Yourself

 Quote:

Be Who You Are 

and

Be That Well

St. Francis de Sales

The Cancel Culture

 It is unbelievable how our society has changed so much in the last year almost to the point I don't feel like I live in the United States.

I understand that change is inevitable but somethings should remain constant, like the Boy Scouts should be for boys and not girls and girls sports should be for girls to compete against one another and not have to compete against boys who think they are girls. I heard about a soap product that had the word "normal" on their packaging, well someone was offended by the word normal and now they will remove it from their advertising. 

Mobile Post

I'm going the give this a try, posting via my phone app.  I think the font size will be different and those occasionally missed auto-correct words. But I have ideas during the course of a day and I'll say "I need to blog about that".  But when it comes time to sit down at the desktop I'm thinking hmm want I'm I going to write about. So here it is a mobile post.

Paper

 All of us have a message, something we believe in and want to convey to others.

It seems there is a certain amount of censorship recently in all forms of media and those messages are either cancelled, deleted, or blocked.  I'm mostly referring to internet forms of communication.

Has it come to a point that we need to communicate our voice via a printed format?  

What would Thomas Paine do?

Read here on how a revolution was started on paper

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Paine

2021

 2021 The New Year or a continuation of 2020

I have tried to be positive about the upcoming year but it has been very difficult. The recent events of the breech of the US Capitol and continued BLM protest, it doesn't seem to be hopeful. The thought of a brighter future seems a little dim now. 

My thought on this is somehow we need to find a common ground.  Politically its not going to happen anytime soon.

So, what will bring us together?

I wish a had an answer, but whatever it might be it needs to happen soon, because everyday that goes by our country will be divided even more.

God Help Us All

Why

On Christmas day in Nashville 2nd Ave was bombed. The only person killed was the bomber. 

Why?

On a day for hope and peace.  

They have identified the person, but no motive at this time. 

The One Constant

This year has not been a usual year, the world has clearly been affected by the virus.  The influence has varied from person to person, but overall everyone has been impacted. And depending on how each person perceives the virus will determine how they communicate, move about work and in general everyday life.  The politics of the the virus, and how each city determines which businesses are open or closed are also factors in a person life. The vaccine is questionable to some people where others will be standing inline to get it. 

All of these changes are drastic and out of the norm.

But, there is the one constant that never changes or at least should not - and that is prayer.

Our prayer life should always be constant.

Sure there will be days when things are a little crazy especially now.  We are not in control, God is and we should always remember He is our creator and we should recognize that everyday and no matter how our daily life is turned upside down we can only deal with it the best way we can and to pray to God for assistance everyday.   

Christmas Movies

 I've been a classic movie fan for awhile, so I thought I would post some of my favorite Christmas movies.

1. Its a Wonderful Life (1946)

2. It Happened on Fifth Avenue (1947)

3. The Shop Around the Corner (1940)

4. A Christmas Carol (1938)

5. The Greatest Gift (1942)

6. Miracle on 34th Street (1942)

7. White Christmas (1954)

8. Holiday Affair (1949)

9. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

10. Holiday Inn (1942)

11. Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer (1964)

12. Frosty the Snowman (1969)

13. The Little Drummer Boy (1968)

A Time and Place

 In this historical year of 2020

All of us have our place in history.  We all have a story to tell about this year, some good and some bad.

One day many generations from now people will talk about the year 2020 just as they have talked about the Spanish Flu of 1918. Probably, only the young one of today will be able to talk to the future generation of how they survived 2020.  I'm sure someone has studied the Spanish Flu and what they did right or wrong, but because of the advancements in medicine I would believe most would not apply in todays pandemic.  

I wonder what future pandemics will face and will it even compare to what has happened today.  

The Sounds of the Season

 Christmas Music

The music of the season with all the happy good feeling tunes of Christmas, maybe with the exception of Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley but its Elvis - its good.

So, here are some good classic Christmas music

Keep Christ in Christmas

Tis the Season

This is the time of the year when the world is focused on the birth of Jesus Christ. It is especially a prayerful time not only for the faithful but even for those who are lukewarm in their faith.

I believe this year especially we all need to re-group and turn our eyes to God and pray for the end of this pandemic. 

This time of the year I will usually rant on about how much people will spend their dollars on Christmas gifts, but this year I'm going to focus more on the good then the negative. The world is in a state of hearing bad news everyday and I will have the good news here.  

Keep Christ in Christmas

Pax

  

Businesses Gone

I work in downtown Nashville and over the pandemic months I have seen many businesses closed their doors forever.

I went to most places for lunch. I got to know many of the people that worked there, not necessarily as friends, but a nice interaction with some kind people.  It is sad in many ways.  People have lost their jobs and businesses that were open for a long time are now closed. 

Hopefully, as time heals the wounds to the city's economy new businesses and people will come back.    

The Battle of Debates in the Political Parties

The battles of the election are in full attack mode.

Some say the election is over, others say its not.

What is the root cause of these battles?

