Ted the Thief?

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Tears

Current time looking back: Three days.

A period of 72 hours. Period of grace or healing from an outpatient surgical procedure.

In three days I could be a grandmother for the second time as my son's girlfriend of three years (there's that "numero tres" again) gives birth to a little baby boy (grandson number 2) as soon as this coming week.

And three days ago, a tear drop left saline residue on my sleeve.

Flashback: Thursday Oct. 2, 2008
I was turning in my canvas sheets at our local Muncie "Vote For Change-Indiana" office.

COMMERCIAL BREAK: Muncie Indiana USA, a.k.a. Middletown USA, is a place that seems to has 3 kinds of people: 1) Realistic Achievers; 2) Pessimistic Pretenders, and 3) Clueless, yet caring. At least as a result of watching endless MSNBC we sometimes tend to forget that people don't read much and believe everything that the pundits spew on tv in terms of fear peddling to get a vote because no one who has represented an oppressed group of people in a house named after the oppressor: "White." (I guess if I was white I'd have it pretty easy getting along in the world...unless someone called me "white trash." ) But I digress. . . back to the point.

Walking out of headquarters I saw a woman crossing the street in beautiful 4 blocks long downtown Muncie. She came from the direction of the MITS bus station and the county courthouse. We'd parked on the same side of the one-way street (left) and her vehicle was two spots in front of mine.

Then, it happened. Boo-hoo city on a FEMA scale. This young woman just broke down, crossed her arms over her face and laid her head on top of her compact car.

First thing in my mind...."DON'T LET HER DRIVE!" This was too beautiful of an autumn mid-morning to go home only to see on the next day's news that a woman of the description that I'd seen was the victim of a mysterious one-car crash. So I walked up to her and said...."Are you gonna be okay?"

What a dumb question! Obviously all was NOT okay. The tears just kept on coming.

So I did what most women and non-threatening men would have done. . . I gave her a hug.

The hug worked. Took a minute, but it worked.

While the positive energy from the person-to-person-embrace was working its spiritual recipe I noticed my left shoulder sleeve was getting a bit soaked. I never did like being wet while wearing clothing, even a spot of wetness, and in my prime years I'd more than likely be disqualified from being a contestant in a wet tee-shirt contest while my wild college friends would throw caution and bras to the wind. But somehow, this was a spiritual tear.

As I made certain that this young woman (her name, Christa) assured me that she was okay she got on her cell phone.

As a maternal spirit I reminded her soberly, "Make sure you don't start this car until you are completely okay that you can drive it, alright?"

"Alright" she said. Then she proceeded to dial someone who was hopefully a friend on her vivid red cell phone.

As I got into my car, the wet sleeve became even more sensory to me. But not from a standpoint of waiting for my sleeve to dry. I found now that it was me that was unable to drive. I was crying from my soul. And as a result, tears came from my eyes only. My mind reflected.

It reflected as to what was it that tore at this woman's soul, creating the tears. This, I realize, was becoming a very deep homophonic/homographic experience.

(Wordwizard.com) 1 a : HOMOPHONE b : HOMOGRAPH c : one of two or more words spelled and pronounced alike but different in meaning (as the noun quail and the verb quail).

(Hey, did you know "quail" was a verb???) oh well...English, hmmph!)

What happens when one experiences tears in the non-spiritual sense? Well, we might surmise that usually, a sharp object catches a thread of a fabric that is either delicate or in the wrong place at the wrong time; and the sharpness of the edge of whatever the fabric (or skin) catches on creates a split. A rift. Thusly, a "tear." Yet that "tear" can produce a tear from the eye if the thing that was damaged from its original pristine form was of major significance in value, whether materially or psychologically.

Have you experienced a tear in your life lately that lead to the creation of a tear? Did the last 10-14 days, or perhaps the last THREE days of your life did you know anyone who was going thru a particularly tough time because of the economy? (Economy is a funny thing. When it's good, everyone treats each other well. But when the economy is NOT so good, that rips at the soul of everything that a person believes in UNLESS they are spiritually grounded in a faith so deep that nothing and no one can rip the belief from the believer....hence, the dreams of those aforementioned as Realistic Achievers.

