Right There Before You

My mom passed away Christmas night. She was 97. For as long as I can remember everytime we'd part she'd hug me and say, "God is right there before you." She taught us to be more understanding of people and ideas unfamiliar to us. She taught us to look upon every day as a gift to be cherished and not wasted. To my mother a blizzard was a beautiful white, fluffy blessing created to remind us of the power of things beyond our comprehension.

Every day mom read her bible and copy of Science and Health by Mary Baker Eddy. Through her life she believed she was a spiritual being living in a human body and that allowed her to face life and death with no fear.

Her faith served her well when my sister died in 1956 and again when my dad passed away in 1998. She faced every day with a positive outlook and always found something good to say about every place she ever visited, every person she ever met, every situation she ever faced.

As recently as two weeks before her passing she sang Christmas carols and played cards. Every time I showed up at her house or the nursing home where she spent her final months she would say the same thing. "Oh my son, I love you, I love." Then as we parted she would remind me, "God is right there before you."

Today God is right there before her and she couln't happier with the company.

A Little Gratitude

Thanks to everyone who came to see the Evergreen Family theatre production of A Christmas Carol. This timeless story is so much in line with the events of the past year or so. Too many people are looking at the holiday with an attitude of want rather than appreciation. I believe the more you think about what you do not have the more you will not have. As difficult as it is to do, it's a good idea to make a list of what's good in your life. As you think about it the list will grow longer.

Another holiday favorite of mine and many others is "It's a Wonderful Life," in which George Bailey discovers exactly how important his life really is and how many people it touches.

So take a minute today to express gratitude for the many blessings in this world. Doing that doesn't mean you should ignore the bad news or the great needs of others but before you help someone else you must get your house in order. A great writer named Dr. Wayne Dyer says in his book, "The Power of Intention," you cannot make yourself poor enough to help someone else who is poor. Do not fret over the situation of a person in need, just help them in any way you can.

Merry Christmas to my friends who celebrate Christmas and to those who don't, may you be blessed with wisdom , gratitude, health and happiness.

A Christmas Carol

In the mood for a little holiday cheer? Our theatre group, Evergreen Family theatre will present the Dickens Classic, "A Christmas Carol," December 2-12 at the Redwood Family Church in Redmond.

I've spent a good part of my life in community theatre and always wanted to play Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, so this year I'm doing it. We've got a wonderful cast of local actors and we're committed to presenting a show that'll make you smile when you might need it the most.

Our show is "schedule and family friendly," in that we're doing it in one 90 minute act with no intermission. Curtain for our evening shows is at 7 p.m. the children can get home on school nights and the parents can just get home. We'll do matinee performances on both Saturdays December 5th and 12th along with evening shows. Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for children and seniors and are available at brownpapertickets.com. Look for A Christmas Carol by John Jakes in Redmond.

Spewing the Spittle of Suspicion

Thanks to our wonderful United States Constitution fear and hate mongers like Glenn Beck get to spew the spittle of suspicion across our land every day. Thanks also to our U.S. Constitution true patriots such as the people who build our country instead of breaking it down, have the right to ignore or at least filter out every negative morsel exiting the mouths Beck and his comrades.

Beck, Limbaugh, O'Reily and the rest of their gang are described as "entertainers" by the network for which they work. What did I miss here? I consider the great actors, comedians , singers and musicians of my time and yours to be the real entertainers.

I'll take an evening of Elvis music anytime over 5 seconds of Beck babble. Let me hear Johnny Cash sing about "A Boy Named Sue," over Rush's constant notes of negitivism about everything President Obama says and does.

Entertainment should make us laugh, cry or at least feel some emotion designed to allow the mind and body to recover "reality" we're bombarded with every day.

All Beck and Rush and Bill do is make their closest followers feel even more bitter, cast blame on everyone but themselves and continue to erode our trust in the basic values of the democratic system of government.

Good government in America comes from well informed, selfless people who are not afraid to get involved with positive ideas and solutions to difficult problems.

