Humans Are Like Eggs

Consider the egg when judging a person. People and eggs are very much alike. First eggs are covered in a shell just like people are covered in skin. The color of the egg shell varies from white as snow to spotted, shades of brown, green, blue, and many, many different colors and shades. People vary in color and in shade and are still people just like the egg, regardless of its color, it is still an egg. So, no matter the color, an egg is an egg and a person is a person.

Second, considering the shell and its cleanliness. Regardless of the type of egg, where the egg is, or from where the egg comes, some eggs are dirty, some are covered in poop, and some are pristine. People are no different. Regardless of a person’s circumstances in life, a person may be dirty, covered in undesirable filth, or be pristine. Unlike the egg that has no control over its own cleanliness, the person determines his/her cleanliness. But, either way, clean or dirty, an egg is an egg and a person is a person.

Third, still considering the shell, the strength of the shell varies. Some eggs’ shells are soft and easily broken, others are hard and almost impossible to break, yet others vary in softness and hardness. People are the same way. Some people have hard exteriors making it almost impossible to get to know them, while other people walk around with their emotional state on display for all to see and are easily broken. Other people are some where between the two with both hard and soft emotional exteriors and, depending on circumstances, can be easy or hard to connect with emotionally. Yet, the egg is still an egg and a person is still a person.

Fourth, genealogy is the same for the egg and for people. An eagle will not lay a robin egg, a robin will not lay a duck egg, and an ostrich will not lay an emu egg, but they all lay eggs. However, some birds will lay their eggs in other birds’ nest and abandoned the egg for the other bird to raise the hatchling. Thus, the egg laid will always be the egg of what ever bird laid it. People are the same, a person will be the same race as the person who sired and gave birth to them. If an Irish family has a child, that child will be Irish for example. The child cannot be any other race. However, an Irish family can raise a German child but the German child will genealogy wise always be German. We are what our DNA determines us to be and we cannot change our DNA. Thus, an egg of an eagle is an eagle, and an Irish is always an Irish. But, we can each learn the way of the other races by intermixing and learning their traditions.

Fifth, the inside of the egg remains the same regardless of the exterior, color, or genealogy. The largest egg is the same inside as the smallest egg. Each contain a yolk and a white. No matter the type of egg, it will always have a yolk and a white. A person under the skin is the same. We each have the exact same internal organs as each other person. We are the same exact color under the skin as any other person. When you peel off our skin, we are the same. One person may be large than any other person, but the make up of the internal components are same. Thus, an egg is still an egg, and a person is still a person, and on the inside, they are all the same.

Now, if we consider the five reasons eggs and humans are alike, why do we harbor such hatred for people who are different from us? We are the same with mutual differences regardless of exterior, cleanliness, strength, genealogy, and interior makeup. On the inside an eagle begins just like a hummingbird, from an egg. Each human begins the same, from an egg. So, why do we make such a difference about how we are different from each other. We are the same, divided only by genealogy, color, strength, cleanliness, but still the same when we look inside where it really matters. Is it really that big of a deal to be Irish, Black, Mexican, German, English, etc? Isn’t the most important fact is we are all human and no matter what our differences, we will always be human?

Picture is from https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&id=C1BFAB495FE0A4CFDA580D49B48EFAAEC3871DFA&thid=OIP.P_ku2ScZAVRRL9DaPamvkgFNC7&exph=720&expw=1280&q=Bird+Eggs+Pictures&selectedindex=27&ajaxhist=0&vt=0&eim=1,2,6 ba8

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#MeToo: Shouldn’t We Be Blaming Corporations?

#MeToo started out as a way for women to point out how rampant sexual harassment is within the workplace. Now, it has turned into a witch hunt calling out men for unwanted touches, words, acts, or perceived harassment that didn’t occur a few months or years ago, but years ago when memories no longer serve as accurate renditions of what happened. We have lost sight of the real problem – corporations that ignored the reports, forced the women to sign non-disclosure contracts, or lose their jobs instead of addressing the harassment with the man. Shouldn’t the corporations that allowed the sexual harassment to continue be held accountable for approving the actions of the men simply by default of not addressing the harassment?

 Corporations who do not or did not address the sexual harassment complaint or who threatens the victim approve the activity and send the message to the man that his behavior is acceptable. This is a mixed signal to the man who without correction has no knowledge that his activities are unacceptable. I’m not saying the man should have common sense enough to know his behavior is not acceptable, but in defense of men in general, most men think they are doing nothing wrong unless someone points it out to them. Corporations for years have turned a blind eye to women’s reports of sexual harassment on the job, and they have patted the man on the back without any repercussions.

