Learn To Forgive Yourself

If God has forgiven you your past, you have no right to continue clinging to it.
—   Alex Rebello
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On This Day In:
2019	I Walk Faster (Too)
2018	Modern Day Behaviour
2017	On Misogynist Tweets From #DumbDonald
2016	Cowboy Boots & Missing Teeth
	Or Electricity
2015	Oh, To Be Vulnerable
2014	Neglected Horror
2013	The Price Of Illusions
2012	Once Again
2011	And The “Market” Isn’t Always Right

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At Least Until The Rainbow Comes

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.  It’s about learning to dance in the rain.
—    Vivian Greene
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On This Day In:
2019	And/Or A Great Soulmate
	Austen Stalking
2018	Dead Red
	You Ain’t Done Yet
2017	Just Because
2016	As Close As They Can Get
2015	And So I Blog
2014	Take Flight
2013	Contributing Joy
2012	More Than A Race
2011	Institutionalized Leadership

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Know Love

The best way to know God is to love many things.
—   Vincent Van Gogh
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On This Day In:
2019	Spoiler Alert
2018	Tic-Toc
2017	Explaining Working Class Support For Donald
2016	Not In My Experience
2015	Effort
2014	Honest Wants
2013	Faith, n.
2012	Surprise Me
2011	Confused With Truth

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Still Learning

No man ever prayed heartily without learning something.
—  Ralph Waldo Emerson
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On This Day In:
2019	Almost Hallmark
	Beyond All Reason
2018	Daydreams And Wanna-Be’s
	Or Work For #45
2017	Summer Pale
2016	Ain’t It Funny
2015	At Both Ends
2014	Whiner(s)
2013	Just Passing Through
2012	Dog-gone Heaven
2011	Occasional, Sad Results

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Two Loves

You can be a follower of Muhammad or Jesus or Buddha or whomever.  Always, they said that the most essential factor is to love your neighbor.  And to love you.
—   Leo Buscaglia
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On This Day In:
2019	Don’t Forget: Fire Burns
2018	Especially In The Middle East
2017	A Good Local
2016	Life Unlimited
2015	Still Trying
2014	Destiny, n.
2013	No Apologies
2012	Utterly Convinced
2011	A Key To Effectiveness

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Necessary Events

If you have experienced even a single moment of real joy in life, and you understand how all the other events in your life were necessary in order to bring this moment about, then you can affirm and justify the totality of your life and find joy in its infinite repetitions.
—  Dennis Sweet
From his introduction to the “new” edition of: “Thus Spoke Zarathustra“
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On This Day In:
2019	I May Have Started Too Soon
2018	But Me
2017	A Little More, Please
2016	In Full Vigor
2015	A Good Lad
2014	Who Dare Not Speak
2013	I Love Beer
2012	Trial By Jury
2011	First Class
	Got Knowledge?

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Trying To Grow Pearls?

The Master had no use at all for scholarly discourses.  He called them “pearls of wisdom.”  “But if they are pearls, why do you scorn them?” said the disciples.  “Have you ever known pearls to grow when planted in a field?” was the reply.
—    Anthony de Mello, SJ
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On This Day In:
2019	Instantly Turned
2018	Sitting
2017	No Right Way
2016	Still Ticklish
2015	Maybe Sooner Than You Think
2014	The Path Of Mastery
2013	Love’s Ignorance
2012	Here’s To Enjoyment
2011	Not Just The Facts, Ma’am

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I’m From Missouri

[The Sunday following Easter Sunday is the day Catholics are reminded of the story of “Doubting Thomas“:
19 In the evening of that same day [Easter], the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews.  Jesus came and stood among them.  He said to them, ‘Peace be with you,’
20 and, after saying this, he showed them his hands and his side.  The disciples were filled with joy at seeing the Lord,
21 and he said to them again, ‘Peace be with you.  ‘As the Father sent me, so am I sending you.‘
22 After saying this he breathed on them and said: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven; if you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.‘
24 Thomas, called the Twin, who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples said to him, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ but he answered, ‘Unless I can see the holes that the nails made in his hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I refuse to believe.’
26 Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with them.  The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them.  ‘Peace be with you,’ he said.
27 Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands.  Give me your hand; put it into my side.  Do not be unbelieving any more but believe.‘
28 Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and my God!’
29 Jesus said to him: ‘You believe because you can see me.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.‘
30 There were many other signs that Jesus worked in the sight of the disciples, but they are not recorded in this book.
31 These are recorded so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name.
[In my lifetime, I have been a believer, an agnostic, an atheist, and an on-again / off-again believer / agnostic.  I am currently a believer (with doubts).  My doubts are not about God.  My doubts are about the Church and religion I CHOOSE to follow.  As a practicing Catholic, I simply cannot tolerate the child abuse scandals which have come to light in the past few decades.  I recognize the Church is made up of individuals and sometimes they can be spiritually weak and fail in their personal duties and responsibilities.  But I cannot accept the institutional toleration of crimes against children (or the elderly).  I believe the arc of history bends towards justice.  I believe the touch of the Holy Spirit guides the Church on its own arc towards justice.  I believe in a just AND a loving God.  I do not fear God’s wrath against the Church of my faith as much as I dread God’s indifference in a time of need.  I am still waiting for this generation of Church leaders to ACT.  Justice will come.  The question which remains to be answered is whether today’s leaders place greater value on the followers or on the institution?  By your acts we shall know you.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Before & After
	Quiet, Please!
2018	Heavy On The Starch
2017	But The Beginning Of What?
2016	Today’s Rule
2015	Remembering Oklahoma City
2014	Who Was That Masked Man?
2013	Enemy Mine
2012	Strengthen Me
2011	Service, Please
2010	The Church In Crisis…

