The Lonely Dance by Janet Elliott Brown

Slowly, the fog swirls around me. It is the fog born of sudden loss. The shock comes even in the knowing of death. The soul is moving gently as it begins the lonely dance of acceptance. That melancholy song that plays just for me.

I am reaching for the rope that will pull me up, out of the fog. I have  moments of surrender when forgetfulness lingers briefly.
To forget, is only to remember again, and again, and again.

When I remember, there is a quick and immediate swelling of sorrow. The sorrow expands inside me until I worry that it will burst wide open and all of me will be poured out. Loss has pulled me under, down into the darkness of my soul.

Hope struggles to breathe life into me, and soon the fog of loss dissipates. Slowly, gently it lifts, and I find myself rising to the surface. And I am back, standing in the light of day.

Happy Little Rain Dance by Janet Elliott Brown

The wind has had its way with my hair. Feeling it blow on my face.  Music drifts in and out on the breeze. Just listening to the sounds of summer floating thru the trees.

The boats in the harbour, anchors down, gently rocking. Like a lullaby, the water slaps the sides, slap, slap slap. I think I hear a sound like fairies talking.

Off the water on the shore, swaying in perfect syncopation, are the blades of grass and amber waves of grain. See them bow and do their happy little thank you dance for the rain. 

When You Meet a Jimbo by Janet Elliott Brown

They aren't confused by who they are. They know. What confuses them is how people treat them. The cruelty of adults can emotionally devastate a child who already deals with being different. Adults only hurt them with their judgements. I say, if we ain't walked in their shoes, we have no business judging who they are. I actually believe judging is best left up to God. Trust me, if He wants to send a message to them, He will. He won't need judgements made by anyone else to know who to convict or not.

Unless we are God, who are any of us to judge them. To question someone else we know nothing about?  Why is it people always pick people that are different from them to judge and then bring the Bible into it to vindicate their sin of judging others? There are PLENTY of sins out there that you and I are just as guilty of and they are talked about a lot more often in the Bible than the sins of little children being different from them.

These kids know who they are. GOD CHOSE EVERY CELL IN THEIR BODIES AND HE IS PERFECT. HE CREATED THEM PERFECT JUST AS THEY ARE. Guess who used to be perfect like these kids and is not so perfect now. You.

Maybe it is because you don't want to look at the sins you commit every day. Like the sin of judging others. Oops. Forgot, what about the sin of not loving others? Lack of compassion? Empathy? How about you guys look in the mirror.

I would imagine God reads all your posts. You guys seem to be confused about how a Christian is supposed to talk and act? If you think God wants you out there attacking others with your personal judgements and do it in His name, think again.

Your comments, posts and every single thought you have, is written on God's heart. You wound him greatly. Your messages are ugly. Pray for forgiveness. You stir up negativity everytime you post something. WWJD is totally lost on you. You must be so jaded and sick at heart that you have no idea as to how Jesus would handle himself if he were you. Good luck, pal.

Have a blessed day. 

The Very Thing by Janet Elliott Brown

Maybe getting the air knocked out of you, is the very thing your lungs need to remind them how much they love to breathe.

Something to ponder... by Janet Elliott Brown

Ponderings by Janet

Each day, we will make a new memory. Without even thinking about it, memories are made. The most important memories, along with the oddest recollections, happiest, saddest and most prolific memories will last for the rest of our lives.

Our memories are often interlaced with someone else's. So what happens to us and how we feel about it becomes a memory; our memory. Simultaneously, a memory is also be created by whomever might  witness or participate.

What we experience: morphs into memories and emotions

What we experience with someone else: is a shared memory, the same experience with different emotions for each of us

So we may be making a memory for ourselves, someone else, or both, right this very second. In this very moment.

Something to ponder...

Life by Janet Elliott Brown

When in high school, we had debates. We were encouraged to debate current issues, like the Viet Nam war or women's rights. On FB, many people think that talking about important issues is a no-no. If one does that, they are looked at as dissidents. Yes, dissidents. How does tyranny begin? Subtly. With fear and intimidation tactics. 

I will not just sit idly by, going along with laws being made that actually hurt 75% of the people in our country. 

