MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022, MENTAL HEALTH MONTH - DAY 1

 MONDAY, MAY 16, 2022, MENTAL HEALTH MONTH

From the President’s Declaration of Mental Health Month (in 2021):

“" Mental health is essential to our overall health, and the importance of attending to mental health has become even more pronounced during the COVID–19 pandemic, which has not only negatively impacted many people's mental health but has also created barriers to treatment…. Millions of adults and children across America experience mental health conditions, including anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Nearly one in five Americans live with a mental health condition. Those living with mental health conditions are our family, friends, classmates, neighbors, and coworkers.”

*****

Personally, I believe that all of us suffer at least a little with mental health sometime in our lives.

Scenario 1:  Your favorite team is ahead by nine points in the Superbowl with 30 seconds to go.  The other team has a great long pass play and scores and gets an extra point.  But now, with 14 seconds to go, your favorite team is still ahead by two points.  On the kickoff, your best kickoff return player fumbles the ball at the twelve-yard line, and the other team recovers the fumble and kicks a field goal, and wins.  

You get depressed.  You go out for a long walk.  You kick stones.  You mentally curse the kickoff return player for fumbling.  You were sure there was a penalty that wasn’t called on that kickoff play where your team would have had the ball.  You berate the officials for missing the call.  For the next three days, you are still upset.  If anybody at work says “Hey did you see the Super Bowl Game”, you instantly go into sulking.  

Your mental image is shot.

*****

Scenario 2: You have applied for a different position with a different company.  Your interview was great.  The recruiter says great things about you.  “You’d be fantastic for our company”.  The salary is great, and the benefits are great.

But, you don’t get the job and you find out a “worthless” (in your opinion) internal candidate who is related to the boss, got the position.

You again are upset and depressed.  “I’d be ideal for that job”.  

*****

Scenario 3: Nothing is going well.  Your husband of eighteen years has been cheating sexually with one of your friends.  He also has abused you and yelled at you.  Your back is “killing you” from an old injury. Your teenage daughter is raped and is pregnant.  You have an accident (your fault) in your car and your insurance won’t cover it.  You go to the closet where a gun is hidden away and you pull it out and chamber a bullet.  It won’t take long, just a few seconds, and BOOM - you will be out of your misery.

Your mental health is in the pits!!!

*****

Scenario 4:  Your spouse died of cancer at age 38.  You pleaded with God, you prayed, and you expected a miracle.  You LOVED your spouse - you doted on her.  You were sweethearts from college - and God let you down.  Bah humbug.  God is just a bad plaything - an illusion - a fake.  Now, three years later, you hold all of the hurt inside but many times you cry yourself to sleep. (I’m thinking this will become my Saturday story for the next few weeks).

Life is worthless - there is nothing to live for.  Your mental health is rotten

*****

“According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood. Although the terms are often used interchangeably, poor mental health and mental illness are not the same things. A person can experience poor mental health and not be diagnosed with a mental illness. Likewise, a person diagnosed with a mental illness can experience periods of physical, mental, and social well-being."

Humans can adapt.  We can hide our hurts or emotional, psychological, and social well-being behind a mask.  We’ve learned to smile, laugh, and even seem jovial - but we are hurting inside.

*****

In the next few days, I’ll be writing on some aspects of mental health and how to face the tough days when it seems like everything goes wrong.

Some of the early ideas:

Calm your mind and body:

Decrease tension

Enjoy alone time

Socialize

Get professional help

Get creative

Change your scenery

(And, Karen adds - I’ve been there.  It is a dark pit full of fear and illusions that aren’t real.  Although ending my life did flash through my brain, it never quite overwhelmed me.)

*****

From a recent news article:

“Ashley Judd and her family wanted the world to hear from them how Naomi Judd died.

The younger Judd appeared in an interview with Diane Sawyer, which aired on Thursday on "Good Morning America." She said her family had agreed that she shared the cause of death of her mother.

"She used a weapon," Ashley Judd said. "A firearm. So that's the piece of information we are very uncomfortable sharing."

