Everyone Needs a Lift Sometime

From “Lift” written by Minh Lê and illustrated
 by Dan Santat,
Little, Brown and Company

One of my favorite things about having small children was searching for and reading fun and beautiful books. There is nothing liking having little bodies leaning against you, quietly enthralled by a story, eagering rushing to turn the page and see the next lucious picture, excited to know the rest of the story -- or to tell it before you read it because it's the umpteenth time you've done so! Today, parents have a whole new set of challenges with the changes which have taken place this year. What a great opportunity to find books which excite the imagination, releasing creativity which may have been stunted by the spoon-fed world of video movies and games. I read a review of a book called Lift, having to do with a little girl discovering a button in the elevator which takes her to a lush world beyond anything she had imagined. The reviewers favorite line in the book: "After all, everyone can use a lift sometimes!" I'm sure our librarians would be happy to choose a few uplifting picture books for us if we ask!!

Here's a link to the review I mentioned: https://www.csmonitor.com/Daily/2020/20200518/Spring-picture-books-that-delight-inspire-and-transport?src=shared&cmpid=shared-email

You can try the Monitor Daily free for a month:
https://www.csmonitor.com/dailyfreetrial

Small Great Things

In the past, I’ve told you about the novelist, Jodi Picoult. I may have even mentioned her book, Small Great Things. Although she writes fiction, she is an extremely thorough researcher when she decides to write about a subject. She has taken us into the mind of a teenager with Asperger’s, abused wives, white supremacists, and more. I am revisiting the book I mentioned because of its take on racism. A black nurse in the birthing wing of a hospital is banned from administering to the baby of a proud racist. The baby dies while she is on watch and trying to follow hospital orders to not touch the infant. The story which unfolds is eye-opening, both from the side of the underground network of racist groups in this country, but also in its uncovering of the prejudices we have, which we usually don’t know are there. At this juncture in our world, every insight we gain is valuable. I want to understand why some people react violently to the mention of certain topics. In my campaigning for a democratic candidate in our area, I am seeing some interesting reactions. These return texts are what send me back to this book again. I want to know where the hate begins and what causes it to spew out. Whatever the cause, I face it and know it is a cry for love. Namaste...

"Human hate has no legitimate mandate and no kingdom. Love is enthroned." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 454:9

I Need Do Nothing?

Photo Credit: Dale Johnson

A dear friend, who is also my Course in Miracles mentor, sent me an article centered around the statement “I need do nothing”. This spiritual teaching is almost guaranteed to get the ego (or mortal mind, for you of a Christian Science ilk) working overtime to assert its dominance over us. I can hear it saying, "But if I don’t do anything who will? I have to plan, or else nothing will get done. What do you mean I need do nothing? I have to do everything!” This statement actually is saying that we don’t have to prove ourselves in order to gain salvation, or forgiveness, or Love. These things, and more, are already ours, requiring no special work to free us from the past and future, nor to lift us out of fear and guilt. This realization can “anchor in us a permanent quiet center, a place of peace in us." From this quietude, we are able to follow our inner direction and do the busy work necessary on this plane of existence. So in summary, doing nothing is actually doing everything! When we release our feelings of inadequacy, guilt, sorrow, and such, miracles happen. We are shown what our purpose is and are able to recognize the path leading the way to utilizing our abilities and talents. What fun to wake up each day to discover what this is!

"'I need do nothing' is a statement of allegiance, a truly undivided loyalty. Believe it for just one instant, and you will accomplish more than is given to a century of contemplation, or of struggle against temptation." A Course in Miracles T-18.VII.6.

Sending You Light

I have a good feeling about our world. People are hungry for change and more are speaking out every day. A good friend and neighbor sent me a beautiful performance called Sending You Light. I send this song to you today, and light to you every day. Have a beautiful Sunday everyone... 

https://youtu.be/cIsZuoNFtXg

Living In an Upside Down World

Peaceful Ozark Morning - photo by Arthur Bruno

What if everything is upside down from what it seems to be?  We have all these ideas about what is true and what is false, what is good and what is bad, but what if we don't know, what if we are wrong? We have fact checking sites to help us decide if something is true, we have preachers and politicians to tell us what is right and wrong -- I think we're all tired of the constant push and pull of facts versus rumors and outright lies. My favorite thing about A Course in Miracles might be the workbook lessons, and how they help us give up our beliefs about everything. I know some people think this is a "bad" thing, because if we've been taught you HAVE to believe in something or else you're gullible and will fall for anything you are told. What if that's upside down thinking, too? When we allow ourselves to release what we think we know, we can step back and see what is, without putting labels on everything and backing away from something without even knowing why. In my interactions with various forms of thought, it's often difficult to put my feelings and beliefs to the side and simply hear what is being said. But I'm working on it! Non-reaction, simply being with the words, is a peaceful, joyous way to live. I think we all want peace, but some of us have forgotten. Let's keep on remembering to look at things as they are, not as we've decided they are. Namaste....

