be able to tell everyone her shoe size. (I waited on a lot of Cinderella’s step-sisters when it came to finding a fit for the “glass slipper.”)

My next job was at a peach cannery outside Laurens…I gained a new respect for people who work assembly lines….yellow jackets, peach  juice inside your gloves that ate at your skin, and the stress of keeping up with the pace of the peaches coming at you…just about took me under.

During college I was on work scholarship doing different jobs each year…ranging from secretarial work for one Bible professor (scary) and Senorita Horton in the Spanish department-never knew what she wanted me to do-she spoke in Spanish… but finally later I was promoted to my major-the history department and got to work with the professor I had a crush on….the good old days of girlhood crushes.

During the summers between my college years Brooke and I worked as real estate agents and waitresses in Greenville. After I began teaching I worked Saturdays for (Gail Thornton) for her famous artistic uncle –  Sammy Ravenel Gailard in his art studio. I really enjoyed that experience. He gave me this fabric painting when I left that I still treasure to this day.

Of course there were also Christmas and other holiday jobs along the way…but never was I a pizza driver. Still, my own experiences really do make me appreciate what so many people do to make a living or supplement their income for their families…they are the “lost men/women” FDR talked about on his fireside chats...the backbone and symbol of American strength and perseverance for the American dream. (Yet they are looked down upon by many consumers of pizza!)

Sarah Adams has discovered several principles of life through the treatment and acceptance of the pizza deliverer….here are a few excerpts.

Awakin Weekly: “Be Cool to the Pizza Guy”

Sarah Adams

Principle 1: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in empathy. Let’s face it: We’ve all taken jobs just to have a job because some money is better than none. I’ve held an assortment of these jobs and was grateful for the paycheck that meant I didn’t have to share my Cheerios with my cats. In the big pizza wheel of life, sometimes you’re the hot bubbly cheese and sometimes you’re the burnt crust. It’s good to remember the fickle spinning of that wheel.

Principle 2: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in honor and it reminds me to honor honest work. Let me tell you something about these dudes: They never took over a company and, as CEO, artificially inflated the value of the stock and cashed out their own shares, bringing the company to the brink of bankruptcy, resulting in 20,000 people losing their jobs while the CEO builds a home the size of a luxury hotel. Rather, the dudes sleep the sleep of the just.

Principle 3: Coolness to the pizza delivery dude is a practice in equality. My measurement as a human being, my worth, is the pride I take in performing my job — any job — and the respect with which I treat others. I am the equal of the world not because of the car I drive, the size of the TV I own, the weight I can bench press, or the calculus equations I can solve. I am the equal to all I meet because of the kindness in my heart. And it all starts here — with the pizza delivery dude.

……………………………..

So until tomorrow…”Tip him well, friends and brethren, for that which you bestow freely and willingly will bring you all the happy luck that a grateful universe knows how to return.”

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

• Kaitlyn and Tommy came to Summerville last evening for our three week belated birthday dinner for Tommy. They decided on Continental Corner since Eva’s isn’t open at night and we all had a delicious meal and dessert.
• One good thing about us being late getting together is that I just kept on throwing change in Tommy’s birthday jar so he has hopefully made out like a “fat cat” this year when he trades the coins in for bills. (This annual tradition all started many years ago when Tommy was still in public school…it was so hard to have a birthday party right after Christmas….people were gone and stretched to the limit over Christmas. The thought of buying another present was a tough sale. So from December 30 to the next December 29 I just started putting all my change in a jar and it is quite remarkable how much one ends up with by the end of the year. Good luck this year Tommy!

Dear Reader:

My love affair with Eva’s Restaurant began in 1975 when I was pregnant with my first child, Mandy. The annual pre-season Summerville High School football camp, in Laurinburg, NC, was underway and I was due any day. So mother came to spend that week with me.

It was the “dog days” of summer and way too hot to cook but we both were craving some home-cooking. (Since I was still a relative “new-comer” to Summerville at the time, someone recommended Eva’s to us.) It ended up that mother and I ate supper there every night that week. We could hardly wait to see what the new “special” each evening would be…it was all delicious!

After that, every time mother came to visit over the years, we made sure we stopped and ate at Eva’s because it was mother’s favorite place and brought back memories of that special week together. After her retirement when she moved to Summerville, once again mother and I could be found (at least once a week) eating lunch or supper there.

Time went by…the children grew up and left for college and then new careers, but mother and I continued our ‘run to Eva’s.‘ For awhile after mother passed, it was hard for me to go in there for all the memories it brought back.

For a long time…I would simply call in my order and  pick up lunch or supper to go and take it home. As more time passed and retirement called my name…I discovered friends and neighbors who also loved Eva’s and they became my go-to lunch partners. The reminder of  Eva’s came calling every time my body reminded me to please go get some fresh vegetables.

Eva’s restaurant dates back to 1944 and the building site to 1952. For years when people would go to the restaurant you could see Mrs. Eva rocking in her chair snapping beans. She did this right up to the ripe old age of 96 -she died in 2011.

