‘I heard the bells on Christmas Day, their old familiar carols play:And wild and deep the words repeat of peace on earth, good will to men. I thought how as this day had come, the belfries of all ChristendomHad rung so long, the unbroken song, of peace on earth, good will to men. And in despair, I bowed my head…’There is no ‘peace on earth’, I said-For hate is strong, and mocks the song of peace on earth, good will to men.’ Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth he sleep:The wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth, good will to men.”
Because today is Christmas Day, I wanted to share something with all of you that has great meaning for me…this very, very old hymn that is written above has, over the passing years, forever brought tears to my eyes and lifted my heart…the author of it, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, wrote about what he knew…the realities of life that are sometimes so very painful, so very difficult to get through, that despair threatens to take us over… his life was hurtful and difficult, yet these are the words that came out of his personal tragedy and hardship…there have been many times I myself wondered how any good could come out of what was happening around me…but like Longfellow, in those times I came to see that, “…God is not dead, nor doth he sleep…” Wrong has failed, right has prevailed, and ‘peace on earth’ comes to my heart again…
and I can hear the bells...
It is my fondest hope that this day finds you celebrating in the way you love best…whether noisy or quiet…alone or with friends and family…and that this Christmas time is the most blest one for all of you…
…and may every one of you hear the bells…
http://youtu.be/AUWD9Rsmfuw
MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!!
In the last six months, while on hiatus from the net, I spent a lot of time ruminating on who I am, what I do, and why…how cosmic is that?!? Point is, I’d like to say that I’m at that time of life where one spends more time in thoughts of life, the universe, etc., because one is older and finally has the time to do just that…but, for me, I’ve taken these kind of breaks most of my life, where I take time to ponder what my strongest or deepest point is, in that moment of time…what am I doing? Attaining, for myself and/or for others? Where am I going? What do I want to see happen, to see change? What is my part in that and why? So this has been a constant since I was oh, twenty -three or so, and at the end of the time spent, I find I have a new direction to go in, a new idea unfolds and I can take hold of it and run with it…and I truly have found myself amazed each and every time this has occurred, because the actuality of what happens next consistently exceeds my wildest thoughts and expectations…in other words, the direction or idea I had in the first place, turns out to be far bigger and has far more impact than I ever expected it could…I cannot remember a time in my life where I haven’t been teased by family and friends…or jeered at by ‘unfriendlies’, because of what I thought I could do about something that needed someone to do it,especially when everyone tells me ‘it can’t be done’…(oooh, what a challenge!)…most people love me or despise me because emotionally I will dare to go where most people will not…I will dare to love, to care, to try..to take time to listen…and it has constantly astounded people one way or another, that my maxim of life, is that you can do dishes, dusting, cooking, cleaning, anytime, but the moment you get with the person in front of you may only be that one moment, so take it..unplug the vacuum cleaner, toss down the tea towel, turn off the oven…all that will still be there later (it’s not like it’s going to disappear or something!)… but the person who needs you now, may not be here tomorrow..whether sister or brother or mother calling long distance, a friend who needs a listening ear (and not advice on how YOU’D deal with it, whatever it is)..someone who needs a cup of sugar or flour, a jar of coffee, five bucks, or a pack of smokes… and the teasing comes in because when others ask me why I’m doing these things, I tell them that it is not only the right thing to do, but it’s actually my bid for changing the world…Now some people seem to have gotten the idea that I’m walkin’ around with blinders on..I don’t see what’s really out there (I don’t know how many times my kids alone have said this to me over the years…if I had a dime for every time, I’d be a millionaire! lol!)