"Human thought never projected the least portion of true being. Human belief has sought and interpreted in its own way, the echo of Spirit, and so seems to have reversed it and repeated it materially, but the human mind never produced a real tone nor sent forth a positive sound. " Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 126:8

Misunderstanding Turned Around

Mongolia, with friends

Think about a close friend; one you really, truly like a lot. Perhaps you have so much in common that people sometimes mistake you for each other! This is the situation I have with a woman I met 10 years or so ago. We immediately liked each other and discovered our birthdate, month and year, were the same. Then something happened a few months ago which caused her to unfriend me on Facebook. I had not thought the incident was anything to be upset about; nothing more than a simple disagreement between friends, but we had not spoken in a few months. Then today, in my texting campaign for Suzie Bell, candidate for State House representative, I sent this old friend a text, because she was on my campaign-generated list of people. A two-word comment came back which was very rude. I was telling Kevin about it and he suggested that I call her. And so I did. Turns out the text comment was from a phone number she no longer has, although it was listed as her in both my texting list and on my phone. We had a good, long catch-up chat and I feel happier knowing a good friend is still just that! Isn't life interesting? Thank You greatly ... 

"Love never loses sight of loveliness. its halo rests upon its object. One marvels that a friend can ever seem less than beautiful." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 248:3

Feed the Famished Affections

I feel the need for grace today -- to feel it, give it, receive it -- just grace. So I searched my blog to see what I might turn up, and here is an entry from 2012.

Accepting the grace which is ours involves giving it at every opportunity. Recently someone asked why it doesn't bother me to work closely with someone who seems hard to get along with -- for many reasons! I answered that I realize how miserable she must be to act in such a way. So I don't take her actions personally, nor do I claim them as a part of my existence. And what she thinks of me is absolutely none of my business!  Mary Baker Eddy’s spiritual interpretation of the Lord’s Prayer includes this correlation to "Give us this day our daily bread": "Give us Grace for today, feed the famished affections." Starving affections are a symptom of not accepting the Truth about ourselves and others as a creation of divine Mind. When someone seems agitated and angry, or defensive and irritable, the Grace which is ours is the antidote. By practicing kindness when faced with hardness of heart, meekness when all around us are aggressive, loving those who seem unlovable, and paying it forward in every action, we prepare ourselves to acknowledge the God-given Grace which is our true heritage. I simply say an inward Namaste, recognizing  that their divine essence and mine are absolutely the same. I've found that loving my neighbor as myself is cause for loving myself more -- which is a nice bonus!

“What we most need is the prayer of fervent desire for growth in grace, expressed in patience, meekness, love, and good deeds." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 4:3-10

Why Can't We Just Be Nice?

Photo Credit: Richard Quick

I have been helping in the campaign of our District 97 state representative candidate, Suzie Bell. While I am quite aware of the cavernous divide in political thought, I had not truly seen the blatant rudeness and lack of manners which people have been exposing by their words. Some of them are very imaginative with their condemnations and suggestions concerning what my candidate should do — along with the Democratic Party. Then some of these folks speak (type?) right up and tell me they won’t vote for anyone who kills babies or any number of other fantasies they believe as truth concerning the world. I enjoy those who respond to my plea for their vote, and am doing my best to plant a seed of kindness during our interactions. The pain from most of these people is palpable. I feel compassion for their confusion and misunderstanding of what is happening around them. I enjoy texting rather than speaking on the phone, because I can take time to breathe, have a moment to go within for guidance, and try to respond in a kind, hopeful, mind-expanding manner. Their second response is most always calmer, sadder, more willing to talk with me. We end our interaction with a suggestion that they visit Suzie’s website and contact her if they have any questions. I like this assignment very much!

"Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you. The cement of a higher humanity will unite all interest in the one divinity." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 571:18

The Earth Needs Mothering

"Mother and Child - Self and self"
creation of Sandy Starbird

You may have guides to which you listen, who raise your thought to a higher level than your own mind. Perhaps you take your prayers to Jesus or another spiritual guru. Almost everyone relies on a power they think is larger than themselves, and many are relaxing into the divinity they are finding within themselves and everywhere else, too. So when I ran across the women who carry on the work of Net of Light, I was very accepting of their telling me they receive guidance from the council of the Grandmothers. I shared their latest newsletter with you in the last "daily" I sent you, and since then I've listened to a couple of their videos. As with the other Guides I mentioned earlier, these loving Spirits are all encompassing in their compassion and wisdom. I think this idea reminds me of The Akashic Records: a place you can go to access everything which ever has been or ever will be. I love the idea of Grandmothers supporting me, sharing their wisdom, bringing loving comfort. We all need someone to lean on, don't you think? I'm going to rest with them for a while. Join me...

"Angels are God's representatives. These upward-soaring beings never lead towards self, sin, or materiality, but guide to the divine Principle of all good, whither every real individuality, image, or likeness of God, gathers. By giving earnest heed to these spiritual guides they tarry with us, and we entertain 'angels unawares.'" Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 299:11

Stay the Course

Have you heard of Net of Light? How about Grandmothers Speak? From their website: "The Net of Light," the Grandmothers say, "supports everything in the Universe and will hold the earth steady during the times of change that are upon you now. Work with the radiant Net," they urge, "to support life." I include a writing from Sharon McErlane, sent out in a newsletter today, and forwarded to me by my fine friend, Sandy Starbird. 

​

"The lever is moving," the Grandmothers said, and I watched as a metal handle or lever turned slowly.  The movement it made was so subtle it was barely perceptible.  But as I watched it continue to turn, I could see it honing in, getting nearer to pointing straight up.  The lever was righting itself, and as it crept closer to center, chills ran down my back.  "Something is shifting now," I said to myself, "and though what I'm seeing isn't the final shift for this lever, not the last or the ultimate turn it's going to make, still," I said, "things are starting to right themselves."

I looked up at the Grandmothers then but their heads were turned away from me; they were looking elsewhere.  And when I followed their eyes, I saw crowds of masked protesters, the people who'd been demanding justice for the man who'd been killed in Minnesota.  "This shift to the center point that you are seeing now has to do with them," the Grandmothers said, "with the protestors' commitment to truth, to what is fair.  It has to do with their desire for justice and a better life for all of humanity, for all the George Floyds of this world.  They are on target.

"At this time George Floyd has become the centering point for humanity.  His life, his suffering has awakened the world," they said.  "Now and then comes a moment when one life is put into a position of such power and purpose that it affects the entire world.  George Floyd's life is such a one," they said, "and his terrible sacrifice will not be wasted.  Because of what he went through at this particular moment in time, the course of life on earth will change, and humanity will return to being human.

"Stay the course," the Grandmothers said, "and at this difficult time, help one another however you can.  March, sing, pray, serve and speak out.  Speak the truth and love one another," they said. "Help in whatever way is given to you to help. Now your every act, smile, thought, and prayer will make a difference. The collective good pouring forth from humanity at this moment will turn the tide. Mankind is no longer on a collision course with destiny. You have begun to turn toward the light. So, breathe deep, stay calm, love each other and keep on going."

"But Grandmothers,"I said," what about...?"  But, reading my thoughts, they interrupted me.  "Let those who are lost, rage on as they will," they said. "Let them bluster all they want, and while they rant, rave and blame, keep your every thought, word and deed in alignment with the love of the Divine.  Go forward now in love, light bearers," they said, and raised their hands in the air.  "We stand at your back."

Message from
the Great Council of the Grandmothers
6-6-2020

Weeding Out Prejudice

photo of unknown origin

We record the Presbyterian Sunday service on Saturday. Their fine pastor, John Gibson, is an expert at many things and is able to edit and post a church service which is a reasonable facsimile of being there. Today he brought a special guest with him: an effigy of a black man with a noose around his neck. This man with no name has lived with John for a number of years now. He was found by the toll road between Siloam Springs and Tulsa, and rescued by John, living in his home as a reminder of how far we have to go in this quest for civil rights. At the time John saw this image hanging high from a tree, he was teaching school. Coincidently, they were studying the civil rights movement, so he took the faceless black man to school. I hope the students in that class forever remember what so many seem to have forgotten: We are all the same. We all hurt the same, we all love the same, we all want security, we all want happiness. The reason we don't all have these things is because some of us feel others of us haven't earned it. Where did we get this idea, that some are more deserving than others? I admit to finding prejudices within myself all the time. I want to recognize them, face them, release them by replacing them with Love. Just like tending a garden, it's a never-ending process. Those weeds keep coming back unless we get to their roots, expose them, and let them wither away in the light. We can do this. 