Because so many cooks had been trained by Mrs. Eva things continued along fairly well for a time but renovations were needed, money was tight, so alternative changes came in to help save the old restaurant ….over time new menu’s appeared and personnel changes followed …and suddenly, one day, you realized you didn’t know everybody’s name any more…and then nobody’s name any more.

So Eva’s was sold again to the owners of Honeycomb Cafe (Daniel Island) and today it is still Eva’s as the sign says outside…but officially it is Honeycomb Cafe @ Eva’s. The new owners had eaten at Eva’s and loved it….and wanted to restore the same atmosphere. Their mantra:

Nothing fancy

Nothing fast

Just Simple, Southern, Summerville 

So yesterday, with my buddy and neighbor, Jane, we decided to try Eva’s again. We had come home! It was Wednesday so the special was baked chicken/dressing, three vegetable choices (butterbeans, stringbeans, squash, fried eggplant. etc.) I got the chopped steak and knew time had stopped….smothered in onions and gravy with mashed potatoes, veggies, and cornbread.

*Eva’s will now be open every day of the week from 7-3….there will be no evening meals.

*Breakfast will be served all day, along with the daily lunch specials with its diversity of vegetables. And now along with the wonderful traditional breakfasts, some new items like egg/meat burritoes and lots of different omelets will be available.

Before we left we knew almost everyone in the restaurant and we were all tasting and talking about which dinner every one had ordered was the best. They all were. There was lots of laughter throughout the meal.

Vivacious Jillian and our funny, long-time friend Robin, just added to the fun of the dining experience. They kept returning to the table to make sure everything was just as we liked it and remembered it. It was and it was!

So until tomorrow…I once heard someone say “Praying is calling home”…if true, then pray dear friends… do call Eva’s and order the comfort food you deserve or even better pray come on down.

Here pictures of our two meals to tempt you do just that:

* The Dingle boys (Tommy & Walsh) at the last Clemson game we attended when Tommy was still a student there! (We beat Florida State that day!)

• I had just gotten back from Eva’s when Gin-g surprised me with a wonderful visit and some goodies to boot! It is always so much fun catching up….we are like Sherlock Holmes and Watson solving all the world’s problems together…now if we could just get someone to listen to us?

*Mandy and John’s new sofa and center table came yesterday….Mandy said they are still looking probably for a couple of more pieces to complete it….but it looks great guys!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Dear Reader:

It is time to bring the wonderful Clemson football season to a close…yesterday I carefully packed up all the magazines, lucky tokens, newspaper clippings, tiger rags and other Clemson shirts/caps, scarves, and carefully packed them away until football season rolls around again next fall.

I thought long and hard about the appropriate closure for this magical season and a thought suddenly appeared….this had been the season of the “silver packages.”

Of all the stories I have told at the Christmas Eve service this one has always touched many a heart with tears to accompany. It is a powerful story in the lesson of recognizing the difference between needs and wants.

In a nutshell…a little boy growing up in dire poverty of the Appalachian mountains wants a doctor’s kit for Christmas more than anything else in the world. A special train comes around and drops silver packages off each December 23rd for the children to take home so they will have something to open Christmas morning.

Instead of getting a doctor’s kit….over the years he gets gloves, socks, scarves, jackets….all things he really needs but didn’t want….he wanted a doctor’s kit but never got it.

After he grows up…he leaves the poverty of those mountains he was born into and pursues a successful career… thinking he has managed to put the memories of those sad, disappointing childhood Christmases behind him.

But one Christmas Eve he finds himself remembering those childhood Christmases again from the top of tall skyscraper, living in a large city, residing in a penthouse that he now calls home.

Suddenly he sees the past more clearly. Each year when he got the socks, shoes, jackets, or scarves for Christmas he needed them desperately at that moment….because his socks, shoes, holey jackets, and scarves were worn and torn. He had been given exactly what he needed at the time he needed it.

So he finds himself returning to his home, the place of poverty that he thought once he would never  return to again. And he finds himself besides the train tracks on December 23rd watching an elderly man throw silver packages out from the train to the anxious children waiting for their one gift. Memories begin to engulf him.

Suddenly a little girl, with red curly hair, starts running behind the track to catch her gift when she falls…busting up her knees and tearing her stockings. As she sits on the rails crying because her package has fallen into the snow over the embankment….she suddenly sees a nice gentleman pick up her package and bring it to her.

He puts her on his lap and reassures her not to be afraid…everything will be okay and then introduces himself as a doctor while he reaches for his medical bag. He was home again.

…………………………

In a sense Clemson, too, kept running after and hoping for their silver package…their dream of a national title…their doctor’s kit. In each game leading up to the perfect season and an opportunity to play for a national championship, they were given  exactly what they needed to win over their opponent in the individual games…

So by Monday night….everyone wanted  this national title so badly…it was certainly justified…after all it had been a long time since Clemson had won one…surely they had earned the right to take home such a trophy…to take home a doctor’s kit.

