President of the United States: "Animals"?

Try as we may, we just can't avoid the escalating drama in our federal government.  This, in part, is due to what appears to be the intention — to create that drama.  Both by rhetoric and show of physical force, trying to ignore it is no longer an option.

Unbelievably, the President of the United States is making wholesale references to American citizens who protest as 'animals':

Trump calls L.A. protesters ‘animals,’ ‘foreign enemy’ in speech to recognize anniversary of the U.S. Army

The use of this term, in this context, is an overt attempt to pit those referred to against what would otherwise be the case. In other words, to describe human beings as animals is overtly dehumanizing.  Trump must think that doing so is effective – that it will garner something in the audience (as it has in the past by other leaders with a lust for power).

Further, and against that backdrop, it appears that anyone who protests (not just in LA) will be subject to "...very big force":

If there’s any protester wants to come out, they will be met with very big force…. For those people that want to protest, they’re going to be met with very big force.

-- Donald Trump

We didn't seem to take him seriously the first time around; will we now (maybe, we finally are)?  ...more facts / less theatre (a parade?!?) here.

Democracy is under assault right before our eyes. This moment we have feared has arrived. He’s taking a wrecking ball…to our founding fathers’ historic project: three coequal branches of independent government.

I know many of you are feeling deep anxiety, stress, and fear. But I want you to know that you are the antidote to that fear and that anxiety. What Donald Trump wants most is your fealty, your silence, to be complicit in this moment.  Do not give in to him.

-- Gavin Newsom

The correct way to connect the authoritarian presence in LA and the Big Beautiful Bill is that the bill gives the government the resources to do this in dozens of cities at once. So if you don't like what's happening in LA, it's coming to your town if the bill passes.

-- David Dayen, The American Prospect

Reclaim Large Areas of Peace

Ultimately, we have just one moral duty; to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves.

-- Etty Hillesum

While enduring the horrors of a concentration camp in 1943, Dutch author Etty Hillesum wrote these profound words in her diary. As she ruminated on the vital importance of remaining present in each day and banishing the worries of tomorrow from her spirit, Hillesum realized that the only thing we have control over is our own minds. If we can find peace within, we can make a difference in the lives of those around us.

Narrative

If you want to understand someone, figure out the narrative they tell themselves about themself.

If you want to change your behavior, change your narrative.

If you want to change someone else’s behavior, offer them a more compelling narrative they can tell themselves.

-- Shane Parrish

Nature of Change

I’m wondering…about the real nature of change in the world.

It seems we tend to largely think about change through a technological lens.  Certainly, technology has introduced some significant changes over the course of human history.

But, when you think about the nature of real change throughout human history, it seems that technology is more like a participant in something more significant.  Real change seems to dwell in the hearts of human-beings collectively (and individually).

We Can Become

Be careful not to dehumanize those you disagree with. In our self-righteousness, we can become the very things we criticize others…and not even know it.

-- Eugene Cho

4 Observations (from Others)

When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.

-- Viktor Frankl

Comfort can be dangerous. Comfort provides a floor, but also a ceiling.

-- Trevor Noah

Action absorbs anxiety. Do Something.

-- Dan Harris 

The measure of a person is the congruence between their words and actions, their kindness, their confidence, and their decisiveness about who they are in the world and who they intend to remain. 

-- Peter Cundill

Prior 4 Observations (from Others).

On The Lighter Side: Time To Retire?

 On the Lighter Side:

Awareness

How aware are we?

It doesn’t take much observation to recognize that there’s a lot going on in life and in the world that we know very little (or nothing) about.  And, this may or may not necessarily be an indictment. We are creatures of our surroundings and, by implication, that means that whatever we’re not surrounded by likely will not impose itself on us very deeply.

For example, this observation should terrify most people. It also seems quite clear that most Republicans right now would scoff at it. And, the most likely reason is that most of these same people do not feel any impact from it, because their surroundings are relatively untouched by it. But, for those are more than touched by it, there is a pervasive sense of fear about it that dominates their lives.

