Words for closing the year 2006...

Reading, thinking and writing require time. The thinking that exists between the reading and writing is what is done by all of us who do read and write. The quality of thought I shall not comment on. When it comes to reading, those who do are selective based on the costs of the reading material, personal choice and the ability to grasp and understand the written word, the ideas of the writer. Few of us write. Though I have the desire at times to write, I find that what I want to write about has already been written with superior thoughts and quality of words that I might only aspire to. The tendency for me now is to read and think, within the time available.

I have not touched upon seeing, much of which occurs watching television and how that action takes away from reading and writing. It may provide relaxation and inspiration but may lead nowhere when we think of the development of the individual, his physical health and mental sanity. We also have participation in sports activities or should I say the non-participation for I speak again of television. Have we become a nation of obese individuals who consume food, television programs and movies to the point of losing the quality of health that might otherwise be ours?

There are Americans who complain about the quality of their educational system and the quality of their health programming for the people of their nation. There is a complaint of the quality of living that most Americans live with as the rich become richer and all others fall behind. Where is the great American dream? It is always there for the freedom that may always exist in American society is but a dream and all can possess this dream without cost.

In most societies there is a sense of greed, where more is always better. If money is the root of all evil, then the fruit from the American tree of life when consumed leads to corruption of many sorts. There is little need for exploration here for the results are most obvious to the many who understand.

For a word or two on religion I turn to prayer. There are prayers to God, the God of different religions, there are prayers offered to gods and goddesses. All of these prayers must be beneficial to those who pray but going beyond the words of prayer and the belief that goes along with those prayers is the continuing belief in hope. Without that hope the human race would surely collapse. There is the hope for a better world for our children and all subsequent generations. In spite of all the “acts of God”, there is prayer and most importantly the quality of hope that is within the hearts and souls of many. That is the root of survival of the human race. Let there be prayers and let there be hope. Let there be positive actions that reflect the goodness that exists within the hearts of most leading to the downfall of that which might be termed wicked. There is hope!