Category: Change the World

Change the World, poetry

Election Day poem

by my13daychallenge

I haven’t written on this blog for a while. Work has been very demanding this school year. Teaching has always been an intense job, but this year has been different. I’ve worked in schools for 20 years. I thought I had seen it all. I WAS WRONG. Teacher college does not prepare you for pandemics. The students are worn out. The parents are worn out. The teachers are worn out. It is like the entire system is worn out. It’s a grand experiment and no one quite knows the end result yet.

I did manage to carve out some time to write a little poem about the upcoming election. It captures my thoughts, hopes and prayers for the future.

i voted today

and i think i need a hug

can one of you reach across the aisle

to remember our common humanity

it might just be the only thing

that saves us all

i wait

i wait

no one comes

that other side is so unreasonable

can’t they see me here

the divide grows deeper

i voted today

and i still need that hug

i stare at you

you stare at me

we both know somehow

that nothing will change until we move our feet

maybe we all need that hug

it might just be the only thing

that saves us all

i’m scared but i force my feet to move

you force your feet to move

we meet in the middle where the miracles live

the hug is given

the future

our future

restored

Change the World, Musings, poetry

A Date for Christmas movie and a poem about helping others

by my13daychallenge

Hand printsMy high school choir decided to create an alumni wall for former members. The first thing that popped in my mind when I heard about the alumni wall was “Hallmark movie”. It really does have all the trappings for a movie. I can just imagine the plot right now.

The Plot

Jane is a beautiful, strong, intelligent woman. She hasn’t thought about her high school choir years for a long time. She’s been busy working as a computer programmer, a volunteer at her local Boys and Girls Club and a poet who writes really long sonnets every weekend.  Jane is home visiting her parents for Christmas when she hears about the choir alumni wall.  She’s not going to do it, but a conversation with a department store Santa changes her mind. Santa tells her she will get a date for Christmas if she goes to her old high school and places her handprint on the wall.

Jane goes and places her hand in the purple paint. She has to wait 2 minutes with her hand on the wall until it dries.  There’s a kind, handsome, engineer who is also waiting for his  handprint to dry.  You only need 2 minutes in a movie to cement a relationship. Let’s call this man Peter. Peter is a scientist who is creating a devise that will make clean water a reality for everyone in the world. There are greedy corporations and corrupt politicians who are trying to stop Peter from his work.

 After several hours of deep conversation while eating organic, locally-sourced food they decide this clean water device needs to get out now. Jane builds Peter a website so he can publish the directions for how to make the clean water devise. The movie then shows people all around the world using the directions. The world is a better place.

The movie ends with Peter and Jane standing by a doorstep.  He gives her a kiss goodnight. It’s a sweet kiss as the snow starts to fall.  Jane gets her date for Christmas.  The End.

The Reality

In case you are wondering, I went down to my high school and placed my handprint on the alumni choir wall.  I did not meet a handsome engineer, save the world, get a date or a goodnight kiss out of it. There was also no snow. It was fun though to walk around campus and think about younger me.

The whole silly Hallmark movie idea did make me think about water.

According to the United Nations, nearly 1,000 children die due to preventable water and sanitation-related diarrhea diseases every single day (Source).

That’s horrible. It breaks my heart to hear that people are suffering. I try to do what I can to love my neighbor. I try to support organizations that help make the world better. I wish I could do more.

There’s so much need in this world. It’s easy for me to get discouraged when I hear about another problem that my fellow brothers and sisters here on planet Earth are experiencing.  I think I could spend the next 50 years of my life helping others and still not be able to fix all the problems of this world. (Yes, you read that right. This 40-something year-old is planning to die in her youthful 90’s.)

I wrote a little poem to make me feel better. It helps me accept that my small efforts are enough. If we all helped one, the world would be better. I hope the poem makes you think. I really hope that the poem inspires you to serve.

The Poem   (because there’s not enough poetry in the world)

I may not be able

to stop all wars

But I can bring peace

to one child’s heart.

I may not be able to

call back the storm

But I can warn the one

who live in the valley below.

I may not be able

to do it all.

But I can give my all

For One.