She and her sister Wynonna Judd announced on April 30 that they had lost their mother "to the disease of mental illness." She was 76.

*****

LOVE WINS - love yourself, love your neighbor, love your family, let LOVE rule in your life and let LOVE WIN!!

Karen

May 16, 2022

SUNDAY FUNDAY, MAY 15, 2022

 SUNDAY FUNDAY MAY 15, 2022

WOW - we are already more than a third through the year.  Are you where you want to be at this point?  Do you have your garden in the ground?  Are you keeping busy with activities? 

*****

I’ve been working four nights a week lately at the Wesleyan Independent Living Facility.  I get to greet and interact with a lot of nice senior people there.  (At age 74 with many of them in the 90s, it makes me wonder what I’ll be like when I’m in my 90s!!).  I consider it as “Paying Back”.  My sister helped with my parents as they were in the 90s - so I get to help others as they age.

PUZZLES

FOX, GOOSE, AND CORN

An explorer in the wilds of Africa has come to a river.  There is a canoe on his side of the river but it is very small and will only take him and one item with him.  The road continues on the other side of the river, so he must cross here.

He has a tame (or semi-tame) fox, a tame (or semi-tame) goose, and a bag of corn.  If he takes the fox across the river, the goose will eat the corn. If he takes the corn across, the fox will eat the goose.  But, the fox will NOT eat the corn!!

He will make several trips across the river taking one item at a time.  How can he get all the items to the other side?

*****

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE - APPLE PIE

“As American as Apple Pie”!!! (???)

You may be surprised to learn that neither the apple nor apple pie is actually native to America. In fact, apples are native to Asia. (Specifically, the early colonists of Jamestown are thought to have brought European apple tree cuttings and seeds with them on their journey, thus introducing the apple to America). In the early days of colonization, European settlers primarily used their apples for making cider, which was preferred over water and easier to make than beer. The result of this was that by the 1800s, Americans were growing over 14,000 different varieties of apples! It’s clear that apples were popular, but they weren’t associated with Americana until John Chapman, who is perhaps better known as Johnny Appleseed, made the apple part of American folklore.

The first mention of apple pie in America occurred in 1697 when Allen Metcalf’s America in So Many Words: Words that have Shaped America referenced it. The first two recipes for apple pie that were published in America were included in the new country’s first cookbook; it was called American Cookery and was published in 1796. Since it was an easy and affordable dish to make, apple pie quickly became part of the American culinary repertoire.

Clearly, apple pie had become a symbol for America and certain American ideals like motherly love, purity, wholesomeness, the comfort of home, and even agrarian times gone by. It also came to be associated with patriotism and nationalism. This is especially apparent in the lingo of World War II soldiers, who would often say that they were fighting for “mom and apple pie.”

******

SOME CORNY JOKES ABOUT MAY:

Q: What did the spring say when it was in trouble?
A: May Day!!

Q: Which state loves spring the most?
A: May-ne (Maine)

 

Q: Which crime-fighter likes May the most?
A: Robin

Q: What season is it when you are on a trampoline in May?
A: Springtime.

Q: What May flowers grow on faces?
A: Tulips (Two-lips).

Q: If April showers bring May flowers, what do May flowers bring?
A: Pilgrims.

Q: What goes up when May rain comes down?
A: An umbrella.

Have an awesome week!!!

LOVE WINS!!!

Karen

May 11, 2022

Answers to Puzzle:

Fox, Goose, and Corn

(I’ll go from the south bank to the north bank)

First, the man takes the Goose across the river from the south bank to the north.  He leaves the goose on the north bank.  The Fox and the corn are left on the south bank

Then the man goes back alone

He takes the goose across - and takes the Fox back.  The goose is all alone on the north bank.

Then he takes the corn across from the south to the north.  He leaves the corn and takes the goose back.

On the south bank, he leaves the goose and takes the fox back across.  He leaves the fox there - with the corn.

Crossing alone from the north bank to the south bank, he then picks up the goose - and all four of them can start going north again.  

