Family (I Love You)

    

     Most of us spend our growing up wondering how we were stuck with these people we call family. It is a hard call. Some of us have reasons as to why we want nothing to do with family as we reach our adult years. Others are pulled from their family when they are young. Then there are differences in DNA, religious beliefs, or on whom we love. All of us have a dream of the Perfect Family.

     Every human being has a dream of being loved, no matter what by those we have lived with most of our lives. Sometimes that happens, sometimes it never does. The expectations of family members can just be too much to overcome. Some of us believe we are less than, others believe they are more than, all of us have some sort of twisted view that seems nearly impossible to overcome.

     Family comes with baggage, many hidden trinkets that are shared among all the members. Unspoken rules, those boundaries that one crosses without realizing because no one voiced where the lines are, perhaps because they did not know they had set the boundary in the first place. There are anger issues, sexual issues, feelings of invalidation, fears, dreams, and strengths. There are mental issues, financial issues, and simply life issues that interfere with family.

     Family that set of people that house the imperfect yet strives for perfection. Truly, the only Perfect Family no longer lives among us on earth. We long for family. We hunger for that closeness that family promises just by being called family. We all need to feel the touch that family can bring; unfortunately, there are those among us that will never know that touch.

    “Fri(END), Boyfri(END), Girlfri(END), Bestfri(END). Everything has an END except...Fam(ILY)! It Has 3 Letters that says I LOVE YOU.” It is for this that we long for. The love that is without end. Some say that only comes from God, I have to disagree. Christian terminology uses the term “Family of God.” God is the One that determined family, so that, perhaps we can know that love without end. Aw, the crux is we are all human. We all have a will. Either I will or I won’t. That very fact alone can place all of us into chaos. The chaos of emotion, belief and for some the fear of being an abomination.

     Could this be why we find family without the blood tie? Because they may love us without condition? Could this be why we find connections with people that we do not know? Because some Higher Power realized that, none of us can live without being connected to someone? We all need the touch of family. My hope is that we discover it before we lose anymore of ourselves. With each death, there is a loss of self. May we discover each other before it is too late.

A Game of Life

     Kevin Flynn: "The only way to win the game is not to play." What a thought, just don't play the game.

     Does this mean all the social games that are online? No. It means the games that people play with each other. We have forgotten how to handle people with grace and kindness. We only look out for ourselves and no one else. Has to be; have you noticed that the "Mine, mine, mine." phrases of children are now echoed in adults?

     There seems to be more than ever; human drama is played out before us. There are responsible adults that demand that it be their way or not at all when it comes to being online, in the store, or in their personal lives. Children screaming expletives at their parents in public places, adults that rudely turn away from even the kindest of comments. We have become so afraid of what, ourselves?

     Porn and sex-toys come in plain wrappings for a reason, to protect the sensibilities of even the hardest of us; it is for a private joy, not for the world. Not everyone wants to be a voyeur, yet it is forced upon us by all sorts of media and people. I like a sexy joke, or even sexy play, but I am aware that the person next to me may have seen too much in their life to endure even the least bawdy phrase. They have their rights as well as anyone else.

     Rights are a difficult proposition; the LGBT community in America cannot enjoy rights that the Constitution guarantees for Americans, because others voted those rights away. This makes me think, the more rights we take away from each other, the more hatred and turmoil we will face. Every action has a consequence. We are now seeing the consequence. People that would normally be concerned for another are now focused on themselves. Why? If no one is going to stand up for the rights of others why should we care what others think or feel?

     Now is the time for grace. Now is the time for kindness. Before we all forget just what it is to smile and be considerate to another. Even in social gaming, it is about being social. Understanding the diversity of those, we have adopted into our folds. From the highly educated to the least, the rich to the poor, and the tragic to the comic. We must be responsible for each other, for if we are not, we will see an ending to life as we have known it. Star trek: the Wrath of Khan says it best,” Spock: Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh... Kirk: ...the needs of the few... Spock: ...Or the one... I have been and always shall be your friend.  Live long and prosper.”

Happy?

    

     What does it mean to be happy? How can one define something so allusive? Perhaps happy is just living at peace with ones self. It could be living with the love that dreams are made of. Then again, it could be the sound of childrens' laughter, or the smell of a new-born puppy. Just what is happiness? Is it there, or is it here? Is it something that is created on the inside or is it a condition of the outside world? We have the right to pursue happiness. That means there must be something tangible to this happy thing. It is in the Bill of Rights in the United States Constitution so it must be real. It must be attainable, so why then does it seem to be so very far away?

     It is my belief that happiness seems so unobtainable because there are many that have been refused the right to be happy. Oh yes, there are children and the peace of being with ones self and the wonder of living with the love that dreams are made of, but there is really no place for that to be shared with others. There are people that have been removed from malls for a single, simple kiss in public. There are those that have died for loving someone that did not fit in the killers sense of normal. Then there are those that are pulled apart by so many questions and fears that even though they love one another more than air, it simply cannot be. They believe the stories that they are abominations. Or they simply want to be "normal" so badly that they are willing to destroy that which made them...happy.

    So now happiness is just a dream upon which our fore-fathers built a nation. It is no longer real. It has been murdered, burned, torn, mutilated and divorced out of society. The masses that have affairs help to prove this point. The demand for One Man/One Woman has turned into a society of men and women that do not know the meaning of happy or faithful. Almost every evangelist and politician that has something derisive to say about the LGBT&Q community has been caught in some affair or lie. all this chips away at happiness. Eventually, life becomes very gray, without joy, without peace and without the gift, the right to be happy.

Seriously?

Several years ago, a president was in trouble. Suddenly America was in the throes of its greatest threat. The Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual, Transgendered (LGBT) community threatened the sanctity of marriage. A law came into being that specifically stated: One man/ one woman. Hallelujah and pass the bacon, Free at last, free at last.

So why are the law-breakers not being arrested? You know the ones, the men, and women that have adulterous affairs. Rather throws the one man, one woman thought out the window.

The LGBT community did not cause people to stray outside their marriages. They did not come into the homes of straight Americans and pull them out into the street, demanding the straight American to cheat on their wife or husband.

Poor God, He already has an entire community that His people have condemned and damned, but they have forgotten to look at themselves. Actually, that is a generalization. There are true believers, the ones that believe in showing the love of God. They do not judge, they leave that up to the Father. They do not condemn or call anyone an abomination.  They believe what they believe, but there is no ramming down the proverbial throat, just the love of God, period.

Our history shows prejudice and bigotry with women’s rights, civil rights, and the right for the mentally disabled being allowed to marry as long as they understand the meaning of marriage. We have a history of prejudice against Chinese, Irish, mixed marriages, and Mexicans. There is a history of internment camps, and slavery. Now, it is the LGBT community. Maybe America just needs to have something to destroy within itself. There is a psychological term for this, but I dare not, I am already saying enough to incite a riot.

I do wonder what would happen if adulterers were arrested for breaking the one-man, one-woman law. Stop picking and choosing what parts of the Bible you will obey and which ones don’t pertain to you. If we are going to have a law, then we need to enforce it.