It didn’t play out the way all of us had hoped… or did it? We have to step back from the initial disappointment, like the boy in the story, to pause and look at the game a little differently. As much as we all wanted a national title…what we needed was respect for the ACC and particularly (this past season) for Clemson’s amazing achievements.

Monday night Clemson proved that it was a major contender at a national level and could more than hold its own with the “Big Boys.” (They really were big, weren’t they?) Clemson needed this as much, or more, than a trophy saying they were the best.

They were the best and won many hearts over in their valiant attempt to put up more numbers than their opponent…numbers aside, they got what they needed. Earlier dismissive attitudes towards Clemson began to slowly change…its football program took a leap of faith this year and ended up being recognized as the best in the country in the hearts and minds of (just not those who love them but by…) coaches across the country.

Example: As Jo quoted in her comment: As one reporter said, “We truly had two national champions playing tonight.” 

Thanks Ernie Stender (a former student) for this picture you posted on Facebook. Perfect visual to end the article today!

Love conquers all….We love you Coach Dabo and our extraordinary Clemson Tigers! Faith, hope, and love…it was the winning combination!

So until tomorrow…We must remember that sometimes the world doesn’t have to be turned upside down in order for us to see the underlying truth in the amazing arena of football…character wins out over wins/losses and Clemson has character…a class act!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Dana Howard, Sam and Donna’ daughter, now lives in Clemson after growing up being the daughter of a coach in the football town of Summerville. So she has an unique perspective on this special season….especially how it changed the little town of Clemson she now calls home. Here is an excerpt:

…”  I don’t think I’ve ever felt more love for football or for my adopted town than I do right this very minute. Because for right now it doesn’t matter when you got on the bandwagon. It doesn’t matter if your degree says Clemson or Carolina or if you even have one at all. It doesn’t matter whether you know a first down from a flag. It doesn’t matter if you usually pull for a Bulldog or a Gamecock. Right now what matters is that we’re having a turn & this little town is alive.

It’s like there’s a direct line of energy running from Phoenix straight to the center of College Avenue & it’s sending out a buzz everywhere–from the bank to the check out line at Publix. Everyone is happy & anxious & excited &… Well, it’s kinda like Christmas was when we were little. It’s just fun.

And I’m grateful for the folks sharing their journeys & I’m even thankful for the folks who usually cheer & dance during 2001:A Space Odyssey, but are being reserved enough to let us celebrate & enjoy the experience. I write a lot on Facebook because I’m not a journal keeper.

I’m not a scrapbooker, but this is a medium I can connect to. And I want to document this moment of pure joy. Because that’s what we’re living smack dab in the middle of–a heart full of joy for the Clemson Tigers.”

• If you blinked twice thinking you saw Dabo on Entertainment Tonight…you weren’t seeing things. Nancy O’Dell stayed in Arizona to interview more of the players and Coach Dabo. Nancy even got the coach to hum  the theme song for ET as it went off the air….too funny.  I think Dabo could use some light-hearted banter after the heart-break of the game and his dreams for this season ending put on hold..
• Please keep Winnie Harris, Mike Burrell’s mother, in your prayers as she undergoes a surgical procedure today. Mike and Honey are home and will be with her during this time.

Dear Reader:

Since I live alone I have had several well-intentioned folks, over the years, ask me if I were not lonely living alone or afraid. I smile, shake my head, and reply “Neither…for most of the time I love my “alone” time and when I have had enough then I socialize with friends/family to my heart’s content before the “alone” time calls me back.

As for being afraid…I hardly give it a second thought…I do avoid watching scary or horror movies by myself…don’t want to plant any seeds there…but besides that…I feel as perfectly secure as anyone else on any given night or day. There are always so many activities I am involved in and/or planning that it leaves little room for scary thoughts.

Last Sunday as the congregation acknowledged the Epiphany, its meaning and stories of the Magi, the Wise Men…I thought about the illustrations or mental images we picture while singing “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”

From my childhood Bible story book the picture (that still lingers in my mind) consisted of three men on camels traveling across a seemingly endless desert, with only one large bright star to guide them.

I always thought it was a lonely-looking picture. Three men and three camels all alone in a vast, dark, desert. Of course, today, I realize that they were never alone…God rode with them showing them the way to His Son’s place of birth.

The other day I came across a fascinating interview (Awakin.org) between one interviewer (Victor Amela) and Moussa Ago Assarid, the eldest child (of 13) growing up in a nomadic Touareg family on the Sahara Desert.

He was born in northern Mali…and moved to France in 1999 to study Management at the University of Montpellier. His responses to questions about desert living and loneliness supported my idea that being alone and loneliness are not symbiotic. In fact, the happiness and serenity found in his childhood left him longing for that period in his life over the crowded, busyness of “modern civilization”  in France. His descriptions of his life will leave many of us longing for that simplified life in all its beauty.

(For the sake of reducing Moussa’s long name….MAA will be used to identify his responses.)

(MAA): I don’t know my age. I was born in the Sahara desert, with no papers. I was born in a nomadic camp of Touaregs, between Timbuktu and Gao, in the north of Mali.

