Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I've been at work for less than an hour and I've already heard a lot of chatter about the movie Noah, which apparently everyone but I saw over the weekend. The concensus seems to be it was a great action movie, and actually a pretty good story, but the movie took some liberties with and departure from the Bible's account of Noah.

Well, not to seem derisive, but duh. First of all, it's Hollywood. A liberal lot to be sure. Yeah, they're going to take liberties. I'm just kind of excited that they're making movies like Noah, Son of God, and the upcoming Heaven is For Real, and Exodus. Secondly, the Bible's story concerning Noah is, at best, 20-30 minutes. A movie is roughly 120 minutes, in comparison. So, they had to fill the time with something.

As with most things, there's a happy medium. It's a fantastic place to be. With Noah, I think it's somewhere between this:

and this:

Bottom line:  If it gets anyone, believer or not, to pick up a Bible and read the actual story, chalk it up under "win."

And as much of an animal lover as I am, my favorite part of the story of Noah is this:

Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him:  "I now establish my covenant with you...Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood"...And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant...I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth."

Genesis 9:8-17

Honk if you...spite?

I used to be an extremely offensive driver. I wouldn't hesitate to tailgate someone driving slowly, pass someone on either side going more slowly than I, or even honk if I felt someone had erred. This has gotten better with age and often having at least one little person in the car with me whose life I value even more than my own. 

My habits were also softened one day, 10+ years ago, when I was sitting at a red light. I looked over and the woman driving the car next to me was openly sobbing. Trying not to stare, I felt such compassion for her. What happened today to cause her such pain? I wondered to myself. And then it struck me...what if I had been behind her, deemed her driving unacceptable, and had honked at her. How would that have made her feel? And I realized, while sitting at that light, the power that I, and the center of my steering wheel, held, and vowed to try to not make anyone's day worse.

Hey, I've gotten better. I didn't say I was the Mother Teresa of the open road. My child's first word was "GO!" followed by "Dada," "Get over!" "Dog" and "Turn your blinker off!" (OK, I made up the last one.) But I do try, on any given day, to be more defensive than offensive.

That brings us to this past Wednesday. After work, I ran to the grocery and was on my way home. I got behind a woman who was preoccupied with her cell phone. In bumper-to-bumper traffic, she was slow to move up and close the gap when traffic moved. I was irritated but held it in. 

Then we get to our first light. The light turned green and all the other lanes began to move and we didn't. I see that she's looking down instead of ahead. I take a breath, count to five in my head and, when we're still not moving, I decided to prompt her with two quick beeps. Beep-Beep. Not a blast. Not an alarm. Just a nudge. She looks up, sees the light is green and that our neighbors are all moving, but still throws her arms up in feigned apology and then proceeds.

 As we travel to the next light, she goes out of her way to change lanes, slow down, and get behind me. Again, we're at a red light. I'm the first in our lane and, for whatever reason, my neighbor who was first in his lane and I both hesitate when the light turns green but for just a half-second. She sees her opportunity and grabs it. H-O-N-K!!!!!!! She sits on the horn, even after we've begun moving. I look in my rear view mirror to see her face full of, well, spite. She's proud of herself. And all I can do is chuckle and think "whatever floats your boat, lady."

I Got Your Crazy

A few years ago, a councilman in Ohio made the news and became a YouTube sensation because of a speech he gave while running for office. Regardless of what side of the aisle you’re on, there’s no doubt this guy is a nut. He was energetic while delivering his speech and that’s a grave understatement. He didn’t win whatever seat or position he was seeking, however, he did go on, probably unintentionally, to be an example of what not to do while publically speaking. I remember sitting in a professional development class and a snippet of his video was shown under the “what not to do” section of the program.

Yesterday, I listened to a speaker at a seminar at work and he referenced this guy and this video and, again, I cried watching it. Seriously…tears rolling down my cheeks. Bless him. His heart was in the right place, but there is a difference in being impassioned and being a lunatic.

Enjoy.

Hippity Hoppin'

Peter Cottontail by Gene Autry

Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way
Bringin' every girl and boy
Baskets full of Easter joy
Things to make your Easter bright and gay
He's got jelly beans for Tommy
Colored eggs for sister Sue
There's an orchid for your mommy
And an Easter bonnet too
Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppity, happy Easter Day
Here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppin', Easter's on its way
Try to do the things you should
Maybe if you're extra good
He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way
You'll wake up on Easter mornin'
And you'll know that he was there
When you find those chocolate bunnies
That he's hiding everywhere
Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail
Hoppin' down the bunny trail
Hippity hoppity, happy Easter Day
Hippity hoppity, happy Easter Day

Chatting with my sister-in-law yesterday about the upcoming Easter season and the need to buy our daughters dresses, it struck me how far we've come in just a few decades. These days, the girls are shopping at Old Navy and Justice. We both fondly reminisced about our own memories of our mothers dragging us through a department store and not emerging until we had a complete ensemble including:  itchy/fancy dress, dress coat, hat, white gloves, white patent leather shoes, and a fancy little purse. I'm afraid those days are gone.

I still enjoy Easter and the whole season around it. Here are my seven favorite things about Easter.

1. Chocolate. More than Christmas or even Halloween, this holiday is a free pass to graze, delight, or just binge on chocolate. Hey, you can hit that swim suit diet hard in May.

2.  A new outfit. Even though I don't do the whole get up anymore, I do still try to buy a new dress for Easter. 

3.  If Spring is not here already, it will be soon.

4.  Egg Hunts. I enjoy watching the kids almost as much as they enjoy hunting.

5.  Family. Gone are the days of regularly scheduled family reunions so this is a good  time of year (and, sadly, one of just a couple) when you get to see extended family.