So, shouldn’t we women be holding the corporations at fault for the misbehavior of the male employee? Are we not placing blame at the feet of the wrong entity when we hold the man responsible and allow the corporation off the hook? Shouldn’t the corporation receive some form of punishment instead of simply firing the man? In most cases, the corporation is in a win-win situation when it fires the man who did the unacceptable behavior and the woman is forced to resign because the corporation is saving money on the salary it would have been paying. Some corporations do a “keep quiet pay-off” to the women, then give the women a bad recommendation, and the man just finds a new job without his bad behavior being an issue. The woman carries a stigma because she must tell new employers that she received a settlement from her last position, but she cannot tell why because of a “non-disclosure contract”. The woman’s ability to find a job becomes severely hampered. The man goes to the next employer, has nothing on his employment record, no “non-disclosure contract”, and nothing to report on an employment application. Corporations have the woman over a barrel because she needs the money until she can find a job, but she can’t find a job because she has a settlement. Seems unfair practice to me because the victim is the one punished.

We need to demand corporations who turn a blind eye to sexual harassment or unequal treatment of women be held accountable for their participation and basic promotions of unacceptable behavior on the job. We need to quit just pointing out the man and yell loud and clear the name of the company who by non-action approves of bad behavior.  Instead of just naming the man, name the corporation, the manager who ignored the situation or threatened with loss of job, the CEO, and/or any other participant in covering up bad behavior. Until corporations’ bottom lines are affected by turning a blind eye, we will not see any permanent changes within the corporate world. The government needs to enforce the civil rights laws and equal employment laws with corporations fining them for violations and sanctioning them for violations. When this happens, permanent changes will be put in place. Corporations will address the issue when their bottom line is affected.

In summary, yes women need to speak up about sexual harassment, but the witch hunt of going back 20, 30, and 40 years needs to stop. People do change, and memory does not serve us well after 5 to 10 years or sometimes 1 to 2 days, but in this case, we need to take things with a grain of salt over 10 years. A young man will behave differently than an older wiser man. Instead of women just naming men, corporations need to be held accountable for ignored unwanted, unacceptable behavior. Laws need to be enforced by the government toward the corporations who allow unacceptable behavior to continue by ignoring reports and by threatening the victim. All entities should be held accountable. Forced non-disclosure contracts should be illegal in the case of the victim losing her job because of reporting bad behavior. When a man is let go for sexual harassment, that should be a part of his employee file and should be reported to the next employer until such time the man demonstrates changed behavior or has received training on appropriate behavior just as the woman’s employment record is disclosed. The victim should not be punished for the acts of a corporation or a badly behaving man. We women should hold the corporations who ignore our complaints responsible for the behavior of the men we work with when the corporations demonstrate to the man his behavior is acceptable by not addressing the complaint with the man and punishing the woman for complaining. Non-action is passive approval of bad behavior.

I Do Believe in Ghost!

The year was 1962 when my family moved from the country to the big city of Garland, TX. A small house on a short street smack dab in the middle. I was only 11 years old and in the sixth grade. Six of us moved in, but within a year only four were living there. One brother went off to the army and the other married. My closest sibling, a sister, was four years older, in high school, and the prettiest girl on the block. The house became more than a house; it became home. It felt like we had finally arrived home.

One year passes with little things happening, but nothing to say the house was haunted until one night, my sister is out on a date, I am in the bed I share with my sister, in the North bedroom. The head of the bed butts up against the wall by the bathroom – a west wall – a single window on the North wall and on the East wall. Nothing stands in the Northeast corner of the room. The bedroom door is closed and I begin to hear music. Suddenly, the room is no longer a small bedroom, but becomes a huge ballroom filled with ladies dressed in the Southern Belle hoop skirts and the men in their grey uniforms dancing. Just outside the ballroom is a huge staircase that curves up to an open balcony. A couple breaks off from the crowd, walks to the bottom of the staircase, he pulls her close to him and kisses her on the lips. A dark-haired woman stands at the top of the stairs holding a small baby. The couple move to the huge double front door and outside onto a porch. She stands at the top of the steps while the man moves to the bottom where another man in a grey uniform holds a beautiful white horse. The woman waves, the man mounts the horse and rides down the tree lined road away from the house. The image fades, the music stops, and my sister opens the bedroom door just home from her date.

