It's a Family Blending of Virtue and Happiness and Ben Thing

Dear America,

to the last quote from Poor Richard's Almanac...

"Let no pleasure tempt thee, 

no profit allure thee, 

no ambition corrupt thee, 

no example sway thee, 

no persuasion move thee, 

to do any thing 

which thou knowest 

to be evil; 

so shalt thou always live jollily; 

for a good conscience

 is a continual Christmas.  

Adieu."

oh Ben, you and I would have been so good together.

this may very well explain all the many ways our culture, in America, has grown into a serious decline; the less emphasis we place upon the things that truly matter, the more wayward our hearts and minds go.... So goes the battle between living in integrity and breeding corruption; the outcome, ultimately, harboring the power to extinguish every good thing.

fall of Rome anyone?

it just feels like we keep missing the point, no matter what matter seems to matter in the moment.

At first glance, someone who I consider a super smart girl, Condoleezza Rice, seemed to doing just that, when she made the comment --

“I think it is time to have a conversation about what the right to bear arms means in the modern world,” Rice told radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday. “I don’t understand why civilians need to have access to military weapons. We wouldn’t say you can go out and buy a tank.”

yeah, just got stuck on the thought of having that conversation addressing whether or not the Second Amendment even has a right to exist in a "modern world."  That first blush was a sea of red.

Although, being in total agreement with that tank tag line at the end, my growing frustration is the realization that we never seem to be brave enough to address the actual, real cause -- from the root of all evil, to the mental instability of individuals, to the full glory of gun violence in film and video games, to the mind-blowing amount of dysfunction in families and communities and government....

At this rate, folks, we might as well give every single one of us a pistol and see what happens.

The problem is NOT THE F*&*NG GUN!

[Just as it is not about the planes trains or automobiles, let alone the pressure cooker stolen from granny's kitchen, the chef's knife in the top left drawer, or the ten digits that can wrap around a throat and snuff a life faster than you can say boo...   AND moreover, NO ONE within the membership of the National Rifle Association has EVER committed such an horrific crime against humanity, as we witnessed in Parkland, Florida ...props to Rushie.]

Sustainable humans, anyone?  [indeed.  and given I did not get up and eat humble pie for breakfast, here's props to G and yesterday's blog]

This girl really likes the views from Steve Hilton, here.

EVERYTHING gets down to how we raise our children and grow healthy families; for only through proper guidance, meaningful emphasis upon education, unconditional love, quality and quantity of  time...all aiding and abiding in the process and civic duty of raising children of good character... this symbiotic structure and security, blending nature and nurture, beginning at birth, is paramount in the making of a healthy, mindful, conscientious, responsible, strong community and country; the micro becomes the macro and so on and so on.

Duly noted on this here blog umpteen times before, but whatever --  it does get down to this one thing -- family -- as the beginning and the end of all good things to come.

You know, "Virtue & Happiness are Mother & Daughter."
awwwww Ben, ya did it again... xoxoxo

amen. amen. amen.

Make it a Good Day, G

It's a Cultural Sustainability Thing

Dear America,

"So, what if, instead of thinking 

about solving your whole life, 

you just think about 

adding additional good things.  

One at a time.  

Just let your 

pile of good things grow." 

 #yogainspiration 

2/16/18

America seems continuously in motion, trying to solve the many problems on our shoulders, being completely overwhelmed with the things we carry as a nation.

Immigration, problem

Gun control, problem

Gangs, problem
Cultural Divide, problem

Obesity, problem

Hunger, problem

which, as I tap out those last two on the fly, and naturally taking a double take -- to have people over fed and under fed here in America, all at the same time...where is the call for the redistribution of food that is actually good for a healthy nation?  huh. what a splendid idea, and for starters...chew on this.

"Instead of receiving all their food stamp funds, households would get a box of food that the government describes as nutritious and 100% grown and produced in the U.S. The so-called USDA America's Harvest Box would contain items such as shelf-stable milk, juice, grains, cereals, pasta, peanut butter, beans, canned meat, poultry or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables. The box would be valued at about half of the SNAP recipient's monthly benefit. The remainder of their benefits would be given to them on electronic benefit cards, as before."