We are in Colorado today visiting one of our kids and her family, for their one-year old’s birthday. And, like we were at that point in our lives, they are immersed in the surroundings of young family life (as they should be), perhaps without a ton of awareness of the kinds of things referenced in the observation above (probably good for them right now anyway). A baby’s awareness is highly focused at the beginning of their lives and expands as they grow and mature.  Their surroundings impact it a lot.  It is quite fascinating to watch this process in our 5 grandkids, each at different ages, contexts, and temperaments, even as doing so causes us to reflect on that of our own kids.

It seems important to recognize that awareness development doesn’t (or shouldn’t) stop once we arrive at adulthood.  It needs to continue, in order to cope with the world in a healthy way.  When it doesn’t, we can easily see all around us the susceptibilities that leak into the mix (not to mention the consequences).

My wife and I are at a different points in our lives now than where we were when we were younger with our own young family.  Accordingly, we have different kinds of bandwidths, than what our kids do at the moment, which allows us to maintain awareness of things like the above.  Even with more bandwidth now for certain things, our awareness is still quite limited, mostly by what our means allow us to experience (and not).  Unlike some people, we don’t have certain fears because of our position and resources in life.  And, we don’t have certain burdens for the same reasons.

By general disposition (personality, etc.), people seem to be more aware of certain things and less on other things. I feel more aware certain things, because of my nature and what I work on in my life, than my wife. Likewise, She also has more awareness of certain things than I do.

But, at some point, our lack of awareness is an issue, both interpersonally and with regard to the systems that impact our lives.  For example, we all have a sense that America is changing.  The question is in what ways and for what reasons.  Just hoping for the good ole’ days, isn’t awareness (in many cases, it’s actually closer to naïveté).  There are forces of self-interest and power that are heavily in play right now (whether we are aware of them or not), which require other forces to countermand them or they will prevail to significant effect for everyone.  When that happens, we will become truly aware of what has changed and how it actually does impact the surroundings of our lives.

At whatever point we happen to be in the courses of our existence, awareness is a valuable means of understanding the nature of that existence — not only for ourselves, but also for those whose surroundings (experiences), at any given moment, are different than ours.  

To that end, we have both an opportunity and an obligation to become increasingly…aware.

Inside Out

Change — real change — come from the inside out.

-- Stephen Covey

Our Best Interest At Heart

Trust is a biological reaction to the belief that someone has our best interest at heart.

-- Simon Sinek

How I'm Doing

I’ve noticed…that I have to get out of bed in the morning to more accurately assess how I'm doing.

Private Evacuation Plan

For many today, God is seen—and used—as a partner in our private evacuation plan more than any love encountered that transforms mind or liberates heart. This is revealed in the little, if any, concern that many Christians show for justice, the earth, or the poor. The fruits of love are often not apparent in them, and not even of much interest to many of them. 

 -- Richard Rohr

3 Observations & A Question

Life seems to require persistence.

Just as there are often benefits, there are also limitations to nearly any system.

You can become so good (so focused, that is) at the way you see things that you no longer notice that other people are equally as good at the way that they see things.

When do you ask if this is good — when you do, do you also ask for whom?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Authoritarian Playbook

Instagram: drjessicaknurick

37 out 47 items from the Project 2025 playbook are actively underway....

More (if you need it):

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ruled that 14 states can proceed with their lawsuit against billionaire Elon Musk and the “Department of Government Efficiency.” The administration had tried to dismiss the case, but Chutkan ruled the states had adequately supported their argument that “Musk and DOGE’s conduct is ‘unauthorized by any law.’”

The Constitution does not permit the Executive to commandeer the entire appointments power by unilaterally creating a federal agency…and insulating its principal officer from the Constitution as an ‘advisor’ in name only.