J: What do they do for a living?
MAA: We shepherd camels, goats, sheep, cows and donkeys in a kingdom of infinite and of silence…

J: Is the desert really so silent?
(MAA): If you are on your own in that silence you hear your heart beat. There is no better place to meet yourself.

J: What memories do you have of your childhood in the desert?
MAA: I wake up with the Sun. The goats of my father are there. They give us milk and meat, and we take them were there is water and grass. My great-grandfather did it, and my grandfather, and my father, and me. There was nothing else in the world than that, and I was very happy!

J: Really? It doesn’t sound very exciting.

MAA: It is. At the age of seven you can go alone away from the camp, and for this you are taught the important things—to smell the air, to listen, to see carefully, to orient with the Sun and the stars…and to be guided by the camel if you get lost. He will take you where there is water.

J: To know that is valuable, no doubt.

MAA: Everything is simple and profound there. There are very few things, and each one has enormous value.

J: So that world and this one are very different.

MAA: There, every little thing gives happiness. Every touch is valuable. We feel great joy just by touching each other, being together. There, nobody dreams of becoming, because everybody already is.

J: What shocked you most on your first trip to Europe?

MAA: I saw people running in the airport. In the desert you only run if a sandstorm is approaching! It scared me, of course.

J: They were going after their baggage.

MAA: Yes, that was it.

J: What do you dislike the most here?

MAA: Many people here have everything, and it is still not enough for them. They complain. In [the modern world] many people complain all the time! They chain themselves to a bank; many people are anxious to have things, to have possessions. People are in a rush. In the desert there are no traffic jams, and do you know why? Because there nobody is interested in getting ahead of other people! 

J: Tell me about a moment of deep happiness for you in the desert.

MAA: It happens every day, two hours before sunset. The heat decreases, there is still no cold air, and men and animals slowly return to the camp, and their profiles are painted against a sky that is pink, blue, red, yellow, green.

J: That sounds fascinating.

MAA: It’s a magical moment… We all get into the tents and we boil tea. Sitting in silence we listen to the sound of the boiling water… We all are immersed in calmness: with the heartbeats tuned to the rhythm of the boiling water, potta potta potta…

J: How peaceful.

MAA: Yes…here you have watches; there… we have time.

…………………….

The wisdom, beauty, simplicity, and peace that came from the life of this child growing up in what the modern world would deem “terrible conditions” surprised and delighted me. I even found myself somewhat jealous of that style of living.

So until tomorrow…What looks like a lonely, desolate place to live can provide some of the most satisfying soul-full moments in life. Alone…but not lonely. A place for us to meet ourselves again and re-introduce ourselves to the person deep inside who needs to speak up and loudly proclaim his/her voice…to display his/her soul for everyone to hear and see.

“Today is my favorite day!” Winnie the Pooh

*I went over to Sam and Donna Clark’s house for the first half….and what a time we had! Wonderful munchies and all kinds of fun and laughter….including tweaking our red noses every time Clemson scored or made a third down. It flew….I came home…put my beautiful “Clemson” flowers on the table Donna gave me and settled in for the second half in my pj’s….

While we were watching the first half…. pictures came in…too cute…..Mollie and “Tiger” Lachlan and little Rudy dressed in number 1 orange.

We love you Clemson Tigers and never forget we are always “All In” for the pride you  gave us last night and the strength of character you exemplified before thousands of viewers…You were Awesome!

The numbers at the end of the game will soon fade with time from our memories but the respect you WON last night will last a lifetime!

Dear Reader:

It’s hard to believe that the day has finally arrived that Clemson fans, players, families, and coaches have dreamed about for a long time…decades in fact. I have enjoyed reading all the newspaper articles and watching the sports on television and regardless of the outcome…I am going to miss all the anticipatory excitement leading up to this day.

It is kind of like Christmas…when we look back on our childhood memories…what we remember more than the actual day was all the fun getting there. Would we get that special toy, gift or not? Sometimes we did, sometimes we didn’t but we never lost the ability to get excited about the next Christmas.

When I reflect over this special, special season of Clemson football…I realize that I would have enjoyed the experience more if I could have gotten rid of the notion (sooner) that I was somehow personally responsible for the outcome of any and all games by my actions. (or lack of…)

We think we are “civilized” adults until the games of chance appear and then we go back to cave man superstitions and rituals. For me…it is running back and forth from the computer to the game (if I am at home)….I find that I just can’t sit through a Clemson game….I am on the prowl like some big game cat.

I turn down the volume sometimes so I can’t hear either the wild cheering or loud sighs from the crowd when the team is striving to get an important third down, or field goal, or touchdown. I, also, find myself peeking through my fingers to see if they made it through the gridiron.

When things get really “hairy” I retreat to my deck and just plain start praying….my prayers start out with an apology for bothering God about a little football game but if God could just help us out one more time…I would be eternally thankful.

And the thing is….I can handle  loss so it is not me, myself that gets the rest of me stirred up but like mothers from  ages past…I know how happy it will make Walsh and Tommy and mothers love seeing their children (even adult children) happy.

