WILL YOU BE THE NEXT VICTIM? CHANGING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS - DAY 152

There was a time in this country when a murder was a rarity in most cities and towns, and killing seemed to be confined to wars.  When a murder occurred it was on the front page of every newspaper, and before TV it would also be on the radio news.  Today it is no longer a rarity but rather an epidemic. Gang members are killing other gang members.  Children are being abused, assaulted and killed.  College students are being killed, spouses are being killed by spouses, significant others are killed by significant others, neighbors killing neighbors, and now young children are killing parents, teachers, and students.  This is not about owning guns. This is about parenting, education, mental health, accountability, and responsibility.

We have arrived at a time when too many people no longer respect or value life ..........not their own nor the life of anyone else.  If you are a parent have you taught your children to respect life, to value life, to love life? What about you?  Do you respect and value life?  Are you participating in their education?  Do you give them responsibility and hold them accountable?  Do you hold yourself accountable?  If your answer to any of these questions is negative, then it is time you started to do the right things..  If you have grandchildren are they being taught to appreciate life and to know how fragile it is?  If you do not teach them who will?

I am saddened to say this, but we have become a nation of pigs.  Greed and self-absorption abound at all ages and in all occupations and professions.  Lies have become the coin of the realm.  The anger and rage which are rampant, and the total lack of respect for anyone or anything exhibited by far too many people today will become the downfall of all of us.  Think about our children and grandchildren.  What kind of life can they expect to have?  Between the pigs and the ridiculous politicians we are paying to treat us less well than they treat themselves, I fear their lives will be a living hell.

Only we can change things, and the first thing we must believe and share with others is that

LIFE MATTERS! 

Love, Sweet Love

Back in the late 60's or early 70's there was a song with lyrics that said, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love.  It's the only thing that there's just too little of..................."  Yesterday I was speaking with my daughter who lives in Manhattan.  Because of the recent tragedy at the Empire State Building we talked of  many things:

• the insanity in today's world, 
• the senseless crimes, 
• the red flags that are ignored which could prevent tragedies,
• the rage and anger exhibited by many people, 
• the killing and wounding of innocent people, 
• the bickering, dishonesty, and lack of action of our elected representatives, 
• the insane greed and lust for power, money, and 15 minutes of fame,
• the overwhelming national debt,
• the millions of people looking for jobs,
• the loss of moral compasses by many people,
• the ever-increasing numbers of homeless people and addicts of every kind,
• the looting and stealing of other people's property by thugs,
• the destruction of property over stupid things like a sporting event won or lost,
• the great lack of respect for authority, anything or anyone, 
• the huge number of single mothers and abdication of responsibility by fathers,
• the boys who think that they are tough because they belong to gangs and are no strangers to drive-by shootings and other criminal acts,
• the ridiculous mismanagement of funds in cities, towns, and states causing the loss of needed protection provided by police, fire fighters, and our military.  
• and so many, many more issues that taint life in the world today.

You will notice we did not mention natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, floods, fires,  hurricanes or tornadoes as they are things over which humans have no control. The problems we discussed are all man made and, therefore, in truth can be resolved by mankind if we are inclined to fix them.  We talked about things that could, should, or might be done to resolve the problems and make the world a better, safer place.

We believe the thing that could start to make things better is LOVE.  All children and adults need love, compassion and kindness, and when they don't get it anger, rage, and bad behavior are the results.  There have always been evil people and evil acts, and there are people who have been loved but still choose to go down a wrong path in life. Many people want to fight, quarrel, kill, threaten, attack, and generally behave like jerks.  Love, kindness and compassion can help many of them and, over time, prevent the numbers from increasing.

Such a simple answer but a true answer.  Will we all ask ourselves what do we do that we need to stop doing, and what do we not do that we need to start doing?  Will we begin in our own homes, on our own streets, in our own cities and towns?  Bad people and bad deeds make the daily news, but there are still millions of good people in this world who are never mentioned................there are enough good people so that we could turn the world around if we join forces and decide to do it.

"What the world needs now is love, sweet love......................"  How about it?  Are you in?

How Do Humans Become Capable Of Atrocious Acts?

