Maru's Christmas Gift

I'm taking a Philosophy class this semester and enjoying it already.  I'd forgotten just how much I loved Philosophy during the '70's and '80's.  Just finished reading Plato's Apology.  The logic of it was great.  How could I have forgotten "the unexamined life is not worth living."?  Maybe that's why my life has boiled down to a thin paste! 

Rest in Peace

A Poem by C. Harter Amos

He lifted his hand as if to bless the crowd

and all I could think was that with his words

he changed the world.

They stood still in their mania long enough to listen.

In his innocence he didn’t know.

Or maybe he knew it was already too late

Maybe he folded under the responsibility’s weight.

He should have shed tears

that could not be forgotten

on the left edge of tomorrow

but was shot in the full sun of his day.

Another Christ?

Another cross?

It got their attention last time, didn’t it?

Graphic enough and on the cusp of a different fall.

So easily led, these sheep he called.

The thought made me wonder at what exact point on this line in time

we failed to stand up to the lethargy and intimidation

that bred yet another generation

of silent majority Americans on their knees

turning the age of peace into a world of too many tombstones

and too much greed.

Our social structure crumbles

Even our poor planet grumbles

At what we’ve done

And failed to do.

The anchorman’s makeup runs as he sashays

and tells us what irrelevance is important today.

How heavy the fears

when we bow to our peers;

turn our backs to the obvious, we’re stupidly oblivious

to the fall of yet another Rome,

the place of ultimate self-indulgence

that is what we call home.

The young ones will hurt from what we don’t believe,

From what we choose to accept and fail to perceive.

When did it become too heavy a weight to bear,

to fight what monsters we know to fear?

Is it a lost cause now that we can see catastrophe's approach

in the ice sheets that melt, the dictators that boast?

Maybe it’s their belief that makes them face death for their ideals

while too many of us give up on the possibility goodness can be real:

Harmony and respect within one space,

A good God who wipes tears from each face.

Give me liberty or give me death?

Rest in peace, Abraham, Martin and John

You did all you could do.

There’s no one left to take your place

And we’re not willing to renew our faith.

It breathed its last breath with yours.

© 2008 C. Harter Amos

Maru

This is Maru who was my virtual cat for years before I got Mariah this last June.  You should take the time to watch several of his videos.  He's adorable and sometimes rofl funny.

Sharing a Saying

When I was little, I hated going to the doctor and would run from my parents when I knew I was about to go for a shot.  My father once told me that it would soon be just a memory.  The idea didn't help me at the time but I learned something that has helped me through many bad situations throughout my life.  It can be said in any number of ways: "Tomorrow is another day", "This too will pass", or as Oprah says it, "The sun is pretty sure to turn up tomorrow."  But none of these suit me better than what my father said.  So many of my physically and emotionally painful times I got through by remembering that before long the pain would just be a memory.  I still miss people I've lost along the way but the intensity of the loss lessens and the loss itself becomes "just a memory". My Dad died when I was ten, but he managed to give several things like this saying that have helped me cope. 

New Year's Resolutions

I don't usually make resolutions for the new year.  They tend to take on monumental importance and make me feel like I have to keep them come hell or high water.  This year I'm making an exception and declaring several.

1) To continue my dieting.  I'm just 30 pounds from my goal having dieted for two years.  The down side of this is that my wardrobe went away and I'm down to just a few things.  Add to this the fact that I'm only temporarily in the size I'm wearing so that I won't waste the money buying more clothes than I have until I'm down to my natural size.

2) To find friends to hang out with.  This being a small town it means becoming a part of a church, which is okay with me.  Which leads me to number 3.

3) To tend to my spiritual life which I've neglected for a while.  This may not be going to church as such, or even tending my spirit in a Christian sense of the word, but to meditate more for sure.  To aim at a more calm way of living.

4) To spend as much quality time as I can with my daughter and grandchildren since I know they're growing up fast and Granny gets shoved to the back during teen years or soon after.  Also my daughter is going into graduate school soon and will have less time to be with me so that's a priority.  I love my family.

5) To stay in contact with my oldest sister who I've only recently been talking to on a regular basis.  She means a great deal to me.

6)  This one sounds stupid, but I have to bathe my dog more often.  The original idea was once a week which slid to once every two weeks, which slid to once every month so it's time for a reset there.  Back to once every two weeks which ought to do it.

7)  I'm aiming at this year being the year I finish my degree in English.  This means the beginning of a job search.  I want to teach online at college level which means back to school for a masters degree.

So there's really nothing majorly earth shattering in the forecast.  Just a few things on the list of "to do"s.