Beck and his gang of "entertainers" have every right to do what they do and say what they say. We as a free people have every right to filter out what they say and base our own opinions and actions on research and common sense.

Hold Them Accountable

It has never been more important to know the names and contact information of all of your local, state and U.S. representitives. The radio talk show babble will bring no results. Only your direct emails and letters to your public officials will bring results. On the health care issue we should all be writing our U.S. House of Representives members and our U.S. Senators with our opions and ideas. The time has come to stop letting the loudest voices of our society make the rules. Whether you support President Obamas health care reform ideas, which I do, or any of the other options, you must speak out now.

Every member of the U.S. House is up for re-election in 2010. Put the pressure on them now to let you know where they stand. Do not let them politicize or bash the opposition. Demand to hear their ideas for a solution. We live in a great nation but it loses some of it's greatness if we stand by and let a few loud voices on both sides of the political isle sway our own thinking. According to the U.S. Constitution our government only works if "we the people" speak our piece. We cannot be lazy and let the talk shows do our thinking for us. Check the facts, form your opinion based on the facts and contact your public servants to let them know how you feel.

Fear, Hate & Mis-information

I have just named my "All hate and fear" team for the 2009 season and I'm happy to say Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity and Glen Beck have made the roster.

Palin makes it for writing on her face book page about the mythical "death panel" in President Obama's health care proposal. Her party used the term death effectively a few times when opposing "estate taxes" over the years. They called them "death taxes." What they really are is a fair way to spread the tax burden equally throughout our society.

Back to the "death panel" for a minute. There is no such thing, never was, never will be. Palin is a "fear monger" of the highest order and should ne ignored.

Glen Beck has used his spewing of fear and hatred as a road to radio talk show success. He is profiting from the mysery of others. On September 26th he'll be presented with the key to the city of Mt. Vernon , Wa. his home town. This might be a good chance for people to let Mr. Beck know what they think of his dangerous hate filled commentaries.

Sean Hannity recently targeted Obama "green jobs" expert Van Jones and has now forced a good man to resign using the same hate and fear tactics of the others.

Thank God we have freedom of speech in America. It is a double edged sword but I wouldn't have it any other way. Hannity, Palin and Beck have every right to spread fear, hatred and lies across this great land of ours but by the same token we have the right to call them out for what they are. They are self profiting entertainers spewing verbal garbage across our landscape for the rest of us to pick up and put into the trash can.

Ted Kennedy

I made the mistake of listening to a few minutes of talk radio Wednesday, the day after the death of Massachusetts Senator Ted Kennedy. It never ceases to amaze me how people are so willing to speak out on topics they know nothing about. Ted Kennedy was one of the most effective United States Senators in our history. Was he the best ever? Probably not, but he was one of the best at crossing the ever widening isle between liberal and conservative. Kennedy never wavered on his mission or his beliefs. He was not afraid to call himself "liberal." He worked for the rights of women, seniors, immigrants, the poor and the un insured. In 1969 a horrible error in judgement caused the death of a young campaign volunteer. Kennedy made serious errors in judgement 40 years ago on the island of Chappaquidick. He and his female companion were coming from a re union of Robert Kennedy staffers, both were drinking and Kennedy was driving. There were rumors that they were having an affair or at least a one night stand. While I will not attempt to justify either of those possibilities I will say this. Both Kennedy and his companion were distraught over the death of RFK. It is quite likely and not that unusual that in the heat of that emotional turmoil excessive drinking and a "one night stand" may have occured. Why is this such a shock to people? It happens and it probably happened that night, but to continue to condemn a person for stupid actions 40 years ago seems crazy to me. Especially when that person tried and succeeded in turning his life around and focusing on inproving the lives of un told millions of others in his career. Ted Kennedy was born wealthy, he could have spent his money and life on trivial things as many rich people do. Instead he chose to use public service to help others. He was simply a man with some flaws and some natural gifts. He managed his flws and used his gifts to help others for 47 of his 77 years. Not a bad legacy.