Missing Churches

Churches are gradually disappearing, sadly. In ancient times, churches were the places where the community went, not just for spiritual comfort but also for protection. When the area was threatened the natural place to head, was off to the local cathedral. Usually made of stone, with huge, hard closing doors and high walls, a bell tower to broadcast alarm and with plenty of open space inside, the organ pealing out gigantic tones was paced for song. There are places in Europe where the evidence inside and outside saw the church on seige, scorched, those inside, victims of fire and canon volleys. During more modern wartimes, churches were places where bullets were dodged and people protected and lodged to some degree of safety. When bombing and rockets came along that ended stone walls being any help at all. Those who manage churches: the clergy, the boards and councils and other forms of church governing, often make their structures into shelters for those in need as they are given  empathetic attention and care. Now, because  churches are emptying more and more, they can become concert halls and some that are no longer in use, are made into different forms of lay entertainment. Their  large floor size and  layouts that work for audiences are ideal. One, once filled regularly, I sat in and saw  the organ loft above the altar, no longer used, was laid out like a clever art installment, its elegant pipes lining the entire space. The building's ceiling, was being under a vast wood boat hull upturned, and it seemed to lay over us all, we who were listening a string quartet. Protectively, it was like a huge beamed and cedar lined sky. Church acoustics are well-planned for concerts. As I sat listening to the string quartet playing poignant modern melodies, I felt sad that perhaps no longer do hosts of youngsters troop off on Sundays, dressed in their finest, to listen with fascination, to ancient stories depicted on easels clad with felt figures and told by ladies and men committed sincerely, to their simple passions and faith. It made me ponder: do young people marvel over the broad issues of humanity then and the old morality? Do they  marvel at the incense wafting or see real candle flames or look into the uplifted faces of carved statues and wonder what it all means?  

Mentally Ill Homes?

 Used to be a huge, rambling park-like series of large, tall, secure, fully staffed red brick buildings on a hillside in the Coquitlam area. Everyone knew that those with mental illnesses that required treatment, care, safety and recreation by professionals would go there, be there, and that a full variety of medical treatment was  available in a private place, government funded.  We called it Essondale, but the original name for the men's facility in 1913 was titled, Hospital For The Mind. Later, it was Essondale, and still later, Riverview. The institution was not well regarded then, or is now historically, due to its former, accommodations and treatments. The treatment for the mentally ill, those days, seemed cruel but it continues to be in some ways, for some patients today, still a form of "shock" therapy. Methods have changed and it is carried out in kinder but still effective methods. No longer do residents of such places house people in dormitory style rooms with "bars" on the windows. While many feel that we need to reinstate such services to "get the mentally ill off the streets" in protecting them from becoming prey to criminals, others know that some form of better care is needed to prevent incidents that can be dangerous to patients and others plying city streets. What sort of care that might be, remains, only discussion. Prison is no place for the mentally ill to receive help. What needs attention vitally, is how to remedy the increasing occurrence of stabbings and assaults by unstable persons. It is a conundrum between what is freedom of choice and what is truly needed to help. It is heavily evident however that too many persons with mental illness, suffer prison stays and often when released, commit attacks on the public who should be able to go about feeling safe. The problem can no longer be tolerated or ignored. When people have to go about in fear of being waylaid sadly by mentally ill persons who are sent back to the public sphere, by those thinking they will be able to manage their medications, it's time to fix what was thought to be fixed in 1913 at the Hospital For The Mind. 

Picture Perfect?

