Thought for The Day - Over Here!

Put your attention, your intention on me! It's what I have to remind myself often. Certainly, television, social media and the national news can be sources of information, but that's not really the issue, is it? When time that should be spent writing, painting and communicating is spent in these medium, they are distractions!

Be disciplined! Stay on target and on task! There is work to be done, Eddie. Get to it! So for this morning, I make this entry brief, to get back to the work.

Thought for The Day - Prosperity

Sketch for Predawn Light (in process) 18 x 24 charcoal

Names, titles, descriptions, they are a funny thing. A word can be used so often and in a particular way, that  the mentioning of it generates a "group think" vision. Like the word today, "prosperity." Mention it in most circles and especially Christian circles and immediately, we think of a pocket full of money, cars, large homes and full closets. But what about prosperity among the middle class or the working class? Can it exist there as well?

Since childhood, I have lived in a house with full cabinets and well stocked refrigerators. Even when "times were tight" for my wife and I, there is always plenty of food to eat. I have always had a change of clothes and a car to drive. And yet, so very often I consider what I don't have and I get sad. Not only do I get sad, I get to praying for more. But as it is, I consider what I have as well and while that doesn't cause me to pause and be thankful each time, it does take the edge off my complaining. In truth, while we have, we are always in search of "more" or "different."

The word prosperity, when applied to my situation and probably the lives of nearly everyone reading this, fits our lives. It isn't a matter of what you lack but what you have. Certainly, many would rather have bank accounts with near unlimited money; I don't know about you, but the thought of having more money, immediately brings up the things I would "trade" my money to buy! I don't stop at the thought of having money, but I think of buying and spending and filling up a house with stuff. I imagine a life of full days and luxurious vacations. But in the best sense, I have all I need N-O-W! I might want an abundance of rest, but I have this uncanny ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat! I can sit in a waiting room full of people and if I'm tired, doze off in heartbeat! So do I need more rest or to manage better what I have 'at hand?'

Perhaps stress comes because we are always focused on what we don't have, what our lives aren't. What if we focused on the blessings in our hand, on our shoulders and on the plate in front of us? Would we come to realize we are prosperous?

Peace

Be

Thought for The Day - Clear View

Triplicate (in progress) - 12 x 18 panels - Pastels

...Because our intentions are good. Because in spite of our faults  and failures, our fear that the world is collapsing around us and our single indiscretion contributes to the greater apocalypse, we want better. No, we want Heaven and it's promise of perfect health and connected relationships without ulterior motives.

...because we see with jaded eyes, we detect collapse and calamity faster than we do love and good meaning. Because with every well placed thought, no sooner do we look at our world, training and tradition kicks in to tell us that the guy who sits too closely wants to take our "stuff." We don't truly treasure stuff over people, we actually value our human interaction more than stuff. It's just that "stuff" tends to light up at our touch, at least 95% of the time. It responds when we need it to and it waits for us until we are ready to 'play.' But people are fickle; they sometimes return a mutual expression of acknowledgement and sometimes they avoid you as if you don't exist.

...because when we get behind our closed doors,  no one should be able to hurt us, yet we continue to hurt. No matter how we eat right or wrong - justified by great testing food in socially-satisfying situations, or alone where no one laughs under their breath -  exercise, pay our taxes and smile at our neighbors, we don't rise to the desired level or unity we strive for.

Who really wants more stuff? A television doesn't change the condition of your heart if you decide you prefer pain and disappointment over compassion. And a 100" LED Plasma television is no more important than the news about a child abducted in a town 500 miles away.

Intentions, desire and the Highest. Focus there.