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges, Change the World

2019 Summer Goals

by my13daychallenge

It’s really hot today. It was so hot that my makeup just melted off my face. It’s not too hot to set goals though. Here are my 4 goals for this summer.

  1. Go to Taco Tuesday with my friends

I have some friends who go out for tacos twice a month. My goal this summer is to join them more often. I always have fun when I go. During the school year, it is easy to put other things ahead of Taco Tuesday. No More!  It’s important to be social.198 delicious mexican taco

   2. Garden

New garden picture

I recently moved to a new home. I’m going to use the few weeks I get for summer break to prepare for my winter garden. I’ve also decided that I’m not planting kale. You can click here to see why I don’t want to plant kale.

3. Take a nap if I feel tired

dscn4262.jpg

Yes, those are Christmas sheets. I have Wonder Woman sheets too in case you wanted to know that. Life is just better when you have fun sheets. I usually only take a nap on Sunday after Church. There’s just something delicious about a Sunday afternoon nap. It’s one of my favorite parts of the Sabbath. This summer, I have given myself full permission  to take a nap whenever I get tired. So far, I’ve taken 1 nap that wasn’t on a Sunday. It’s a start. The theory behind the nap goal is to honor myself by taking care of me. If I am tired, I will rest.

4. World Peace

Peacemakers

I believe that if enough people set love for themselves , love for God and love for their neighbor as a personal goal, we will achieve world peace. I’m loving my neighbor by doing some volunteer work each week.

Those are my summer goals. What are your goals this summer?

 

 

 

 

Challenge Eleven: Be Brave, Change the World, Musings, my13daychallenge

When it’s not the most wonderful time of the year

by my13daychallenge1 Comment on When it’s not the most wonderful time of the year

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, belted the singer on the radio.

I think I’ve heard that song hundreds of times before and I never batted an eye. It’s just a Christmas song but today it was different. I heard the words and then I started crying. It isn’t always the most wonderful time of the year. In fact, sometimes it is the worst time of the year. I cried for those whose loved ones were lost in 2017. The shootings at the Las Vegas music concert. The church shooting in Texas. I cried for my family and friends who got a cancer diagnosis this year and the pain they’ve experienced during treatments. I cried for job losses, home foreclosures, unfulfilled dreams, divorces, hungry children, war and the pains of getting older. I cried for my friend who has watched her mother’s dementia progress into a changed personality this year.  I cried for Puerto Rico and how there are still so many of our fellow citizens without reliable power. For Houston. For the people who lost homes in the California fires. I cried for a country that is more interested in political parties than helping people and enacting real progress. There’s been a lot to cry about this year and it all came out when I heard that song on the radio.

Sad Amee

And then I cried for myself. I cried, because like you, I’ve had my own grief battles and unfulfilled dreams. The whole time I cried the radio kept telling me it was the most wonderful time of the year. It was a little annoying.

So, I turned that silly radio off. It’s  not always the most wonderful time of the year and that needs to be said.

I’m a Christian and I believe that someday Jesus will come again and make everything right. I also believe that we don’t have to wait until that glorious day. Be a little kinder to people today. It may not be the most wonderful time of the year for them.

Merry Christmas, Everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Change the World, Current events

Help Wanted: Peacemakers

by my13daychallenge

Help Wanted: Peacemakers

The world is seeking kind, loving souls to be peacemakers. No prior experience needed. Just a willing heart and a desire to see others as people will get you this job. Apply today and start working tomorrow. Actually, start working today. We have a staffing shortage and could really use all the help we can get. Salary: A better world for all of us.

I am deeply troubled by the events in Charlottesville and the other acts of violence and hate that I have observed in the news the last few months. The world needs peacemakers. We need people to walk across the party lines, socioeconomic backgrounds, religious and cultural differences and all the other divides. We need to  love and support each other. We’re going to have differences, but killing each other and hating each other is never the solution. At the end of the day, aren’t we are all just travelers on this little spinning planet?

Jesus said it best in the Sermon on the Mount. “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God”.