And quite honestly, this year, I have wanted the wins so badly for our scrappy, adorable coach by the name of Dabo. He is such a wonderful mentor and role model for the team and so deserving.

After taking down all the Christmas decorations this year…I decided for a national college football title year…a special Clemson designated area was quite justified….I have newspaper clippings, Sports Illustrated magazines, photos, Tiger rags, purple scarf, one of Honey’s clay SC trees with purple and orange, and my annual Christmas ornament…a Clemson tiger who I put on the tip-top branch of the Christmas tree… right under Ruthie the Angel this year….striving for the highest!

I do have certain paraphernalia that I keep close during the games…a red sponge clown nose ball to squeeze when I get nervous….and somehow, in this demented brain of mine, I feel like I must prowl, squeeze, and wear one of several different orange shirts or socks or somehow I will have let the team down….I blew it for them.

I have heard stories of fans (even players) not washing a t-shirt through the whole season (Whew!) or carrying a lucky token in their pocket, putting their cap on backwards at a certain angle…and I get the feeling that lots of other people feel responsible, too, for the outcome by their own personal actions. This is a tough cross to bear and certainly takes the enjoyment out of a game.

So I have thrown caution to the wind….I am wearing some new orange attire to watch the game at Sam and Donna Clark’s house this evening, and simply by talking about the game in this pre- game blog post …I have broken my tradition of not mentioning the game in the blog until the day after the game.

I just want to simply enjoy every minute of this amazing season and final game….hey, the way I look at it…Alabama has already lost one game this season….if for any reason we don’t win, we’re just tied as national champions….and that will be my story about it to re-tell in years to come.

Dabo actually helped me out with all this self-imposed martyrdom when he was asked if Alabama being able to meet twice more than his team was a handicap for Clemson ( they couldn’t leave earlier because of the school schedule) and Dabo laughed and said,  (paraphrase)”Not at all…whether we win or lose will certainly not be determined by our inability to have two more meetings before the game….if we lose it will be because the other team played better than we did on a given night.”

So until tomorrow….if there are any other “semi-demented” folks like myself who put the whole weight of the outcome of a game on their shoulders by performing or not performing strange rituals ….let me set you free right now! By simply watching and pulling for the team, shouting and cheering them on, and yes,  praying… we have all done our respective part in the game of chance. We have been “ALL IN.” The team has to do the rest… GO TIGERS!!!!!

“Today is my favorite day”   Winnie the Pooh (and Tigger too!)

• Nancy O’Dell, anchor woman on Entertainment Tonight, and a Clemson graduate…was true to her word….she wore an orange gown on the red carpet at the Golden Globes Awards last night for Clemson….go Nancy!

P.S. I did send Rudolph a message….just to be on the safe side! (He gets paid over-time after Christmas)….but well worth it!

Even though the idea of “bringing home the national title” gives  us Clemson fans  goose bumps….bringing little Caleb home to visit his Grandmother “B” (Brookie) for the first time is a trophy far above a national title for anything,  especially for one Ya I know.

Dear Reader:

I, sometimes, have to laugh at humanity for making life so much more complicated than God ever intended. Here we were given a beautiful world, a paradise, and all we had to do to maintain it was simply love one another as we were and are loved by our Creator. That’s it…in a nutshell.

And boy, did we blow it!

I remember when this “old” photo was taken back in the summer of 2014. Rutledge was about one year old and Eva Cate was four going on sixteen. (Jakie and Lachlan were still waiting in heaven for their number to be called up.) I was babysitting and it had been a wild ride….at some point all one could do was just give in to the craziness and laugh out loud….and that is what we did!

I decided to save this photo on my desktop because it always makes me smile when I see it! It is definitely an ‘in the moment’ slice of life filled with love and laughter. (Besides I am trying to remember where that orange blouse is now….I need it Monday night!)

You know you’re getting old when….I watch politicians promoting everything but love for their intentions on how to run the country…. things like putting up really big fences, punishing people who simply want the same thing our ancestors did when they came to America, trying to destroy (instead of improve upon) laws that potentially equalize better health and housing conditions, turn a blind eye to the gun violence in our own communities, and place our own security issues over the security of our world as shared by the billions of fellow human beings on this earth.

Yep…I am getting old and opinionated. It is time for me to turn off the news and head to my garden for tranquility and peace. As I sit there I wonder how mankind can possibly ‘un-do’ the mess we have created since our arrival in this speck of the universe.

Of course, I already know the answer to that question: turn to God. What we can’t do…He certainly can. Abraham Lincoln certainly realized this when as President he governed over the most divisive time in our country’s history. Yet, with God’s help…the country was pulled together again.

My favorite quote from Lincoln: “I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.”

I feel sure every President would concur with Lincoln on those days when man’s knowledge just doesn’t stand up to the situation. It is actually refreshing to see a leader today, show emotion about trying to change the world with what one feels is morally right…and not always politically popular. A rarity indeed in a time of insatiable egos…that prevail instead of seeking help from God.

In this excerpt from Martin Luther King’s speech “Where do we go from here”  he stated what he considered the obvious….we go find love.

