THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2024 - MORE WORDS

Ever been in a grocery store and an irate mother is yelling at a kid.  “You’re a real brat.  Stop crying or I’ll give you something really something to cry about. You are going to hell.”

Yesterday, I wrote that God listens to me.  To me, this infinite force listens to all people.  And in this case, God is hearing the mother ask Him (Her) to condemn the child.  

If (as I think) God hears us, then the mother is not blessing the child.

I’m not sure if the following is valid: (From Luke 9:52-56)

52 And he sent messengers ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.

*****

From that scripture it seems as if we can “call down fire” (or curse) upon people.

An Old Testament version - 2 Kings 2:23-24

23 From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!” 24 He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys.

Elisha was upset with boys for calling him “baldy” - and called down a curse on them.

So, is the mother of the child really cursing the child?  I think so.  

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. (James 3:9-12)

So, let’s watch our words - be positive and bless people, but don’t be negative (that can be the hardest with disciplining workers and children)

LOVE DOES WIN

LOVE TRANSFORMS US

Karen Anne White, ©, February 1, 2024

 MONDAY., JANUARY 29, 2024 - WATCHING WHAT I SAY

Who listens to me?  That’s kind of a tricky question.  I am no longer married, so I have no spouse to hear me; my children are estranged and don’t listen to me; and I don’t even have a dog (who might have listened to me.)

Somehow, I believe an infinite God listens to every word I say.  (I think He/She/It/The Force might not listen to my every thought).

I am getting older (truth) - but I refuse to say, “I am old.”  I don’t say “I’m in bad health”; I don’t say “I’m struggling”; I don’t even sing along to the Beatles song “I’m a loser”. 

But sometimes, I want to say some negative things about myself - but I just don’t want to go that way.  

Somehow - the infinite God that has created over two trillion galaxies - can listen to every human on Earth - and all the intelligent beings on all the possible planets connected to all the stars in the cosmos.

Theoretically, there could be an infinite number of galaxies, as the size of the Universe itself could be infinite. 

This infinite God thinks my every spoken word is like a prayer.  

Some profess the “Prosperity Gospel,” and I guess I’m leaning that way.  Speak prosperity, speak “my” truth to God.  When I say “I am old,” I am speaking to the universe and the only one who really listens to me hears that as a prayer.  

That infinite being says, “Well, Karen White is saying she is old - so I better allow that.”

I have a good friend who doesn’t have the same beliefs and constantly puts herself down.  There was a television show a few years back, “Are You Smarter than a Fifth-Grader?”. This friend is kidding when she says, “Well, I’m not smarter than a Fifth-Grader.” 

Joel Osteen - a famous pastor in Houston, Texas - preaches a prosperity Gospel (maybe not to the extent of some) - but says, “Don’t tell God you are poor, or sick, or unhappy” because you will be.

My brain has a lot of power.  I can program my brain to be positive - and I can program my brain to be negative. 

I am healthy, I am smart, I am rich, I am blessed!!!

So, don’t expect me to go negative anytime soon.  If there is evidence that something isn’t right, then I might say, “I have cancer (or whatever).  

Yes, I know I will die.  It is that way.  But I’m not going to help it along!!!

(And, likewise, I won’t complain or negatively talk about others!!!)

Saying that “LOVE WINS” is a truth (at least for me); saying that “LOVE TRANSFORMS” is a truth for me; saying that I am blessed is a truth for me.  And the negative force in the universe  that keeps putting those negative thoughts in my brain, I say, “Leave me alone, negativity.”

LOVE DOES WIN

LOVE DOES TRANSFORM

LIFE IS FANTASTIC

EVERYTHING IS GOING TO WORK OUT WELL WITH MY FAMILY - RECONCILIATION IS EVEN NOW OCCURING!!!

Karen Anne White, © January 29, 2024

SUNDAY FUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2024

 SUNDAY FUNDAY

SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2024

WARM-UP 

The January Full Moon was on Thursday.  January's full moon is called the Wolf Moon - the howling of hungry wolves lamenting food scarcity in midwinter.- My image this week is from my neighbor's print of a Lone Wolf in Winter.  I am still trying to understand why they had this print.  I have seen it in other places.  Do you remember seeing it?  (It seems so cold - I think I’d have a “warmer” picture instead of this one!!!)