Following the image, things begin happening on a regular basis. Taking a shower, you hear the bathroom door open, see the shadow of a person walk across the room to the commode, hear the lid raise and someone peeing, the commode flushes, the faucet turns on, and then the person walks out of the room. Open the shower curtain, no one is there. Close the shower curtain and the chain of events continue. My mother complains that I’m putting the knives into the knife drawer blade up. I swear I am not, but every morning, the knives are all turned blade up. Cigarettes are found burning on the counter, but all doors are locked and no one in the house smokes. Children are heard playing with another child in the North bedroom, but no adult can see the child. Lights go on and off on their own. My parents come home to a glue-like substance all over the walls and the stove, but all doors are locked. Plants move on their own with no wind blowing. Little things that say something is here, but not what that something is. The East wall of the North bedroom always had music playing in it, old music like the old southern days.

After I married and had two children, my family was temporarily living with my parents in the same house. My husband was asleep in the South bedroom. My mother and I were sitting up in the living room talking. My husband gets up, comes into the living room as white as a sheet, and ask if either of us were in the bedroom. We told him no. He then tells us that he heard something rustling through the papers on the desk then would walk over to the window, rustle the venetian blinds and repeat. Once after the rustle at the desk, my husband jumped up out of bed, turned on the light, and no one was there. He turned the light back off and the rustle at the blinds happened again followed by the rustle at the desk. That night, after my husband left for work, I went to bed and once again saw a vision. A different dark-haired woman running down the same tree lined road toward the man getting on the horse. She was carrying a huge knife which she used to stab the man and the woman.

Not long after this, the neighbor on the East side backed his pickup truck into my parents’ fence. In the process of digging up the fence post, we uncovered a Texas Rangers badge, women’s button up shoes, and a pair of men’s old boots. On the North side of the house under the window was found a pair of baby’s socks with a noose tied around them. The music in the wall intensified. My mother tried to get rid of the socks, shoes, and boots but they would mysteriously reappear out of the trash. Something wanted those items to stay at the house.

A few years later, mom is taking care of me after major surgery. I am sleeping in that same North bedroom with the bed in the same place and the door closed. The door opens and someone looks in staring at me then the door closes. I ask, “Who is there?” No one answers. I get up and go to the room where the family is watching television and asked them if anyone had come to the bedroom. No one had been in the bedroom. The next day, my husband decides to clean up my parents’ yard and shed. He takes the baby socks, ladies shoes, and men’s boots and tosses them on top of the debris in the back of his pickup. I go out the front door to tell him that lunch is ready. As I step out the door, the storm door slams closed on my robe almost pitching me off the porch. My husband is not out front. I go to the back door, step out onto the porch and start to step onto the top step when something grabs my ankle and twist. I fell with a very nasty twisted foot down two steps to the patio. My husband picks me up and carries me into the house. We wrap my foot and he helps me into the dining room to eat. He sits at the head of the table and behind him is a hutch with a large heavy flower vase sitting behind a two-inch ledge on top of the hutch. We see the arrangement raise straight up, move out over the ledge, and come, vase first down toward my husband’s head. We yell, and he moves just in time for the vase to hit him in the back instead of the head.

After we finished our meal, he takes all the debris including the socks, shoes, and boots to the city dump. To our astonishment, the paranormal activity slowed. No more music in the wall, but things would disappear, all one had to do was speak to the air and say, “Bring it back,” and suddenly the item would reappear. Yes, knives still turned blade up overnight, lights still turned on and off on their own, flowers moved without wind, someone used the restroom, and images of people could be seen walking in the house, but no more harmful activity, just pranks. The last time I was there, the ghost took my comb and brush, but brought it back. It especially loved playing tricks on my current husband. I haven’t been back in the house since 2008. I am told the house is still haunted. The house behind our house had several suicides, two while I lived there. So, do I believe in ghost? That answer is a definite YES! Do I believe that ghost can be hostile? Absolutely I believe they can be hostile. If you see things, hear things, smell things, feel things, or lose things maybe, just maybe it is a ghost.

My Two Cents:

I am not racist. I am not for the far right nor the far left. But, I believe we are going down a slippery slope when we start removing symbols that “offend” some and are honored by others.