I’m concerned about a better world. I’m concerned about justice; I’m concerned about brotherhood and sisterhood; I’m concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence.

For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.

And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to humankind’s problems. And I’m going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn’t popular to talk about it in some circles today. And I’m not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love; I’m talking about a strong, demanding love.

For I have seen too much hate. […] and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we aren’t moving wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who loves has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.

………………………..

I am sure you must be thinking by now….“What’s going on with Becky today…it might be Sunday but for heaven sake get down out of the pulpit girl.” 

What is wrong with Becky is that I am looking at an emerging world that I don’t like….not for me, not for my children, and certainly not for my grandchildren.

So until tomorrow…We might  disagree on how to restore a world that runs on love, not hate….but please reassure me that humanity still seeks love, still seeks God in their lives… because God is love. God IS love for all His children.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Gloria Houston (author of children’s books) and I have continued to correspond over the holidays. She is really going through a tough period right now and is very weak. Prayers and petitions to God on her behalf for renewed strength and improving health are much appreciated!

*I sent a picture of her laughing with her mom, Ruthie, at the 95th birthday party of Ruthie in Waynesville, NC that Brookie and I attended five years ago… that’s hard to believe!

Over Christmas I sent her a holding cross and just received this email back from her yesterday after checking to make sure she got it.

Thank you, Becky, especially for the cross.  My friend helped me open mail because I was very weak, so I had lost the sender’s name from it.  It is a thoughtful and meaningful gist.  I so appreciate it!

I will send an update soon.  Love g

Pam Stewart sent me this short video (aka Facebook) while I was away this week….some of you might have seen it already…it really touched me and I loved the poem: (written by a 92 year old woman) “The Gift Wrap and the Jewel.“) If you haven’t heard the poem….take a minute to listen.

The Gift-Wrap & The Jewel. By Wanda B. Goines – YouTube

Dear Reader:

Anne Lamotte tells the following Indian fable:

I often remember the story from India of a beggar who sat outside a temple, begging for just enough every day to keep body and soul alive, until the temple elders convinced him to move across the street and sit under a tree. Years of begging and bare subsistence followed until he died. The temple elders decided to bury him beneath his cherished tree, where, after shoveling away a couple of feet of earth, they found a stash of gold coins that he had unknowingly sat on, all those hand-to-mouth years.

You already have the gold coins beneath you, of presence, creativity, intimacy, time for wonder, and nature, and life. Oh, yeah, you say? And where would those rascally coins be?

Anne continues by asking her writing class that unless someone is married to the news anchor….does an hour of the day devoted to news make you feel any better about your life or help direct your personal path towards your own source of creativity?

You could write two or three pages, or even just one, from the novel you’ve  always dreamed about writing in that amount of time…thus inching closer to  your goal.

Can’t you give up one hour at the gym a week to meet a friend at a book store or coffee shop to compare notes and help each other stay directed towards discovering each other’s gold  coins?

When you turn eighty, will you be proud of having the cleanest house still on the block or will you suddenly realize the precious time you lost getting to truly know and love your children and grandchildren?

If you make it to the top and have no one to share it with, do you think the prize is worth the loss of the gold coins of friendship and/ or/love?

Lamotte says she then takes some pity in her students’ eyes as they begin averting hers….after all she has been where they are now and understands how addictive busyness can be.

Busyness is Linus’s security blanket wrapped tightly around oneself to keep others out and yourself locked into a comfortable routine of familiarity. You are a no surprise person…just the thought of risk-taking makes you climb back under the bed covers.

Busyness is also a power tool….don’t we hear people say all the time “I wish I could… but look at my calendar” and then sigh audibly so the other person will sympathize with them over their terribly  busy life filled to the hilt with responsibility. There is no one else in the world that can handle the job but them….or so they think.

Busyness is a one-stop joint where you can get everything you want except for what you need.

Anne concludes her talk about finding the creative person inside of us (trying desperately to get out) by giving each student a moment of shared understanding. Anne has been there and she knows…

“They look at me bitterly now—they don’t think I understand. But I do—I know how addictive busyness and mania are. But I ask them whether, if their children grow up to become adults who spend this one precious life in a spin of multitasking, stress, and achievement, and then work out four times a week, will they be pleased that their kids also pursued this kind of whirlwind life?

If not, if they want much more for their kids, lives well spent in hard work and savoring all that is lovely, why are they living this manic way? Why are they teaching their children, through their own actions, that this type of life is even acceptable, much less fulfilling?

…………………..

So until tomorrow…Our gold coins…our true wealth is worth fighting for…it is time: this day, this hour, this moment.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*I decided after taking Eva Cate back home and finishing up with my oncology appointment to go see Ben and check on how things were going with him and also on a lot of medical “stuff” that has to be done… (as we all know who have been in the middle of appointments and then more appointments  with the new January medical insurance forms to add to the experience.)

*Lee and Vikki….everything looks so good….thank you for all your efforts, work, and time to help Ben out during this crisis.