But what about the wetness of the tear? Moisture is a symbol of health. Dryness is a symbol of an inability to thrive. We love our moist skin, especially when kissing and making love. When skin is moist, it resists cracking and peeling. And we can't stand it when a steak (if you are a meat-eater) is dry and heaven forbid if we experience a dry throat during a time when we desperately need to speak and be clearly understood.

Moisture, as in tears from the eyes lets us heal our dry spirits. When we undergo times of sorrow we still have to take into account that too much "drowning in our moist sorrows" will cause us to wither in other ways. We become too limp to be able to make sense of things that need executive decisiveness. When people do not like us we can NOT take it personally. To be on the attack is to allow that dryness to enter our souls. We must "refresh."

Things that tear us down, like a family member or friend who refuses to speak to us because they never got the whole story of something they never took time to truly understand; or people close to us who refuse to register to vote out of selfish spite because their vision is so limited for the greater good that they think that decisions don't effect their lives if they pretend issues do not exist; those are the kinds of things that make our spirits cry.

But you know the good thing about crying? . . . we can choose to get over it. We can CHOOSE to be a loner beating our own drum of a different rhythm. We CAN CHOOSE to change even if everyone else thinks we cannot. Sometimes we have to decide to be the only dove of peace when everything else around us wants to tear at us with the talons of a hawk.

I think Prince was right when he contemplated and wrote: "When Doves Cry."

It is up to each one of us individually, to be ready for the healing. For the healing is not a quick fix. The healing takes place so that we may teach others, thru careful listening, and not demanding, how to heal.

Let's look ahead as a community of people in a spirit of change for the better. Let's stop believing those who would terrorize us from wanting something better for ourselves, our families, our nation.

America: Stop looking back allowing yourself to be torn in fear. We are the home of the brave and should be brave to move forward into a brand new future--- TOGETHER.


Change cannot wait. Click the names.

"Duh?"

Near Taylor University in Upland Indiana is an addictive little restaurant called "Ivanhoe's." Their specialty? Embarrassing the daylights out of Baskin Robbin's 31 flavors.

Ivanhoe's offers not just 31 flavors, but (as of last count) over 100 choices of terror for the lactose-intolerant. And they are flavors on that menu that would freeze up a vote in Congress as to "which one gets my vote today?" So for those who are first timer's at Ivanhoe's, you might want to study the choices, and go off of your diet for at least 4 weeks.

At various points in my life I've been akin to the phrase, "When one decides NOT to decide, the decision has already been made." And especially at this point in our electoral history as a snot-nose, barely-crawling nation, dare I say that those of us who pay attention are only lying to ourselves regarding our electoral choices.

It's amazing that most of us as Americans end up knowing the difference between right and wrong, basically. But when it comes to being truly honest with ourselves in matters of this nation and where it is headed, we tend to dummy down our choice. Unfortunately, someone out there will not vote. People are spilling blood overseas for us to vote, but some of us still won't vote. So be it.

Then again, there ARE others who look at war hero records when there are heroes overseas who did not use their daddy's influence to get ahead. They did not use their wife's billions to get ahead. They do not cheat on their spouses as both Republican candidates have done.

They do not research and learn about how Cindy McCain was dating her current husband when he was married to another woman, Carol McCain.

If anyone is undecided I have one question for them: What type of mind needs to think about who is best to bring a nation together? What kind of sordid racial tension in this country has so soiled us that we are too afraid to look at where we will be in the next four years if we put people who think only of their own personal and financial interests in office?

Probably the most critical question is this: Look at YOU right now. (Go on, find a mirror and STARE into it. Then look at your bank account. Look at your bills. Look at the experience of candidates who work with broke folks--i.e. about 90 percent of most American voters.

So now, to help you make your decision, “Where the heck do YOU want to be in the next four years?” You and I make up the country. Who is going to put us first?

Extra non scheduled ponderings

Had to share this from Writer named Kathleen Parker.

Subject: [AfricanaCAU YahooGroup]
You Know You Ain't Worth Sh*t When Your Party Doesn't Want You..

Okay, here is a hilarious critique of Palin and a final request to ask her to step down! By respected conservative columnist Kathleen. For those of you who "question" the source and if it is true. Check out the link. It's also in the LA Times

National Review Online

http://article. nationalreview. com/?q=MDZiMDhjY TU1NmI5Y2MwZjg2M WNiMWMyYTUxZDkwN TE=#more

September 26, 2008 12:00 AM

Palin Problem
She’s out of her league.