 

In the not to distant past, the Atheist wanted all religious symbols especially crosses removed from State and Federal land as well as all mention of Christmas stricken from any business, government, or school facility. Why? Because it “offended” them. People bowed to their wishes virtually ignoring the rights of the people who wanted the symbols to stay and considered those symbols apart of their daily lives. Now, we have a group of people (far left) yelling for all symbols of the Confederacy to be pulled down – this would not only be statues, but any monument such as Stone Mountain and the Antebellum Mansion in Georgia. These people are trampling on the rights of those who honor these symbols either out of allegiance to their heritage or to a warped sense of ownership. Why do they want these symbols torn down? They want them torn down to secure their own rights to live without what they consider hateful images representative of slavery and the division of our country. This want is in disregard for the rights of those who want the symbols to stay.

 

If our government bows to this far leftist ideology, what will be next? Will we tear down the Alamo because it offends Mexican Americans? Will we change the name of New Orleans because it offends those of French heritage? Will we destroy vessels and statues of WWI and WWII because it offends Germans, Italians, and Japanese? Will we destroy the landing of the Mayflower because it offends the Native American Indian? Will we destroy all houses of worship? Will we ban people practicing their own beliefs? Will we censor all books, speeches, public forums, and media because it does not agree with the current “politically correct” beliefs? Is this not what Hitler did in Germany that ended up killing so many Jews and dividing a world? The far left says they only want equality, but in seeking “equality” they are condemning anyone who does not hold their same beliefs, thoughts, wants, and practices. The far left condemns the Neo Nazis but are basically doing the exact thing they are condemning the Neo Nazis for doing – seeking to control out of superiority over anyone who does not hold their same beliefs.

 

So, where do we draw the line? Where do we stop the madness and quit trampling on each other’s rights out of a skewed sense of our own rights? Where do we stop and say let us all live together in a cohesive world allowing each other to hold personal beliefs without condemnation? Isn’t that what the United States was founded upon – the ability to hold personal beliefs without condemnation, persecution, or prosecution? This madness must stop before we become so divided that we cannot stand against the true enemy who is rejoicing in watching this great country falter, stumble, and eventually fall.

Comey’s Testimony Before Senate Intel Committee

I’m watching Comey’s testimony. Idiots asking the same questions over and over. Each one has to have their 12 minutes of predetermined questions I guess. Would seem they would listen to previous questions, write down what Comey is saying, and then ask pertinent follow-up questions. Not a one of the questioners are taking notes about his answers. Take NOTES dummies. No wonder it takes so long and so much to get something done in the government!

Yes, sounds to me like Trump did insinuate to Comey to stop the investigation of Flynn, but he never definitively said to stop the investigation. Because Comey is saying the same thing over and over I must accept his testimony as fact. I’ve heard no inconsistency in his testimony. On the other hand, the Attorney General under Obama tried to influence the FBI investigation and reporting of how the FBI reported and handled the Clinton/Weiner email fiasco. The then Attorney General tried to get the FBI to shape investigation toward a political agenda not toward the facts. Should the Attorney General be on testifying before the Senate for obstruction of justice? That answer to me is very clear because she did order the FBI director to do something that was illegal, and Comey complied with the news media disregarding the wording the Attorney General wrote out for him to report. Thus, two different Presidents and a candidate attempting to influence the way the FBI handles an investigation.

In watching this fiasco, I do believe Trump made many mistakes in dealing with this situation; however, he did not do anything that is against the law. What I do see is a division between questions of Democrats and Republicans. One party is looking for answers to impeach, and one is looking for answers to put an end to the current fiasco. Although, I can say, some of both parties seem to be impartial looking for answers not working a particular agenda. Interesting that a question was posed to Comey if he would have been fired by Clinton, and Comey said he didn’t know, but he possibly would have been. I wonder if we would have this fiasco going on if that had happened? That is a question for everyone to ponder.

The most disturbing part of Comey’s testimony is not what happened with Trump, but the number of attempts to hack into many private, non-profit, government, and public companies by other countries and individuals for many, many years. Comey testified that Obama did nothing to take action when briefed by Comey to stop the attempts, and Trump seemed to down play them actually dismissing them as fake news. In my opinion, this is a more serious problem than Trump firing Comey and Trump insinuating that the investigation be dropped about Flynn. People, we are a cyber world. In intrusion into our cyber operations is a very serious matter. It would seem that we should be actively pursuing, setting up means to pursue, establish a department to pursue, and a committee to oversee cyber attacks against private, public, and government entities. We need to take this very, very serious!