I had taken some homemade spaghetti (mother’s recipe) to Conway and Bekah and Ady joined us for supper…we had fun. The next morning I followed Ben to his Veterans counseling session in Myrtle Beach. I got to meet his counselor, Carlos, and thank him from the family for being so supportive of Ben in his plight to reach his pension goal. Carlos didn’t even know about his stroke so it was an informative visit.

Inside the Veterans Center I saw the book “America’s White Table” in a small room with a table/chair and white table cloth set according to the book. The author, Margot Raven Theis, who recently died from cancer, would be proud to see the table set inside the Myrtle Beach VA Center using her story.

On the way to the car I bumped into one of Ben’s friends who has just gotten his 100% and he has been at it about the same length of time (six years) as Ben. His name was Doc and he said he thought he would never live long enough to see it actually happen.

Sometimes Ben feels the same way….what a mess our poor veterans come home to….another long war waiting for them.

…And now for some great news….Libby texted yesterday afternoon that the tests have all come back with good reports and now the hospital week-stay for Trey might be quickly coming to an end. No dilly-dallying around in this situation.

Dear Reader:

Frederick Buecher once said; “The story of one of us is the story of us all.” (If I am telling a story and I begin to notice people in the audience nodding their heads and smiling…then I smile even more…because I know the story is connecting to others.)

While I was researching the story behind the favorite Christmas hymn “Joy to the World” a couple of days ago….I came across a young musician, Jason Gray, who had recently worked on a Christmas album and was reflecting on the songs he wrote that didn’t stray from the truth of the chaos and crisis behind The Christmas Story.

The more he thought about his selection of Christmas songs for the album, some new, some old….he felt a strong responsibility to tell the story truthfully. Every one of the “main characters” ( he realized in a personal epiphany he had) in the scriptural Christmas story, as told by Luke, are in the mist of crisis and drama in their lives.

There is Mary, a pregnant unmarried teenager, Joseph, a bewildered and betrayed-feeling fiancee who doesn’t know what to believe, their families (most likely) demonstrating conflicting attitudes, excited prophets and magi, amazed shepherds, and evil-doings lurking in the frightened hearts of the “establishment” and its rulers.

No doubt this is not a comedy and at least a PG-13 rating….too much violence for small children. Yet Gray chose “Joy to the World” for the last song in the album. He did this because he realized that “joy is not the absence of conflict or crisis; it is the presence of God.” (The Christmas story is God’s story which is now our story because of the baby Jesus born in that manger.)

When we study the story behind our own given names, many times a genealogical history is revealed that we never knew. Quinn Cadwell ends one devotional with this thought:

…“And did you know you have a name older than those? Sweeter than the ones crooned to you at bedtime, deeper than the ones that cut you to the quick? That matters more and tells the truth of you better than any of them? It’s the name God gave to you in the womb, and every morning since: beloved. “

The garden statue in the title post photo was the first statue placed in my garden…the children gave it to me. The name of the statue is “Bliss.” As I studied garden statues on-line one day prior to the first initiative in the garden’s creation, this smiling little girl, with birds on her arms swung open wide to welcome life just touched me so.

To me…this is the face of joy.

Here are the two Christmas albums Jason Gray has produced…I spent one whole afternoon listening to different songs from each….but his title song “Christmas is Coming” really felt like joy to me….I know it is after Christmas but get your toes tapping…aren’t we supposed to keep a little Christmas in our hearts every day of the year? (*Harvey I immediately thought of you with this song.)

Christmas Is Coming – Jason Gray – Official Lyric … – YouTube

So until tomorrow…Let us remember that all the crises and conflicts we experience on our own travels through life, telling our story as we go, are leading us to the joy we so seek; Emanuel  (“God be with us.”)

“Today is our favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Yesterday’s blog on the vastness of the universe took Jo back to her childhood stargazing nights too…..Jo Dufford

“You have brought back such great memories for me today. Suddenly, I was back to my childhood when there were no air-conditioners. Because it was the South, families often sat outside at night trying to catch a breeze. Mother would spread a blanket on the grass, and my sister and I would have the most wonderful time finding constellations or telling stories about what we saw.

If I close my eyes, I can see those beautiful stars, feel a cool breeze and still have that wonderful feeling of total peace and joy from yesteryear. “Thanks for the memories!” So grateful your appt. went well. Prayers for Trey.”

Dear Reader:

The ancients, like us modern folks, loved nothing more than to throw their heads back and revel in a starry night and the vastness of the universe, as they knew it, in wonder. I spent many a childhood night, especially in the summer, lying down in cotton fields, to stare at the stars and make up starry shapes for stories.

The ancients believe that this vastness was the home of God and it became their own theology as a tool for predictions about the future and here-after. They were called Magi, and as the story goes, three of them followed a star all the way to Bethlehem.

The modern descendants of the Magi turned the world upside down with their invention of the Hubble Space Telescope in 1990. This telescope opened up the skies like never before because its “magical” ability lay in being able to eliminate the distorting effects of the earth’s  atmosphere.