Of course, as expected, the packaging of this idea is a key ingredient; if you get your news only through sources like NPR, they might have you believe Hitler is deciding what impoverished families have to eat morning noon and night.  And to my surprise, have to hand it to money@cnn.com for headlining this report making a comparison to the commercial brilliance of home delivery, like Blue Apron.  Who wouldn't want a bite of that? 

Thing is, what does it hurt to try a new approach?  Many of our poor are both lacking in enough food, as well as, not enough good food; for statistically, socioeconomics and obesity are not only linked, often, just having access to fresh produce in the neighborhood is a major problem, given the growing trend of food deserts of the inner cities.  And the issues don't stop there, for in many instances, simply paying the utility bill seems more pressing in the moment; while, let's be honest -- who has the skills to cook anymore, grabbing fast food is just so much easier.

[See bio, if you will, on the founder of the Robert Wood "General" Johnson II Foundation -- where those stats are linked; fascinating that this "corporate man" left nearly his entire fortune in the compassionate hands of his foundation in order to continue his life's work in the health and welfare of fellow Americans.]

When it gets down to the business of charity

 and taking true care of Americans,

 some of our best problem solving  in America

 is through the individuals with the means and a plan...

When connected to other individuals with the will 
and compassion to make it so,

they can accomplish amazing things.

It's kinda like,

what the yogi said,

Adding One Good Thing 
after another...and another...

See the pile grow.

According to the  Science of Mind  -- in Chapter Nineteen, bringing into practice the mind and body connection, and specifically the practice of speaking a Spiritual Mind Treatment to bring about healing, no matter what problem or area of distress in life may be -- Holmes makes this observation:

"Limitation and poverty are not things, but are the results of restricted ways of thinking.  We are surrounded by Subjective Intelligence, which receives the impress of our thought and acts upon it.   This natural Law in the Mental World is neither good or bad.  It can only be said of It that IT IS, and that we may consciously use It.  The Law is a law of reflection; for Life is a mirror, reflecting to us as conditions the images of our thinking.  Whatever one thinks tends to take form and become part of his [or her] experience.  The Medium of all thought is the Universal Mind, acting as Law.  Law is impersonal, neutral, receptive and reactive."

And in the very next sentence, "a sense of separation from good causes us to feel restricted; while a sense of our Unity with GOOD changes the currents of Causation and brings a happier condition into the experience.  Everything in the physical universe is an effect, and exists only by virtue of some invisible cause."

We are talking about EVERY THING!

Yesterday's devotional reading from Charles Stanley included this thought:

"At times God takes the people 

he plans to use and places them

 in impossible situations -- 

in that way, they discover

 he is faithful.  

He knows the best classroom 

is a place of utter helplessness."

And so it is as we move from one problem to the next....
the horrific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, located in Parkland, Florida, where the  nation lost seventeen beautiful people from the actions of a lone gunman -- a mentally ill, troubled young man, of only nineteen years old.

It is a result of many failures within the system, a lack of communication between agencies, to the extent of not addressing the true cause of each gun related incident that snuffs the life of another. The root of the conversation to remedy the problem -- as a society -- turns immediately into a finger-pointing, name calling, partisan divide on steroids, before the first victim is even buried. (And illegal steroids, at that, having acquired them on the black market.)
-------------------------------------------
So -- if you have read to this point -- this is where I happened to have left off last Friday, about midday.  Unexpectedly, my old computer with a penchant to annoy the living daylights out of me decided to completely stop.  And for the long and the short of it, it took this girl an entire week to head to Best Buy, find a new gadget, leave it for the Geek Squad to set me up, and all I could do was wait.   And I don't usually wait very patiently.

But here I am -- after walks on the beach with a new man in my life, after making dinner from scratch multiple nights in a row, after a couple long baths, after showing up for my nanny gig in the afternoons, after receiving a bonus of extra time to focus on some DAR committee work, after sitting in my corner window saying my devotions morning noon and night....After not only staying fully engaged while being without the one thing I thought I couldn't live without, what a reawakening its been!