In three weeks, it will be Valentine’s Day (and, interestingly enough, Ash Wednesday on the same day). It last happened on Valentine's Day, 1944.  

President’s Day is February 19th, and Groundhog Day is February 2nd. St. Patrick’s Day on March 17th, and Easter on March 31.  Easter can fall on any Sunday between March 22 and April 25 and is early this year!!

*****

NATIONAL TODAY FROM LAST WEEK

NATIONAL COMPLIMENT DAY

Last week saw National Compliment Day. The power of a compliment is pretty remarkable: either giving or receiving one can boost your happiness and confidence — making the act a win-win. You never know when someone could use some good vibes, so spread the positivity by giving someone a reason to smile!

NATIONAL PEANUT BUTTER DAY

When Marcellus Gilmore Edson first patented peanut butter in 1884, he probably didn’t realize it would become a taste sensation that would sweep the nation. Whether you go crunchy or smooth, we put down our cell phones and pick up our spreading knives to celebrate National Peanut Butter Day.

Okay, I am a peanut butter enthusiast.  I have peanut butter almost every day!! I am not particular - any peanut is better than none.

(And, three weeks ago, when I dog-sat, I took a jar of peanut butter with me.  I took a big dollop out of the jar.  It was sticky and thick - and as I tried to get it processed - I broke my denture plate!!  Pretty stupid!!!)

NATIONAL BELLY LAUGH DAY

Yup -National Belly Laugh Day was on January 24, Did you know it has been over 15 years since this day was first celebrated? Belly Laugh Day is a day to chuckle, laugh, and celebrate the good things in life. As Maya Angelou said,“ Just imagine if we laughed more frequently, if we had the unmitigated courage to touch each other, it would be just the beginning of paradise — now.”

There is the old adage - “Laughter is the Best Medicine” - let’s make that true!!!

*****

Winter Story

There was a new Chief on the Kadoka Reservation in upper Wisconsin.  Laramie Lends-His-Horse was a modern Native American unfamiliar with the old ways.  [Aside, I had a few Native American students while teaching in South Dakota.  One girl was “Madonna Lends-His-Horse” - so the last name is legitimate!!!].  Laramie wanted to be a good leader (and he was).  As the chief, he was to be the expert on crops, rain, and weather. 

The people asked Laramie if it would be a cold winter in October.  Laramie answered, “Yes, it is going to be a cold winter” (after all, winters in Northern Wisconsin are cold).

So, the tribe started collecting firewood. The Kadoka Reservation is surrounded by pine forests.  By each house, there was starting to be a nice stack of wood.  Laramie listened to the local radio station KALT and the forecast seemingly was for a cold winter every day.

In November, the people asked again if it would be a cold winter.  And again, Laramie said yes - after all, KALT was saying it was going to be a real cold winter.

But, to be safe, he called the local weather reporter on KALT.  The forecaster said, “Yes, it will be a cold winter.”

So, the people gathered more wood.  They went into the woods as teams, and cut the old dead wood out.  Loaded it on pickups and took it back to the reservation and used a splitting machine and piled it up.

In December, they asked again, “IS it really going to be cold?” and again, he answered, “Yes.”

And they gathered even more wood.  Some of the wood stacks were up to the eaves of their houses.

In January, it was already cold, and the people asked again.

Laramie called the weather expert on KALT again in January.  The forecaster said, “This might be the coldest winter ever.”

The new chief asked the weather expert, “How do you know it will be so cold?”

The weather expert replied, “The Native Americans on the Kadoka Reservation have gathered much wood. And, they are generally right on”!!

*****

FINISH

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, ©, January 28, 2024

SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2024 - RALPH WALDO EMERSON

 SATURDAY, JANUARY 27, 2024 - RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Some of my favorite quotes from Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.:

I’ve used this quote for years.  I tend to be very enthusiastic.  

Related to that is the word “Elan” (a word that I’m not sure I’ve ever heard)

“enthusiastic and assured vigor and liveliness

*****

Never lose an opportunity to see anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you.

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.

For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind.

It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them.

A man is what he thinks about all day long.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.

Life is a succession of lessons that must be lived to be understood. All is riddle, and the key to a riddle is another riddle.