"The history of our country, like all history, illustrates the might of Mind, and shows human power to be proportionate to its embodiment of right-thinking. A few immortal sentences, breathing the omnipotence of divine justice, have been potent to break despotic fetters and abolish the whipping post and slave market, but oppression neither went down in blood, nor did the breath of freedom come from the cannon's mouth. Love is the liberator." Mary Baker Eddy -- circa 1865

Through the Portal, or Into the Hole...

From White Eagle, Hopi Indigenous

"Bird at Heart"
creation of Sandy Starbird

“This moment humanity is going through can now be seen as a portal and as a hole. The decision to fall into the hole or go through the portal is up to you.
If you repent of the problem and consume the news 24 hours a day, with little energy, nervous all the time, with pessimism, you will fall into the hole. But if you take this opportunity to look at yourself, rethink life and death, take care of yourself and others, you will cross the portal. Take care of your homes, take care of your body. Connect with your spiritual House.

When you are taking care of yourselves, you are taking care of everything else. Do not lose the spiritual dimension of this crisis; have the eagle aspect from above and see the whole; see more broadly.

There is a social demand in this crisis, but there is also a spiritual demand -- the two go hand in hand. Without the social dimension, we fall into fanaticism. But without the spiritual dimension, we fall into pessimism and lack of meaning. You were prepared to go through this crisis. Take your toolbox and use all the tools available to you.

Learn about resistance of the indigenous and African peoples; we have always been, and continue to be, exterminated. But we still haven't stopped singing, dancing, lighting a fire, and having fun. Don't feel guilty about being happy during this difficult time.

You do not help at all being sad and without energy. You help if good things emanate from the Universe now. It is through joy that one resists. Also, when the storm passes, each of you will be very important in the reconstruction of this new world.

You need to be well and strong. And for that, there is no other way than to maintain a beautiful, happy, and bright vibration. This has nothing to do with alienation.

This is a resistance strategy. In shamanism, there is a rite of passage called the quest for vision. You spend a few days alone in the forest, without water, without food, without protection. When you cross this portal, you get a new vision of the world, because you have faced your fears, your difficulties.

This is what is asked of you:
Allow yourself to take advantage of this time to perform your vision-seeking rituals. What world do you want to build for you? For now, this is what you can do -- serenity in the storm. Calm down, pray every day. Establish a routine to meet the sacred every day.

Good things emanate; what you emanate now is the most important thing. And sing, dance, resist through art, joy, faith, and love."

The Healing Power of Silence

photo credit: Arthur Bruno

I heard an interesting analogy concerning the body's immune system and the world's ability to heal itself. Each and every one of us are a cell in the immune system of the universe. Every thought we think is either contributing to the unified health of our planet or the propagation of fear and terror. Every prayer, every meditation, ever reaching out through inward listening is magnified exponentially. We have the power to change the world through ourselves. Every interaction brings us closer to a world of love or a world of fear. The Love which heals us personally spreads through the web of Oneness. In the same way that we take personal responsibility for ourselves, our health, our well-being, we can take responsibility for a return to Love. It does matter what we do and what we think. We never know when an interaction with someone will make the difference in that person's life which turns them away from reactive fear to healing Love. The Truth which corrects all errors in our mind is our ascension into heaven within. Never doubt that you matter, that you make a difference.  Allow silence and listening to guide you to being the change you want to see! 