Here I am -- instead of being ripe, rooted in frustration, regretting all that I missed in the keeping of America's days  -- I feel renewed!  And so now, after giving full disclosure of what happened between Fridays, allow me to pick myself up, dust myself off, and pick it up right where we left it....
------------------------------------------

So about that TRUE CAUSE thing -- that which constitutes the root of nearly all problems in America...pretty sure we can get it down to one word as merely a place to start:  sustainable.

Of course, culturally wide, the sustainability factor seems be the buzzword for everything in one form or another -- eating sustainable food, buying sustainable clothing, protecting the sustainability of the planet, economic growth, etc....

by definition, from Dictionary.com: Sustainable -- "suh sten huh buh l"
1.
capable of being supported or upheld, as by having its weight borne from below.
2.
pertaining to a system that maintains its own viability by using techniques that allow for continual reuse:
sustainable agriculture. Aquaculture is a sustainable alternative to overfishing.
3.
able to be maintained or kept going, as an action or process:
a sustainable negotiation between the two countries.
4.
able to be confirmed or upheld:
a sustainable decision.
5.
able to be supported as with the basic necessities or sufficient funds:
a sustainable life.

[It amounts to a whole lot of "buh l" if grounded in the wrong thing, a falsehood, an agenda, a lie, an ignorance, a misguided cause that can only lead to the result of misguided, corrupt things in the natural.]

So what makes sustainable humans?  Humans that are kind and respectful of their fellow man; humans that live from a place rooted in principle and accountability; humans recognizing the  importance of responsible self-government, from what we choose to eat to how we spend the many hours of our day; humans fully engaged in the duty of being of good character, being educated, and living a life of purpose that adds to the whole of society....one good thing after another.

How do we -- as a country -- raise SUSTAINABLE HUMANS?

Can we ask that question?

Happy and healthy people just don't go around shooting people.  And moreover, as this girl has said on multiple occasions, the gun is the inanimate object; it is not the gun's fault (just like a car, knife, bomb, or a pair of strong, vile hands hellbent on committing an act of strangulation).

A society that is healthy and happy, more or less, must be actively sustained!
This is called sustainable civility, meeting up with a sustainable civic center, meeting up with sustainable civic duties, for one and for all.  And at the very core, this basically requires every single one of us to comply.

The thing is -- in reality, large and small -- sustainability requires, first and foremost, a sound foundation; being rooted in something truly good, something deep down and everlasting, and with certain, be attended to on a daily basis. As in, routinely weeded out, irrigated properly, given lots of sunlight, and maybe a trellis or two.

It's called a foundation based upon natural law, rooted in a certain understanding that we reap what we sow; it's called a foundation grounded in humility, honoring a Source greater than ourselves; it's called a foundation with our feet firmly planted here, and yet, ironically, with our hearts and minds not of this world at all.

It is the One True Thing; the One Good Thing at the base of All Good Things in the pile.  This connection with the Source of All Good, that which is always Present, universally practiced and honored and recognized in multiple ways -- that which we call GOD -- IS the way through this maze of societal woes...aka these problems on top of problems on top of problems. 

Hard to keep a healthy mind and body within the grand, dysfunctional society in which we live; impressionable minds, young and old alike, are surrounded with unhealthy things.  It takes a constant, conscious effort to insulate ourselves from that which is unhealthy, unwholesome, and everything ungodly.

The crisis of opioid addiction kills, like, 64,000 souls a year.
Auto related accidental deaths number over 40,000/annually.
One in ten of violent deaths -- of victims of domestic violence -- are by strangulation...that's 10%!

Gun-related violence takes the lives of 33,000 innocents each year.

It is all bad.  It is all sad. 
It is all fixable...at the root cause.

Beginning with one good thing...and letting the pile grow.

Our relationship with God is the place to start.

Sound, healthy connections with one another, in community,  demands it.

School prayer -- yes please.
More security, more protection, more guns under concealed carry -- yes please.