6.  A feeling of rebirth. Birds are chirping, you start hearing crickets at night. Flowers bloom. The days are longer. You hear lawn mowers in your neighborhood.

7.  Easter is a reminder to all - regardless of their belief - that we, as Christians, serve and love a living God. He's alive!


But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened that while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling apparel; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead? "He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again." And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. And these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at that which had happened.

Luke 24:1-12

What Makes Me Uncomfortable

Scott Walker (R), the governor of Wisconsin, is under fire for a Tweet he posted over a week ago. Here it is:

Atheists and representatives from the Wisconsin-based Freedom From Religion Foundation came out swinging. Declaring Governor Walker had "made them uncomfortable," they accused the governor of misusing his authority to “promote not just religion over non-religion, but one religion over another in a manner that makes many Wisconsin citizens uncomfortable.”

Well, here are a few things that I don't agree with, but I'm not insisting that anyone changes their ways:

1. Teaching kids to cover their coughs and sneezes in their hands.

It's gross. If I had my druthers, people would excuse themselves for a cough or sneeze in the same manner they would to pass gas. In my mind, there's no difference. It's gross. And people get a false sense of "doing the right thing" but all they've really done is transfer their germs to the one place on their body that touches more objects than anything else. BUT, you don't see me telling anyone (other than my immediate family) that it makes me uncomfortable.

2. Allowing men to wear flip flops, or really any kind of sandal.

Boy feet are not pretty. They're hairy, scaly, and the toes are inconsistent in length. The nails are rarely neatly trimmed and guys have a wanton disregard for sizes so you see them in shoes two sizes off in either direction as though they just strolled in a store and grabbed the first pair they saw. BUT, I'm not pushing for legislation banning dudes from enjoying a nice mandal.

3. Smoking

It's a filthy habit. It's proven to be detrimental to your health. It's expensive. It turns your teeth, your hands, and your skin yellow. It kills your sense of taste and smell. It makes you stand outside when it's hot, freezing, snowing, or raining. You don't get as much for your car when you sell it if you've smoked in it. You can't sell things on Craigslist and say the item is from a "smoke free home." You won't live as long and your last days will be spent in doctors' offices, in labs, and dragging an oxygen tank behind you like Marley's chains in A Christmas Carol. My Daddy smoked, as did my grandfathers, and probably their grandfathers. I tried it. I wanted to be cool and quickly found out that wasn't the way. It made my clothes smell and made my tongue feel furry. BUT, I'm OK if you want to smoke.

4. Gratuitous swearing (especially in movies).

If you know me, you know I like rap and hip-hop music. I like many forms of music and respect the trade. It's art and with art comes artistic freedom. If it's too vulgar, I turn it off.

Something that really irritates me, though, is going to a movie that is a perfectly fine movie but the actors toss in unnecessary cursing. It's as if they wrapped filming and the producers were told that the movie only qualified as a PG-13 and, if they wanted the desired "R" rating, they'd have to go back and add 27 additional curse words.  BUT guess what, if I don't like it, I grin and bear it, or walk out, or don't recommend it to friends, or don't buy the DVD when it comes out. I don't call up Hollywood and demand change.

These are just a few examples of things I don't particularly like but I understand something my Momma taught me a long time ago:  your rights end where mine begin.  Just because I don't agree with you, doesn't make me right or you wrong.

But here's one thing I know:  atheists are bullies. The freedoms they desire are the same ones they are so quick to snatch from those with whom they don't agree. Bullies.

No Regrets

Mr. Frank Sinatra - and, more memorably for me, Elvis - sang about regrets in the song "My Way:"

Regrets, I've had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do and saw it through without exemption

I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway

And more, much more than this, I did it my way.

A hospice nurse wrote an article a few years back, sharing the common sentiments that her dying patients shared with her. She summed it up in an essay entitled "Top 5 Regrets of the Dying." Here is a portion of that article:

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made.

It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it.

2. I wish I didn't work so hard.

This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.

By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to your new lifestyle.

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.

We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win.

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.

It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip. But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships.

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.

When you are on your deathbed, what others think of you is a long way from your mind. How wonderful to be able to let go and smile again, long before you are dying.

Life is a choice. It is YOUR life. Choose consciously, choose wisely, choose honestly. Choose happiness."

Choose happiness. Indeed. And always, always do it your way.

The Things We've Handed Down

While on Spring Break vacation over this past week, my husband and I both noticed distinctive traits in our daughter which we identified, not with either of us per se, but with one or more of her grandparents. For instance, my sweet father-in-law, my husband’s Dad, is notorious for making up answers to questions to which he may or may not actually know the answer. On several occasions, our sweet girl would share a story about a native plant or offer a suggestion to something of which she was hardly an expert and we’d laugh and say “well, there’s Poppa.” 

Not a social butterfly myself, I was struck by her friendliness and chattiness while waiting in lines as she struck up conversations with those around her, seemingly unphased by gender, age, or even ethnicity. “Where are y’all staying?” I heard her inquire of one lady. There’s my mother-in-law. She’s never met a stranger and shares seemingly specific and not-interesting family facts with everyone she encounters. 

Our resort was a sprawling layout of twisting sidewalks and circuitous, meandering paths connecting one building or area to the next. When she would insist on a certain trajectory and scoff at the notion of stopping and asking for directions, I saw my own Daddy. More often than not, though, in both of their stubbornness, we actually would find our desired target. 

These observations led me to consider other genetic inheritances which led me to this:

"The Things We've Handed Down" by Marc Cohn