"Immortal ideas, pure, perfect, and enduring, are transmitted by the divine Mind through divine Science, which corrects error with truth and demands spiritual thoughts, divine concepts, to the end that they may produce harmonious results." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 259: 27-31

Protests of Truth

2,000 form peace sign for
John Lennon's 75th birthday

Mary Baker Eddy refers to prayer in many ways, but the one which keeps coming to my thought tonight is a reference to prayer as "deep and conscientious protests of Truth". The protests which we are seeing in every nook and cranny of the world today are, at their highest, this protest of Truth, don't you think? The people who are showing anger, those who are taking advantage and stealing anything they can, people who are there to bring turmoil and violence -- Well, I am reminded of the old African way of dealing with someone who has committed a crime. They surround the person and tell them everything good they know about them, even if it takes days -- especially if it takes days! While a crowded street in a city is not the place you can surround someone and tell them all the good they've done in the world, it certainly is the spot where you can mentally surround them with Love, and keep hitting them with it until they feel it! Most of us have had the experience of seeing Love change things -- whether it be a situation with another person, an interaction with an animal, or nursing a plant back to health, Love is the healer. So when we hear and see heartbreaking incidents, or horrifying images, let's not slip into the ditch, but rather rise up in thought, remembering everyone's true Being as a child of divine Love. Love is the liberator!

"It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, -- of man's likenss to God and of man's unity with Truth and Love." Mary Baker Eddy - Science and Health - Prayer - Page 12:10

Education Reform -- and other things

Clear Spring School

Almost every day I think of something wonderful we're learning from this isolation. Today's thought was how the closing of schools can be a very good thing. Most of us have known for years that our education system is faulty. Our teachers aren't paid enough, we think the arts are not important, everyone must learn to standardized tests so the districts can receive their money to keep running -- the list goes on. Now that parents are trying to help their children continue an education at home, not only are they seeing how some of the problems they thought were with the school are actually with them, the parents themselves, hopefully they are also seeing the holes in the education we're forcing upon our youth. When we look back on our own primary and secondary schooling, do we see things which were simply not true being peddled as gospel? Why did we stop teaching civics? Perhaps if more people knew what a republic was, we would have one! When someone tells our kids that government is bad or good, do they have any idea what government was meant to be in this country? Do they know what we the people did to our native Americans? Do we know -- really know -- about slavery and its aftermath? I am looking forward to education reform being one of the many changes we shall see in the near future. Don't give up! Take heart, because there are more people with an actual education than with a 24-hour-a-day news channel education.

"The law of the divine Mind must end human bondage, or mortals will continue unaware of man's inalienable rights and in subjection to hopeless slavery, because some public teachers permit an ignorance of divine power -- an ignorance that is the foundation for continued bondage and of human suffering." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 227:7

Herein Lies the Peace of God

Moon Over Utah
photo credit: Aaron Springston

A friend sent me an article entitled, "The 10 Protests That Changed the Course of History Forever", by Geraldine Cremin. After Kevin read them he said to me: They're all the same. From Gandhi's salt march in 1930 to to Selma in 1964, he is absolutely correct. They are all about the same thing. Their common denominator is treating your fellow human being as you would want to be treated: fairly, kindly, unselfishly. Why is it so dad-gummed difficult to do this?? Is it learned behavior from decades of our ancestors putting on airs and pretending to be better than someone else? If it's as simple as that, let's just stop it! One of the many reasons I love A Course in Miracles is the workbook lessons in which we learn how to release long-held beliefs and look at things as they are, without our preconceived ideas coloring everything and everyone around us. I leave you with the introduction to this marvelous book. Namaste, Friends...

     "This is a course in miracles. It is a required course. Only the time you take it is voluntary. Free will does not mean that you can establish the curriculum. It means only that you can elect what you want to take at a given time. The course does not aim at teaching the meaning of love, for that is beyond what can be taught. It does aim, however, at removing the blocks to the awareness of love's presence, which is your natural inheritance. The opposite of love is fear, but what is all-encompassing can have no opposite.

     This course can therefore be summed up very simply in this way:

Nothing real can be threatened.

Nothing unreal exists. 

Herein lies the peace of God." 

Taken from A Course in Miracles Textbook Introduction

Tell Your Story!

Storytelling Workshop circa 2015

Have any of your friends been telling the stories of their lives? I've noticed a number of people doing this, and I think it's grand! How often have we wished our parents and grandparents had documented events from their lives. It's a lot easier now than it was 50 years ago, for sure. Today I received a newsletter from a delightful couple I feel I've always known. They are telling of how they first met, married, moved into a home -- and all in delightful detail, with pictures! I'm happy to find out more about people I love and like, and am grateful they are sharing in this manner. Also today, a dear woman whom I've known all my life, but never really well, made a post to Facebook about a time in her life when she auditioned for a spot with a voice teacher whom she admired. The openness of her writing brought tears to my eyes through my smile. I think telling our stories is very important. Start a blog, make a digital record of any sort, write emails to grandchildren -- or heck, start an old-fashioned, on-paper journal!  I have one friend who has written one version of her life story for her family, and another for everyone else -- ha! Do whatever you think is best, but don't be afraid to do it!

