Tuesday Morning Ramble

This morning my thoughts are with my dad, he has his first chemo therapy today and his third radiation treatment and he will be going through this alone. I hate that. After my step mother died, we asked my dad to come live with us, but he is an independent sort of man, strong and determined, perhaps a bit stubborn and he was not about to move in with us. How I wish he had. How I wish he was here with us now. But I understand that our lifestyle is not the norm . We choose to live simply, placing more emphasis on people than on things and have no desires for a big fine house or fancy cars and to some, including some of our family members is seen as just plain crazy. Not everyone sees value in doing things the old fashioned, hard work sort of way. And then there is the appearance end of it. If I had to choose between having a house that looked like something in a magazine or helping someone with medical bills, the choice would be simple for us to make. But this kind of choice is not always popular with those who find appearance to be important.

Recently I saw where a person sets these gorgeous table settings, and my first thought was about their beauty and then I thought about "where do they store all those things" and then I thought, "wow, that must cost a fortune" and then I saw where it was all for show, no happy family was going to be sitting at those place settings, no laughter was going to fill that room for a family meal. It was all for show.....empty beauty in a manner of speaking. Then my thoughts turned to sorrow, wondering how many times folks spend money on stuff to fill an emptiness that can only bill filled with love, not with more possessions. Not with expensive shoes or round the world trips. Sure, there are folks that have it all, family, deep love, generous hearts and all those things, but most don't and its those folks I am thinking about. The ones who hope that a new item will fill a void, that empty spot that should be filled with love and honestly, that love seems to be best met with a deep and abiding spiritual relationship that allows us to foster and grow good and solid personal relationships.

I believe in the joy of beauty and I like things pretty, but not at a cost of turning a blind eye to the needs around us. I think the present state of our economy is teaching more and more people that going into debt for that big house or all that shopping, wasn't the ticket to happiness.

Most of us know that deep down, if a storm or fire came in and destroyed all our possessions, we would still consider ourselves blessed if no person was hurt or killed. Isn't that the lesson for us. Things are not what we need to invest in, but good loving relationships are. Contentment, it seems, is spun from the purest gold, that doesn't cost a dime.