Commentaries...

A few items to note today. Some are just well stated phrases that caught my attention. Others are happenings that pose an interesting question. Still others…? 

“Hope is wishing something would happen. Faith is believing something will happen. Courage is making something happen.”   ~Author Unknown 

You wanted the bike and let that be known. Your parents made it happen. But now you have to imagine, struggle and work to ride it. Courage allowed you the freedom to learn to do just that. Same with marriage. And new job. And new home. And education. Wanting is good. Doing something to make it happen is the victory. The rest is reward. 

“A nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”       ~John F. Kennedy 

JFK may have been referring here to totalitarian regimes in other countries. But he might say the same about today’s battle of conservatives with the rest of their fellow Americans. They act as though they don’t want broad based reporting to be aired. Only they can determine what the words mean, the actions importune. What are they afraid of? Themselves? Or that others do have the inner strength to understand the nature of things? And can manage affairs by themselves? 

“Conservatism is the blind and fear-filled worship of dead radicals.”

                                                                                  ~ Mark Twain 

Apt follow up to the previous thought! Can’t say it any better than Twain! 

“You’re cancelling us because our viewers are too old?” ~ Kathy Bates 

“NBC Cancelled Harry’s Law because they don’t like ‘old’ viewers. Well, we say “boycott NBC”. Join our Facebook page and let’s prove to NBC that older viewers matter! Let’s bring TV’s best legal drama back to television.”

 ~ Author Uncertain 

Perhaps you have watched this show, maybe not. We have; every show; set DVR to record it when we knew we would miss it. Erudite script. Up to date issues. Superb cast. Mature sensibility. Wisdom and intellect a strong focus. Just what we all need. And who says older viewers are not a profit center for advertisers? Last time I checked my money was just as good as a Generation X or Y or Z………..! 

“If you have to make a law that hurts a number of people, just to prove your morals or faith, then you have no true morals or faith to prove.”

~Your ECards, somecards.com

Morals and faith create their own truth that guides people in their lives. Their actions follow the truth. A law is not needed for people to follow a belief. Their own or others’. Yet they are free to follow their own truth without a law. No one will bother them. Why do they then bother the rest of us? 

“In this country Christians can teach toddlers to hate and to persecute, and we, through the automatic tax exemption for churches, foot the bill.” ~ Anne Rice 

Well put, Anne! And beyond your point, churches retain their tax exemption even while they politicize their views and urge congregations to vote for candidates and laws that support their theology. If it is so correct, why must a law be written? If we are free to worship and believe as we will, why must they legislate their religious beliefs? What makes their religion better than mine? And why then do they continue to earn their tax exemption when they pursue not religion, but lobbying? 

“Don’t judge me because I sin differently than you.”  ~Author Unknown 

One wonders if religion is all about judgment. But who is doing the judging? And why them? Why not someone else? And who says? Recall one of my favorite quotations printed here before: 

“Before you judge my life, my past or my character…..

Walk in my shoes, walk the path I have traveled, live my sorrow,

My doubts, my fear, my pain and my laughter.

Remember…Everyone has a story. When you’ve lived my life then you can judge me.”                                                   ~Author Unknown

Enough said? 

And finally for this post: 

“A wise old Cherokee told his grandson, ‘My child, there’s a battle between two wolves within all of us. One is EVIL. It’s anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies, and ego. The other is GOOD. It’s joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness, empathy, and truth.” The boy thought about it and asked, ‘Grandfather, which wolf wins?’ And the old man quietly replied, ‘The one you feed.’”

Be careful which wolf you feed. Let wisdom guide you on this important path.

June 3, 2012