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.

He who is not conquering some fear every day has not learned the secret of life.

Fear defeats more people than any other one thing in the world.

Do the thing we fear, and death of fear is certain.

The first wealth is health.

*****

LOVE WINS

ENTHUSIASM WINS

FINDING BEAUTY WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS US

Karen Anne White, ©, January 27 2024

FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2024 - JONAH

 FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2024 - JONAH

Jonah? Sure, Jonah!!  

We know the story - God asks (tells?) Jonah to go to Nineveh. Jonah flees from God and takes a ship away from going where God wants him to go. The ship runs into a storm - the crew throws Jonah overboard, and the storm ends abruptly.  

Jonah gets swallowed by a whale (or something) - and gets coughed up on shore. God says - “Hey, I still want you to go to Ninevah.”  

Jonah 1:2: “ The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amittai: “Go immediately to the great city of Nineveh and denounce it, for their wickedness has revealed itself to me.”

Jonah 3:1-10 “Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Nineveh was a vast city; it took three days to go through. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed in God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring the destruction he had threatened on them

*****

This is the Old Testament. The Ninevehites were not Jews (Hebrews). They had their religions - and they were “evil.”  

Jonah preached, and they repented - and put on sackcloth (I always associate this with “gunny bags”), and put ashes on their heads - and prayed.

*****

So the evil people repented - but they weren’t Jews - they weren’t God’s chosen people. And yet God wanted them to be “saved”.  

“All men are created equal” (United States Declaration of Independence); God made man in His (that is, God’s) image.  

*****

Conclusion - God wants all people to be good and all people to be saved - even those of a different religion (and probably a different “race”).

“Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, Red and Yellow, Black and White. They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.”

It doesn’t say, “Jesus loves the little Christian Children.”  It says “ALL.”  All means “all.”

WHOA - Time Out!! Jesus can’t love the Arabs. Jesus can’t love the Athestists. 

Jesus loves the weird, the poor, the disabled, the physically strong, the tall, the short, the fat, the skinny, the normal (whatever normal is).  

So why do we hate the immigrants at the Southern Border? Why do Republicans hate Democrats? Why do Democrats hate Republicans? 

*****

LOVE WINS

GOD LOVES ALL OF US

Karen Anne White, ©, January 26, 2024

THURSDAY, JANUARY 25 2024 SOCIAL BRIDGE

 THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024 - SOCIAL CONNECTIONS

Thursdays are my social bridge day.  That is special to me.

I’m not so interested in bridge; yes, I like to win, and I don’t like to lose - but that’s almost incidental at social bridge.  

This group started about five years ago at the Georgetown Recreation Center.   The Georgetown Rec Center is a great facility - two full-size gyms, a well-used weight and exercise equipment room, aerobic classrooms, and a walking track that overlooks one of the gyms.  But like many facilities of a similar nature, the community has grown (one of the fastest-growing cities in America), and it is very busy.

In summer, the rec center does a lot with youth programs.  The parents of school-aged children use the rec center as a “daycare center,” and they don’t have space for a small bridge group in the summer.  

So, we moved to a small senior center - Stonehaven Senior Center.  I’m not well-versed in senior centers (it's only been about ten years since I became a “senior”).  

Stonehaven is like most senior centers - card games, a jigsaw puzzle table, a bookshelf with donated books, a kitchen, and three large meeting rooms.  This senior center is unique as it also has a thrift shop.  It is like an HOA (homeowners association) in a small senior/low-income community.  

When COVID came, we stopped playing.  We already were a cohesive group, so I started writing a weekly blog for this group.  (I reuse the “Bridge Brat Bulletin” as my Sunday Funday blog!!!).  I didn’t want the group to dissolve because of COVID-19, so over the last four years, every Wednesday, I have “published” a “Bridge Brat Bulletin.”

We generally have from eleven to sixteen people.  Since bridge is a card game with four people at a table, It is nicer when we have multiples of four people.  (On days like last week when we had fourteen people, two people sit out and rotate back in.)

We play four hands in a set.  The winners stay at the same table (but the two people split up so they are no longer partners).  The losers make “the walk of shame” and move to the next table for the next four hands.  (It’s not really all that “shameful.”)