The news is the primary instigator.  We receive are daily information in a wide variety of news formats, television, social media, and actual newspapers, all of these and more are affecting how we choose are battles of the debates about our differences.

Now with that said, some people are more prepared for debate than others.  And what I mean by debate is the discussion of the current political arguments.  I have learned that in any debate one must be able to understand and discuss the opposing viewpoints.

But here is the problem, if the only information received is one-sided you can not begin to understand the opposing viewpoint. And from that point on the battle begins.  People involved positions of government i.e., senate, congress and the presidency all have their opinion on how things should be ran, without giving any thought to the people who opposed them. So, to gather their weapons and to strengthen their armies their opinions are given to the news media or the recruiter's.  

People have a tendency to believe what they constantly hear or read and anything outside of the "normal news" must be wrong. The only way for the battles to end is a simple understanding of ones point of view.  I have had political discussions with those who completely disagree with me, but in the end it usually comes down to respect and a mutual statement of "we agree to disagree".   

   

Is this the Best of Times?

The world has dramatically changed in the last nine months. At some point I think a lot of people thought the COVID virus would have been over by now and life would go back to normal.  But it hasn't, and the future doesn't look any better.  The presidential election has not officially been declared by the electoral college and when that decision is official, I believe the United State will no longer be the same.

So, what is next?

In my opinion, if Biden gets into office we will have a nationwide lockdown and if the states do not agree, Biden will move to influence the mayors to do the lockdowns.  If Trump is elected, the state will have the freedom to either lockdown or open their state. The cites that are on lockdown will have to be influenced by the governors whether to open their cities.

My point here is, depending on who is in office will be the deciding factor on when we will make the recovery process back to the best of times.  

Just my opinion......

Do Not Fear

 

"For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

Isaiah 41:13

Coffee

Coffee is a must have

Just to get off the usual topic for awhile, and talk about one of my favorite beverages - Coffee.

It is the perfect drink in the morning particularly when blogging. I like almost all types of roast but almost always I take it black and nothing else.  Coffee has been around for centuries and continues to grow in popularity. 

So, the next your read the blog have a cup.  

Businesses Need Us

 Businesses in America today needs our support.

The business of America is in great need right now.  We have an obligation as citizens to do what we can to buy products, use services, and to pay people to work for us. And to take this a step further, when buying products - to buy American. 

This might seems to be an obvious solution to bring back our economy but when the process of buying an item begins it creates a snowball effect in the supply chain.  

The product has to be made and those materials needed have to be produced which employees even more people and once those materials are created they have to be transported. This begins another process, trucks, trains, air transports, and ships at sea, all of this employees people. And when people are employed they in turn go out and buy products and the cycle of producing a single item starts again.

Buy American     

The Start of a Day

 

An important part of your day should always start with prayer.

The powerful action of prayer is underestimated.  The connection to God should be a normal part of a daily routine just like talking to friends or family. 

Because once prayer stops then the evil moves in sometimes unnoticed with small temptations and eventually you are not praying at all which would accomplish what the evil one wants, to separate you from God.  Battles for your soul take place every minute of every day. 

Prayer is the best weapon. A powerful prayer weapon, is the Rosary.  All throughout history the rosary has defeated the enemy many times and continues to do so today.

If you haven't been praying, start today, because it will save your soul.    

Forever Changed ?

The pandemic will change the way we live our lives forever.

I believe even after a vaccine for the virus has been implemented somethings will still stay the same and other parts of our lives will change drastically.  There will be people that will continue to wear mask. Some businesses will continue to require a mask before entering their establishment and they will have the right to refuse service. And to take this a step further, some cities will continue to have mandates to be enforced.  Businesses will give up office space and end their lease agreements to have employees work from home.

And the entertainment industry, will change venues, to a virtual concept instead of live events in a auditorium. Sports will be greatly be effected, the large gathering of fans that once filled stadiums will no longer exist. Again going to a virtual viewing of a game.  

Shopping will continue to expand to more online orders. Shopping Malls will close.  Grocery stores will become warehouse type buildings that will function as distribution points for the online orders.  Delivery drivers will become an expanding industry.

This can be an opportunity or an eventual end to an industry.   

COVID-19 Thoughts

 The first news story this morning - The President has the virus.

Some thoughts on the virus.  

I believe it is real and people are dying from it and there is no vaccine at this time.

Next, the day to day activities, people who are high-risk should wear a mask.  If you are healthy and maintain distancing you should have the option not to wear one. 

The mask could have always been worn in the past even during flu season along with the vaccine. But what make this so different in my opinion, is this is political.  

An example, the mayor of Nashville has fabricated the virus numbers to shut the city down plus he has included the prison population into factor in with the overall numbers to keep the city closed. I believe this is to receive federal dollars for the pandemic. I say open all the cities.  If you are at risk, stay home.

My point is at anytime we could die.  People die everyday from disease, flu, pneumonia and the list goes on and we try to prevent those types of illness. We should live everyday as if it was our last. Live your life.