A Tribute to our Veterans

 Positive Pensées

Kathy King

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”

Joseph Campbell

A Tribute to a Veteran

A veteran, a warrior with a servant’s heart. 

A protector, an attendant to a greater cause. 

A cause that understands that it is not just about self. 

A knowing that they are all part of something larger than self. 

A mindset of knowing that one day they may have to be brave. 

When all around them rage and have much to say.

Much to say about the cause of liberty. 

Some mock it, some spit on the very flag that has the blood of warriors in which we cleave.

The principles this country was founded on so that we could be free. 

Some know this with every beat of their heart. 

They have seen battle, they have known loss and it has broken their heart. 

When times are difficult and they have to answer the call. 

They go forth for the cause of freedom and liberty for all. 

A veteran is a person who sometimes is forgotten.

Their sacrifice, their time away from family, is not even in most people’s periphery. 

Ask yourself, if the time came where you were called to serve, could you do it?

The sacrifice, the long stints away from the comfort of American life. 

It is quite a tall order for that kind of sacrifice. 

Could you charge into the fray when the enemy's guns are blaring?

The drums of war beat even as we speak, the world is in a bit of chaos. 

There may be a time we have a need. 

To have that lion hearted warrior leave all that he or she knows and face the daunting idea of battle, that is true bravery that shows. 

Thank a veteran, tell them that you appreciate their willingness to sacrifice. So that you, the American citizen, can enjoy peace without great fear of sacrifice. 

Our family has a “whole camp full of soldiers” in the words of Lydia Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. You are probably thinking, “What is this lady talking about?” Pride and Prejudice was a book written quite a long time ago by Jane Austen. It was set in England. The young girls were entranced by all the red coats that they encountered in their little village.  I can hear my son now…  “Mom, why are you talking about English soldiers?”.....  But I digress. I wrote all of this to share that yes, many of my children (5 to be exact) chose to enter into the military and serve the United States of America. To be quite honest, it can be a lot on a Mama’s heart to know that the only thing that you can do for your child thousands of miles away is pray.. It is a bit much at times. I pray each and every day for all of our men and women who have served or are still serving. If you are not familiar, they raise their right hand and vow to protect this country against all enemies foreign and domestic. They give an oath and end it with, “So help me God.” That is a true and weighty statement. To know this as a mother makes me proud, scared, honored, etc..  I feel the same sentiment about those who have gone before. If you have never read the book “Band of Brothers” or actually watched the series. I highly recommend doing so. That was selfless sacrifice. There are other books as well that come to mind about other soldiers who have served in more modern times that I have read. Each time I finish one of these books,  I can’t help but think, could I do that? I am not sure if I could. That is why I ask that each of us say a prayer of thanks for our veterans. They well and truly deserve it. I leave you all with this quote: “May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to do what is right.” Peter Marshall

 

The Gift of It's Not My Job

A simple photo by my husband...

I have shared this poem before.  It is called "Trees" by Joyce Kilmer.  It was set to music by Oscar Rosbach.  I believe that this little musing embodies Grandaddy Burgess.  He was a simple, yet great man who loved nature, to work with his hands. I sang this last year.  Please enjoy.

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of It’s Not My Job

“Never say, “That’s not my job.  That oozes arrogance and laziness.  Chip in to help with what needs to be done, even if it's not your responsibility.  So what needs to be done or help someone find the solution. Period.  Even when no one is watching.”

Unknown

How many times have you heard someone say, “That’s not my job! I will just go away.”

“I don’t know how to do it, I don’t think I can help.”

Are all common phrases that are spoken and felt. 

It may not be your job, and you may not know how to do it. 

But just the act of support can help the person struggling through it. 

Through the confusion, the work and even the toil.

Being present is a great tool. 

Say things like, “How can I support you or give you a hand?”

This is much better than not giving a helping hand. 

The concept of sowing and reaping applies to our lives each day. 

Are you sowing seeds on dry and sandy ground?

By not helping others, that seed is cast on the infertile ground. 

When the harvest time comes, your field will be bare. 

And no one will be there when you need a helping hand. 

Sow the seeds of good deeds on fertile ground, water it with kindness and goodwill toward those around. 