-- Tanya Chutkan, U.S. District Judge

Play With Me

Poem for the week' -- "Play With Me": 

“Play with me,” 

he asked, tears 

welling up in the 

deep recesses 

of his blue eyes, 

asking me to 

step back, 

to step in, 

to forget the 

world’s most 

delirious pains 

for just a moment 

to have a 

cup of tea that 

only exists in our 

imaginal world. 

Then we lay down 

and close our eyes, 

our breathing 

steadied alongside 

our hearts that 

have played 

and played 

and played, 

that have tried 

to remember that 

this magic 

cocoon will 

always be there 

when we need 

it most, when 

we are tired 

of constantly 

pushing against 

a world that has 

forgotten to play. 

 -- Kaitlin Curtice

The Earth and Goodness

The Earth and goodness are alike in many ways.

Perhaps, this is because they are kind of like personifications of each other.

Like many good things, the earth both persists and prevails over time. The rate and degree, however, can be significantly repressed, in the short-term. Usually, this happens by lack of understanding and wisdom, not to mention exploitation.

A world view that excludes reciprocity quickly leans into this lack of understanding (and its consequences). If we don’t recognize the Earth as a function of goodness, then we will tend to exploit tit through an extraction mentality. Capitalism is just one way this can so easily happen.

Harmony is a much broader concept than just two people getting along. It contains the totalities of our whole existence. We are all interconnected — and not just with each other, but with everything in our collectively shared environments.

Here are a couple of examples:

It was early January when Blake Shook realized the bees were in trouble. Shook, the CEO of a beekeeping outfit called Desert Creek, was coordinating California’s annual almond pollination, the largest such event in the world. The affair requires shipping nearly 2 million honeybee colonies from all across the country to California orchards. But this year, Shook’s contacts were coming up short. Their bees were all dead.  Continue here....

-- Joanna Thompson

Nonprofit restores prairie, bison grazing at Illinois' Nachusa Grasslands

Be Brave

You have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs.

-- Katherine Center

People Worthy of Your Commitment

Loyalty should never come at the expense of integrity.

Anyone who asks you to violate your values doesn’t deserve your allegiance. Respecting your boundaries is a foundation of trust.

The people worthy of commitment expect you to stand by your principles, not conform to theirs.

-- Adam Grant

Memorial Day

[O]n behalf of the American people, I own the store, and I set prices, and I'll say, if you want to shop here, this is what you have to pay.

-- Donald Trump

Is this really the kind of thing our veterans fought and died for, for our highest leader to think of himself as a king who controls everything, including what people should pay for things they buy?

As our experience of the seemingly only growing weirdness of the above continues, perhaps on this Memorial Day we could consider the sanity and service of those in stories like this one about Beau Bryant (and the many like him).

Honor the Fallen, Live the Freedom They Gave Us -- Adam Kinzinger

Trust Your Experience

Trust your experiences, your God moments. They don’t work as intellectual arguments for God, but that’s exactly the point: Intellectual arguments are enough, and wanting  them to be so sooner or later leads to disappointment.

God speaks to us through our whole humanity, not just through part of it. God, it cannot be proven to anyone else, but that doesn’t make him second best. They are proof – of another kind.

-- Pete Enns

3 Observations & A Question

Where we're going is always impacted by where we've been.

A census is more interesting than we tend to think — it reflects what is deemed as worth counting (and what isn’t)...in other words, what we value.

The Bible is not nearly as much about history (particularly, in the modern understanding of the term), as it is about the story of history.

How long can we survive without considering what we mean by the common good?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

A Terrible Idea / The Erosion of Character In America

This would be a stunning restriction on the power of the federal courts...continue here.

-- Erwin Chemerinsky

The Hidden Provision in the Big Ugly Bill that makes Trump King.

See a summary of what all else in included in the Republican mega-bill...here, including a staggering 365% increase on an annual basis that would permit ICE to detain at least 100,000 people at a time.

Without character (in a leader or in the governed), a group of people are unable to be governed:

We better wake up to the end-game here....

Eternal Life

What does it really mean to have a eternal life?

