DO UNTO OTHERS....

Matthew 7:12:  Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

I was driving to church this past Sunday morning when a completely different way of understanding this commandment popped into and rattled around my empty head.

(And no, not like that on the left)

I have always taken "the Golden Rule" as a basic polite/harmonious way to deal with other people - simply think about how do you want to be treated by other people, and so then treat them that same way.
But at this particular moment, an entirely new vision came bursting into my brain.

It's not when YOU do something with the idea that it should/will be reciprocated - "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" (or in the words of Sherlock, "I'll scratch your back and then disinfect").

No, it's when YOU are doing something simply because it is a good thing to be done.

If you wish more people who compliment you...
 

Then compliment more people.

If you wish people were friendlier...

then be friendlier.

If you would like more recognition...

then give recognition to others.

You might call it karma - actions which bring upon you inevitable results, both good and bad.
I think it's called Christ-like behavior.

Lovely Video

BEING ALONE

A friend from high school (well, I don't know if I should use the word "friend" - she took away a guy I was dating) posted this tonight:

Tonight, I find it hard to accentuate the positive... I know it is out there, but right now it feels so hard to see or to reach. There are moments in this journey with my disease that I wish I did not have to take all by myself

She is dealing with reoccurring cancer - her significant-other recently left her - she is struggling financially. And doing all of this without anyone physically by her side.


It just made me stop and think.


Mortality is our moment in the sun to learn. It's not supposed to be quick or easy or necessarily fun - but it can and should contain as much happiness, joy and fulfillment as we can create.


But each and every one of us has to do it alone.


We may have wonderful and supportive family/spouse/friends - but we have to learn and do our lessons by ourselves. We may be completely abandoned by everyone - and we have to learn and do our lessons by ourselves. Regardless of people who come, people who leave, people who love us, people who hate us, people who are completely indifferent - we have to learn and do our lessons by ourselves.


Because if not by ourselves, we don't actually learn the lesson.


Every single human being longs to be loved, to be appreciated, to be part of someone that they love.

And I think it must be deliberate that this state is so rarely reached.

I CAN'T BELIEVE WE STILL HAVE TO DEAL WITH THIS CRAP

I can't write this on Facebook with unleashing an avalanche of right-wing indignation from many of my friends -- and I don't think anyone besides myself and very occasionally my oldest daughter read this blog, so....

RECOGNITION OF GAYS IN THE MILITARY:

Gosh, I remember when the idea of allowing women to serve in combat units was COMPLETELY unacceptable - it would destroy the balance of the military - no military unit would function correctly ever again...

Seems like there was quite a big fuss when African-Americans/blacks/even 'colored' were allowed to serve in racially diverse units.

What do you people really think allowing homosexuals to publicly admit their sexual preference will DO? Suddenly the majority of our children are going to suddenly 'become' gay? Gay men are going to rape straight men in public restrooms? What is it you fear? Or are you that unsure of your own sexuality that you are afraid that your preferences may suddenly change?

I can understand that some people think homosexual love is wrong - okay, that's their view.

But I'm a heck of a lot more concerned about men who beat their wives - people who sexually abuse children - girls who are forced into prostitution - parents who abuse their children - people who push drugs - homeless people who have to live in the streets - people who are hungry and unhealthy and have no one to turn to.



Aren't these problems just a little bit more important than a couple of men who love each other?





ALLOWING CERTAIN CHILDREN OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATES TO REMAIN LEGALLY:

This again seems so obvious to me.

The parents illegally entered the United States at one time.

Most of them were looking for work - for a better life for their family - freedom - the chance to do more and have education for their children.

If any of you have spent any time in Mexico, you have seen the squalor and wretchedness of the living conditions of the poor.

If any of us had to live in those conditions, we would want to enter the United States illegal too.

Why should the children have to pay for their parents' "misdeeds"?

Then I should have to pay all the federal taxes my father got away without paying for decades by having students pay him in cash.

I should be responsible for all the medical supplies my mother pilfered from various medical offices.

Heck, I should have to pay back all the income a certain relative of mine earned by living a lie.

Does that seem right to you?

 This sign sums it up perfectly for me.

NOT HINDSIGHT, BUT SIDESIGHT

When do you realize you are monopolizing the conversation?

Usually quite a while after you actual ARE.

I fully realize that personality quirks that irritate us the most are the ones we often do not recognize in ourselves.

But my brother is driving me simply batty right now with his non-stop musical commentary and demonstrations to my poor dear neighbor who came over just to get help with tuning his mandolin tuning.

So I am certain that I must do the same time - probably when the conversation can be turned to horses or church or the BBC Sherlock series.

I'm going to have to watch that.

However it seems obvious that a 'real' conversation has give and take - sharing - taking polite turns at the podium - willing to actually listen to the other person(s) without just figuring out what you are going to say in rebuttal.


Right now I am not hearing that.

 And I need to be certain that it is not happening next time I get on a topic which I  have any expertise (imagined or otherwise) in.

WHAT WAKES YOU UP IN THE MORNING?

Last night was one of those amazing nights.



#1) I had whatever the reverse of insomnia is - a willingness to go to bed early. It may have had something to do with moving approximately 386 lbs. of dead/dying/petrified yucca limbs from various areas of our property to one big heap (destined for a possible fence or a really really big bonfire when our fire season is - if ever - over).