When the harvest comes and you are in need. 

Your field will be a full and bountiful harvest, good and hearty for your soul. 

So give a helping hand and your crop will grow tenfold. 

My mother without fail always had us at church each and every time the doors were open.  We were at Sunday School without fail.  One story that has stuck with me over the years was the parable of sowing and reaping.  The sower goes to sow his seed.  Some fell on the wayside, some fell on thorns, others fell and the birds devoured them.  Some were trampled down,and others fell amongst rocks and sprung up but quickly died because of the lack of moisture.  As Jesus continues on, he refers to the seed as the Bible or his teachings.  To sum it up, sowing seeds in places where there is no real way for growth is never going to yield a fruitful crop.  Where are you sowing your seeds?  What are you giving into the universe?  A simple act of holding a door open for someone is sowing goodness into the universe and into your life.  Put up the grocery carts, give the clerks a break who have to fetch them from the parking lot here, there and everywhere.  Things folks ask for may or may not be our job but we can offer to help.  My husband’s late grandfather was a Methodist preacher for many, many years.  He was probably one of the most humble men I have encountered in my life.  He did not have a big personality.  He was just a man with a good heart.  He sowed a lot of goodness to the communities that he served by with no great fanfare helping the needy.  Clothing the poor, teaching the tenets of Christianity such as love your neighbor as yourself.  My husband recently told me he took on the KKK and successfully had them stand down from their acts of hate.  He just wanted to sow goodness.  When I married my husband, he was probably about eighty years old and retired with his wife Emily.  They lived in a very small modest house, and they planted the most amazing gardens.  It was always an exciting time when we would go to Grandmother and Grandaddy’s and eat their vegetables that they canned from the garden.  He took our children with him to show them his pride and joy of the garden.  As he aged, his wife of over seventy years passed.  After that, he was never quite the same.  He started having memory problems and had to be put in a home.  When my husband and I went to see him shortly before he died, he did not recognize us.  My husband knelt down and asked him to tell him about his favorite book.  Without hesitation he said, “The Bible. It teaches us to be kind to one another.” Say what you will about the Bible and religion in general.  But this great man lived the greatest snippets of the scripture.  He never said, “That’s not my job.”  He always led with, “How can I help?”  At his funeral, many people talked of this great man’s legacy.  He did not shout it from the mountain tops that he was the best.  He simply lived a life that gave back to the universe for his ninety-six years on this earth.  That is truly a standard to strive for.  

The Gift of Serving Others

Serving others is refreshing... much like a cool rain.  Photo credit: My husband.

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Serving Others

“We can’t help everyone, but we can help someone.”

Ronald Reagan

To serve, to give, means to look outside of yourself. 

To pause, take a moment, and see someone else.

To take the focus from inward to outward, to find a new way to see.

So much of life is finding the right path. 

Have you paused for a moment and wondered if that is the same for someone else?

To look outside of yourself, to see the human being in need, it’s a gift that needs to be passed on for all to see.

To know that we are part of a bigger purpose and plan.

That plan involves blessings that are truly quite grand.

That little act of service can make a huge difference to someone, even if it is in a very small way. 

Put down the phone, look outside your bubble. 

Find someone who needs a blessing.

Find someone who needs a kind deed. 

It will keep you quite humble. 

Life is less about self and more about selflessness.

Find someone who needs a blessing, a word of edification.

I promise you that act of service will come back and help you find your blessing. 