I, likely, grew up with a somewhat fanciful vision of eternal life. That’s not to say that vision isn’t true (at least, any of it). But, like many things perceived as a child, there is surely more to the notion of what eternal life is. There appears to be something embedded in the human psyche that has a desire for something eternal. And, we tend to like the idea of that being related to life.

Perhaps, if the truth really were told, that is more of a function of our notions about death, than it is about life. Large swaths of American culture have a misunderstanding (if not aversion) of the role of death in life. This may, in fact, be where the real fantasy exists. The one that is infatuated with the notion that we could somehow live forever. Of course, when we imagine that idea, we are largely doing so in the frame of living in one, persistent, universal form — pretty much how we see ourselves at our best moments in our lives...forever.

Of course, there are virtually no domains of existence that conform to this particular fantasy. Everything is born, grows, and dies (including Jesus, by the way, if that's where you're coming from on the question of eternal things). In fact, the ability for that very process to be perpetual is the feature of both life and death...and there is something eternal about it. Life does, in fact, go on. What goes on about it simply changes. DNA structures, for example, demonstrate this truth. Parts of us, at the core of who we are, live on (almost always), just not in exactly the same form. We can even observe this, without too much sophistication, in both our offspring and in people groups at large. We can see this in animal kingdoms. We can see this in plant kingdoms. In living things of nearly every kind, in fact. Something about the universe itself lives on, endlessly perpetuating, in spite of death. Life and death are not mutually exclusive after all.

Against that back-drop, life is rather...eternal.  

Time (or, should I say, time-keeping), then, is mostly something like an accessory we came up with. We're rather fixated on it, again perhaps from our cultural affinity for desiring to live forever. But, eternity doesn't really work in that dimension. Time, in fact, from the viewpoint of nature is rather ambivalent about our point of view. We would likely do better to notice nature's perspectives on such things. It seems to prefer the measurements of things like day and night, celestial cycles, and seasons.

And then, from the Christian Bible,

...the one who believes has eternal life.

-- John 6:47

The most obvious question here would seem to be, 'believes' in what? Because that answer would likely infer what the meaning of eternal life really is. What one believes in is a function of what one understands. In the context here then, I would take it that what one believes is the key to eternal life. According to the plain language of the verse, it appears to be something (perhaps, somewhat surprisingly) that one already has. In other words, it is the current believing that is key to the thing that one already has — in this case, eternal life.

And, here might be the greater clue. We often think of eternal things in the frame of something ahead of us. But, note that the present tense is the focus of the concept of eternal life. The idea doesn’t seem to have as much to do with the future, as it does the present. If you believe, you have whatever is eternal about life. It is not primarily as much something about what you will have, as it is what you already have.

So, if what is eternal is something we have now, then what does that look like?

Most of what we think about the eternal is related to our understanding of life and, in that sense, it is likely assumed that that life has something good (after all, why would you want something eternal, if it was bad?). So, if life is a representation of something that is good and that goodness has a quality of the eternal about it, then it would seem to follow that whatever is eternal now is about whatever is good…now. In other words, whatever is good about life now is something eternal — something that we would like…to last forever.

Have you ever had moments where something felt so good — so rich, so satisfying, so peaceful, so inclusive and at harmony with all things — that you just wish it could...last forever? That is what we want both now and in the future.

Eternal life in original understandings seemed to have more to do with a state of being, than with how long we would live (exist in the future). When that state of being is the experience of what is truly good, it is...eternal.

When you have this understanding and you experience it, you have...eternal life.

Until They Become Clear

You live out the confusions until they become clear.

-- Anaïs Nin

Defeat Is Life's Way Of Nudging You

I believe that defeat is life’s way of nudging you and letting you know you’re off course. There’s always some sort of hidden opportunity or lesson in each episode—a chance to build your character.

-- Sara Blakely, on not letting a temporary defeat turn into a permanent loss

Often difficult to see clearly in the moment, but also often strikingly apparent in retrospect.

Half of Communication

Ever noticed…that only half of communication is actually about the subject?

