A recent email I posted in reply to a cousin when he said “life was unfair”:
I've come to think life isn't about fairness. We're presented with gifts of joy as well as struggles along our journey we call life. It seems to me that life is really about our relationships with one another. Growing our character to be able to recognize and embrace joy for ourselves and others. It's about deepening our ability to know when compassion is called for and it’s about us knowing that without truth, the quality of our relationships will decline and crumble as well as the quality of our society and all it represents. And all of this, it seems to me, is important to if and how we love. Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Friday, April 6, 2012
Truth
You tell me it's a dream and dreams are of little value
But you speak nothing of truth
Dreamlike qualities not grounded in reality
So you say
Cannot be taken seriously
Truth often resembles the dream
Hard to grasp, hard to hold
And often difficult to separate from the lie
Truth's value intrinsic to life lived as a free people
Visualized by the dreamer, truth may hold the greater virtue
For without it, Justice, Compassion and Love cannot be nurtured
Nor the reality of a free people sustained
~paulette thibodeau-baker~
But you speak nothing of truth
Dreamlike qualities not grounded in reality
So you say
Cannot be taken seriously
Truth often resembles the dream
Hard to grasp, hard to hold
And often difficult to separate from the lie
Truth's value intrinsic to life lived as a free people
Visualized by the dreamer, truth may hold the greater virtue
For without it, Justice, Compassion and Love cannot be nurtured
Nor the reality of a free people sustained
~paulette thibodeau-baker~
Thursday, April 5, 2012
The Lie
True, true, truth…
Do not lie, nor allow the liar to be
How do we measure the value we place on truth
If we the voter, are not outraged
Nor fear the depth of corruption
That often finds its root
Reflected in the snake charmer’s mask
How can a people alter their course
When all who serve are tainted
By the broad stroke of the liar’s brush
“Don’t you know, they all lie”
Comes the politician’s cry
Voters who discern truth from the spoken word
Eventually cannot be deceived
Liars ultimately show themselves
For they just can’t help
But to lie and to lie again
~ paulette thibodeau-baker ~
Do not lie, nor allow the liar to be
How do we measure the value we place on truth
If we the voter, are not outraged
Nor fear the depth of corruption
That often finds its root
Reflected in the snake charmer’s mask
How can a people alter their course
When all who serve are tainted
By the broad stroke of the liar’s brush
“Don’t you know, they all lie”
Comes the politician’s cry
Voters who discern truth from the spoken word
Eventually cannot be deceived
Liars ultimately show themselves
For they just can’t help
But to lie and to lie again
~ paulette thibodeau-baker ~
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Political Commentary
My response to a reader's comment to an article written by Peter Grier of the Christian Science Monitor 3/10/11:
In response to the reader asking whad did Republicans ever do for our country, might I point out a few tidbits of information: Abraham Lincoln, our country's first Republican President issued his famous proclamation freeing slaves: Dwight Eisenhower helped lead the free world to victory over an ambitious Germany and Japan looking to dominate the world as they extinguished the lives of millions of innocents; and when he later became our President, Eisenhower sent federal troops to guard our African American Citizens as they attempted to integrate into all white schools; and Republican Leader Everett Dirksen helped persuade his fellow Congressmen to pass the Civil Rights Act at which time many Democrats did not favor passage. If I may be so bold to add that another Republican President comes to mind: George W. Bush who freed some 50,000,000 people in two countries from brutal governments. Not with the intention of taking control of their destinies nor their oil but to offer them the opportunity to ultimately forge their own destinies.
In response to the reader asking whad did Republicans ever do for our country, might I point out a few tidbits of information: Abraham Lincoln, our country's first Republican President issued his famous proclamation freeing slaves: Dwight Eisenhower helped lead the free world to victory over an ambitious Germany and Japan looking to dominate the world as they extinguished the lives of millions of innocents; and when he later became our President, Eisenhower sent federal troops to guard our African American Citizens as they attempted to integrate into all white schools; and Republican Leader Everett Dirksen helped persuade his fellow Congressmen to pass the Civil Rights Act at which time many Democrats did not favor passage. If I may be so bold to add that another Republican President comes to mind: George W. Bush who freed some 50,000,000 people in two countries from brutal governments. Not with the intention of taking control of their destinies nor their oil but to offer them the opportunity to ultimately forge their own destinies.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Political Commentary
A comment I posted online to Jennifer Rubin's (2/24/11) column in the Washington Post:
The fact that members of many of these (public employee) unions fear retaliation for speaking within their communities the best of what is on their minds represents the dictatorial nature of what has become a corrupt relationship between Democrats and unions. This grip on the throats of municipal governments becomes extremely hard to break. But this corrupted relationship feeds at the trough of us taxpayers over commitments that bind us well into our country’s future. These commitments become “fundamental rights” to those who benefit from this process while becoming a scourge to the rest of our citizenry, our children and their children who have to pay well into the future for corrupt processes that eat slowly at our nation’s soul and our concepts of personal liberty, responsibility and accountability.