#2) I was awakened around 3 a.m. by the moon. Somehow moonlight is always soft, very very quiet and gentle. I suppose to anyone with a massive hangover, it could be considered jarring and harsh - but that's one of the many many reasons I do not drink. But even being roused at an ungodly hour like 3 a.m., it felt like being kissed awake by a fairy.

#3) Then, in sharp contrast, a pack of coyotes exploded with their yipes, barks, and screeches as they celebrated some sort of conquest or kill. They were probably several miles away, but in the thin night air, sounded as if they were right outside our window. My poor little dog Cissy was chased by a coyote just a few days ago when they were both following the same quail, so she was quivering slightly and kept looking to me for reassurance - "You're not going to let them in, are you, Mommy?!"


#4) When I went outside about two hours later to feed the animals, the cloud pattern in the slowly-dawning sky was as if pieces of lace were laid over an ever increasing field of pink and blue. I wish I had taken a photo, even with my cell phone, quick enough to capture the sheer elegance of it - but I didn't.







And these two guys? They have nothing to do with this blog - I just came across them as I was searching for the pictures above, and thought they were worth sharing.

And maybe the memory of THESE faces will make YOU wake up quickly tomorrow morning!

SORT OF A DEJA VU DAY

I like it when patterns emerge, so bear with me for a minute.

The sense of smell  is supposed to be the most powerful for memory stimulation, but I grew up with either a stuffy nose or the L.A. smog drowned all of it out.


It's music for me that unlocks my temporal lobe.

Perhaps because my father was a musician - maybe since I grew up with rock and roll - could be that I used to be able to hear normally.


But a simply melody, the opening notes of a song, sometimes even just the basic beat unlocks a tsunami of emotions, touch sensations, even taste. Memories of people, places, events. Even the memory of how I physically felt when I heard the song - exhausted, rested, angry, happy.

Today I am playing some old tracks - George Harrison, REM, Dave Matthews, Aretha Franklin - while I am bouncing from the computer and the completion of some pretty mundane household tasks that have been ignored for the past couple of weeks.

And I've been listening to the soundtrack from the BBC Sherlock (yes, I am that much of a geek/Sherlockian).

So there is an almost tangible web of tingles, of awareness that reaches back into the 80's, 70's, and yes, even the 60's ("Wow, dude, I didn't know you were that old!"). I can feel my cut-off jeans, my hair down my back, tied in a pony-tail -- I can feel the heat of Los Angeles pavement soaking up through my tennies (this is before running shoes, people).



Yeah, I'm getting old - because of all of these old-time memories, and I'm getting nostalgic about it.

But it's familiar - it's comfortable like an old cotton blanket - it's well-known.

And at this particular moment in time, it's what I need.

Desperately.

CRYSTAL STARS IN A VELVET SKY

I hate winter. 



I mean, I really, really DESPISE winter.


I hate cold. I hate overcast days. I hate days that don't become days until mid-morning. I hate evenings that fall before 5 p.m.


Which is one of the many reasons I live in Arizona. 


Heck, we don't even observe Daylight Savings time here.



It does get cold here.


It even snows a couple times a year here - and although it melts by 9 a.m., our mountain tops stay white until spring.



And it almost always cools down 10 - 15 degrees within 20 minutes of the sun setting behind those same mountains.


But most of the time, it's in the 80's here during the day.


And I like it.



However, tonight is different.


Yes, it's warm. It's still around 82 degrees.


But there is an insane wind whipping through the valley, taking every single particular of dust, smog, vapor far far away from here.


And the stars in the sky....


There is no hint of a moon-rise to dim them.


The clear clean air offers no filter.



So the stars and the planets and all those twinkly little lights way up high above are as bright as they normally are only during those bright cold cold nights far away in the north.



Okay.


  I like it.

THIS IS A TEST - IT IS ONLY A TEST

This is a test developed by the Cissy/Delilah Institiute of Human Development, and should only be administered to credible members of the human race (male members obviously ineligible for reasonable results)


1. When you notice something different about a woman's hair, which of the following are appropriate responses?
a) "Wow, your hair looks really great today!"
b) "You're doing something different with your hair - it looks fantastic!"
c) "Hmm... have you stopped coloring your hair? Because there's an awful lot of gray showing up that wasn't there before."




2. When you feel something is amiss with your relationship with your best friend, how would you begin a conversation to discuss this?
a) "So what's wrong with you lately?"
b) "Okay, so are you on your period or something?"
c) "Why are you always picking on something I do to get upset about?"
d) "I'm concerned that you aren't as happy as you usually are - what can I do right now to help you feel better?"





3) When your spouse tells you that she is going through a rough period, what do you begin doing immediately?
a) Go hide in your room, avoid her as much as possible, and when you do run into her, lower your eyes and act as if she is going to hit you.
b) Begin working longer hours.
c) Do everything possible to avoid talking to her about anything weightier than the animals.
d) Sit and listen to her without over-reacting and taking every comment personally as an insult.





4) When you notice that someone in your life is obviously overwhelmed with something normally not that big a deal, what should you do?
a) Begin quizzing her multiple times during the day as to why she has not gotten something done.
b) Add as many additional responsibilities and assignments as possible.
c) Offer to help her.





Can you tell what kind of time I've been having lately?