One of the reasons that my husband and I encouraged our kids to do some sort of civil service was to let them know that life is about something bigger than self.  We live in a society where selfies are everywhere.  When I scroll through social media, a lot of what I see is selfie after selfie.  While I am not opposed to the occasional selfie, I often cringe.  I have an acquaintance who calls them, “Narcissisties.”  Again, I took a few selfies when I was blessed to be in the Alps.  It was awesome.  However, how do we really balance this need to take pictures of self or magnify the self?  We do that by serving others.  Now, the military is not for everyone obviously.. but what can we do to help others?  To be of service to others? To edify others?  That starts with the decision to realize that there are a lot of folks out there who need just one simple act of kindness.  One prayer. One, “God Bless Your Day.” One act of just listening.  I am a talker.  Those that know me would gasp in horror…. Not really!  My husband reminds me often that I have two ears and one mouth.  I should listen more.  It is true.  Just the act of listening to someone can take a weight off of the shoulders of another.  I have worked with seniors for about fifteen years.  It is one of my joys and callings in life.  Did you know that it highlights some of these sweet little old folk’s life to just listen to them talk about their grandchildren?  While self care is important, serving others is also right up there in importance.  Did you know in some countries civil service is encouraged to take the primary focus off of self? In this world of selfies and, “Me! Me! Me!” What can we do to bring it to, “Build each other up?” Growing up in the belly of the south, one of the first scriptures I can remember is when the disciples asked Jesus what was the greatest commandment.  He commented quite succinctly that it was to “Love God with all your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself.  If that is true then well, it should be pretty easy to build others up, right?  I will leave you all with this.  I am moved to tears quite often that our children are pretty great.  Even greater still is that five of them realized that it was important to serve a greater purpose than self.  I often think of those brave ones in WWII who risked their lives to be part of the bigger picture.  We live in a time and place where that is not necessarily our greatest risk.  We have our heroes in uniform of whom I am so very, very glad to be called a military mom.  What can we do? How can we serve? How can we make a difference?  I would wager it starts looking prayerfully outward.  That focus will inevitably bring your perspective back to the inward blessing of knowing that you have blessed someone else.  I leave you dear readers with a quote from Albert Einstein: “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.”  

The Gift of Freedom

Two of my boys were at a baseball game with the rest of the Cadets  at his school saluting the flag.

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Freedom

The Flag Waves High

The Flag Waves High for all to see. 

To symbolize the cause of liberty.

A land forged by blood, sweat, and tears.

A land that has so much to give.

It was forged by prayer and great faith. 

With values hopefully no person can erase. 

Stand for liberty and to have free speech. 

If we lose this, one cannot fathom the consequence. 

So please, on this day of celebration, take a moment to pause and reflect. 

Reflect on the good portions of our country, particularly for those who serve and protect. 

Love our land, love each other and Love God and Country. 

Love your neighbor, even when they cannot see.

Do good, be good even when no one sees.

Let us return to loving our neighbor for the sake of our country. 

As the words in the song say:

My country 'tis

This wee sweet land of liberty

Of thee I sing

Land where my fathers died

Land of the pilgrim's pride

From every mountainside

Let freedom ring

My native country, thee

Land of the noble free

Thy name I love

I love thy rocks and rills

Thy woods and templed hills

My heart will rapture fills like that above

Let music swell the breeze

And ring from all the trees

Sweet freedom's song

Let mortal tongues awake

Let all that breathe partake

Let rocks their silence break

The sound prolong.

In my journey of Pensées, or thoughts if you will… I have taken several moments to contemplate the concept of Independence Day.  America is quite divided (or so it would seem), at the moment.  Actually, the whole word seems divided at the moment.  War rages in Europe.  Paris is literally burning.  What can we do?  First, if you are a person of faith, I would encourage you to pray.  Pray a lot.  Love your neighbor even if you do not agree.  Change starts in small ways.  One person at a time.  One prayer at a time.  One good deed when no one is watching at a time.  I am convinced that most of us “normal folks” want the same thing.  To live in a world where we can have love, belonging, family, friends, and most of all..  Unity.  America has its flaws, that is undeniable.  Her flaws have been forged by fire over time.  There is still work to do.  This country is still a beautiful place to live.  One of the many times I was in New York, I took a cab ride. Most cab drivers do not make small talk… but on this day my cabbie was feeling talkative.  He talked about how he loved living here.  You see, he was from another country where he said his certain sect of folks were persecuted a lot.  He said that living here he knew that he could be free to be who he was.  He also said that he wished that Americans knew just how good they have it here.  It was really on that day I started to contemplate the many blessings there are in life.  Today, I am thankful for liberty.  I am also prayerful because five of my children have raised their right hand and said that they are willing to protect this country with their life.  That is daunting, scary, awe inspiring, and a cause for much prayer.  I leave you with this quote:

“Our Flag Does Not Fly Because the Wind Moves It, It Flies With the Last Breath of Each Soldier Who Died Protecting It.”  Unknown