And more than that, for a community to be truly sustainable, we must do everything humanly possible to tap into the True Power and Spirit of God, through which all good things come.  As Ernest Holmes says, "The more spiritual the thought, the higher its manifestation.  Spiritual thought means an absolute belief in, and reliance upon, Truth.  This is both natural and normal."

Truth is, what happened in Parkland may not have been avoided in this day and time -- given the open campus, given the failures of numerous agencies, given the absence of someone in the perpetrator's life to teach him well and lead him through what seems to be a clear mental breakdown --  but let us begin to think the thoughts that will change our future right here and right now for the common good.

But it is often said, we learn more in the valley, after rising up and moving through our issues and problems.  It is from these valley experiences meant to take us out, that once we take the proper courage to rise above the circumstances, and give it our best anyway..... digging deeper and deeper.....revealing the strength of our true character, an unstoppable will, and a mighty spirit within....

...this is God,
...this is God working through us, within us, and around us to solve the problem. This is taking the right action, according to natural law; and when we take right action, it is only natural for God, the Universe, if you prefer, to reward us.

It is no accident that America is buried with problems at this point in time.

America is meeting up with a perfect storm, ripping America's foundation from the roots.

As a whole -- we no longer honor our Creator, we no longer honor life itself, and we have allowed government to take the place of God, granting government full control over our lives; doing so, has increased our dependency on government to fix the very issues  we should be fixing ourselves... of course, with a little help from a more dependable Source (the ONLY Truly Sustainable Force). 

Government has proven, once again, that more government is not necessarily better government; for simply put, it grows dependency in a falsehood, not Truth; it takes away our liberties, takes away our freedoms, and hinders any hope for a healthy and happy people living aside other healthy and happy people.

Funny how the Left is so big on the science of things -- and yet, in the science of growing a sustainable culture they fall apart, almost uniformly, denouncing organized religion, ostracizing Christians, poking fun at hearing the word of God....yadi yadi yogi nanda.

The truth is, God is exactly what we need in the general, and in the particular, from sunrise to sunset.  Oh to have something like Religious Science treated in the same manner and respect as the Science of Climate Change and the Sustainable Planet...

Dare I add, that this may be a time -- perhaps if we do it all at the same time--  that if we were to get on our knees and pray for something Good to come of us -- all of us -- God would answer in amazing ways.

Society would be lifted up.
People would feel encouraged and strong.
Communities would live in more perfect harmony.
And all would be more than well -- it would be like really really good...
and this good would multiply... to the extent of being unable to contain itself!
(for life mirrors and reflects back that which we think about)

Truth is -- the way society is leading right now -- we are NOT sustainable in any capacity.

[diets of poor nutritional value, addictions to prescription/street drugs/pornography/alcohol, Hollywood producing immoral, violent messages in film, empty lives rising or falling through effects of social media, general lack of spiritual connection, irreverence to life as a whole -- including the unborn, stigmatizing and black listing opposing conservative views via mainstream media, erasing border lines and the sovereignty of a nation to secure itself........] 

This day, this blog, this is a call to do the things that create more good, that's all.

I believe that if we do that, the good will grow indiscriminate of age, creed, color, race, political spin, or favorite comfort food.  And just to be perfectly clear, it is no accident, that in the every day blog, I choose to end with this....

Make it a Good Day, G

thank you GOD, thank you God.... for this new computer, a new man marking the beginning of a brand new love life, a baby girl about to graduate from college, a safe and beautiful roof over my head and loving family, and of course, this American Girl blog that amplifies my love of God, Country and my fellow Americans as often as I can (sometimes meeting up with unexpected delays, but oh well, such is life); my foundation is based on Truth -- - Something Magnificent and Not of This World.   It is maintained through an attitude of gratitude for all that I am and all that I give, knowing the more I stay in relationship, in constant contact, the better life grows....
May this day be as glorious as the day imagined xox

It's Put a Cork in It Thing

Dear America,

 “It’s one thing to talk to Jesus. 

It’s another thing when Jesus 

talks to you...

that's called mental illness 

if I'm not correct."