Back to the Comey testimony. Senator Cain (sp) is the only Senator that has voiced a reasonable question about how dangerous the cyber intrusions are, and that they will continue posing a danger to the United States. Makes one wonder if our country also participates in cyber intrusions into other countries, and the answer to that question is something Obama said after the Russian intrusion during the elections. Obama suggested that the United States would retaliate in like manner which suggest the U.S. actively participates in cyber intrusions into other countries private, public, and government entities. So, if we think of that, then it is tit-for-tat.

The deeper into testimony we go, the questioners are beginning to ask different questions allowing Comey to elaborate on his previous answers. One thing I am uncomfortable with is testimony should not include personal feelings or takes on a situation, but should be held to fact. Many of the questioners are asking if Comey “felt” like or “had a feeling” about a situation. We all have different takes on a situation. As President Clinton testified once, “It depends on what the meaning of is, is.” What is to one is not necessarily what is, is to another. If you ask a group of people to describe a scene, each person will describe the scene differently. That is why facts must be testimony not “feelings.”

I would love to be the fly on the wall in the closed meeting to follow the public testimony. The real questions will be answered during the closed session. Because the closed testimony will contain classified information that cannot be made public due to protecting this great country, it will be interesting to see if any leaks occur. No leaks should occur if the Senators are sincere about protecting our country. Any leaks will tell me that the Senators are on a witch hunt not actively seeking truth to protect this country. The leaks are going to have to stop. We have too much information going out that is both accurate and inaccurate that is undermining our country. We the people do not have the right to know every little detail. We elect our Congressmen and President to handle the problems that could have adverse effects on this country.

Our news media has got to stop sensationalizing fake and real news. Agendas of liberal and conservative news media must not be part of reporting. Our news media has a responsibility to report accurate, relevant news. The news media should not be bias. When you have a bias media, people have no accurate bases for forming opinion. A bias news media forms peoples opinions and does not allow people to form their own opinions. The news media should not be in the business of forming opinion when reporting news stories, but can use the editorial pages to write of personal opinion. When personal opinion is placed on editorial pages, people know this is personal not fact. When opinion is hidden with news reports, people have no what of knowing what is personal opinion and actual fact. Our news media must stop trying to influence, form, or push forward an agenda that fits his staff or owners personal philosophy.

In summing up, what I have learned watching Comey’s testimony is that:

• Comey is truthful in his testimony.
• Trump did insinuate Comey should drop the investigation into Flynn.
• Trump did not break the law in which impeachment would be necessary, but did cross ethical lines.
• Trump was not happy with Comey not pledging allegiance to Trump.
• Our cyber system is under constant attack by both private and foreign government entities.
• The investigation into Russian cyber attack during the election is still underway.
• Personal agenda does exist within the Senate Intel Committee
• The hands of previous Attorney General Lynch’s hands were very dirty in conflict of interest when it came to Clinton and should be investigated and held accountable.
• This investigation against Trump is a witch hunt that unfortunately must be followed to the end because of the bias within our government and news media.
• Trump will be brought up for impeachment by the Democrats in order to prove their delving into this and the leaks both accurate and fake were worth the tax payers dollars spent.
• The Press is the main culprit in undermining both FBI, Trump, and Congress to do their jobs because they are printing fake and accurate classified information that should be held back in order for a thorough investigation to go forward.

We as a people need to demand that Congress get on with the business of running our government and quit pointing fingers, spreading lies and gossip, and holding back on press conferences to prove their candidate should have won and the other candidate should have lost. We the people need a Congress that has OUR best interest at hand not their political party’s best interest at hand. We need to get the big checkbooks out of Congress that influence their decision making, and bring them back to the people instead of answering to the lobbyist and private interest groups that try to run our country without consideration for the needs of WE THE PEOPLE.

Living in the Dark Place

She rises in the morning with a smile and happiness in her heart. She tries to greet each day with renewed hope and joy. She hears him as he goes about his morning routine and prays this day will be different, it will be better. She combs her hair, splashes water on her face, and steps out of the bedroom ready to greet the man she has loved for many years. She wishes him a good morning, but he doesn’t respond. She makes the coffee and sets two cups out to be filled with the morning wake up drink. She hears him as he pounds away on his phone or computer grumbling because once again, something is working the way it should. She squares up her shoulders and heads into the room.