Be The Reason

Be the reason someone believes in goodness.

— from a local church sign

One of the better and more succinct admonitions that can be made…to each of us (not to mention, the church).

3 Observations & A Question

Kindness is not as much about being nice as it is about anticipating the needs of others.

We all have desire to grow, get stronger, and care for others — fostering that desire is another thing.

The needs most in need of your attention and care are those of the ones right around you.

What do you feel proactive about in your life?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

We Do To Ourselves

What we do to the environment, ultimately we do to ourselves.

We are a part of nature, not apart from nature.

-- Elizabeth Wathuti

Most Modern Authoritarian Leaders Are Elected

Authoritarianism doesn’t start with laws. It starts when people stop paying attention. Continue here….

-- Sharon McMahon

On May 8, political scientists Steven Levitsky, Lucan Way, and Daniel Ziblatt published an op-ed in the New York Times reminding readers that most modern authoritarian leaders are elected. They maintain their power by using the power of the government—arrests, tax audits, defamation suits, politically targeted investigations, and so on—to punish and silence their opponents. They either buy or bully the media and civil society until opposing voices cave to their power. Continue here.... 

-- Heather Cox Richardson

Authoritarianism is not merely a matter of state control, it is something that eats away at who you are. It makes you afraid, and fear can make you cruel. It compels you to conform and to comply and accept things that you would never accept, to do things you never thought you would do.

Authoritarian regimes...can take everything from you in material terms—your house, your job, your ability to speak and move freely. They cannot take away who you truly are. They can never truly know you, and that is your power. But to protect and wield this power, you need to know yourself—right now, before their methods permeate, before you accept the obscene and unthinkable as normal.   

We are heading into dark times, and you need to be your own light. Do not accept brutality and cruelty as normal even if it is sanctioned. Protect the vulnerable and encourage the afraid. If you are brave, stand up for others. If you cannot be brave—and it is often hard to be brave—be kind. But most of all, never lose sight of who you are and what you value.

-- Sarah Kendzior

Honoring Of Others

Love… Is the honoring of others in a way that grants them the grace of their own autonomy.

-- Anne Truitt

LT: Getting Things Done

At the core, leadership is about getting a group of people to get things done — then, there is the question about what good leadership is…how things get done.

Purpose

I’m wondering…about purpose.  

As we age, we may become more observant about the 'why' of things.  Why do we do what we do?  Are we just going through some elaborate scheme of cultural activity?  To what end?

What is the purpose of our existence?

Permeate Our Being

Evangelical Christianity in the United States is often characterized by a deep desire to have “Christianity” pervade our culture but not permeate our being.

-- Rich Villodas

3 Observations & A Question

Complexity is often self-serving. 

We are impoverished when we lack exertion in our lives.

Facts will make a comeback — intimation and histrionics only last so long (people catch on…eventually). 

Why do you think we are advised by spiritual teachers  over and over, and over again, not to BE afraid?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

Our Dogwood Has Spoken

A Beer Can

I saw a discarded beer can on the side of the road by a curb next to our local elementary school.

Fascinating? ...probably not.

Such a sighting is likely only one of millions across the span of our country. What was a little more interesting to me was my urge to pick it up and throw it away. My only real hesitation was there were no trash cans in sight. So, I would have to carry it, as I continued on my walk, for some distance.

I didn’t do it.

I realized, though, that I wanted to. But, why? What was prompting me?

As I continued my walk, I noticed a place where an old building had been, that had recently been taken down. It wasn’t in some far off abandoned place, but rather in the middle of a college campus. What really caught my eye was the fact that a rather large collection of glass clippings had been dumped where the building had been. It was pretty clear that the dumping was intentional. This got me thinking about the likelihood that someone was trying to use the decaying benefits to enhance the ground-soil in the area.

Somebody else was prompted by something they saw. And, they too wanted to do something about it.