SATURDAY STORY - MAY 14, 2022

 SATURDAY STORY - MAY 14, 2022

On Saturdays, I write fiction.

*****

On the planet Jatran, Locnit Rumger was a typical child - except he could ask for anything - and got it!!

His parents first noticed this when Locnit was four years old.  His grandfather was a wizard on Jatran and had blessed Locnit with this ability to ask for anything - and get it.  But, it wasn’t a perfect gift, as whatever he got lasted an hour.  

He asked for a Tzinard, a large dog-like animal, and he got a Tzinard for an hour.  Of course, he learned he could ask a second time for a particular thing and get it for a second hour.  But, most of the time, after an hour, he was tired of the thing.

Locnit enjoyed a lot of things and experiences.  He spent at least one morning a week with his grandfather, and Melquid trained the young boy in the basics of wizardry.  He could fly, but after an hour, he had to land - or ask for another hour of flying.

*****By the time he went to school, this gift of getting what he asked for was very practical.  “I’d like an “A” on this test”, “I’d like to win at tantmer this afternoon” (a game similar to soccer on Earth).

But, he was also learning about being gracious.  Every Friday afternoon, he would ask “I’d like for cookies and ice cream for the whole school - and voila, the whole school got cookies and ice cream.  He got more praise for doing nice things, which he got so that he asked for things for his whole school (like the cookies and ice cream).

He learned to be a bit judicial in using his gift of asking for anything.  

*****

After Locnit graduated from school on Jatran, Locnit took a position with the government.  When weather forecasters called for cyclones or typhoons on Jatran, Locnit was called in to say “I’d like the weather to be quiet and not damaging”.  

When two neighboring villages or countries had disagreements, the government asked Locnit to ask for an hour cooling-off period or to ask for the two sides to come to an agreement.

Locnit was an asset to the entire planet in cooling off wars, disagreements, or violence for an hour (and he had learned to stagger his requests to make them somewhat permanent.

Unfortunately, a spy from Earth somehow heard of Locnit and supposedly on a mission of peace to Jatran drugged and kidnapped Locnit and took him back to Earth.

Locnit learned that the power he had on Locnit was still valid on Earth.  Upon coming out of his drugged state, the spy forced him to ask for a calamity to come upon enemies to the country the spy was from.  

At first, Locnit did ask for things as he was directed.  But, finally one day, he asked that the spy be silenced for an hour.  He asked for peace on Earth for an hour and repeated both of those requests at 59-minute intervals.  

Wars ceased on Earth.  When Locnit asked for peace in the hearts of all Earth people, there was peace on Earth.  The people realized that peace was much better than conflict so they decided to outlaw war and divisions.  

*****

Okay, a Pollyanna story today.  What if somebody could request peace and prosperity for an hour on our planet?  What if we could all get along?  

As John Lennon sang:

“You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

*****

LOVE WINS!!

Karen - May 14, 2022

FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2022 SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS

 FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2022 SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS

PSALM 139:17

“How amazing are your thoughts concerning me”

How amazing are GOD's thoughts concerning me?  God thinks about me?  Doesn’t God have millions of people to think about - how can He/She/It/The Force - think about me?  

*****

Time out for a second.  Let’s see - God is infinite, God is not bound by time.  And, (if you will), I have God within me as the Third Person of the Trinity - the Holy Spirit.  

John 20:22 “Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”.  

GOD THINKS ABOUT ME????  That boggles my mind - that GOD - the creator, redeemer, guide, infinite - KNOWS who I am, cares about me, and thinks about me!!!

*****

Psalm 139 has a lot of verses relating to individuals:

“For you created my innermost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:13-14)

“Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there;  if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn,  if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. (Psalm 139:7-10)

***** 

Romans 8:31

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

In ancient days, Kings were all-powerful in their realms.  If you will, we are children of the king - sons and daughters, princes and princesses. 

*****

So, what does that mean to me / to us?

We are very privileged.  God thinks about us, lives in us, and loves us.

Am I living like a king?  Am I living like a princess?

LOVE DOES WIN!!!