  Joy Behar, 

responding to

Omarosa

just yesterday's headlines from the sh**hole, make that sh**UN-holy, sidelines -- 

and just for starters, thinking Christian's, like Omarosa, should stop judging other Christians, like Pence, about how Christians, like me, live in relationship with the Holy Trinity....that being, with God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit...just sayin'

and chiming in as a child of God, what I've come to learn in navigating this life, in a spiritual context...the more I shut up and LISTEN to what God has to say TO me and THROUGH me -- in both word and deed -- the more magnificent go my days. 

And to that end, more often than not , and I kid you not -- this girl is on her knees muttering the words, 'oh geeze...what am I thinking...Lord knows YOU know what I need before I even need it, so have at it...pave the way for me, hit me upside the head once, twice, three times a little lady...whatever You must do to make Your Way and make my day...'

For it is true! We, humans, reflect the very nature of God through everything we say and do to the very level we turn ourselves over to It; the more we connect, and align, to that which we call God and to all good things associated with It, the better the human being we ultimately become -- for the benefit of not only ourselves, but for the entire world.

Oh boy, that Joy...how sad.  

Mental illness?  Seriously?

From this girl directly to you, Joy -- I believe you to be INCORRECT in your assessment of Pence's mental state.

Being pretty familiar, myself, with the love of blabber-mouthing my way through any given day, pontificating upon the days news to the best of my ability, as only 'just a girl" can do -- safe to say, that it's pretty easy for all of us do a wee bit of judging of our fellow Americans, along with the rest of the world; we do it pretty much non-stop, in a social media infused, obsessively unhealthy, fashion.  We can tweet and post and Instagram and Facebook all the live long day, and get up and do it all over again tomorrow.

The thing is, SOMETHING good, or SOMETHING not so good, is always at play -- from the things we say and do, to the things we think about and put our energies. 

I'll choose Jesus speaking through me every day, over not; I'll choose to ask myself, "what would Jesus do" on any given day, over not; I'll most certainly risk the ridicule to choose a life reflective of this Spirit morning, noon, and night, if I must.

Matter of fact, the more people like Joy, pick on people like Pence, the stronger and more Spirited I become.  It's like, can she honestly look back at that replay and think to herself, gosh, that was a brilliant thing to say? Citing mental illness,  simply because Pence not only chooses to listen to what God has to say, but actually gives God the Glory in the very things that come out of his own mouth?  

How is this any different than that football player giving all the glory to God after manifesting successes on the field?

Pence, by trade, is a politician.  It's all about the mouth, right?

Hence, Pence lives with a true purpose in life --  a belief that his  life's work IS predestined by God, according to his beliefs (not yours, Joy) lock step with his political ambitions; this purpose is intimately connected, and can never be separated, from God Itself.  The only vehicle that accomplishes his life's work, is by, and through, his mouth --

his mouth communicates his public policy and ideology;

his mouth keeps within the framework of his faith;

his mouth speaks of his Christian compassion and foundation, often and much;

his mouth acts through multiple positions of civil service.

[which is really kinda funny when considering how much Joy and Mike have in common, this connection with the mouth and their life's work....And whatta mouth she's got, eh?  But I digress, bigly...]

As a matter of fact, Joy -- no person, or governmental body, has the power over another to abridge or destroy the faith of our choice; operating through the commonly recognized, universal freedom, established under the First Amendment...respective of the "free exercise thereof" of one's religion...Pence chooses to live a Purpose-Driven life through Christ, while in the business of politics.  This relationship shows up through his own words through Christ, be it his connections with family, friends, community or co-workers, in constant, inseparable, unalienable, motion.  It's hardly a mental illness; for by the Grace of God, it is a Gift.

Pence deserves a medal, not contempt.  And yet, leftists from sea to shining sea thought Joy was just being so funny.  How did we get here?  Yeah yeah, let's just make America great again by poking fun at the Christian(s) yeah yeah haters gotta hate, huh Behar....

Alexis de Tocqueville is often quoted with this humdinger:

"America is great 

because she is good, 

and if America 

ever ceases to be good, 

America will cease to be great."

indeed.

pretty sure de Tocqueville's mouth was in the right place.