I’m not a great bridge player.  I might qualify as “good” (but that might be a little too much ego).  I count my cards, bid appropriately (although sometimes I can go overboard), and play appropriately.   If my partner and I make our bid - we’ll high-five each other.  We’ll do a post-hand analysis (“I only had six counts” and “We matched up well”). 

And, we kid and laugh.  

For me (and hopefully for others), it is a delightful 2.5 hours of fun and fellowship.  

I go home - (and get my “infamous” nap), but I smile - win or lose.  I almost always have a good time.

*****

There are two better players in the group.  I sense that I infringe upon their morality as a transgender woman.  They are the only two that correct my play.  The first few times, I was hurt.  I’ve apologized to them for my poor play.  Anymore, I try to avoid playing with them.  I prefer being with fun people.  

*****

Yes, I have other friends.  I rarely see any of this group any other time.  We do lunch together monthly - but we all have our other activities.  But, once a week for a (generally) magical time a group of twelve (plus or minus) people can together and laugh, smile, avoid politics, and enjoy life!!

LOVE DOES WIN

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, ©, January 25, 2024

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 - UNPLUGGING

 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 24, 2024 - UNPLUGGING

Lately, I’ve been spending WAY-TO-MUCH time on my phone. 

There is a National Day of Unplugging (First Friday in March).

I believe in keeping my mind active as a deterrent to dementia.  Years ago, I read that learning and practicing a foreign language is a great way to keep your brain active.  For the past seven years, I’ve been doing lessons on Duolingo.  (Of course, true to my frugal nature, I use the free version, so I am bombarded with ads - do a lesson of sixteen terms and get a 20-second ad.  

My ego and honor also get involved, so I have four and a half years of doing at least one lesson daily.  Four and one-half years of doing at least one German lesson.  Pretty neat, isn’t it?  

I’m not sure if I am a little (or a lot) Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).  Doing a lesson is nice - but Duolingo has levels - the highest level is the Diamond Level.  And I try to be at the diamond level. If you do 15 minutes of lessons, you also earn points - and you can earn the monthly prize (of course, there isn’t a real prize, but I get an internal Duolingo “badge.”  My name has a star and 4+ next to it to show that I have completed at least one lesson over four years.  There are other incentives to keep an active streak on Duolingo - like more “Gems” (an overall measure of a person’s process).  There are weekly competitions to reach another goal (like 500 points with another person.

The goal of Duolingo is to get people learning and speaking a foreign language.  But my OCD “demands” me to get the points (and maybe, along the way, get better at German).  

*****

So, if I do Duolingo for 15 minutes in the morning and 15 minutes in the evening, I get DOUBLE POINTS - and if I get enough points, I can be in the top ten for the week. And I keep my 4.5-year streak going.

And there is a weekly two-person competition - and I like doing well.

The result is that I spend 1.5 to 2 hours a day on Duolingo.  

I do “Words with Friends” - a Scrabble-like game - and I play maybe ten games a day.

I do a daily crossword puzzle online.

I do two different daily Sudoku puzzles online.

And - I signed up to play Royal Match - and I do that online. (And, that is time consuming too)

The result of all this gaming is that I spend three to six hours daily playing games.  Yes, they are learning games (generally).  But six hours a day on playing games?  Some days, I don’t get my exercise done.  Why not?  Because I “HAVE” to get my points in these games. 

TIME-OUT!!!

WHY AM I DOING ALL THESE GAMES?

Well - because they challenge my brain.  Okay, that’s good - and probably better than watching five hours of television.  

I’m going to have to scale back.  

If I want to keep learning German, only to do 20 minutes a day - 10 minutes in the morning and 10 in the evening - and forget about contesting for the weekly “awards”

*****

I feel like I’ve “committed” to " nice " activities - but they are not vital to my personal goals.  

(I haven’t even talked about social media - where I do X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. )

PRIORITIES, KAREN!!!!

I even have missed days of blog writing (because I “have” to do my “brain-boosting” games!!!)

Tough choice.

LOVE WINS

LOVE CAN BE SPELLED AS “T  I  M  E” - and I’m spending time on games and not in loving others!!!

OUCH 

Karen Anne White, ©, JANUARY 24, 2024