She breathes deep, still smiling, still hopeful, still praying for a better day, but those hopes are short lived. He growls when she asks how he is feeling. She picks up her computer and begins to click away at the keys looking for someone, anyone to greet her with a good morning or to share a happy blessing with. She sees him over the computer getting madder and madder because the phone or computer are frustrating him. She takes a deep breath and he responds, “What’s wrong with you this morning?”

“Nothing,” she responds, “just taking a deep breath. I find I hold my breath a lot these days.”

“Well,” he growls, “cut it out, that disturbs me. Makes me think something is wrong with you. When’s breakfast?”

“As soon as the coffee is done.”

She turns back to her computer, but the smile has faded from her face. She sets the laptop down, and heads to the kitchen to pour the coffee. She wants to drink a cup of coffee before she cooks, but she knows he will get angry if his breakfast is not ready very soon. She carries him a cup of coffee and waits, clearing her throat to let him know she is there. He continues to pound away at the keys ignoring her. She reaches in front of him, sets his coffee down and turns back to the kitchen. “Next time, don’t sneak up on me!” he yells.

“Sorry, anything you want for breakfast?”

“Yeah, how about a T-Bone steak, eggs, potatoes, and biscuits.”

“You know we don’t have a T-Bone steak, will bacon be alright?”

“It’ll have to do!”

She hums while she cooks hoping his mood will improve after he eats. She is so tired of his anger, but what can she do? She loves him, but the eggshells she walks on is getting thinner. One day, she knows the eggshells will break and she will fall through into the dark place once again. She hates the dark place. She shuts those times out of her memory and dwells just on the light, the good times. She hums a little louder trying to boost her spirit.

“Shut that catterwhopping noise out. You’re disturbing me!”

“Sorry.” She lowers her voice and hums softly to herself. Breakfast is ready. She fills his plate, carries it to him, and waits once again for him to notice she is there. She clears her throat, “Honey, here’s your breakfast.”

“Damn you, woman! Can’t you see I’m busy. Just set it down and leave me the hell alone!”

A tear tries to rise in her eye, but she pushes it down and turns back to the kitchen. The smile gone, the hum quieted, the hope quelled, the prayer changes to one for peace. She picks up her plate and carries it to her chair. Although he is here, she is alone. His head in his phone, his food growing cold, his anger increasing. She scoops a bite up on her fork and quietly takes a bite. Once again, she eats in silence. He is here, she can see him, but she is alone, and under the circumstances, maybe that is a good thing.

He picks up his fork and scrapes up a bite. “Damn it, woman, can’t you ever get me my plate while it is hot? Do you have to serve me a cold breakfast every damn morning?” He takes a sip of his forgotten coffee, “And the coffee is cold! Why the hell is the coffee cold?”

“I brought the coffee to you before I made breakfast. I’m sorry it is cold; do you want me to warm it in the microwave for you? I brought you your breakfast just as soon as I took it up. You were busy. I guess it got cold waiting.”

“Oh, so it’s my fault my coffee and food are cold! How dare you blame me! You should have told me they were here! One day, I’m going to get sick of this and be like Ralph Cramden and ‘pow, right to the moon’ with you!” He shoved another bite of the now very cold food into his mouth and pounded harder on the keys of the phone.

“Honey, I thought maybe we could do something together today.”

“Sure, whatever you say! You always think, don’t you?”

She knew they would not be going anywhere. He would spend his day on the phone or on his computer. She knew she would live this day alone. She could not go without him, that had proven to be a very bad idea when she tried because when she returned he was extremely angry, and she felt the blunt of that anger. She would call someone, but he would not let her talk without his interfering. The call would end quickly because he would begin insulting her or the person on the other end of the line. She could not leave the room because he would grill her on where she was going, why she was going, and what she would be doing. If she was out of his sight for more than 15 minutes, he would get angry.

She felt like she was living inside a cage. She was the provider, but she was the one caged. She was confined to the small area within her home. He could come and go at will, and she could not ask where nor why he went. She did relish those times he would leave. Those were the only times peace reigned in the home. There was no chain attached to her ankle, but it was there in virtual reality because she was tethered to the house. She felt used, unloved, unwanted, and worthless. She could see no reason to continue to live, but she refused to let him push her to the point of ending her own life. One day she would find a way to break the bonds that bound her to him and to the home. But, until she could find the way to break free, she would live in this storm, this dark place. At least, for now, the hitting had stopped.

