SSABlog#59

I come to the SSA column more often than anyone, and for many reasons. The most obvious is that I write the column. Anoother reason that I visit frequently is to view and try out our sponsors. The program we use for ads is Google. While I am not a fan of advertising per se, I have come to realize that I simply could not afford to spponsor this website myself. Given that it was ncessary to use advertising, I am relying on Google to have good ads to my readers. So of course I click often and visit the sponsors. What I have found, much to my own surprise, that there are services and products that I have found and used here on the SSA site. I do keep an eye out, but if there are ads that you find disturbing, please let me know. At the moment, only ads for tobacco products are blocked, and I am not seeing a problem there.

SO....Given all that, do click on a sponsor ad. Internet services, and marketing on the internet is the newest success and the way of the future. Some great information and products are out there for YOU...

Dear Michelle:

I want to address the point of the President of the United States or for that matter president of anything whatever. In my view, there are a very few requirements for President. First you need a person of good character. Without this there is no point because you cannot trust your leader to do the right thing for the good of the nation or organization. A president needs to be able to look at information in front of him, listen to advice concerning same, and make decisions. The hard part is to make those decisions based on sound advice and to not take criticism too hard because you know you have made the best decision you could, even if later proven wrong.

Terry Powell, KB9REE

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Dear Terry;

Thanks for writing in again, and for expressing your opinion with us. Much is made of character, and for good reason. Character is the total of a persons manner of interacting within society. In a good person, a good citizen and a good president: someone who is honest, acts with intergrity, acts intelligently, and for the good of society.

The problem is that character and its components are invisible. So when one violates good judgment only those who saw or heard know.
One way to avoid getting tricked is to watch someone's behavior over time. In the case of a president, watch their ecperience and votes where they serve in government.

Inspirational Reading

A MIRACLE MORNING

In her poem "Aurora Leigh," Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:

Earth's crammed with heaven,

And every common bush afire with God;

But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,

The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.

I have certainly plucked my share of blackberries, blind to what

wonder there is in life. But on occasion I have also had my eyes

opened by others, a bit more sensitive and aware. I cherish those

moments and recall them when life gets too routine and ordinary. I'll

never forget one such moment.

I stumbled out the door of a mountain cabin where I was spending the

weekend working with youth and their families at a rustic retreat

center. I had a 6:30 a.m. appointment to keep and squinted from the

early autumn sun peeking over pine-blanketed mountaintops.

"Today is a miracle!" spoke a young, enthusiastic voice behind me. I

turned toward the radiant face of my teen-aged friend.

"How?" I asked her. I wasn't sure if I could handle any excitement

this early in the morning.

"Think about it," she smiled. "The sun rose, didn't it?"

"Yeah." I found it easy to hide any enthusiasm. It seemed to rise on

every other morning without any help from me.

"That's a miracle! It is miraculous that the earth turns as it does.

At night, the sun goes down and in the morning it rises. It just

happens!"

I pretty much had this figured out years ago, I thought, as I rubbed

sleep from my eyes. I was also busy thinking about how to get a cup of

coffee.

"And look at the mountains! Covered with trees and grass, they look so

beautiful. And there," she pointed, "a valley. It's all a miracle!"

"What have I stumbled into?" I thought. "And where is the coffee?"

"Wildflowers blooming," she continued. "It all smells so fresh and

clean and so good." She took a deep breath. Her blue eyes sparkled.

"All of nature receives water and light. Things grow and blossom --

it is all so beautiful."

Maybe it wasn't coffee I needed...but whatever she had gotten into! I

didn't know if it was her bubbly personality or the freshness of the

morning, but I began to sense her enchantment with the daybreak. A

little, anyway. Somehow, she had me believing that the day did hold a

certain magic.

Then, with a smile that seemed to make her blonde curls laugh, she

gave her pronouncement a note of finality. "And best of all, it will

happen again tomorrow. And the next day! And the next!" She sighed.

"It's a miracle morning!"

My young friend showed wisdom beyond her years. For her, earth was

"crammed with heaven" and "every bush afire." She should never want

for happiness, for she had already learned, at such an early age, to

find wonder in the commonplace and to feel gratitude for the

ordinary. If each day for her is a miracle, then a lifetime will be no

less than a marvelous extravaganza!