Sort of an Autumn Morning in California . . .

Early this morning, the rising sun played some pretty light on the surrounding trees. I started taking some pictures when I noticed the bird in the one tree and then the rainbow. Not sure if the rainbow means the rain is over because it is still raining! Not often I can find so many Fall colors in the same area. A huge contrast to our very green orange tree with all it's brightly colored fruit. That's California for you.

Educating thoughts for a Sunday . . .

"An education isn't how much you have committed to memory, or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you do know and what you don't."
-- Anatole France

"Silence propagates itself, and the longer talk has been suspended, the more difficult it is to find anything to say."
-- Samuel Johnson

"Art is a collaboration between God and the artist, and the less the artist does the better."
-- Andre Gide

Christmas is NEXT week . . . already?

A few more plates of cookies to deliver and I'm officially prepared for the material side of Christmas. Time to turn my heart more fully towards the actual day of Christmas. Amazing how many years of Christmases there have been in the world and how each year has seen neglect and attacks on this most holy of days. A world that was saved by Jesus is not showing itself to be a very grateful one and that is a sad thread that permeates the feast day.

I guess it has come down to each of us spreading our lights as far as we can within our own corner of the world and hoping peace, kindness, and charity will multiply from there. We can't lose heart because then we lose sight of the final reward for our belief.

The people who don't believe in any kind of higher being are certainly out in full force this season. I don't understand them. Yes, it is a free world and we can believe in God or not. That is our gift of free will. Why do they, however, want to force their non-belief on us in any and every way they can during Christmas? Seems to me they protest too much! Perhaps, they do feel a disconnect among the majority who find solace and joy and hope that by trying to banishing our free will to worship, will find comfort for themselves.

I often think about what it would be like to not believe in God and it opens such a vast darkness in my mind that would keep me from really trying to be the best human being I can be. I mean, if there is no reward for our struggles on earth, why struggle. If any kindness is a selfish act, why be kind? If being good for the sake of godliness isn't necessary, why bother? If you read the Ten Commandments they offer a simple list of do's and don't's that, as people in a social society, should observe just on the common sense level. I guess the first couple of commandments keep a lot of people from reading further.

Christmas is a time to rejoice, share, care, and pray for those who aren't letting themselves be a reality in the season because they don't want to go higher than themselves in prayer and belief.

Last Sunday in Advent!

O Key of David, and Scepter of the house of Israel; Who openest, and no man shutteth; Who shuttest, and no man openeth: come and lead the captive from the prison-house, and him that sitteth in darkness and in the shadow of death.

Roman Breviary, Great Antiphon at Vespers on December 20th. (7th century)

Worth remembering . . .

A verbal contract isn't worth the paper it is written on.

Samuel Goldwyn