On this very day in history…

American poet Emily Dickinson was born in 1830.
Emily Dickinson (1830–86).

VI

IF I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin 5
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.

And speaking of the Nobel Prize, Jane Addams was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, and Martin Luther King Jr., a prominent African-American civil rights leader, received it in 1964. The first African-American president, Barack Obama, received it today.

Pearl Harbor Day

On this day in history in 1941, the US navy base in Japan came under attack. Here is a link to a You Tube video that pays tribute to that event. Couldn’t have said it better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7uq-yeOhFk

December Doings

Believe it or not, December is Bingo month. I don’t know how I’ve lived as long as I have and not known that. And I kinda like Bingo.

Notable weeks in December include Human Rights Week (end of the first, beginning of the second week) and Tell Someone They’re Doing a Good Job Week (second full week). What great weeks to celebrate. Where have I been all of my life? Have I just not been paying attention? I never heard of either of those.

No, I just think the “famous” December holidays crowd out the lesser observances in the same way that they overshadow late December birthdays. Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas, the big three, get all the attention. Christmas is helped by the post-Halloween blitz that begins in earnest on television and in malls. And it can’t ever hurt to have a celebration go on for 7 or 8 days.

The first day of winter and the shortest day of the year are on Monday the 21st, Christmas Eve is 3 days later and one week later is the last day of the year—and a full moon. Hmmmm, maybe I’ll stay in this New Years Eve; it’ll be one less one on the road.

Enjoy, enjoy!

I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a tree.

by Joyce Kilmer (born today 1886)

Winston Churchill says…

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.

Ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which I will not put.

It is a good thing for an uneducated man to read books of quotations.

Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of the time he will pick himself up and continue on.

Never, never, never give up.

We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.

Lessons from Lepers in Luke

In the Gospel According to St. Luke chapter 17, the encounter between Jesus and ten men who had leprosy is recorded. Now leprosy is a condition so undesirable that whoever had it had to remain separated from the general population. In fact, those who had leprosy had to announce their arrival. In Luke 17:12, we are told that the men “stood at a distance” and raised their voices pleading for mercy. Jesus acknowledged them and told them to go show themselves to the priest. As they were going, we are told, they were cleansed. One of them saw this, turned back, and glorified God with a loud voice. He fell on his face and gave thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. (Samaritan=Insert name of whatever person or group you deem most undesirable to associate with.)
When Jesus saw the man, he asked a question of the Samaritan. He said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” (emphasis mine) Jesus marveled at a couple of things. He seems surprised that those who should be obviously thankful were not; and he seems surprised that those who should not be expected to give glory to God were doing just that.
The lesson is apparent. God has blessed us and given us more than we can ever ask or think and takes care of us in ways that often we cannot see or imagine. The United States government has set aside a holiday to remind us to be thankful on the fourth Thursday in November, but God wants us to “always give thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father.” (Ephesians 5:20)

Hello!

Today has been designated World Hello Day. The goal is to promote personal communication by encouraging people to say hello to at least 10 other people.

In this economic epoch, investing in Impressionist art might be like Monet in the bank.

French Impressionist painter (Claude) born this day in 1840, two days after and in the same year as French sculptor August Rodin (12th). Famed Wisconsin-born painter Georgia O’Keeffe also shares this month (15th/1887).

Remembering Robert Louis Stevenson

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your own soul”

Stevenson had always wanted his ‘Requiem’ inscribed on his tomb.

Under the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.
This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

Salute.