I’m guessing part of the reason why I wanted to pick up the beer can was because of the unsightly nature of it and what that represented in the context of an elementary school in what is otherwise a beautiful little community. Perhaps, similar thoughts were going in the mind of the person who wanted to enhance the soil with grass clippings.

What is a community anyway? I’m sure there would be lots of different considerations in answering that question. At very least, it feels like something that a group of people desire to protect. That might be because it’s something that a group of people had previously desired to build. And when the results of that collective effort becomes something beautiful, it seems to naturally follow that it would be something a community would want to protect. It took effort. It was worth it. And the group doesn’t want to lose it.

It is Spring right now where I live and many people and organizations are cleaning and sprucing things up. Fresh mulch blankets the ground around freshly popped spring flowers. The early morning is filled with the sound of birds welcoming each other to the day. The air is cool and crisp and the eastern sky is draped in colorful hues announcing what looks to be a sunny, 70° day. Life feels alive. And, I was walking through the middle of it, taking it all in, allowing it to poke at the wonders of what it all means and where and how I fit in it.

I suspect that is the point. That I fit into something. Something larger than myself. Something beautiful. Something worth making a contribution to. Something worth preserving.

This Saturday morning, the annual farmers market and our little community will draw hundreds of people to fresh coffee, cinnamon rolls, pretzels, artwork, and fresh spring plants that many people will buy, plant, and do the best they can to remember to nurture. Some plants won’t grow because they aren't planted in a suitable spot. Some plants will be neglected, after their Spring-beauty wears off. But, some plants will also make it and will grow back the following year all by themselves; adding their contribution to the qualities of things like soil or food or visual beauty for passers-by to enjoy.

I’m still thinking about whether I should go back and get that beer can. I’m going to a T-ball game this evening. So, I’m guessing I’ll stop on my way to work and pick it up to dispose of it somewhere along the way. Nobody will likely notice. But, in its absence, just one person might say something like, "...this is a beautiful little community. I like it here".

As I finished up my walk, I passed the construction of a couple of new homes. Because of the focus on the building side of things, the grass and weeds were Spring-prolific all over the torn-up yards. Across the street, was a home that had been completed last summer. The grass in that yard was perfectly manicured and beautiful (no discarded beer cans in sight).

I’m not the only one, apparently, that wants to be a part of this community.

Remain Astonished

The chief prevention against getting old is to remain astonished.

-- Kevin Kelly

LT: Values and Focus

I'm not sure there is a playbook other than staying true to your values and a maniacal focus on the things you can control.

-- Howard Schultz

Substance Within

I’ve noticed…that I have more internal substance than I often realize.  

What does that indicate…about things like narrative and awareness that operate within me?

We Are So Weary...

Instagram: Benjamin Cremer

4 Observations (from Others)

There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story. 

-- Linda Hogan

For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed. ​ -- Kahlil Gibran

One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between man and nature shall not be broken. -- Leonard Tolstoy

We don't sit in meditation to become good meditators.  We sit in meditation so that we'll be more awake in our lives.

-- Pema Chödrön

Prior 4 Observations (from Others).

No, Russia Is Not Winning This War

On The Lighter Side: Critical Toys

On the Lighter Side:

The Enablement of Health

The benefits of strength and connectedness are fundamentally enabled by health. Correspondingly, lack of health disables them (among other things).

So, what are the things that we need to be cognizant of, and disciplined in, that enable (or disable) our health?

For one thing, we have to be increasingly aware of how the economies we live in impact our ability to do this (not to mention, be healthy).

Learning is a key ingredient to our mental health — perhaps because of things it requires of us…willingness, curiosity, adaptability, humility. After all, look what happens to us when we stop being willing to learn. Not only do we lose knowledge and insight we could benefit from, but also our disposition toward everything in life changes. Spiritually speaking, I would go as far as to say that our willingness to learn IS the way we know and experience God...initially and perpetually.