 All this hype about the royals fixing bits of pictures is ridiculous. And it is mainly yapped by photographers who ALL fiddle around with their photography as part of their normal activity. I have seen photos of a certain woman in the beauty business who is idolized by viewers in THE fashion magazine, famous for its photos, and all of them are air brushed or enhanced, shall we say, to make the individual's waistline only slighty bigger than her neck measurement. The efforts are clearly and visibly done, and no one really cares. There aren't many pretty people who daily post their selfies to the world at large, and then proceed to count how many times someone looks at the fakery. They agonize over how many check marks they get. How silly and silly be? What is the big fuss? While the world "burns" Neroists fiddle over such tripe. When a portrait of a famous person is painted it's all, or was, all fakery. It's called artistic freedom. What is the difference in taking pictures with a camera, rather than painting in oils a portrait, when cameras are specifically made for artistic manipulation freedoms. From all of the articles I have seen about the royal edits of photos they take, and send off to the gnashing press, there is nothing that should upset anyone. A line in a couch? A patch of dark behind an ear? A bit of tartan not matched? A zipper closure not done  up? How petty can the press, they who do this all the time themselves, never mind the one or two purists in the group who don't (if there truly are such)? Just another gossip hungry "wall" of clickers slavering for something to write about, thinking there is nothing more important than picking apart a world that is pretty much ripped apart as it is. It is a well known fact that the media engages in "artistic freedom" incessantly, without caring whom it destroys because they deem it their professional right. They speak of not being able to trust the royalty any longer since a couple of tiny edits were done to a picture of the royals' photo backgrounds, not to their faces or bodies as is blatently common all the time by everyone else, but to the backgrounds or insignificant bits of their pictures. The royals are not doing the wrong, but who is?  Puuhleese!

No Shame Aging

Our society makes stupid judgements at times and sometimes we even put them upon ourselves. How many old, yes "old"people, make apologies for their appearance in having wrinkles or being stooped or walking slowly or using aids such as walkers, wheel chairs or canes. Stop feeling shame for what is natural. And if someone faults your aging, they are rudely wrong. When someone becomes angry or impatient with you as an aging person, please turn to them and in a pleasant voice, say,  "You are looking at yourself". And it will be true.  Not one living thing can escape aging. It's perfectly natural, and there is no shame attached to it. The worst sickness in every human being, is stress. Why we aging persons, stress ourselves worrying about how we look or feel or think, causes an illness that is not necessary. Aging is lauded when some unusual person of an advanced age, does some unusual thing and wins an award. Everyone applauds. This woman is one hundred and she runs a marathon. This man in his nineties downhill skis. That person is eighty nine and climbed a risky mountain.  They are, indeed, grand events but they are not The Norm. And let's hope they don't bring regret to all elders, but only their admiration. Most bodies that have been working for a very long time without stopping, are naturally going to have breakdowns. There is no fault attached. What holds great honour is when some unfortunate soul, inflicted with a cruel situation, continues to be positive. They set a remarkable example. Whatever tiny matter that we can cling to with joy and hope and a sense of simply being present, is prime. Life, and to be alive, in whatever form, is a great honor and privilege. Finding a way to celebrate it no matter the down times, is the key to eliminating stress that you don't need. Stress can eat you up.  Even those who rely on care givers for the most intimate attention, should not feel ashamed  because yes, in old age we do need treatment that is helpful. We cared for our babies and now, when some of us have worn bodies that need the same tender care, we can show our respect for life by accepting what is before us and do so with grace. Our stress can be put aside and a smile replace it. We live, we reside in joy if only we allow it. 

Women's Day Men

 I am pleased on Women's Day because of how quickly they, when the battle for equality among humans was won, stepped up. Also, I congratulate the men who worked together with women, to see it happen. Marriage of man and woman, or in other forms, is an example, an arrangement, where true partnership is called for. It's something created by two people who decide to work out how their unique family will be born. How and what they make, is of their own design. It could be a relatively smooth road so that everyone in a family has a contributing place with systems that make it a cooperative venture. Everyone from the smallest to the biggest member in a family, should have in its position, equal rights and feelings of belonging and sharing and safety. The family should also accept other families without prejudice since all good families are in some way different than others. Happiness and love are the goals and rules. Working with other groups counts.  Men have been relieved of having to make all the family decisions as once they seemed to, before women were legally successful at freeing themselves from the oppressions of former marriage traditions. Women vote now, as they should. Men can be partners in a family home rather than being the "boss", as society once saw them. Marriages are not always long. Divorce does happen in marriage but if so, it can be made a natural but difficult event that will find its level, so that all the members are able continue to adjust and contribute. Women have the babies and that's important work. It's the hardest work there is and it goes on for both parents for the rest of their lives. You can't divorce being a parent. My late son did everything a mother does in its family arrangement of work, marriage and caring. My son proved that fatherhood is not only a great joy and privilege but that family is an on-going job equally involving both parents. There are many kinds of marriage and family today, and most all of them are an opportunity to find the true meaning of a deeply joyful, fulfilling life. If the goal is happiness and not what is often called "success" should that definition be only power and wealth, it can be called gold. Marriage, partnership, peace and harmony work best in a world that needs peace desperately.  Today, a Women's Day,  I thank the men who don't have a day like this but who in working along side their equals, women, may earn it in the future.

