ellenspictures

Author: Hope Never Vanishes

here we are in the years. the eve of another thanksgiving day.

here lately, in our years on the sea of life, we have entered into one of those stormy territories, where the swells are large and the waves are high making it a challenge to navigate, and the winds change and increase, then decrease, but we know we have not yet reached the eye, and we know that when we do, there will be more of the same, or worse, before the storm dissipates. this is an illustration of how little control we actually have in our lives, and that we only can hope to control what each of us does, and how we respond to whatever is laid in our paths.

we say that it’s life, but nonetheless, how to navigate it right now requires much in the order of calling up troubleshooting skills, interpretation skills like that of a fortune teller, and shields to protect against arrows that fly, and spears that are thrown, from those who are angry and just “getting it out of their systems” – the anger is so old and deep, that it might not be obvious the origin. you can get hurt. you will sustain lifelong scars. will it kill you? you do not know that. only God knows the answers. we pray that this is not part of the fallout.

so, you appeal to God in prayers. you might say, “hey God, i’m sorry that i haven’t been that attentive to my thankfulness and my gratitude lately. i’m sorry that i have hurt people, not intending to do that, but somehow through my thoughts, words, and deeds where those landed and people felt that i was doing something against them. you cannot predict or control how this goes. grace, here lately, has not been something that people are considering much. forgiveness is a concept that has not yet been included because it maybe is not time to do this for people who have felt hurt and down driven for a goodly period of time. this would come much later. usually. if it does.

we are here, the day before the big thanksgiving celebration and it is a somber one this year. since this time a year ago, many things have transpired. yet, we do need to think about those gifts in life for which we are grateful. if we look outward, we see that we have many gifts.

we have family, albeit some are in a period of instability. we are grateful to be in their lives, and will pray for resolution and healing for their troubled times.

we have our friends. friendship is a rich gift of being a human in this life. thanks are due for these friends.

we have a sunny day, after an overnight storm.

we have a roof over our heads, food on the table, and are not wearing rags and without shoes.

we know people who are fighting illnesses who have lived another day, and are grateful and full of grace. for those who lost their battles and have moved on, we are grateful for having them in our lives, as this was a gift to us.

we know people who are fighting instability in their lives, and we will pray for them. they have lost jobs, they are having relationship issues, or other problems in their lives. we will pray for them to overcome these challenges. having challenges as a human is part of living. we pray that the challenges do not overcome us, but that we overcome them.

most of all, we have love in our lives in many forms. we have love in our hearts. we do know that this comes from God’s universe and is within us, despite what we hear on the news, each of us has love within us. we only need to call upon the power of love and what wonders it can do to heal mankind, if we let it in.

on this eve of thanksgiving here in the USA, may the grace of God be upon you, within you, all over you and those with whom you are connected. we watch and pray for goodness and strength for good to come and in the next cycle, to anticipate thankfulness for the gifts of love in our lives.

November 23, 2016

November 23, 2016
my problem and how I solved it…

the title of this post is from an old column that used to run in The Readers Digest magazine. It used to tell about how someone had a really tough life problem and how they got the problem, then how they solved it – or how things got better. there were other columns that ran, and I used to read these sitting in the laundromat, waiting for my clothes to dry, especially. must have been that people dumped off their old magazines at the laundromat, and that was a good thing for those of us who sat for hours and did the laundry once a week – not being able to afford a washer and dryer where they lived – students, young workers, and who knows who else. it’s where we were and how we did things like this.

yeah, my college and young career life was like that. day by day, work my way up – had to earn every bit of it, no question in my mind – it was how it was done, back then. still is, truth be told.

we talked to some students about careers today. I think that what is most interesting at the end of the talks these days is the noticeable lack of questions. here is the opportunity to be proactive, and few take advantage. about three to be exact. some just listened and watched, and I wondered what they were thinking. I tried to make eye contact with everyone of the students who attended.

it is an interesting thing as you get older in your career, how you think about your early career and how differently people approach careers these days compared to that. we did not have “mobile devices” and we did not have “instant everything”, but, regardless of changes, today is much the same — it is still a world of work, where you must figure out where the little door is to get on the train, and begin that career journey – kind of like Harry Potter at the train station… I love that part of the movie – the first one – where they are looking for their train stop.

likely some of the people were “sheerly” terrified today, listening about the “insights” that we were trying to give them, probably thinking “yikes, I screwed up – it is the eleventh hour and I haven’t done what they said.” well, it’s never too late.

thinking of starting miz magic’s mentoring site for people who really want to get a job, want to work once they get there, don’t mind working, and don’t feel like the job and all that comes with should be “handed to them on a silver platter. voila, where’s the orange sauce?” more it might be “get that damned thing out of your hand, stop staring at it, stop texting, and pay attention!” or, “you want a manager job and you’ve only been here two years? fuggeduboudit – you will need to work your ass off, just like I did and my boss did and yes, you might have to do some boring shit, but guess what? we all have had to do boring stuff, sometimes for years, but that is how we learned about real work. sorry, movies are fiction. and no, you can’t bring rover to work with you and no, there is not a keg in the break room fridge…” “get over it, get a cup of coffee and get to it!”

career development advice. never stop learning, get used to learning from failure, and do the hard boring stuff, it builds character. ’nuff said.

November 14, 2016
armageddon

Before I went to sleep last night (with difficulty), I prayed that something would change what I knew in my gut was happening. incredible. unimaginable. how in God’s green earth could people be so stupid as to elect disruption into an already disrupted world? the provocation that likely will ensue is one that even with a little imagination might take nightmarish proportions. now, I am wondering just how long after inauguration day it will take to begin unfolding.

will a year from now, there be the song playing, “How Do You Like Me Now?” as we have seen our nation go down in flames (possibly literally so)? be careful what you wish for… and the sad thing is that few who voted for this man realize that he will not be able to do a damned thing to help them out of their pain – nor does he even care about them or want to help. mark my words. this is not reality television – this is reality.

I have not in my six decades and twelve election cycles ever felt this level of fear, despair and total concern for the welfare of our country, and all of my family who live here. For my grandson, my precious little one, what will happen? When he is entering kindergarten, or first grade, will his world be very different or will there be so little left for him that life will be a tough row?

running a country is not like running failing businesses and being a television personality. you can’t “deal” your way out of certain situations by bullying people and making “power plays”. you can’t parade your “glam fam” and have serious leaders have respect for you. I suspect that waking up this morning for “The Donald” might be having a very sobering effect on his personality. now he has to deliver or risk ridicule beyond his wildest imagination – the push-back will be real, the shoulders will be cold, and when he cannot walk the walk, his followers will go against him like no one will believe – and they are armed, and they are dangerous.

God help us. The world is at real risk now. Like never before, it is truly going to be a rocky road ahead…

November 9, 2016