"The mine knows naught of the emeralds within its rocks; the sea is ignorant of the gems within its caverns, of the corals, of its sharp reefs, of the tall ships that float on its bosom, or of the bodies which lie buried in its sands: yet these are all there. Do not suppose that any mental concept is gone because you do not think of it. The true concept is never lost. The strong impressions produced on mortal mind by friendship or by any intense feeling are lasting, and mind readers can perceive and reproduce these impressions." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 87:19

The Habit of Stubborn Gladness

The Art of J. Clement Wall
judyclementwall.com

I do not personally know J. Clement Wall, but I follow her on Facebook and love her uplifting art. Her words and the new art which she posted today say what I would like to, so I'm going to quote her here. Everyone, please find some gladness today. We all need that from you.

"I painted this little guy a few days ago, but it hasn't felt like the right time to post it. In the midst of chaos and unrest, my whimsical art sometimes feels out of place. There's so much to be sad and angry and anxious about right now. I feel sad and angry and anxious all the time. But...

I also find myself stubbornly searching out beauty, kindness, generosity. I believe we are at a moment when real change is possible - by choosing love, by choosing not to be silent in the face of racism, falsehoods, and callous disregard for the well being of others. More than ever, it's time to decide who we are, and what kind of world we want to live in. We aren't powerless. We can do and be better." J. Clement Wall 

The Arts During a Pandemic

Painting for Opera in the Ozarks
 by Diana Harvey

Seemingly, one of the downsides of our current isolation is not being able to visit museums and attend concerts. But other avenues for the arts have opened up, which may include more people -- or at least a different audience -- than they garnered before this shift in our habits. Art galleries and museums are providing virtual tours in ways which had only been cursorily explored in the past. Interactive venues have exploded on the internet now that more people have the inclination to travel virtually. Having always been more of an armchair tourist than a traveling one, I love this idea! I can go to the Louvre and look at art or take a class in something I'd never considered knowing more about. Then I can pop over to the Smithsonian and see what's going on there, then come back to Crystal Bridges before having dinner in the comfort of my own home. Opera is also enjoying a different audience as performers stand on their front porch and serenade the neighborhood, while their phones broadcast a video to anyone who wants to tune in. No, it's not the same, but it's what we have, and it's not all bad. Change is good, don't you think? I sure do!

"Even though you aver that the material senses are indispensable to man's existence or entity, you must change the human concept of life, and must a length know yourself spiritually and scientifically. The evidence of the existence of Spirit, Soul, is palpable only to spiritual sense, and is not apparent to the material senses, which cognize only that which is the opposite of Spirit." Mary Baker Eddy - Science & Health Page 359: 11

Journalistic Integrity

The Christian Science Monitor was started in the early 1900s, purposefully to counteract the yellow journalism which was running rampant inthose times. Believe it or not, the lies and confusion in the news was as bad then as it is now — we just hear more of it now! In these tumultuous days, we need news we can trust. When a sitting president of this country tells untruths, is called out about it, and then takes governmental action to quash truth, this is blatant fascism. To say social media is disallowing free speech because Twitter is putting a rejoinder on his comments with a link to the truth, is to sorely misinterpret the meaning of freedom. For this same man to “retweet” a post from another politician saying that the only good democrat is a dead one — well, this is not acceptable behavior for anyone, much less our so-called leader. Anyone who is confused by televised news, printed news, internet news, I beg of you, please subscribe to the Christian Science Monitor. They have daily updates which come to your email, and a weekly physical magazine which will leave you feeling good after you find out what’s happening in the world. Don’t get me wrong: they tackle tough subjects, but in an honest manner which gives hope for us all. I don’t know about you, but I need every bit of hope I can find!

​"His home relations unfolded a wealth of affection -- a tenderness not talked but felt and lived. His humanity, weighed in the scales of divinity, was not found wanting.​ His public intent was uniform, consistent, sympathetic, and so far as it fathomed the abyss of difficulties was wise, brave, unselfed. May his history waken a tone of truth that shall reverberate, renew euphony, emphasize humane power, and bear its banner into the vast forever." Mary Baker Eddy writing about President McKinley - Miscellany Page 291