Renee Hawkley In Joy!

Jesus is born Today and Every day in the thoughts, words and deeds of His disciples.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T is the stream from which the river of "liberty and justice for all" flows.

For Americans, the pandemic was a beginner's "real life" lesson in socialism. We sheltered in place, practiced isolation, went to only designated places at designated times, waited in line, hid our faces, and were unable to practice our Constitutional rights to peacefully assemble or to express our devotion to God at church. It became important for us, our friends and family members to be tracked. Our freedoms of independent life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, including the rights to think, speak, write and live as we choose, were corralled and challenged to their limits. Our very survival may have depended on decisions made by "those at the top." The choice of most Americans was to trust and to do what they could to just hold on. This was Not the United States of America I have loved and pledged allegiance to all my life. So what if those "at the top" didn't have all the facts and still don't and sometimes got things wrong? So ...

Summer love: Eating a ripe peach at the edge of the kitchen sink as the sweet, sticky juice floods from my chin into the drain.

The rule for cleaning up after broken glass safely is "sweep it up" rather than "pick it up." I knew the rule, but it wasn't for me at the time, so I bent down and picked up the tiny shard of glass. In a mosquito's second, it had invaded the tip of my right index finger. All the coaxing with tweezers, talk and tears embedded the sliver deeper into my skin, and it hurt. Fast forward seven months. The sliver and I are still together. Yes, I still flinch every time I use my right index finger, and I've been to a doctor. He suggested we wait a little longer before "surgery" in case the glass behaves by the general rule of slivers and finds a way of escaping on its own. The list of rules is endless and universal. Rules don't decide who, why, where or how their "gotcha" moments will or won't arrive. They just go on their merry way, unimpressed and unyielding to the disruption, joy or sorrow they might cause. The truth about...