 

 

Change the World, Musings

My Palm Sunday Psalm

by my13daychallenge2 Comments on My Palm Sunday Psalm

Father,

The world is in motion. Changing. Moving. Shifting. The bombs drop. The hearts break. Anger is stirred and kindness seems to be forgotten. Will peace ever again be here upon Earth? –Amee

Dear Little Child,

Hold on. The crashing wind can destroy the outer branches, but the roots are still strong. The billowing tide can tear down the old but the truth is still here. Ever present. Ever faithful. There is nothing lost that won’t be found and God will somehow make everything right in the end. –Father

Father,

It’s hard to have faith when the world is in on fire. I do what I can, but there are more fires than I have strength to put out. –Amee

Daughter,

A little faith is all you need. Love one another. Do what you can. Be still and know that I am God.  –Father

Father,

It’s me again. I tried to be still. I did a great job for 5 minutes. Then, I watched the news. Did you know there are wars, pain, poverty, disease, so much inequality and broken hearts all over the world?  What are you going to do about it?    –Amee

Amee,

I created you. And your sisters and brothers. It’s time to get off your knees and get to work by making the world a better place for all. Jesus will come some day, but you don’t need to wait for then to make a heaven here on  Earth. All who praise God and serve his children can find rest to their souls. –Father

Father,

I love you. You are my God so I will do my best. This is my Palm Sunday anthem to you. With all love and deep respect.

–Amee

 

 

 

 

Change the World, Childhood memories, Musings, Vote

I got my sticker.

by my13daychallenge1 Comment on I got my sticker.

Once upon a time there was a little girl who loved stickers. She collected them and put them in a book. It was election day. The little girl’s mother packed up all of her children and took them with her while she voted.  There was a mean lady named Linda working at the polls. Linda had short black hair, large silver glasses and a purple dress with green flowers printed on it.  She gave the little girl’s mother a voting sticker but she didn’t give the girl a sticker. Of course, the little girl never forgot. Thirty-three years later, she thinks about how she didn’t get a sticker every time she votes.

I voted sticker

She thinks about the issues too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Challenge Seven: My Thoughts, Change the World

If you want to save the world, go eat a taco.

by my13daychallenge

198 delicious mexican taco

I was eating a taco today and I started thinking about all the problems that are facing the world. I really would like the world to be a better place. It’s just easy to get discouraged when you realize that no matter who gets elected there are still going to be a lot of messes and problems.

I sat there eating my taco and feeling discouraged ,and then I had this thought. If you want to change the world, start with yourself. Start with the seven deadly sins. It was really a profound thought. It was so profound that I wrote a letter to the entire world all about my thought.

Dear World (or at least the 40 people who read my blog),

There are seven deadly sins. These sins are greed, pride, lust, gluttony, envy, wrath and sloth.  They are called deadly because they are the sins that encourage other sins. Most people have heard of the deadly sins, but did you know there are also seven heavenly virtues. The interesting thing is that each virtue is the opposite of the sin. It’s like a road map for making the world a better place.  So, we just need to encourage  prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude, faith, hope and charity and the world’s problems will all be solved. Sounds easy, right?

Take a minute to close your eyes and imagine with me a nice little world that strives to have those seven virtues.

Our national debt problem is now solved.  There would be enough food for all of the people on Earth. Prudence is the careful management of resources and the ability to use reason and thinking to solve problems.  People would have what they need and not envy or lust after other people’s stuff. Crime would go down. Hate crimes would go down. Violence would be non-existent. We could disagree with each other about religion, politics and everything else without calling each other names.  Wars. Nope, we’d have too much charity for our fellow human beings to bomb them. We might still have disagreements, because we’re human people with faults. If that happened, we would just sit down at the same table and through moderation in action and thought  figure things out. After all, moderation in action, thought and feeling is the definition of temperance.  The courts would never throw the wrong person in jail, because everything would be just. Global warming. That would be solved too, because we’d be wise with our resources. Life might still be challenging at times, but we’d all have the mental strength and courage to help us to face fears until things are resolved. That’s called fortitude and we’re going to need it in buckets if we want to create a brighter future. On days, we weren’t 100% it would be okay, because people would be kind to us.  In this perfect little world, we’d have faith and hope in each other, in God and in the belief that there really is room in the beautiful world for us all to live peacefully with each other.

Thanks for listening, World.

Love, Amee

It all made perfect sense while I was eating my taco today. I thought about eating a second taco to see if I had any other thoughts, but that might be considered gluttony.

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