Karen

May 13, 2022

THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022 - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

 THURSDAY, MAY 12, 2022 - DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

This week I’ve been looking at violence - mostly violence between people.  The concept is there is a “Spiral of Violence” - Violence begets Violence. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.  Paybacks.  You hurt me, I hurt you.

Today, I’m writing about domestic violence.

To be honest, I know little about domestic violence.  My parents rarely fought (or disagreed away from my sister and me).  They did really love each other.  My ex-wife and I did disagree on occasions - but never to the point of blows or hurtful anger.

I know of some domestic violence - from verbal violence to physical violence.

One source said:

“Domestic violence is one of the disturbing problems of society. Domestic violence occurs in all countries, regardless of culture and education, regardless of religion, and there is no exception for rich or poor. Almost every day on newspapers, radio, and television, regrettable news related to domestic violence is published. So the question is what we can do to contribute to reducing the violence in the family.

“There are many reasons for the domestic violence, from the family does not have normal function, to the lack of communication, the provocation of a spouse, the psychological repression of a person, or other stimulants, such as alcohol, drugs, the lack of spiritual life, or the economic difficulties, etc. The study results on domestic violence proved that those who commit acts of violence often want to overpower others.

“Domestic violence often comes with a high proportion in families with special problems such as economic difficulties, low levels of education, illness, unemployment, drunk, or addictions. However, this does not mean that rich families or intellectuals will have no violence. Moreover, there are different forms of violence that “outsiders” are difficult to identify. Such violence can happen between parents and children, often reflected through the educational style with harsh punishments. It can be acts of beating, starving, humiliating, or verbally abusing victims in many forms.

SOME FORMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

– Physical Violence: The actions directly impact the health of the victim.

These can be hitting, pushing the victim down the stairs, or even cutting or burning the victim.  

– Sexual Violence: The victims will be forced to have sex without their agreement. Even in marriage situations, there are cases of rape where the man will abuse his wife when she is not interested in sex.  There are cases of adult/children sexual violence - where (generally) the man (dad), forces his child (or step-child), to have sex with him.

– Mental Violence: The abuser tells the abused person they are no good, they are worthless. In later years this can show up as depression.  Deep inside the person, who seems to be well adjusted, views herself as inferior and defective.  

*****

One of my friends was abused by her father as a child.  He would fly into a rage and hit her.  She indicated that at one point he was so mad that he beat his son with a chain which eventually led to the boy’s death.

““The scars from mental cruelty can be as deep and long-lasting as wounds from punches or slaps but are often not as obvious. In fact, even among women who have experienced violence from a partner, half or more report that the man’s emotional abuse is what is causing them the greatest harm.” 

*****

OKAY - IT HAPPENS - HOW CAN WE STOP IT?  (I don’t want to go into specifics here)

1. Take Part In A Domestic Violence Program Or Group: 

2. Ask Physicians And Health Care Professionals: 

3. Bring The Community Together And Discuss: 

4. Protect Women: 

5. Use Social Media To Propagate:

6. Build Up Non-Violent Responses When Having Conflicts:

There are many options available - but many can be scary.  

SCENARIO:

Let’s say a man abuses his wife and beats and hits her frequently.  She hears of a woman’s safe house in the community and manages to get out of the house (possibly with her children) and to the safe house.  First - she knows she is safe - but for how long?

If she goes back to work (assuming she has a job), will her husband show up and drag her home?  Will he go to the kids' school and take them away from her as an “unfit mother”?

In most cases, the man will plead and beg for forgiveness.  “I’m so sorry.  Things have been tough at work, etc.”.  But once she returns home, the abuse starts again.  

The abuser needs to change.

There are programs and counseling that can help.  Alcoholics Anonymous has a well-tested 12-step method for alcohol (and drug) abuse.  Other organizations have similar programs for sexual addiction, abuse addiction, and more.  The abuser needs a new foundation for his life.

Karen adds:  I believe in transformation.  Romans 12:2 says “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind”.  I know of transformation.  But at the heart of the transformation is the need and desire of the person to be transformed.  You MUST be willing to change.  You MUST acknowledge that you are addicted and can’t control yourself at times.  