By Kathleen Parker

If at one time women were considered heretical for swimming upstream against feminist orthodoxy, they now face condemnation for swimming downstream — away from Sarah Palin.

To express reservations about her qualifications to be vice president — and possibly president — is to risk being labeled anti-woman.

Or, as I am guilty of charging her early critics, supporting only a certain kind of woman.

Some of the passionately feminist critics of Palin who attacked her personally deserved some of the backlash they received. But circumstances have changed since Palin was introduced as just a hockey mom with lipstick — what a difference a financial crisis makes — and a more complicated picture has emerged.

As we’ve seen and heard more from John McCain’s running mate, it is increasingly clear that Palin is a problem. Quick study or not, she doesn’t know enough about economics and foreign policy to make Americans comfortable with a President Palin should conditions warrant her promotion.

Yes, she recently met and turned several heads of state as the United Nations General Assembly convened in New York. She was gracious, charming and disarming. Men swooned. Pakistan’s president wanted to hug her. (Perhaps Osama bin Laden is dying to meet her?)

And, yes, she has common sense, something we value. And she’s had executive experience as a mayor and a governor, though of relatively small constituencies (about 6,000 and 680,000, respectively) .

Finally, Palin’s narrative is fun, inspiring and all-American in that frontier way we seem to admire. When Palin first emerged as John McCain’s running mate, I confess I was delighted. She was the antithesis and nemesis of the hirsute, Birkenstock- wearing sisterhood — a refreshing feminist of a different order who personified the modern successful working mother.

Palin didn’t make a mess cracking the glass ceiling. She simply glided through it.

It was fun while it lasted.

Palin’s recent interviews with Charles Gibson, Sean Hannity, and now Katie Couric have all revealed an attractive, earnest, confident candidate. Who Is Clearly Out Of Her League.

No one hates saying that more than I do. Like so many women, I’ve been pulling for Palin, wishing her the best, hoping she will perform brilliantly. I’ve also noticed that I watch her interviews with the held breath of an anxious parent, my finger poised over the mute button in case it gets too painful. Unfortunately, it often does. My cringe reflex is exhausted.

Palin filibusters. She repeats words, filling space with deadwood. Cut the verbiage and there’s not much content there. Here’s but one example of many from her interview with Hannity: “Well, there is a danger in allowing some obsessive partisanship to get into the issue that we’re talking about today. And that’s something that John McCain, too, his track record, proving that he can work both sides of the aisle, he can surpass the partisanship that must be surpassed to deal with an issue like this.”

When Couric pointed to polls showing that the financial crisis had boosted Obama’s numbers, Palin blustered wordily: “I’m not looking at poll numbers. What I think Americans at the end of the day are going to be able to go back and look at track records and see who’s more apt to be talking about solutions and wishing for and hoping for solutions for some opportunity to change, and who’s actually done it?”

If BS were currency, Palin could bail out Wall Street herself.

If Palin were a man, we’d all be guffawing, just as we do every time Joe Biden tickles the back of his throat with his toes. But because she’s a woman — and the first ever on a Republican presidential ticket — we are reluctant to say what is painfully true.

What to do?

McCain can’t repudiate his choice for running mate. He not only risks the wrath of the GOP’s unforgiving base, but he invites others to second-guess his executive decision-making ability. Barack Obama faces the same problem with Biden.

Only Palin can save McCain, her party, and the country she loves. She can bow out for personal reasons, perhaps because she wants to spend more time with her newborn. No one would criticize a mother who puts her family first.

Do it for your country.

— Kathleen Parker is a nationally syndicated columnist.

© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group

Shared from a friend now sharing with you. I voted already.

cynth'ya

Subject: Fwd: URGENT!!! PBS is doing a poll to see if people think Palin is qualified to be VP,,,

Republicans are doing a big emailing to get people to

vote yes- and it's working. Please go to this website
and vote NO- it only takes a second! and forward this please
thanks,

http://www.pbs.org/now/polls/poll-435.html

That's MY rap....blessin's to ya,
cynth'ya

Time to Find YOUR Reasons Why....