There is so much going on in many parts of the world which involves killing and torturing people. I continue to be appalled and alarmed at how vicious and violent people can be. This morning I attended Mass at a Catholic Church with one of my neighbors. As I looked at the exquisitely carved crucifix behind the altar, it occurred to me that crucifixion was one of the earliest forms of torture and execution. Throughout the service I watched the figure of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. I began to ask myself, "How in the world could any person look at another person still alive, nailed to a cross, and think that it was acceptable to do such a thing to anyone for any reason?" I watch the events of the world unfold during the evening news; I see gangs killing members of other gangs as well as innocent children. I see people found guilty of molesting the very children whom they were employed to teach and keep safe. I see people being terrified, tormented, injured and killed by order of barbaric dictators. I see people killed because of religious persecution. I see people being threatened with nuclear weapons. I see the United States being threatened by a leader of another country who does not even know us but would have no compunction about blowing all of us to smithereens. Every person in the world comes into life as a pure, innocent, little baby. What causes any of them as adults to become so hardened, so greedy for power and wealth, and so dysfunctional that they are amoral or immoral? We as parents have both a great responsibility and a great privilege to raise our children so they do not become perpetrators of atrocious acts. Are we not paying attention? Are we too busy? Are we not interested in parenting? Are we ourselves bad role models? Do we want our little ones to grow up in a world that is filled with hatred, unkindness and danger? If not, then we darn well better do something about it.........each and every one of us in our own home has the opportunity to make the world a better place for our children and all future generations. Why would we NOT want to do it?

My Heartfelt Sympathy And My Growing Hatred

The niece of a dear friend of mine is expecting her first baby in about a week. Her young husband was murdered last week after being robbed in their driveway as he arrived home from work. There are no words to adequately express my sorrow for his young wife, their unborn child, their parents and siblings, and their friends. I find more and more that my feelings of disgust and disdain for the wicked, evil people of the world are evolving into feelings of actual hatred for their actions and attitudes. I hate their crimes, their lack of respect for anything or anyone, their failure to value any life, their cowardly inability to face life and accept responsibility as decent human beings, their stupidity, their arrogance, and the burden they become on society when they are finally apprehended, found guilty and punished. I hate that they live on while their innocent victims do not. I hate that our judicial system is not always just, and I hate that our prisons are overflowing. I hate that we coddle criminals and provide them with better living conditions than homeless families with children whose only crime is poverty. I hate whatever happened or didn't happen in the lives of the wicked people that caused them to make such wrong choices. I hate that some parents abuse and/or neglect their children. I hate that some parents fail to teach their children right from wrong, that they tolerate and encourage disrespectful behavior, that they do not set good examples for their offspring to emulate. I hate that we have a society where deceit, duplicity, greed, avarice, and corruption flourish among those people we elect to represent us and govern our cities, counties, states and country. If good people still outnumber bad people (and I believe they do) then we must do whatever it takes to ensure this new baby and all children can grow up in a better world. We cannot do everything, but each of us can do something and all of our somethings can add up to everything.

Christmas and Chanukah Before Halloween? Greed or Efficiency?

A local newscaster mentioned earlier this week that there were only 95 days left before Christmas. That made me snap to attention. When my mother was alive she would start reminding me at the end of May of the number of days left until the December holidays. Since I spent 20 years in retailing there were many times I was not happy to hear her do her annual count down. I much preferred when I was growing up and September meant Labor Day signaling the end of summer and our return to school (in that order). Halloween was not given a thought until October when creative ideas for costumes started becoming paramount in our minds (of course, then costumes were not big business as they are today). In November we all started looking forward to Thanksgiving which was absolutely a marvelous holiday in so many ways. Growing up in the Midwest we always wished and hoped for the first snowfall to coincide with Thanksgiving (we had a long weekend off from school when sledding, making snowmen, and even ice skating could be enjoyed). Sometimes our wishes came true but usually not so then we began wishing for a White Christmas. We never saw a Christmas ad, a Christmas tree, decoration or Chanukah ad until after Thanksgiving. We always had time to shop and to savor the holidays, the music, the traditions, the food, and the excitement. I have always been annoyed by the huge newspaper ads placed by a major upscale retailer saying that they would not have Christmas decorations in their stores until after Thanksgiving (they neglected to mention that they required employees to work over the Thanksgiving holiday to install the Christmas decorations). With every passing year it seems that retailers in brick and mortar stores and/or on line are desperate to capture holiday sales earlier and earlier. This year I have actually seen Christmas merchandise sharing space with Halloween goods, and it was only the end of August. What do you think? Is it pure and simple greed that makes it necessary to compress all the holidays into one mass sales effort? Is it efficiency that makes it a good idea to capitalize on possible economies of scale by getting all holiday goods out in one fell swoop? Our children are little for such a short time, and it seems to me that to allow each holiday its own special time period might motivate families to shop for each special occasion and to appreciate their local retailers more and more. In the present economy retailers could spread a lot of enjoyment and hope by making each occasion a special one. They might even increase their sales by reminding customers that our country and our world have experienced tough economic times before and came out on the other side to prosper once more. What better public relations tools could there be than enjoyment and hope for the future? With the unemployment rate being so high it may very well be a lean year for retailers, but the good will they can provide in their communities can be an investment in future business when once again we recover and prosper.