Me and God have this mutual admiration thing going on

I know, quite a topic.  I take a rather simplistic view of God.  I always have.  I was brought up in the Lutheran church.  I have spent most of my life seeking God in all the wrong places. Different churches, different religions and it all boiled down to to one thing....Love.  You see, I have found God everywhere I want to be.  Everywhere I need to be.  Everywhere.

It took all of my life to finally understand that God is really Love and that is pretty much it.  No need to not do this or not do that.  No need to memorize and quote endlessly.  All I need to do is to love every single day of my life.  Jesus said it all. 

Love the Earth and take care of her.  Love the Lord and be so very thankful.  Love people.  Love to help. Love to love. 

I'm pretty sure God does not care about a lot of stuff that people think He cares about.  I'm thinking He wants us to take care of each other.  Make life easier for each other.  To love one another in the process. 

I'm also pretty sure he's not real fond of people blaming Him for everything.  Come on, seriously, like He made a tornado to wipe out a town?  Tornadoes are a result of the laws of nature and physics.  So are earthquakes and hurricanes. So are meteorites and comets.  How do people get off saying stuff like that? 

I think a lot about all the people who have said one must believe "their way" or you will go to hell.  Excuse me.....hell????  Hell is sickness and starvation.  Hell is war and fighting.  Hell is not taking care of each other.

On the other hand, Heaven is getting along.  Heaven is tending to the needs of others to make their lives a bit nicer and easier.  Love.  Get it.  Can you imagine if love was the basis behind every decision a leader of a country made?  Or if love was the basis of every decision a corporation made?  We would have life a whole lot easier than it is right now. 

I get a kick out of people who say their God is not the same God I pray to.  That's like saying the air I breathe is not the same air they breathe.  Same God, different way of going about it.  Some people feel comfortable in all the trappings and teachings of a religion.  Rote words and actions to be done daily. I myself prefer spontaneous prayer and thanksgiving.  I want my heart and soul open to the love around me.  That's it. 

I like to read a variety of spiritual books.  I get something out of each of them. There are many religions because there are many types of people.  I would be that free spirited soul who people roll their eyes at.  But remember......the same God and it's all about the love.

Pi Day...3.14

My niece is a high school math teacher.  God bless her.  Really, like who loved math and all its derivatives?  Not many of us.  Thus, not many really good math teachers.  She loves Pi Day.  March 14.  Get it????

In honor of Pi Day make a pie for a math lover in your life.  Be it a teacher, student, engineer, carpenter, or anyone who can balance a checkbook.  Everyone loves pie!

The Three Monkeys

You know those three monkeys: See, Speak, and Hear no evil.  They are rather funny and cute.  Anything to do with monkeys is funny.  Those three monkey tenets are what we should be doing on a daily basis.

Three things to remember is way better than ten things to remember.  Ten Commandments versus the Three Monkeys.  A no brainer. Not that there is anything wrong with the Ten Commandments! 

See no evil.  I like that one.  It covers a lot of area.  Evil is a broad encompassing term.  I'm petty sure evil is stuff that should be off limits to humans.  Here is my list of some of the things I find quite evil: murder, cruelty, hate, abuse, neglect, greed, hunger, filth.  I'm pretty sure the monkeys think we should always make sure that evil things do not happen, that way we won't have to look at it. According to the monkey, one should have no evil to see.

Speak no evil.  Another good one.  Evil words have started wars.  Evil words destroy.  Kind words teach and build.  There is power in speaking.  We speak with our hearts and with our mouths.  I'm thinking we should all probably pay more attention to what we are saying.  Speak is a pretty smart monkey.

Hear no evil.  This one got me thinking.  What does evil sound like?  I think it sounds like hate.  I think it sounds like lies.  I think it sounds like gossip.  The monkeys are wanting us to not sit around and listen to evil stuff.  Sit, as in to do nothing.  We are to stop the sounds of hate.

Without saying a word, those three monkeys have pretty much said it all.

Sayings....

Mess not with the cook, for she has powers yet to be shown and you have opposing thumbs.  See that sink full of dirty dishes?

Life is full of events.  Some fortunate, some not so fortunate.  So, hold your family near and choose your friends with care.

Love is what makes everything bearable, even if only for a moment. I'll take moments.

The cook don't cook what the cook don't like.

Use your super powers.  We all have them.

A messy cook is a happy cook, for she has help.

Act like you really love them, then, you will.

Hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil.

Marriage vows are a good plan. When it gets rough, refer to the plan.

.....and they lived happily ever after.

Today is the mark of thirty nine years of being married.  We laugh about it.  Thirty nine years is a heck of a long time, even in dog years.  In some cultures, it's a lifetime.  In other cultures, it is a career.

Many of my friends have asked to know "the secret" to our marriage.  My answer, there is no secret.  If there were, there would be no more divorces, no more marriage counselors, and golden anniversaries would be the norm.

I was eighteen and he was barely nineteen when we said "I do".  On that day, we had known each other for a total of five months.  I thought I would burst with the love I had for him.  I could not love him any more than I did that day, or so I thought.  I was quite wrong on that one.  I do, indeed, love him more today than that yesterday of thirty nine years ago.

Here is how I would describe our marriage.  It is kind of like a well run company.  Instead of money for capital, we had love.  Love is what runs our company called marriage.   Sounds rather simple, doesn't it?  It really is. When you love someone, that love affects how you treat each other.  It also affects decision making.  If the love runs low, problems and issues are magnified.  If the love runs high, problems and issues are just small bumps in the road.  Our wedding vows were our business plan.  We stuck to them. 

As in a well run, well capitalized business, commitment is key.  Total commitment to the plan, to the goal, to each other.  When in doubt, go to the plan.  One person cannot do it all.  Where one is weak, the other is strong.  What one can't fix, the other can. Over time, the company grows.  A well run company will increase in assets and value.  And so it is with our marriage.

It's really hard not to get all maudlin and mushy when thinking about the last four decades. I think of all of our accomplishments.  I think of our dreams that have come to fruition.  I think of every time zone and country we have made love in.  Yes, I think about those things!

At this point in our marriage and our lives, we still have goals.  We still look forward to the next adventure.  We still have dreams yet to come true.  We still have more time zones and countries to........