Christmas time is almost here. What would Jesus do?

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like global warming is elsewhere, and we may have a white Christmas. That is good because there are a lot of things that make it hard to appreciate the holiday and significance that it should have. I'm not really sure why snow makes me feel more in the Christmas spirit. Jesus sure wasn't born in a snow storm. I doubt if he ever saw snow. Is there a hebrew or aramaic word for snow? So the whole snow thing doesn't make much sense. There is probably a subliminal message that I swallowed as a child reminding me to link Christmas with snow and presents and incense and balsam fir and eggnog and stocking hung on the chimney with care, to a baby in a manger that was to become the Prince of Peace.

This Christmas season is looking somewhat bleak. I have a friend that was just demoted- but hey, she still has a job. My oldest boy is struggling to find work now that he is done with college. Same story for his girl friend. Many people are living on the edge, and the gulf between rich and poor keeps growing. We are a nation of great wealth, blessed in so many ways. Yet many are hungry or homeless. What would Jesus do in this holiday season?

I got an email from Obama today encouraging me to send a Christmas card to my Senators. So this is what I said:

I am a constituent, and this holiday season, my wish is for health reform. Specifically, I want universal single payor health care. But if you can't get me that for Christmas, then I would like a public option. You see, I believe that the health care system that we have is very broken. I would go so far as to say that it is fundamentally flawed because insurance companies and drug companies are making money off of people that are sick and who's lives depend on the health care they get.
I know that this is not the way it has to be. We are the only nation that delivers health care as a for profit business. Too many people can't afford it, and go uninsured. Too many people are denied service and loose everything to pay for the care they need to live. It is a life or death matter. And in this holiday season, I pray that you will come to see that now is the time for real health care reform. Now that would be the best Christmas ever!

If you feel moved to send an email to your senators, follow this link: http://speakout.barackobama.com/p/dia/action/public/?Zip=04103&action_KEY=54

Boy, would Jesus be amazed!

Winter Blues

Now it is December. The 4th to be exact. Time marches on at a pace that is gradually picking up speed. I am aware of the relentless march of time in no small part by the fact that my kids are quickly becoming adults. Three young men 24, 20 and 17. One off in the world, one in college, and the youngest finishing high school and applying to colleges. Where does the time go? My mind is fuzzy the further back you go. We found a photo of my father-in-law some 20 years ago in a garden with my wife and son. I'm pretty sure I am the photographer, but I can't remember the occasion or identify the location. 20 years is a long time, a whole generation. Just a hundred years ago, I would be at the end of my time here on earth, assuming mine is an average sort of life. Heck, my father's father died at 51.

But my dad is rewriting the book on aging. He is 90 and going pretty strong. So I may actually have another 30 or 40 years in me. Anyway, looking at those smiling boys, and I can't help but smile myself.

October Snow

You heard right. It is snowing in Portland. If you saw the Patriots game, you saw Brady throw 6 touchdown passes in the third quarter... in the snow in Boston. I wonder what it is doing in Hawaii? I have a roof to finish this week, so please Lord, don't overdo it. Please?

OK, this is not going so well. I guess that I will have to be more disciplined. Mostly right now I am feeling older. Well that makes sense because several milestones have just passed. October !, I turned 58, and Oct 16, yesterday, Beth and I celebrated our 27th wedding aniversary. Not alot of hoopla, but the birthday was fun with lots of friends over for great food and also to wish Colin and Rania well as they move on to their new home in West Philly.

My body is talking to me. The middle finger on my left hand decided to remind me that it should not be taken for granted. Out of the blue, while doing nothing out of the ordinary, I got an excruciating pain while trying to grip/close my hand. Just that one finger! What a pain. Apparently, this a digit I use constantly. I have resorted to an improvised splint to limit it's range and avoid the painful reminder. Cramp or stress fracture... I'm not sure. Maybe arthritis, or just oldness.

Then, yesterday, my left foot started to talk to me. I thought it was something in my shoe at first or a tear in my foot orthotic (I have flat feet since forever). Well, it turns out that a tendon that runs from the front of my foot towards the heel is inflamed in my arch and is crying for relief. I know this because of an earlier incident. Ice, ibuprofen and stretches are the prescription here.

Hey, we are all only temporarily able bodied. Disability is in all of our futures. Lets hope that healthcare reform is on track for the not too far future. I would like to give our Maine Senator Olympia Snowe a high five for her recent vote to move the Bacus reform out of committee. She bucked the republican machine. To me, this issue is a no brainer. What a lousy, broken system we have! Unsustainable from any vantage point. Carry on Senator.

Tomorrow, there is an interfaith march and rally in Portland for the no on 1 campaign. Be there or be square. This is another no brainer for me. And I don't think that I am such an odd duck.
Anyway, check the Huffington post at: http:

//www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

Today the lead article is

Maine May Be First State To Reject Gay Marriage Ban

The two smiling faces under the heading are members of Portland Friends Meeting. Very nice.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/politics/

In the beginning

This is the first of what may or may not be many posts to this blog.  Who knows what is in store for us these days.  I hope we can eat hope, because that is the only thing that there seems to be in abundance... and even that depends on where you are.  Anyway, life has a way of placing demands on ones time, so I don't know how this whole blogging thing is going to go.  There certainly is lots to share.  But as I said before, you can't eat hope.  And very few can survive if they eat their words.  Stay tuned.