If you have a minute today google photos of the Hubble Space Telescope and then be prepared to be blown completely away. I took the title photo from one of hundreds of space photos available on-line. After about ten minutes of mind-boggling images I felt like my brain was going to burst.

It was too much for me to take in…but all I could think while scanning the images was Wow! How can anyone not praise the “Lord of this firmament?”

Perhaps Quinn Caldwell (“All I Want) expresses it best:

” Maybe the Hubble can stare at the stars indefinitely without earth’s atmosphere in the way, but I’m pretty sure I couldn’t without totally losing it.I need the distorting effects of the earth’s atmosphere…it is like a security blanket wrapped around us to spare us the hugeness of the universe.

The wisest part of what the wise men did the day they came to honor Jesus was this: They realized that while praising God in the firmament is okay, praising God on earth is harder…and better.”

So until tomorrow…God , thanks for knowing that I just can’t handle all that vastness. Thanks for risking distortion and showing up where we can see You. Amen!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

Eva Cate hung in there with me yesterday….I needed to get my blood work done before my next check-up this Monday….so Eva Cate got up early with me so we could get to Dr. Montoya’s office early enough to get the blood work done and not wait very long.

It was done so fast Eva Cate was taken back….”I didn’t even have time to build my blocks high at all” she exclaimed, rather sadly. Then I took her home to check on Mandy’s doctor visit and Jakie’s check-up….Mandy is still in right much pain but her pain medicine was changed and she got something for nausea which is helping some. Jakie did good too at his doctor visit…even though he had to get three shots…I only had to get one “owie” myself. Brave Jakie!

From Mt. Pleasant I drove to my oncology check-up (quite a medical day for the family) and all continues to look well, Thank you God….the hardest part was filling out the new insurance information forms for 2016 and for that I am extremely thankful.

Before we left Eva Cate and I checked on all the garden fairies to see if they looked warm enough…some definitely needed some extra pine straw….Eva Cate also found  a place to put the new fairy home that Honey sent….the fairies are all tucked in for the winter now.

Latest Update on Trey: (he’s in the middle with his brother Charlie and little Rhett)

Libby sent out a video yesterday showing Trey actually up and walking earlier yesterday….just amazing. It appears that his stay in the hospital will be longer than originally expected. They have to wait on the cultures to come back and then stay another week until probably the following Thursday.

That is a long time for a little boy who wants to just run and play so please keep Trey and his family in your continued prayers as  they await further results from the surgery and tests….a tough time in the medical process.

Dear Reader:

At first glance the bare-limbed Bradford Pear, in my front yard, might appear “bleak” but if you take a moment longer to study it, you will find a bright surprise…there is one red leaf still left on the tree…the color of hope in the winter… like the cardinal.

And that is the thing about life…when it appears to be at its bleakest or we feel that way…only then do we realize that we have created beauty from the bleakness elsewhere. Two examples:

Honey sent me this photo…at first it looks like a view of the mountains in a rather bleak wintry setting, but upon closer inspection Honey said one can see snow on the top of the mountains right across from them….beautiful, calm, and peaceful.

I brought in “Big Red” Monday night, as well as the other poinsettias, so the porch looked empty and bleak with only my one dried hydrangea and plaque to decorate the wall. Everything else was empty. But then I realized that “Boo’s Blessing” had simply moved indoors.

Colder and darker wintry days lead to warm rooms by hot, mellowing fireplaces in the evening.

We have talked quite a bit lately about finding more time for silence and listening. Today, in this short blog post, I would like everyone to do just that….In this beautiful, beautiful song, “In the Bleak Midwinter” listen to the words, especially the last stanza…

“What can I give him, poor as I am

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb

If I were a wise one, I would do my part

Yes, what I can I give him, give him my heart.”

This three minute video of the Gloucester Cathedral  Choir sent chills down by back…especially the group solo by the youth at the end while singing the last stanza.

Gloucester Cathedral Choir – In the Bleak Midwinter – YouTube

So until tomorrow…Let that bright red leaf, still left on the Bradford Pear, symbolize our  red heart within us…our gift to give back to Christ…our heart.

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

Look what Anne painted earlier in the week on her 30 day art challenge….such joy for us to see …I can only imagine the joy in creating it.

• If the outside is bleak…turn inward this winter for the repeat of sounding joy.
• Yesterday was a busy day not a bleak one….picked up Eva Cate for an over-night visit since Mandy had her return doctor’s appointment….
• We made a girl’s day of it….Took her to Tuesdies Salon and the marvelous Rianne washed, dried, and turned her hair into Anna from Frozen.…one happy little girl left…we got  a new winter light-weight jacket marked really down along with a “steal” outfit….came home modeled, drew, and lit the logs in the fireplace with hot cocoa and marshmellows….a great way to mellow down.
• 

Please keep the Clarkson family in your prayers…Libby updated me yesterday afternoon after Trey left to go into surgery….Osteomyelitis…deep bone infection-affecting the hip and upper leg on the left side with infection in surrounding tissue. As Libby says: “Pray hard PLEASE!” *Libby with all the grandchildren…Trey is in the green sweater.