We have to ask ourselves -- what is it that made America good in the first place?  How has America's Judeo-Christian roots benefited our evolution, as a nation?   And what explains --after all this time -- the reality that as America has grown less connected to God, and Christianity in particular, the more dysfunctional, and unkind, society has become?   It's not even hidden from view anymore; it pops up with the second cup of coffee like a bad case of acid reflux.  But, of course, not being a follower of The View, myself, naturally this girl will never give it the time of day now.

oy, Joy, put a cork in that mouth will ya

But there you have it.  This is the stuff that captivated a nation for about the last 24 hours, what a country, what a country.

And there you have it at the end of another day -- this day;

pretty sure love trumps hate.

And it's Valentine's Day to boot!  

Go kiss somebody you love xoxo

Make it a Good Day, G

It's of Truth AND Consequences Thing

Dear America,

"Obey God

 and leave all

 the consequences 

to Him."

 

Charles F. Stanley 

Life Principle #2

can I get a witness...

given a lifetime of making moves -- wrong or right, up, down and sideways -- the voice inside my head is continually questioning my direction, my moments - if you will, from one to the next. 

And what I've come to believe, as I make my way improving upon my connection with Spirit, with God ----- the more I look to this Almighty and Everlasting Resource BEFORE making my move, the better it all seems to be for everyone...

Now, when this girl thinks of consequences, it's funny how my immediate imaginations run deep and downward -- as in, something negative; consequences can never be good...  

...envisioning things like ramifications, repercussions, the stuff resulting in the aftermath.

And yet, truly as I say to you, as I give all the glory to someone other than myself -- the fine Reverend Charles F. Stanley -- he knows a thing or two about that mysterious correlation and relationship between ourselves and this Big, Mighty Universe in which we live and the God who MADE it.  [how 'bout them consequences, eh?]

The more we obey -- honor -- that which aligns with all that is Good, all that is God, the better the consequences.  And don't hate, for that is just a fact.

On Wednesday, Nancy Pelosi did a terrible job angling to articulate this connection -- this soulful, righteous, self-less side of our Judeo-Christian roots --  when making her moves on the House floor (for something like eight hours...oy).  She was calling upon precepts of a certain faith, in the macro and in the general, in order to fight for legislation that ensures the safety and protections of non-Americans  (those who choose to break our law ...and consequently....become illegal immigrants, as opposed to going through the proper channels through legal immigration).

From PJMedia, here's a good quote of the day:

"The bishops go on to say, 'The church has recognized and proclaimed the need to welcome young people. Whoever welcomes one of these children in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me. Mark 9:37.' That's so beautiful, because what they are saying is, when you reject these newcomers, you are rejecting those who sent them," the congresswoman said.

and not to be outdone, is when she retold the story of her grandson wishing he had brown eyes and brown skin, like his friend....Antonio...from Guatemala...good one.

[which is only reminding me of the time my mama recalled the story of yours truly, wishing to be black.  true story. I was three...]

It's fine, Nancy -- if you wish to basically force your own California constituents to deal with the ongoing onslaught of unintended consequences of open borders, sanctuary cities, and all the while ignoring the growing concerns of actual Americans -- the other people -- those getting trampled under the stampede of political correctness, the leftist agenda, all for the sake of building a political base of voters who continue to pave the way in the golden state with democratic idiots, I mean, leadership, like you, to stay in power, indefinitely. 

See also San Francisco's Mass Exodus report...surely, modern day prophesy meeting face to face with the reality world of unintended consequences.

On a whole 'nother tangent -- it is interesting that the former Speaker of the House is tying her own personal faith, Catholicism, with this agenda (illegal immigration) and not others... as in, not so with one of the biggies, like abortion.  See this post from Craig Bannister at CNS News.  So Nancy, why here, why now; why this and not that?

But more importantly, Pelosi must know in all her years following "The Word" (as she often calls it), that this very moment begs the occasion to call upon Ephesians 2:8-10 --

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith -- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift from God -- not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

So even there, God calls upon all of humanity to fall in line with the idea of doing the right thing, the right action, aka the "good works" because it is just the right thing to do!  People are not saved by the number of good works we do, "so that no one can boast" (...or profit from it, right?)   God only asks of us to be humble servants.  God just wants us to do the good, because that is what is truly good for all of us. 