So many people have banned themselves from participating in any discussion that is controversial - so they can remain politically and socially correct so as not to offend anyone. Let's not ruffle feathers, right.

Is that the least bit offensive to anyone besides me?  I am not an overly political person, but it is my responsibility as an American to speak up, to stand up, to question things and to talk about them. I want to apologize to anyone that takes offense at this post, in advance.

I wondered if more of our tax money each year is spent on welfare or big business. So, of course, I googled it. This is an older article, but it supports my theory. Why are folks mad at the people "stealing" their tax money; "illegal aliens" or those on food stamps, medicare, etc., instead of being mad about big business welfare? Much more of "their" tax dollars go into the billionaire and trillionaire peoples' pockets. Big businesses are made up of people lining their own pockets with the taxes paid in by all of us.

I have actually had people say such hateful, cruel things about the poor, and those in need, and much worse and more selfish things than one could imagine. People just need to "work as hard as THEY do so nobody uses (steals) the taxes they pay. Americans going hungry are not their problem. Kids without food, shoes and school books, women/girls that need planned parenthood, etc., are using their money. Those in need of help should save themselves. That's what I have been told several times by people that I love very much. 

Some of my friends, those with the most influence, have personally decided to NOT stand up or speak up, and that is sad for all of us.

Ding! Ding! Ding! The floor is now open for debate (not name-calling or fighting). Your thoughts, please?

So, here is my topic for debate:

From Wikipedia:  Tyranny of the majority (or tyranny of the masses) refers to an inherent weakness of direct democracy and majority rule in which the majority of an electorate can place its own interests above, and at the expense of, those in the minority. This results in oppression of minority groups comparable to that of a tyrantor despot.^[1]

Potentially, through tyranny of the majority, a disliked or unfavored ethnic, religious, political, social, or racial group may be deliberately targeted for oppression by the majority element acting through the democratic process.^[2]

American founding father Alexander Hamiltonwriting to Jefferson from the Constitutional Convention argued the same fears regarding the use of pure direct democracy by the majority to elect a demagogue who, rather than work for the benefit of all citizens, set out to either harm those in the minority or work only for those of the upper echelon. The Electoral College mechanism present in the indirect United States presidential electionsystem, and the phenomenon of faithless electors allowed for within it, was, in part, deliberately created as a safety measure not only to prevent such a scenario, but also to prevent the use of democracy to overthrow democracy for an authoritarian, dictatorial or other system of oppressive government.^[3] As articulated by Hamilton, one reason the Electoral College was created was so "that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications".

Did I Change by Janet Elliott Brown

I seriously don't know why or how my beliefs are so much different than my friends and family. It seems we do have the past in common, but not the present or the future.

That has really been bothering me and I find myself questioning myself and wondering how I ended up on the wrong side of the issues from the majority of my friends.

Lately, I have made an effort to NOT speak up for my beliefs because I am losing my friends and their respect for me. The differences are real and cut deep into my heart. I am pretty sure that they are questioning the value of my friendship and avoiding me. I am very sad about this, but in the end, we are all alone when we leave this earth.

Until this year, I never knew how very different I am from them. We truly do not share common ground at all, just past experiences. I wonder if we ever really did. I have been very confused about this.

Many of the differences are in how we feel about other humans and how we want our country to treat other human beings. I do not see the poor and downtrodden as thieves, drug addicts, drunks, lazy, violent and worthless - all taking advantage of the system and stealing their tax dollars. I do not believe that everyone needing food stamps, disability, social security, etc., is bad. 

Welfare seems to be a dirty, shameful word to them. They say that people in bad situations that need help should have worked harder LIKE THEY DID/DO, been smarter, gone to school, done this, or done that instead of stealing their money (the portion of taxes paid by them.) They have little compassion for anyone on welfare and label them they are all the same - bad.

This is what welfare actually means:
wel·fare
ˈwelˌfer
noun
the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group.
"they don't give a damn about the welfare of their families"
synonyms: well-being, health, comfort, security, safety, protection, prosperity, success, fortune; More statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote the basic physical and material well-being of people in need.
"the protection of rights to education, housing, and welfare"
NORTH AMERICAN
financial support given to people in need.

What's a bleeding heart liberal girl to do?