It's with Emphasis on the Lilies of the Valley Thing

Dear America,

"Years ago I had a Buddhist teacher in Thailand who would remind all his students that there was always something to be thankful for.  He'd say, "Let's rise and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little.  And if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick.  And if we did get sick, at least we didn't die.  So let us all be thankful."  Leo Buscaglia, professor and writer,...unearthed in my little book of quotes, "Nothing is worth more than this day," by Kathryn & Ross Petras

indeed

when feeling down, the best place to start is at counting our blessings.

It immediately catapults our thoughts upon the good things, and takes our mind off the not so good; and in that space, there is no longer any room for anything to come between feeling centered, whole, grateful, and blessed.  The ever so thin fault line of a fracture no longer exists; there is either the good thought, or the not so good, reigning victorious -- never the two exist at the exact same time. 

like, after unexpectedly spending two thousand dollars on car repairs over the last three weeks, I could do my fair share of wallowing in the dominance of a thick muck oozing through every deep dark nook and cranny of my mind.  It wanted to settle in like a hot mess, and this girl had to take it by the ears and say, "No....nothing is worth more than this day."  that would be a no.

of course, after the recent funeral of a decent man, a true American, naturally, the heaviness of life and death swirls through our consciousness at break neck speed -- leading us possibly to more questions, unearthing even more frustrations, and destabilizing what was, only moments before, considered settled science at the intersection of our lives and purpose, to the point of no return. 

But there we go again -- suddenly, asking ourselves, what's it all about, with a tremor strong enough to cause us to stop dead in our tracks.

And yet,

I awoke this morning!

I made myself a splendid cup of coffee!

I sat in my corner to the world, sipping, drinking new life and breath in... and resting my thoughts on something greater than little old me. and it was good. 

There are simply a zillion things to be thankful for.

Even that car, that needed repair -- the life force back behind getting little old me from A to Be to C to G all the live long day.  I HAVE A CAR TO REPAIR!  isn't that, alone, worth a hundred grand?  indeed it is.  indeed it is.

I am a mama, a caregiver, and in charge of a group totaling over a hundred ladies....and somehow, God gives me everything I need from one moment to the next; and as long as I keep hand in hand with THAT, all's well that ends well, even if it just ends.  

The world is falling apart; America is coming apart at the seams; we the people are a fractured, tortured lot...but bear in mind, it's all of our own undoing.   (oh, and that link there, is just good reading -- in a round about way, it amplifies our missteps of thought and deed.)  

A couple grand in car repairs has got nothing on the twenty-one trillion in debt, or the inability to recognize the fault(s) in our fifty glorious stars -- be it it's origins, it's undermining presence, or the bleak weak future it holds, if only in our own mind.   

The thing is, America is on the precipice of falling into the abyss as we speak; but as nature would have it, if we continue to look down, we will falter; our heads will start spinning, and the ability to fight back this woozy preoccupation of the self-sabotaging kind, will surely cause us to slip.  

Truth is, America gets to this place quite often, actually.

The country is split, nearly straight down the middle, ideologically; you would just never know it by how the media frames the story, day in and day out.  What a disservice to country this truly is. 

The way things have gone, it is just way to popular to hate conservatives, hate this presidency, hate the major change in direction of policy, hate the wall, and pretty much hate just about anything else related to any and all of the aforementioned.  There is not one good thing going on according to the hearts and minds of how the Left thinks about the rest of us. (oh, and by the way, that link there is another really good read...you should know by now that this girl will never steer you wrong...enjoy the rendezvous and come straight on back....)

Last time this country was so unhinged, so polar-opposite in how we the people see things, was, in my mind, during the Civil War.

 The Civil War consisted of nearly 10,500 battles, engagements, and other military actions including nearly 50 major battles and about 100 others that had major significance. The remainder were skirmishes, reconnaissances, naval engagements, sieges, bombardments, etc. The engagements were fought in 23 different states and resulted in a total of over 650,000 casualties

and who was on the right side of that battle? 

that would be Abraham Lincoln and his fellow republicans for Pete's sake!

Oh the number of lives lost fighting on behalf of the right thing to do.  You would think the lifespan of that force for good would last until the end of time, and carry on under its own power with a life of its own, equating to a certain loyalty to the republican party forever and a day.  

How times change and how things stay the same.  (See also --  Common denominator: the common man....sometimes, for better or worse, so easily swayed.)

But of course, this girl is in no mood to lose souls over our moral, cultural, political, spiritual, economical battles.  no mood at all.

So if it is true to say, the more we metaphorically or physically look down into the great crevasse, the greater our chance to stumble and fall into the dark, plunging into the cultural divide, never to rise again -- then the answer must be found looking in the opposite direction; to look up, to the heavens --   becoming more like-minded with the forces and ideas and the chain of thought that seeks only the good, for the common good. 

And we get there hand in hand with God.
[And just to be clear, no matter what you've been told, it actually characterizes how this great country began....Divine Providence was allowed to lead us, as a nation.]

It seems to be more and more factual --  as time goes by --  that cultures who have lost their way, away from being commonly grounded with a certain faith in something greater than themselves, ultimately failed.  And failed bigly.  As in, crashed and burned.

Our lives our becoming more and more computerized, motorized, robotic, and programmed to follow the popular thought -- and it comes from media, social network platforms, and even shopping down main street during the holiday season.

It would behoove us to pay attention to what we think about.  It would be advantageous to consider the things that make us better people, as a whole -- not better activists... divided by hate and elevating our differences over the things we have in common with one another.

It would work in our favor -- to count our blessings, even if life is giving us things unplanned and breaking the bank, if not our spirit, in the moment.  All these things are transient, and passing.

For, as Divined, the things that are truly important are not things at all.

Life is beautiful when we consider the lilies of the valley -- family, friends, the fire in our belly -- fueled by the Holy Spirit --  to keep going, a heart that is still open, a mind that still works, a morning that still comes with a strong cup of joe.

this is my December to remember, because it IS.  

I am not dead! if you are reading this, then you are not dead!  which means -- we are alive and have the power to create good things, from this moment to the next. hallelujah, praise the Lord, what a beautiful country we live...

NOTHING is worth more than THIS Day.

That is what we should be talking about.

and just like that, the end of the day is here.

Make it a Good Day, G