We are not saved by our works, we are saved by our faith in God above all else, in good times and in bad, for better or worse, in the ups, downs and all the sideways we go living this life. 

....By following the rules, following the law, don't you see?  Nobody gets hurt. 

All of this works according to Nature's Law, natural law, as our very own founders designed.  Our founders aligned the nation from birth with something NOT of this world, but of a Higher Purpose under Heaven.  Seeking guidance from the Almighty, invoking the spirit of God while forming a more perfect Union, was made the cornerstone, framing the foundation, that led to the peace that passes all understanding in everything --  and it was INTENDED to be passed down from one generation to the next.  

Our form of government -- this REPUBLIC -- became not only the light of the world, modeling freedom and liberty and rights and duties for all the world to emulate, but the exception!  Up until 1787 -- with the birth of our Constitution --  no land, no country, no nation did what America did. (Hence, these consequences...everyone from around the world wanting to flock here, wishing to live here, no matter color or creed)

The founders recognized the consequences of a life honoring and obeying God, and Divine Providence took it from there.  

You are right, Nancy Pelosi -- peace and harmony naturally prevails when we do good things, when we love our neighbor as ourselves, when we honor our father and mother...whenever we strive to do the good works like the Good Book speaks of.

The illegal immigrant bears the same individual responsibility, to abide, as any other human being on earth; obey God and leave all the consequences to Him.  Pretty sure it will all work out for the better if this is done by each and every one of us, just sayin'. 

From one of my favorite books in the whole wide world, The 5000 Year Leap, in the olden days -- Benjamin Franklin spoke of the Five Fundamentals of ALL sound religion, and that this understanding should be taught, specifically to our children:

"Here is my creed:  I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe.  That he governs if by his providence.  That he ought to be worshipped.  That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children.  That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this.  These I take to be fundamental points in all sound religion."

I love that part when Ben says, "the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children"...

This relationship he speaks of...this just makes my heart go pitter-patter.

This spirit of love and good will --  that which we potentially share with one another, all the other children, when aligned -- it just makes way for better consequences all the way around.  Indeed.

An except from the president's speech, just linked above:

 Our rights are not given to us by man; our rights come from our Creator.  (Applause.)  No matter what, no Earthly force can take those rights away.  (Applause.)  That is why the words “Praise be to God” are etched atop the Washington Monument, and those same words are etched into the hearts of our people. 

So today, we praise God for how truly blessed we are to be American.  (Applause.)  Across our land, we see the splendor of God’s creation.  Throughout our history, we see the story of God’s providence.  And in every city and town, we see the Lord’s grace all around us, through a million acts of kindness, courage and generosity.  We love God.

Results are the very things we put our mind to, the very things we imagine, bearing the likeness of the very things we think about all the live long day.  Self-fulfilling prophecy makes it so; while a close relationship with God makes manifest every good, every thing we truly need, every thing that life has to offer, as God works through each and every one of us if we so choose.

I believe, the illegal immigrant would find much better reception, here in America, by following the rules like any other person from around the globe who chooses to come to America through the front  door, and not over the wall.  Where is the honor in this?  

IF one is NOT One to follow the proper way, the order of things, and in turn breaks a law or two, or repeatedly, then there are consequences -- even if their arrival is purely by association, due to a loving  parent only wanting something better, something more, for their own children.  It is still behavior unbecoming of an immigrant, the prospective citizen.  To fight the system of law and order, the actual system you are choosing to live in accordingly, doesn't make any sense.  The question should always be, for one and for all, and echoing President John F. Kennedy -- what must I DO in order to honor this land, this nation -- regardless of origin.

Americans are dreamers, too.  Enough said.

Let us turn the phrase Truth OR Consequences into Truth AND Consequences; 

If we do the things that honor life itself, the things of God, the children of God, then all will work for the common good.  I believe, if we are diligent in the service to others, if we are conscious of every work we do, great or small, then the results will speak for themselves; the consequences will surely be amazing, and by the Grace of God, all life will live a life elevated.