…cuz if I did, I wouldn’t act the way I do…other people who don’t know or cannot see what my life is really like, think I’m safely esconced in the aura and softness of a middle class life…that I am secure in my financially sound surroundings so I can spew ‘sugar and pixie dust’ everywhere I go, because I have such a safe and beautiful life….nothing could be further from the truth…someone who has known me for forty of the fity-seven years I have been walking this earth once exclaimed that most people have five to eight bad years in their lives, give or take, and then they have some sort of turn around where things change for the better, and by that discussion, I have suffered more hardship and distress than ten other people put together…no exaggeration there..I couldn’t argue the point on any count, because the person talking was absolutely right…the last thing I should be doing is deciding that giving to others, at whatever cost to myself is the point…but I don’t see it that way…the more you hurt, the more experience you gain…the more experience you gain, the more you have to give…if you aren’t giving, you aren’t living….My brother, Howard, is a marine biologist by profession…just got his PhD. a year or so back…he’s 55 yrs. old, and he’s been in an all out, do or die discussion for saving the planet since he was about, oh, twenty-five or so…he often teases me (light heartedly because he’s my brother and he loves me), that possibly I shouldn’t spend so much time trying to save the world…I tease him(just as lightheartedly) right back and say there wouldn’t be any point in saving our ecostystems, ie, the planet, if there’s no one left to take care of it!. lol! In all the places I’ve been, all the things that I’ve seen, I have come to this one inexhorable truth: change will happen to us corporately and individually, no matter what we do…but by what we do or say, we can make change a good thing, for ourselves, for someone else…we all could use a little less of the phrase, ” Seeing is believing” ….turn it around and it becomes “Believing IS seeing”…believe in it, act on it, and then change will occur…maybe only something that seems small, not necessarily signifcant at the moment…but even in history do we see that one small act changed the outcome…On that note I hope y’all have the best day ever! http://youtu.be/-mM3QaKaBAM
…this blog is actually dedicated to my daughter, Sharon, who by virtue of her incredible good taste in music(don’t know where she got that from..ahem! lol!), has accidentally introduced me to an Irish artist named Johnny Reid…she posted this song on fb, ‘Waiting for Christmas to come…it was so-o-o-o incredible, wonderful, amazing, touching…
….so I thought I post it from ‘youtube’ for y’all, it will so lift your hearts, let me tell you… http://youtu.be/wT9mJTYq-P8 
….after this, while on the same site, I caught this video of children(and staff) from Hartley Bay School, who made their own video of this song…it was really, I don’t know…is it too corny or passe to say, precious? So here’s some Christmas to take through whatever sort of day your having…merry, merry!http://youtu.be/Yn2i9K1-UWU 
At the end of every blog I usually put up a song or video…but I was tired enough to forget…duh! So here is what I wanted to end my blog with…to all of you from us…http://youtu.be/PM92DKVRPcg…I’ll be fine…really! Merry, merry!!
Hello, everyone:You may have noticed that I’ve been offline since June…life…what can I tell you, it’s always there and must take precidence…and are we not constantly richer for the changes, the ‘scrambled-eggs-for-brains’ we sometimes are left with, the hopes, the fears, the fun, the tears…that’s life as they do say…and I’ve had plenty of it…Had a lot of time to reflect, to think where I’m going next (because one is always going somewhere, even if one is standing still…think about it!), what’s around the corner…we’ve downsized again to yet a smaller house (and I MEAN small-S-M-ALL)..Len and I both can walk from the front door to the bathroom, in under seven seconds!!!(this is often handy! lol!)I’ve missed all of you terribly..Eddie, Stephen, Janae, Simon, Sue, Aussie, Chip, both Annes…just everybody! I’ve thought and prayed for all of you often in these last months..hope you are well, happy, delighted with life, and doing whatever it is that makes you feel not just good, but great!!!Tomorrow is my birthday…57 yrs old I will be…wow! And I still don’t need bifocals…but perhaps computer eyeware may be in the offing this next year…and, of course, we are fast approaching another year end with Christmas just around the corner…so who’s coming over for eggnog and some of my very best Christmas cake…let’s not forget the shortbread and the gingerbread cookies…tea will be served from 7-midnite on Christmas Eve..hope you’ll drop by cuz I’d be delighted to see you…we can swap stories of Christmases behind, the things we like best about the season and perhaps some of the personal traditions that have been part of our Christmases over the years…that would be truly wonderful…Until next time…I hope for each of you good things, good friends and happy moments at this very special time…stay well.