I also believe that true transformation can only come with divine intervention.  God - however you view God - Father, Great Mother, Great Spirit, Holy Spirit, The Force - He/she/it - can work from inside out.  But one must be yielded to get on one’s knees and seek divine help!!!

*****

Transformation begins with a true confession.  Be it formal Confession to a priest/clergy, or more information confession to a trained counselor.  “I was wrong” is a good place to start!!!

Karen 

May 12, 2022

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2022, VIOLENCE - DAY III

 WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2022, VIOLENCE - DAY III

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

“From scripture,  Exodus 21:23-25 states, "But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."  Leviticus 24:19-21 echoes this assertion, "Anyone who injures their neighbor is to be injured in the same manner: fracture for fracture, eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. The one who has inflicted the injury must suffer the same injury."  

The concept of if you injure another person’s eye, then they have the right to injure your eye is common in most societies.  The reference I found said it was part of the ancient Code of Hammurabi.  

In some respects this makes sense.  It is an equal exchange - you lost an eye in the fight, and the other person should lose an eye.  Even insurance plans today have dollar values for injured body parts.  Worker's compensation insurance can have such factors built into the coverage.  If a person working for a company is injured on the job, he/she is entitled to payment.  If I am working in a machine shop and lose a finger due to faulty machinery, I am entitled to compensation.  

But, this week I’m writing about violence.  If my neighbor intentionally pokes out my eye, the concept says I can poke out his/her eye.  

The concept by Hélder Câmara is that If violence is met by violence, the world will fall into a spiral of violence.  Think of a spiral of violence.  Person A (or county A) attacks person B.  Later person B attacks person A - but to make up for the first injury, person B attacks a little more aggressively.

Or, in a sports context. For example sake, we’ll call the teams Bears and Lions and we’ll assume these are high school teams playing football. This year the Bears are really powerful.  The talk is that the Bears should win their conference and possibly win the state championship.  

To make their point that they are powerful when the Bears play the Lions - they run up the score with the final score of 70 to 3.  (Talk about a blowout).  The coach for the Bears played his first-team until into the last quarter and then reluctantly substituted some of the ‘junior’ players.  

A couple of years down the line, the Lions have an awesome team.  So when they played the Bears, at the end of the third quarter, the score was 49 to 3 in favor of the Lions.   (The term “one-upmanship” fits).  But, the Bear coach has a trip up his sleeve.  He sends in Bruno - a third-string tackle - with instructions to tackle the Lion quarterback - hard.  Knock him down, knock him out of the game with an injury.

And, Bruno goes in and tackles the quarterback hard and the quarterback goes limping off the field.  Bruno gets a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness.  The Lions put in their second-string player - who hasn’t played much and on the first pass play throws an interception for the Bears.  Energized, the Bears scored twice. For the rest of the game, the Lion quarterback only hands off the ball and tries to run down the clock.  The final score is 49 to 24 - still lopsided.  

The Lion quarterback is out for the season and the Bears win the conference title with the Lions coming in second. 

In their game next year, the Lion players gang up on the Bear quarterback with the intent to hurt him.

This is a “Spiral of Violence” 

*****

“If we really want an effective end to violence we must remove the violence that lies at the root of all violence: structural violence, social injustice, exclusion of citizens from the management of the country, repression. —Óscar Romero

*****

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.  Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.” Matthew 5:38

*****

On Monday, I quoted Elvis Presley’s In the Ghetto:

Then one night in desperation

The young man breaks away

He buys a gun, he steals a car

Tries to run, but he don't get far

As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man

Facedown on the street with a gun in his hand

And as her young man dies (In the ghetto)

On a cold and gray Chicago morn'

Violence leads to more violence.  It seems as if this first-century Jewish Rabbi suggests that the way around violence is to show LOVE. Don’t fight back.

Tomorrow - one more violent viewpoint!!

