The End of the Innocence

I went to the movies with a friend today--a place you go to escape for a little while. Our purses were searched. Just over a week after Paris, so I expected it, but it's still sad--this world we live in now. I think our innocence as Americans ended in April of 1995 in Oklahoma City. Every Federal building in this country has cement barriers to keep bomb-laden vehicles at a safe distance. And we don't even notice those barriers anymore--that's the sad part. We voluntarily put up barriers. I visited my high school when I was in town recently and had to ring a buzzer and identify myself and who I was there to see in order to get through the locked doors. We voluntarily lock those doors. I'm not saying we shouldn't, but this is our new normal. And obviously it's not just here. If I say Mumbai, London, Madrid, Paris or Mali, you all know what happened in each of those places. If I mention a suicidal pilot in the alps, a Russian flight from Egypt, a youth camp on a Norwegian island, or bible study in Charleston, you know about those things too. There is no chance of an innocence in the world anymore. I am grateful to have grown up in the 70s and 80s. I think it was a more innocent time. We had pet rocks and mood rings. I could smuggle a 6-pack of beer into Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Maybe I look back through rose-colored glasses. Maybe I just think it was better in a pre-internet world without a 24/7 news cycle. Television used to go off in the middle of the night, for god's sake! Can you imagine that now? I know there have always been bad people: Cain, Judas, John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Hitler. But we still had our freedoms: no one would look in my purse, and I could actually take one to an NFL game. Can't do that now. Our new normal. In that sense we have allowed "them" to win--we have voluntarily given up some of our freedoms. Kids today will never know what it is like to go to a baseball game without passing through a metal detector, they will never walk into an unlocked school, they will never be able to sneak beer into an NFL game. My favorite quote is from Benjamin Franklin--and I'm sure he couldn't even imagine how prescient these words would be today: 'Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.' As Thanksgiving Week dawns for us, we should be grateful for what we have, and pray we don't voluntarily give up what we have left. Peace!

Travel. Learn. Grow.

Once again, a terrorist group has united the world. Today, we are all Parisian. Who knows yet who we are going to be next time? Those of you who read my blog know that I am a news freak. I can't live without my newspaper. I'm addicted to my local news stations, the Internet news, CNN, BBC and Al Jazeera. I always think I've seen the worst of humanity, but every time something new happens, I realize the bad guys keep upping the game. As horrible as this sounds, I can understand a crime of passion, becoming so enraged with someone you know and love, then, sick as it is, killing them in the heat of the moment. What I cannot comprehend is the depravity it takes to walk into a concert hall, a restaurant, any public place, and indiscriminately kill innocent strangers. You don't know them. Maybe someone was a sympathizer with you. Maybe someone was going to cure a disease. Maybe someone would write the song that would touch your heart. Maybe someone was meant to be your friend, your lover, your soulmate. You'll never know. Instead, the world grieves again. Stay close to home this weekend in Paris, let the authorities do their thing. But don't stay down for long. That's what the terrorists want. They want us to be fearful and voluntarily give up our freedoms. Don't give in. Don't cancel your travel plans. And if you don't have any yet, Paris is lovely in the spring. Fight back by living your life. Travel to foreign places. Learn about different cultures. Grow as a human being, as a citizen of the planet we all call home. In spite of it all, it is still a beautiful world. Go out and see it! Pray for Paris. Pray for all of us. But most of all, don't let the fuckers win!

Christmas and Starbucks

For the last few weeks I have completely ignored all the hullabaloo about Starbucks red cups. I don't drink coffee, so I didn't think it was much of my business. But it just didn't go away so I finally decided to Google it to find out what all the fuss was about. Some guy claims Starbucks hates Christmas and is taking Jesus out of Christmas because they removed symbols like reindeer and snowflakes from their winter seasonal cup designs. Seriously? Are you kidding me? What do reindeer and snowflakes have to do with the baby Jesus? Reindeer live in Siberian Asia, Northern Canada, Lapland, Alaska & Northern Russia, not Bethlehem. And to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't snow in Bethlehem either. Those symbols have nothing to do with the birth of Christ. This isn't about some huge corporation taking Christ out of Christmas, this is about waste-of-time stupidity. How does this crap go viral? Why do we give these people their fifteen minutes of fame? I personally don't care if someone says "Merry Christmas", "Seasons Greetings", or Happy Holidays" to me--it's just nice that they say anything at all. In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter? People need to let go of this stuff and concentrate on important things, on the real meaning of Christmas: volunteer at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter, paint the swings at a park, adopt a pet, or clean up the beach. Visit your parents, hug your kids, hang out with your friends. Honor God's creations: our planet and its inhabitants--well, except the ones who are apoplectic about plain red cups.

Blogging Again--After a Year!

Writing things down and getting your thoughts on paper is important. It's good for you. It stimulates the brain. So why haven't I written anything on my blog for nearly a year? I've been way too lazy. I'm in a rut. I've been too complacent in so many areas of my life. That's not right and I need to fix it. So I'm looking for inspirational quotes (thanks Pinterest!), trying to find the power in change, and realizing I'm the only one who can make things better for myself. No one else is going to do it for me, although that would make it so much easier. I need to convince myself that staying on my current course is worse than facing the unknown. I have to take that leap of faith. In order to do that, I need regain confidence and get some brain power back--and that means writing. I'm setting a goal to blog at least once a week--and in an election year, that shouldn't be too hard. Lots of fodder for my rants. Stay tuned for my first new entry tomorrow.