Guns, Guns, Everywhere Guns

So, I was thinking...what is it with the paranoid rantings of the pro-gun faction saying that any regulation of gun ownership is a blatant violation of the 2nd Amendment? I believe in car ownership and I still recognize that laws regarding car ownership and car operation must be enforced in order to protect all citizens of our country. Responsible ownership must account for something. One cannot buy a car and then drive over people, property and disregard the rules of the road. We have agreed to some common laws regarding responsible car ownership to the safety of all of us. I believe the same applies to gun laws. We must have some comprehensive laws regarding gun ownership for the safety of all of our citizens. That does not make me anti-gun any more than saying we need car laws make me anti-car. Making better laws and creating additional regulations will not eliminate gun violence any more than making more traffic laws eliminate car accidents. But it may make things better, and isn't that what we all want?

That Bothers Me

The other day I noticed that I was annoyed by the car that was driving in front of mine. I looked into the car and noticed that a blue placard, which identifies the driver as disabled, was dangling from the rear view mirror as the occupant of said car was driving. And it annoyed me. I came up with all different reasons, sane reasons, safety reasons, intelligent reasons why I should be annoyed with the dangling blue placard. But the bottom line was, I was annoyed by it. Have you ever been annoyed by things like that, things totally outside of your power to control them? Wow, it's such a waste of energy, yet there I was being all annoyed and up in this driver's business with my condemnation of his placement of his placard. After a few moments of distain, displeasure and judgment, I realized that I was no longer in my business because I was so preoccupied with his business. Talk about futility. Then, it dawned on me. I had been missing some of my meditation times in the month of December. With all of the hustle and bustle of the holiday season I neglected to set time aside to do my regular meditation and was participating in a hit or miss kind of practice. Well, no wonder I was cranky... I remembered something that Mother Teresa once said about being so busy she better meditate twice as long on that day, I'm paraphrasing here, but that was the gist of it. I do what I do, I get what I get. Miss my regular meditation time and I start being pulled and pushed by the effects of the world. Stay in my regular meditative practice and I go about my day anchored in the Truth. It's that simple and that challenging sometimes.

Equality Means Equal

I read with some interest that Maggie Gallagher, same sex marriage opponent, is ending her syndicated column after seventeen years. While she mentioned all of the reasons why she decided to walk away from her column, newpapers are dinosaurs, print media is a dying breed, I believe she has simply realized that she is not on the winning side of her crusade. Whether or not she has seen the light, it is apparent even to her that she will not "win" this one, that equality will win the day, and that marriage equality is a done deal, state vote by state vote. Freedom wins in the final analysis and the freedom to marry must be a freedom for all Americans. Over the age of consent? Want to marry the person of your dreams? They are over the age of consent also? Go for it. And don't give me any of those slippery slope arguments, either, they are stupid. Heteros cannot marry their dogs or their goats or whatever, so that's not even a conversation I'm going to have with the haters. And the legalization of same sex marriage will not force churches to marry anyone they don't want to marry...the Catholic Church has been denying the sacrament of marriage to various hetero people forever, and they have never been sued because of it. The legal contract of marriage issued by the government should not be dictated by religious beliefs but by the laws of the government. The religious sacrament of marriage can be as biased as the particular religious belief wants to be. It gives everyone freedom to marry. In her closing column, Maggie Gallagher admitted that the fight has not been going well. I am reassured by that. The Truth will out, as they say, and in the end the freedom to live a life as well as one can, to fall in love, to marry, to raise children, to love the person one loves must be a freedom accessible to all.

Grateful 2013

Here is an idea whose time has come. I read it on blogs, FB, newspapers (yes, some people actually continue to read real, smelly, finger staining, crinkly, old fashioned newspapers!) and heard it discussed by people near and far. It is, ta-da, the Gratitude Jar! Yeah, that's it. I know, big build up and that's it. Yup, that's it. The Gratitude Jar. Or Gratitude Box, Gratitude Drawer, or Gratitude Can, if you prefer. Get something, anything, in which to deposit little or big pieces of paper. You will have written something on the paper, something you are grateful for that day. Each day. Everyday. For a year. That's it. Simple & easy. Well, simple. Maybe not so easy. I know I fall into old habits easily and some of the old habits are all about complaining and complaining is not easy to do when we are busy being grateful for things. See how that works? Brain training. I find it next to impossible to complain and be grateful at the same time. So, I received a beautiful wooden box from my eldest son for Christmas. It is made to keep leaves at a constant temperature and humidity. Think tea leaves or tobacco leaves, if you will, though I don't know why anyone would want to think tobacco. This is my Gratitude Box for 2013. It will hold leaves of a different sort. Leaves of paper, items of gratitude, memories to be stored and opened on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2013, so I can look back over a year of blessings. Beats the hell out of making more New Year's Resolutions that don't work! : )