Problem is -- in order to manifest this peace, this harmony -- all of us must find a way to obey and honor God entirely on our own; and given the God ordained order of things seen and unseen, the antics of free will of all the little children in a liberated world  makes this kind of utopia next to impossible. teehee...who says the Lord doesn't have a sense of humor?

have a nice day

Make it a Good Day, G

It's Because Facts are Stubborn Things

Dear America,

"Facts are stubborn things."

Ronald Reagan

so this is kinda amusing

...one of the things I gave my papa, for Christmas, was a little dish donning this Reagan moment.

But lo and behold, darned if this girl didn't do a double take when fanning through a brand spanking new book of quotes of our Founding Fathers, that she reads this:

"Facts are stubborn things; 

and whatever may be our wishes, 

our inclination, 

or the dictates of our passions, 

they cannot alter 

the state of facts and evidence." 

 -- John Adams

indeed.

but let's hold up for a moment, could it be that Plato prompted the phrase on the proverbial plate first?...oh the world may never know.

The thing is -- the fact of the matter is --  facts are stubborn things.

All the memos in the world will not detract from actual evidence, the trail of corruption, the crumbs left behind by Christopher Steele, Fusion GPS, Andrew McCabe, Rod Rosenstein...shall I go on?

Or how about this one -- how in the world can there be thirty pages on record of the now infamous meeting between Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch...you know, the one supposedly discussing the grandchildren?  really?

thirty pages...buried deep in the catacombs of the FBI...until watchdog, Judicial Watch, sues for their release.  

...thank you, Ron-John, facts are stubborn things, and seems occasionally, they even like to play hide and seek.

And don't get me started on the stock market.

Fact is, the market would have to tank another 6,000 points to equal the last unofficial day on record of Obama's presidency, k.... see election day November 2016.

facts are stubborn things.

I love this quote from the Ronald, not the Donald -- 

"All great change in America 

begins at the dinner table."

indeed

of course, it's so tasty, the Donald should recite and repeat, in both speak and tweet; this very thing -- this simple thing of gathering around the table for dinner, as a family -- may well be the one cure all for so many of societal woes. But I digress...no wait, it's not a digression at all; it's more like a great hope of things to come, as in the making of a great American come-back...But now I digress ;)

and along those same lines, there is this from Thomas Jefferson:

"Adore God.  

Reverence and cherish your parents.  

Love your neighbor as yourself, 

and your country more than yourself.  

Be just.  Be true.  

Murmur not at the ways of Providence.  

So shall the life into which 

you have entered 

be the portal to one of eternal

 and ineffable bliss."

yes, please.

When papa was not at sea for months on end while in the Navy, our family of five sat around the dinner table every single night.  And while the stubborn facts may be escaping me in this moment -- given the decades later --  I don't remember either parent preaching the golden rules even when they had a chance; although, what does comes to mind, is how they lived.  They taught the Golden Rule by following the Golden Rule, and to this day, continue to guide me by not only their love, but their selfless devotion to being a good example.  It was never a case of "do as I say, not as I do," right....

facts are stubborn things

and about that....here in America:

every generation bears the responsibility of living by example, in order to protect, and secure, the next generation;

every generation bears the responsibility of assimilating to America's founding principles -- that which describes our rights and our duties --  to protect, and secure, the next generation;

 

every generation bears the responsibility of separating fact from fiction, to protect, and secure, the next generation...

it's just what we do in America;

and that is just a fact.

Our nation's foundation IS firm in fact, no matter what you've been told.

"We must reject the idea 

that every time a law's broken, 

society is guilty

 rather than the lawbreaker. 

It is time to restore the American precept 

that each individual

 is accountable for his actions."

Ronald Reagan

indeed

once you leave the dinner table, it is solely up to each individual to live a life fully accountable for our own actions...  TO love your neighbor as yourself; to be just; to be true; to be fair; to be good...to speak of facts -- in the pure protection and honor of the facts -- because in fact, facts are the stubborn things that make America great over and over and over again.

Make it a Good Day, G