Posted by: pthib
February 24, 2011 10:20 AM
The fact that members of many of these (public employee) unions fear retaliation for speaking within their communities the best of what is on their minds represents the dictatorial nature of what has become a corrupt relationship between Democrats and unions. This grip on the throats of municipal governments becomes extremely hard to break. But this corrupted relationship feeds at the trough of us taxpayers over commitments that bind us well into our country’s future. These commitments become “fundamental rights” to those who benefit from this process while becoming a scourge to the rest of our citizenry, our children and their children who have to pay well into the future for corrupt processes that eat slowly at our nation’s soul and our concepts of personal liberty, responsibility and accountability.
Posted by: pthib
February 24, 2011 10:20 AM
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
This Farm
Why, why oh why did I do this
All these little ones to be fed, housed and cared for
Looking to me to protect them, maybe even to love them?
Whatever came into my mind?
Whatever crept into my subconscious…?
Whatever made me think I could do this?
This job of being a farmer
The sheep, three dogs, the ram, hundreds of free roaming chickens,
Perky and mulish Molly and Sally
And Henry my ever so lovely goat
But I love these creatures of God
It saddens me to see my lonely white duck waddling
His doggie best friend having passed away
A tender young teenage ram
Where no critter will befriend him
Should I bring him into my house so he’s not so alone?
How will I ever make this work?
Where will the money come from?
Is this not a younger man’s dream
And was it an older man’s foolishness to have dreamt this dream?
Ah…so much for second guessing
I will till this soil, plant my seeds, water my crops
And here love will grow
This farm that feeds my soul
~ paulette thibodeau-baker ~
All these little ones to be fed, housed and cared for
Looking to me to protect them, maybe even to love them?
Whatever came into my mind?
Whatever crept into my subconscious…?
Whatever made me think I could do this?
This job of being a farmer
The sheep, three dogs, the ram, hundreds of free roaming chickens,
Perky and mulish Molly and Sally
And Henry my ever so lovely goat
But I love these creatures of God
It saddens me to see my lonely white duck waddling
His doggie best friend having passed away
A tender young teenage ram
Where no critter will befriend him
Should I bring him into my house so he’s not so alone?
How will I ever make this work?
Where will the money come from?
Is this not a younger man’s dream
And was it an older man’s foolishness to have dreamt this dream?
Ah…so much for second guessing
I will till this soil, plant my seeds, water my crops
And here love will grow
This farm that feeds my soul
~ paulette thibodeau-baker ~
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Political Comment
Recently I posted a reply to another's comment to an editorial in a Canadian Online Newspaper (CBC.CA) on 12/22/2010. The person I replied to favored a single ruling governmental body and thought national sovereignties interfered with a more desirous world order.
My Reply:
"Why do people think that `some person` or some world governing body holds the magic of utopia? I would rather my country be free to risk and struggle as it tries to achieve the individual aspirations of its people. Yes, we may make mistakes and have individuals who suffer from blights of corruption, but I'll take that any day than suffer the weight of oppression that in my mind a single world order very probably would offer. A good example is the world court. I will oppose any effort some of my countrymen attempt to subject our rule of law to that of a single international court. The world as it is now does not appear to value concepts of truth, integrity, justice and fairness in common currency."
My Reply:
"Why do people think that `some person` or some world governing body holds the magic of utopia? I would rather my country be free to risk and struggle as it tries to achieve the individual aspirations of its people. Yes, we may make mistakes and have individuals who suffer from blights of corruption, but I'll take that any day than suffer the weight of oppression that in my mind a single world order very probably would offer. A good example is the world court. I will oppose any effort some of my countrymen attempt to subject our rule of law to that of a single international court. The world as it is now does not appear to value concepts of truth, integrity, justice and fairness in common currency."
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