Sometimes she longed for the hit, because then people could see the abuse, but the virtual chain, the anger, the words, the internal pain could not be seen, and to the people outside the walls of the home, he was the good guy. He was the clown, the happy guy, the guy everyone loved to be around. He made people feel good about themselves. He once had made her feel that way, but no more. Marriage had brought out the other man, the man that stayed hidden behind the walls. The man only she knew. People didn’t believe her when she tried to talk to someone about how she had to live. He had convinced people she was the one with the problem. When they were out, she seemed to fit what he said, because she never looked anyone in the eye, she seldom spoke to people, and she would ask him, no tell him, to calm down when he would get to crazy. She looked to the world outside the walls to be the culprit of their marriage problems because no one, not even the marriage counselor they had gone to see could see the man who lived behind the walls of the home.

Yes, she was trapped, but one day she would break those bonds. She knew she would have no place to go, but go she would have to do. One day he would go too far, and the only way she would survive would be to flee. Until that day, she would live in the dark place with him but alone. She would hide her pain deep inside until that day. She would smile on the outside while tears flowed deep on the inside. One day she would find a way out of her prison. Her prison had no parole, no end time, but one day she would find the escape hatch. One day she would be free. Until that day, she would continue to pray for peace, comfort, joy, and most of all protection.

Hearts Broken

Words spoken,

Hearts broken.

Hearts of stone.

Sorry never spoken.

Eye tears keep falling,

All alone time flying.

Love lost and never mended,

Because forgiveness was never given.

Simple word never spoken,

Lonely heart still broken.

Time never given,

Life’s winter season.

To late,

Flowers given.

When Should I Plant? Sowing Seeds of Human Emotion

I recently saw a list on Facebook with the title “When Should I Plant?”. This made me think about humans and human attitude, emotions, actions and when humans should plant seeds of kindness, empathy, love, patience, understanding, compassion, and so forth. We humans have many opportunities to plant our seeds of human emotion. Human emotion can make a huge difference in someone’s life, but do we take the opportunity to plant those seeds at just the right time? Do we consider how our actions can sprout, grow, and bear positive fruit, or negative fruit? Or, is there really an exact right time to plant, nurture, and grow human emotion?

So, when should you plant? Should you wait to plant kindness only when you see someone in need? Should you wait to plant empathy when someone is hurting? Should you only plant love when you meet Mr/Miss Right? What about compassion or patience, is there a perfect time? I will say yes and no to these questions because there is a two-edged answer to the questions.

Seeds of human emotion begin when humans are first conceived, nurtured after birth, and continue to bear fruit from childhood to death. A child taught to criticize will continue to plant seeds of criticism. A child treated with love will plant seeds of love. A child treated with kindness, compassion, empathy, patience, understanding will treat others the same. So, first, planting seeds of positive emotion begins at the beginning of life.

BUT, time to plant also occurs when the need arises. You see a person struggling to open a door. Plant the seed of kindness by opening the door. You see a bully mistreating another person. Plant the seed of understanding and compassion by stepping in, stopping the bullying, and showing compassion to the person who is the brunt of the bullying. You see a homeless person, don’t look away and pretend the person does not exist, say hello, offer a blessing either in monetary, food, or spoken word. A parent at wits end could use empathy when the unruly child cannot be corralled instead of impatient stares or rude comments.

The time to plant occurs every day in everything we do whether at home, at work, or out for the evening. Spread seeds of positive human emotion, and those seeds will grow into more seeds of positive human emotions. Weed out the negative seeds before they take root and choke out the positive seeds. Don’t let the seeds of division take root either. Seeds of division will grow faster than seeds of cooperation, and will choke out any positive seeds planted because division blinds the eyes of both the sowers and the gathers. Keep your seeds positive. Keep your emotion positive. Sow, nurture, and gather the fruit of positivity and weed out the negative fruits that threaten your whole garden.

Marriage vs Divorce

I hear people say, “I stay in my marriage because the Bible says we should not divorce except in the case of adultery.” These people will live in a loveless, abusive marriage simply because of the belief that God will condemn them for divorcing. Yes, there is scripture in the Bible that does condemn divorce. Yes, there is scripture in the Bible that says that a divorce is allowable in the case of adultery. But, there is also a verse in the Bible that tells a man to love his wife as he loves God and to treat her as he would treat his Heavenly Father. No, I am not going to look up all these passages. I am going to leave that to you to search the Bible for the truth.