LOVE WINS

Karen White
May 11, 2022

TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2022, VIOLENCE - DAY II

 TUESDAY, MAY 10, 2022 VIOLENCE - DAY II

This week I’m looking at violence - somewhat using Spiral of Violence - Helder Camara 2.pdf (alastairmcintosh.com) by Helder Camara, Catholic Bishop in rural Brazil.

Yesterday, I looked at the three levels of violence:

• Primary violence

• Secondary violence

• Tertiary violence 

******

Let’s take those three levels of violence as applies to Elvis’ song (See yesterday where I quoted Elvis’ song “In the Ghetto”.)

Primary violence comes from structurally ingrained social injustice.  Is there social injustice?  Good question.  I would have denied this years ago.  I was just an average person, in an average home, in a medium-sized community in Iowa, USA.  But, that really was a privileged background.  I never worried about water, sewage, electricity, roads, or schools - and definitely didn’t worry about violence.

So,  I guess I’ll admit that I came from a semi-privileged background - a white, highly educated male professor. No, I didn’t live in a mansion growing up, my parents didn’t have a country-club membership, and I attended public school and a state/public college.  

I didn’t see social injustice.  (I didn’t go into those neighborhoods (aka - the ghetto) that Elvis sings about.  I was naive.)  

Level two is secondary violence - the revolt of the oppressed. In my lifetime I have seen the revolt of the oppressed on television.  In the 50s-60s, Martin Luther King paraded about social injustice; in 1955 Rosa Parks, after a long day of work, sat in the first row of the “Colored” seats on a Montgomery city bus.  But, the bus was getting full and the driver asked Rosa and three others to move father back - and Rosa said “NO”. That led to the revolt of the oppressed.  Marches, boycotts, and more.  Social integration was another issue “the Jim Crow laws of “Separate but Equal” were anything but equal.  

Two summers ago, we had the push for Black Lives Matter - social injustice spilled over to the streets in the revolt of the oppressed.  That backlash is still occurring.  Critical Race Theory is an issue.

And, this leads to the third level -  tertiary violence - repression by the powerful to secure their privileged position. And so the spiral of violence tightens.  

In the past year, many states have seen stronger voting laws as well as big-scale gerrymandering. In Texas, this means that districts in Texas have been drawn so that (mostly) those that drew the districts can maintain a majority of seats in the Texas legislature for the near future (next ten years - until the next census).

I’ve heard of school board elections where thousands of dollars are being given to conservative candidates who want to ban books on various subjects and stop topics like Critical Race Theory from being allowed anywhere in public schools and ban discussions of gender and sexuality.  (and … “money talks”;)   From news reports, I hear that the State of Florida rejected many elementary math textbooks for inappropriate racial content.  (As a former math teacher, I’m not sure what content that can be.  Are there story problems like “Rufus from the ghetto has 20 apples and Lucinda - also from the ghetto has ten apples?  How many do they have in total?”  (Maybe that is followed by discussions on why black people from the ghettos can have thirty apples!!!)  

*****

The third level - tertiary violence - repression by those in power to keep the status quo (aka “white majorities” in legislative bodies), and work towards overturning abortion, gender, and sexual orientations. 

Can we get along?  Can we change?

Those in power try to stay in power!!  I don’t know if that might apply to former President Trump, or to President Putin in Russia, or other politicians.

Two additional examples.

When the powerful in France got so much control, the people finally revolted and had the French Revolution.  (A violent revolution)

Likewise, the Czar in Russia with his cronies held the power and it took the Russian Revolution to overthrow that government.  (A violent revolution)

Is America headed toward our own conservative/liberal Revolution?  The rhetoric sounds pretty violent at times.  There was (at least in my eyes), a full-fledged riot that seemingly was trying to overturn the 2020 Presidential Election by storming the Capitol Building when the Electoral College was meeting. 

There was violence in some of the Black Lives Matter situations 

Is the United States a violent country?  Possibly!!

“Heaven Forbid”!!!  (Or, maybe “Heaven Intercede for us”)

Micah 6:8.  What does God expect of me?  To love justice, show mercy, and walk humbly with God”.

Love Wins!!

Karen White

May 10th, 2022

More this week