Beyond our disposition to learning and awareness, health seems to require putting forth some actual effort. Simply knowing about something doesn’t do the trick. We actually have to do that something. Effort seems to reinforce what is true and makes what is true about it true. We actually have to, for example, not eat unhealthy things. Further, we also have to eat healthy things. It takes a kind of commitment to be healthy. We have to work at it (especially in our current economies).

Exercise is another example of something that is required of us beyond just knowing about it. We actually have to do things that strengthen us and we have to do them routinely.

Physical health enables mental health. Both enable emotional health. And, when we are healthy, our sense of connectedness to the world, and the people in it, is better (more healthy).

Health is actually a very broad concept. It is the womb from which all things are sustained and grow — enabling the quality of our relationship with the context that we’re in. It is important individually. It is important collectively — reaching and impacting nearly all dimensions of our existence.

Source of Self-Respect

The willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life is the source from which self-respect springs.

-- Joan Didion

It’s Data

Rejection isn’t a verdict; it’s data. Use it.

-- Shane Parrish

Origin Story

Ever noticed...that nearly every culture has an Origin Story?

Have you ever wondered why?

Your Silent Cry Has Been Heard

Life is not ended, but merely changed.

-- Catholic funeral liturgy, Preface 

Death is another stage of our transformation in Christ. 

Sisters and brothers, especially those of you experiencing pain and sorrow, your silent cry has been heard and your tears have been counted; not one of them has been lost!... The resurrection of Jesus is indeed the basis of our hope. For in the light of this event, hope is no longer an illusion.... That hope is not an evasion, but a challenge; it does not delude, but empowers us. 

-- Pope Francis (1936–2025), "Urbi Et Orbi," Easter, 2025

The legacy of Pope Francis lives on, especially in the hearts of the people (where real honoring should live):

...click images for the stories referenced in each.

3 Observations & A Question

Fear is contagious; so is courage.

Both Trump and Musk seem to think the federal government should be run like a company and, if it doesn’t, then it might as well be run like a kingdom — our government is neither…so far.

Spouses should get at least 2 hobbies — one with and one without their spouse.

Nearly everything you want in life is a function of growth — so, what is growth a function of?

Prior 3 Observations & A Question….

US Consumer Sentiment

A Prayer For Advocacy

'Poem for the week' -- "A Prayer For Advocacy":

Help me to speak out for justice with a special desire fueled by a power greater than surface comforts and outdated systems.

Let me be a troublemaker to champion those I love and care for, and for those I don’t know intimately who need my help. Hire me to be a powerful voice for the change that heals, reconciles, forgives, and improves. Help me create time and space to lend support where it is needed. Transmit to me the passion to be bothered by violations of another’s rights to life, liberty, happiness, and their voice. Find me faithful and in service, riding shotgun to heart-led movements, and leading the charge when it is up to me to do so. Remove my feelings of hopelessness in what I perceive to be the opposition. Align me with action and channel my energy for others.

Bind me to the medicine of love. Let me affect the transformation that leads to needed change. Light the torch of revolution in my heart. Stand me upright on a foundation of faith while I take the next steps. Build my voice as an instrument for defending freedoms which provide equality. Keep my motivations clean. Grant me the tools to see near and far, and find me adjusting the lens often.

Help me to give a leg up to the underdog: to root for the one who doesn’t stand a chance. Help me to accept being unliked or misunderstood for positioning myself behind what I believe in.

Bolster my confidence and give me the understanding and empathy required for sustainable existence. Make tolerance my priority and give me the words and actions to fight violence with the sword of peace.

Orient me to inclusivity. Help me to stop putting individuals into dualistic opposition, rather focus me on repairing broken systems, and my participation in them. Dissolve my tendencies for cliques, partisanship, judgement, righteousness, bandwagons and the damning or idolizing of those I perceive to have more than me.

Help me to do my part to clang the bells of freedom.

When ten thousand are whispering, make me one who is listening.

-- Pixie Lighthorse

The Cure For…

Attention Is A Moral Act

Attention is a moral act:  it creates, brings aspects of things into being.

-- Iain McGilchrist