Marriage is not meant to be a prison. Marriage is not meant to allow one person to beat mentally or physically a person down for self-gratification of the abusive spouse. Marriage is meant to be a partnership in which both parties treat each other with love, respect, compassion, and empathy. No woman or man should be a slave carrying all the burden of the marriage responsibilities. No woman or man should require a partner to be the sole person responsible for making a good marriage. Marriage is a 50/50 relationship with give and take and both sides equally or balanced.

Now that we have established what a marriage should be, let us examine an abusive marriage. Abuse can occur physically or mentally, or both physically and mentally. Living in an abusive marriage is not living, it is existing for both parties – seriously, both parties. The abuser is miserable and takes it out on the abused. The abused is miserable and allows the abuser to punish for imagined transgressions. Both live in a world of shame and guilt. Both live in a world of complete darkness. The abuse not only affects the abused and abuser, but it also affects all those around the two. If children are present they are affected by mentally and physically. Neighbors and extended family experience adverse effects from the abuse. The long arm of abuse is far reaching not only over distance, but also reaches over time and generations. Children in an abusive home learn that love is abuse and perpetrate that abuse on their children and spouses repeating the acts over generations.

Let me clarify abuse before we move on. Abuse is an action perpetrated against someone else with intent to do harm. When a person has suffered an illness that causes abuse to surface, the person perpetrating the abuse is not intentionally afflicting harm, but acting in an irrational way. In most cases, this person would love to change, but cannot. If the person becomes incapable of a normal relationship, contact a doctor, seek help because the afflicted cannot change without help. The type of abuse of which I speak is not caused by an illness or injury, but is a “normal” way of life in which the person abuses as normal behavior.

God does not intend for us to live our lives in abuse, nor does he intend for a spouse to abuse. Wives are not subservient to their husbands. Wives are not whipping posts. Wives are not less than the husband. This is also true if the husband is abused. Neither spouse deserves abuse. God created love in human hearts not hate. God created the wife as a helpmate to the husband. A world of difference exists between helpmate and servant. Helpmate work along beside. Servants work at the behest and convenience of the master. Wives and husbands are not expected to bow down to the spouse, but are to stand beside the spouse.

If spouses are helpmates and not servants, and if God intended for us to stand side-by-side and not beneath, then would God require a person to live within a marriage that requires one spouse to live in mental and/or physical abuse? If God tells the husband to love and treat the wife as he would love and treat God, then would God expect the wife to live in an abusive relationship? I do not believe God wants us to live in abuse. I believe that God does allow us to escape an abusive marriage. God wants us to be safe, to feel love, and to give love back. He does not want us to cower in fear.

To sum this blog up, abuse is not of God. Abuse is intentionally meant to do harm. God does not expect nor require a person to live in constant fear or as a slave to a spouse. God intended for spouses to treat each other with love, respect, empathy, and dignity. God does not require us to be perfect, but he does expect us to treat each other as we would treat him if he were our spouse. You can hold on to your faith and let go of the abusive person if the abuser refuses help in changing his or her actions. You can still be a faithful servant to God and be released from an abusive marriage. Do not let man’s religion keep you in a relationship that is dangerous. Seek not only the help of God for this relationship, but also seek help from your fellow human. Many have been in this situation and many have been released from the situation through divorce or separation. Reach out to a shelter, a doctor, or even to your clergy for help. God loves you, and he does want the best life for you. God does not abuse, and he does not want you treated any differently than he would you treat you, his child.

 

Are You With Me?

I opened a newsfeed and what did I see,
Someone saying how evil Trump can be.
I opened another and there to my surprise,
A post telling me that Hillary is full of lies.
Next thing I knew my friends were a fussing
And their words were filled with F-bombs and cussing.
One said that Trump would be worse than before,
The other said Hillary was nothing but a whore.
They fought and they argued in words so cruel.
I thought to myself they needed to go back to school.
One claimed the other a Christian they were not
The other one said, “You’re just a spoiled little snot!”
Each one was fighting to win my vote,
But their hate and anger really got my goat.
Neither said why their candidate was best.
They just spouted disgust like all the rest.
Which one should be President, I haven’t a clue.
Because all I know is both are worse than the flu.
Neither says what they’ll do for voters like me
They just spout their hate like a mad African Bee.
This election is the worst that I’ve ever seen.
If it’s not over soon, I might just scream.