Dear Reader:

Yesterday was a  chilly Saturday morning following a dark, turbulent week in our country’s history…I think many of us feel like the Calgon beauty bath commercial… just” Take me away.” 

In fact…I found myself yesterday morning pulling up the top ten most beautiful places in the world, then the United States, and finally the top ten sites within 200 miles of where one lived. *(Thus the title picture of the Blue Ridge Parkway over-looking the Appalachian Mountains. It is breath-taking!)

…And that brings us to another special need. Because Covid is at its worst again… we are more isolated and secluded from loved ones and support than ever before… a comfort especially needed during this political crisis.

…In fact I just read that three cities and certain regions in my own state had a national “report card” depicting Covid cases that have increased over 33%…Good Grief Charlie Brown!

“Calgon…Take me away!”

I found a picture of one of the most magnificent waterfalls in the world… located in southern Iceland along the “Ring Road.” Luke and Chelsey were so enthusiastic after visiting this country a couple of years ago…they were ready to pack up and move there. After seeing this photo (that looks like something in a Disney animated movie or our imagination at its best) I see why.

When we see all this beauty God planned for us to enjoy throughout our visit to this world…doesn’t it make us sad, as human beings, that we waste so much of it in conflicts with each other?

Since most of us just can’t pick up and move…then the next best thing is creating our own “utopia” around us… right where we live…all we have to do is turn to God and use His God-given gift of imagination in us…or simply look at life through new lenses.

In other words…“Things don’t change. We change.” (Henry David Thoreau.)

I was watching an old 1940’s black and white movie the other night…actually a comedy…In it there was this one comedic actor who kept yelling “That’s a CAPITAL idea…Splendid…Splendid.”

Now Post-Wednesday- I only pray that one day we can once again see the gold dome on the Capitol Building shining brilliantly in the sun’s rays…and be proud that our democracy continues to shine amid strife and turbulence…while shouting out to the world “Democracy…what a “Capital” idea…Splendid…Splendid.”

So until tomorrow…

A motivational speaker one time (at the beginning of our school year) said something that has stuck with me all my life…“By just being born in this country…we have already won the greatest lottery in the world.”

Let’s all pause and think about this world and our place in it… recognize our good fortune… in spite of all the challenges that life brings …injustices, along with inequalities…America’s starting block is still ahead of the starting line for so many of our other brothers and sisters in humanity… born in different places round the world where they have  no voice, rights, or even dreams to follow.

We should begin…in gratitude and then collectively work for a “more perfect union.” Democracy isn’t a stagnant type of government…but one that is always changing and evolving….It has been labeled the most difficult type of government in the world…  but also one worth the struggle.