AMANDA'S BASKETS: IT'S TIME TO DREAM...

Thursday, February 16, 2017

IT'S TIME TO DREAM...

It's time to dream. Are you old enough to remember Martin Luther King during the March on Washington and his "I have a dream..." speech? Well, it's time to dream again.

There are folks running around with their hair on fire, screaming the apocalypse is here. Do you know what the meaning of apocalypse is? Not the popular cultural meaning but the original meaning. It's a Greek word that refers to 'reveal' or 'uncover'. It is interesting how that meaning has migrated to something completely different than what it originally meant Biblically.

So, what has been revealed or uncovered? We now can clearly see the shortcomings of our nation: The racism, homophobia, sexism, our disregard for the other, the immigrant, the poor, the sick, those who have no food or shelter, those imprisoned, those who worship differently, etc. It's not a pretty sight. And that doesn't even consider our environmental destruction.

The political situation we find ourselves in right now is very disheartening. Let's face it, many of us were scared when the election results were called. And many of us had to go through a grieving process. And it looks like things are going to get worse before they get better. And many folks are going to suffer.

But have you seen what has happened? Look at all the folks who are getting involved. Marching, organizing, attending town halls, going to their elected officials' offices and running for office themselves at all levels of government. In other words, participating! It is evidence that we realize how important this democracy is for everyone.

But before we can hope to fix what is wrong, we need to dream...to dream of a better nation and world than we have now. We need to dream of a world where all are equal and where we care for this creation, not simply use it up.

The dream that Martin Luther King held out for all of us to hold on to as we were working to create racial justice was powerful. It was a light in the darkness that showed us the way forward.

Now, we need to find our dream to hold onto as we take up the mantle of responsibility and leadership. This will not be an easy undertaking but our nation has done this before and we can do it again. Successfully!!!

Keep the faith...
Get involved...
Check back tomorrow for specific suggestions...

Thanks for visiting...
Talk to you tomorrow...

CRAFTING IDEAS

I am always looking for a small piece of paper to write down something which will later be disposed of. I decided to use some of the scrap paper of which I have a ton. I mostly use the paper for glueing projects. I decided to cut the paper into a small size. (Six pieces from a piece of copy paper.). But just having them sitting on my desk would get messy without a container. So, using a cardboard box, I cut it down to size and using a hot glue gun I glued the ends together. Using a picture from a magazine cut into pieces and stick craft glue, I glued the pieces to the box inside and out. I also used some decorative tape for the outside edges. And to finish the top corners which were not covered, I used straight pins with colorful tops. Looks nice and works well.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

So in looking over your habits what did you find? Some popular good habits folks have are: Meditation, exercise, journal writing, flossing, reading and walking up early. Some not so great habits included smoking, saying yes, swearing, tolerating folks, not sleeping enough, always complaining and constantly making excuses. Do you have more good habits or more bad habits? Is it time to change? If so, start with the easiest bad habit to change, not the hardest. This will give the best chance of success. Decide on the best way for you to change your habit. Worry too much? Set a time to worry and then stop. You may have to stop yourself several times at the beginning but keep it up and you will worry less. Or, alternatively, write the worry down as well as options to stop the problem. Just figure out which way to stop is best for you.