No Soy? Not Possible

I can't eat soy anything without a nasty sensitivity reaction. Many children and about four percent of adults cannot eat soy as an ingredient or anything at all made with soybeans. The reaction is akin to a peanut butter allergy on a lighter scale. It  can throw some people quickly into shock. I am not an allergy expert but I know how I feel and have done for many years after eating  soy and/or MSG.  When this first began I was in middle age when the reaction became undeniable. I love what we in North America call Chinese food but the, when I came out of a lovely dinner at a restaurant, I became almost immediately ill with ugly symptoms including the threat of losing consciousness and feeling that I was dying. All the signs of shock. I tried to convince my doctor of the situation merely to find out if I were right about the reaction and he sluffed it off saying that MSG which since the nineteen thirties is extracted from soy beans, was natural. The allergist he sent me to refused to test me because he feared the reaction I would have. Even a little bit causes it. I thought it was MSG that was the problem but since then having a reaction from tins and boxes that promise "no added MSG" there is certainly what is called a "natural" MSG in them. None has been added, but it's there in a natural state. Often it is called "spices" or "flavoured" because the commercial folk want it to stay that way. People come back to eat more with MSG.  It may be a natural product but just like peanuts, natural or not, it can cause some people violent reactions. As we age in life, often these sensitivities, maybe not allergies, can develop and when we find that we feel ill or have abdominal cramping and its effects we should investigate to see what it is we have consumed. Many people find that they can't eat cheese or wheat products or perhaps shrimp,  and so on. I recall the days when we all used something called Accent and poured it on our meats and put it into other dishes not realizing it is pure MSG. It certainly does give your body a message. It's that what you ate is so delicious that you crave more almost immediately. Fried chicken outlets are famous for slathering it on their meats or putting it into those delicious crispy fried batters. If you aren't sure why you head for the bathroom half an hour after eating it, you might check the labels to see what you are eating.  Is it monosodium glutamate? MSG.  It is in virtually most soups, gravies, prepared foods, meats and snacks. Check it out for yourself.  

Carless Roads

 The way to stop accidents and worn out vehicles being loaded onto scrap heaps or the purchasing of new ones that are electric is to have carless roads. Instead of electric cars and scrapping huge numbers of perfectly good gas vehicels, we could make the roads electric. We have electricity in all major towns and cities. We need electrify the roads, not the cars. Cars of a different nature would be the new public conveyors. These  would be saftey and security conscious as well as personally comfortable. Would it take much to install the electricity and the cars on all major highways ? It's alread there.  If we put cars that can be destination ordered through online sites, set for that purpose to go anywhere or somewhere in a location, it would take hundreds of gas cars off the roads. You could book a destination and when the unit arrived at your door, you would  enter the car along with other strangers whose online places to go were the same or perhaps they would be dropped off or others picked up along the way. You would have your divider privacy with cell charge options and some storage in your compartment.  One could use a special registration number to pay for the ride or with the onboard screen,  make changes enroute if necessary. Payment would be determined online using your special registration ID.  What a lot of stress and  time wasting would be avoided. If we stopped spending  money and time on personal ego vehicles and more on publicly viable transportation, we could move people to where they wanted to go without huge expense. It would curb the use of oil based fuels and if necessary might be converted to nuclear power instead. Now, it may sound silly but silly science fiction can be inovative. There must be a way to make transportation simpler and easier and cheaper. As to recreation, the system could provide larger cars to accommodate weddings, funerals, graduations, parties, sports fans, and so on. These could be reserved on line also. Could the carless road be worse than traffic jams and fender benders, car theft and car repairs and ego buying of vehicles? Why aren't we working on systems that are truly environmentally effective than seeing the widespread purchase of personal vehicles costing horrendous amounts when we could use a system based on  shared ones. Let's think about the globe.