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Neither Alone, Nor Lonely

In America, all most of us are being asked to do is stay home, sit on our butts and watch television.  Why are folks acting like this is this so difficult a request?
Happy Easter, everyone!!  Christ is Risen!!  My God counts the insects, the birds, the plants, the fish, the animals and the grains of sand.  And if you are not a Christian, then stay safe anyway.  If you are reading this, know that you and yours are in my prayers and in my positive thoughts…  Namaste!
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On This Day In:
2019	That’s Why It’s Called Faith
2018	So We Agree, #45 Is Dumb – Too
2017	The Morality Of Spying
2016	He Doesn’t Remind Me Of Me
	The First Rule
2015	Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow
	The Man Without Fear
2014	I Blame Robocop
2013	Future Trustees
2012	Praise Not The Day…
2011	Educated Living

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#IncompetentTrump Administration Faces A Pandemic

If it can be destroyed by the truth, it deserves to be destroyed by the truth.
—  Carl Sagan
[We’ve already seen #LyingDonald get his personal doctor to write a bogus physical prior to the election.  We’ve already seen #LyingDonald get his White House physician to lie about his health, weight and diet.  Now we get to see if #LyingDonald can get the heads of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) to stand behind him and lie to the American public about a pandemic and national health emergency in the making.  Lying will not save lives.
I asked someone I know what his company is doing to prepare for a possible pandemic…  He replied they’ve adapted the GOP response to the epidemic of mass gun violence:  “thoughts and prayers” for those affected.  I’m sure it will be every bit as effective as putting Vice-President Pence in charge of the Federal Government’s response to the Corona Virus.  —  KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2019	Hearts Torn In Every Way
2018	Recently Seen On A T-shirt:
2017	Rhythmical Creation
2016	In The Beginning
2015	False Gods
2014	But Sometimes Careers Choose People
2013	Pretty Sure Of Uncertainty
2012	Face Reality
2011	Intelligent Luck

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Precious Life

Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious.  If a human disagrees with you, let him live.  In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.
—  Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2019	Nothing Is Too Difficult For Me
	Patterns Of Caring
2018	And May Never Be
2017	Don’t Forget
2016	I Was A Percentage Man
2015	It Waits Patiently
2014	Unknown
2013	Explaining Love?
2012	Echoes of 1%
2011	Salaam, Egypt!!
	Where Do You Learn?

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The Burden Of Faith

Those who never rebelled against God or at some point in their lives shaken their fists in the face of heaven, have never encountered God at all.
—  Catherine Marshall
We cannot bear to regard ourselves simply as playthings of blind chance; we cannot admit to feeling ourselves abandoned.
—  Ugo Betti
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On This Day In:
2019	Are Your Dogs Barking?
	Dangerous Waistcoats
2018	And 40+ Years Later?
2017	He Is Alone
2016	Compensation
2015	Charlie Redux
2014	The Crux
2013	Erosion And Rechannelling
	Alliance, n.
2012	How Many Thought… (One I Know Of)
	Choices And Decisions
2011	Speed Spoils
	Simply Intended
2010	A Second 4 Hour Jog

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Each Meaning

There is not one big cosmic meaning for all, there is only the meaning we each give to our own life.
—  Anais Nin
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On This Day In:
2019	The Deep End
	Is Anyone ELSE Out There Listening?
2018	Defining Characteristic
2017	Just Asking
2016	Still A Burden
	15 And Counting
2015	All A Game
2014	Two Thoughts
2013	RIP – Dear Abby
	Half-Life Problems
2012	To The Soul…
2011	Reverted!!

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Still Crazy After All These Years…

If a man would follow, today, the teachings of the Old Testament, he would be a criminal.  If he would follow the teachings of the new, he would be insane.
—  Robert G. Ingersoll
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On This Day In:
2019	20 / 20 Foresight
	He Knew Damned Well…
2018	Be Someone’s Kindling
2017	When The Moment Comes
2016	Changed Clothes Lately?
2015	Like Stone
2014	Resistance Is Futile
2013	Subtle Humor
	To Look Behind Green Eyes
2012	The Path Is Endless
2011	Happy MLK, Jr Day!!!
	A Factor Of Ten
	Better Late Than Never?
	Whoops!
	Acceptable Beginnings
	Slow Progress
	Useful Confrontation
	When Phenomena Are Different
	Creative Avoidance
	Thinking
	Fast And Flexible
	Surrender Certainty
	Techniques
	Vive La Difference
	Destiny
	Completeness
	Art

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A Profound Source

Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.  When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual.  So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr.  The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both.
―  Carl Sagan
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On This Day In:
2019	Sad Words
2018	Self-Sorted
2017	Right
2016	At Least One Step
2015	Month To Month Rental
2014	Professional Beliefs
2013	Books Are…
2012	True Distinguishing Marks
2010	Sub-300

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