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Friday July 6, 2018

One recent ADHD-ish morning, well into my routine, reading and writing affirmations, something I read tweaked my path brain – like somebody said “squirrel”, gone off on another tangent; then noise outside disturbed my concentration, an email arrived/needed attention, I clicked a blank space to write this – coffee cup needed refilling.

Before resuming my ‘morning place’ I clicked on tweets of someone I follow, that  led down a Google-rabbit hole of reading poetry (Donald Hall died recently) by that extraordinary man where I found his poem Affirmation so appropriate to thoughts I’ve had lately – then I needed that squirrel again, to point me back to my writing table. And I was changed – a little bit – and won’t be the same. My poems will never be like his – I’ll have to out-live him, I’ll keep trying …


READER FEEDBACK:

FLAT EARTH AND OTHER TRUTHS

Very good points. I have these debates with friends all the time. Some so religious that they choke the life out of conversation's.  My belief is the same. You don't have to be spiritual to have a good heart, to be kind. What society lacks more than anything is empathy, compassion. We spend more time caring about others, wanting the best for others but forget ourselves but that's what us Empathetic people do. There are to many critics, to many judgemental people in this world. As whether the earth is flat or round that's left to interpretation. I have never believed it to be round, but whom am I to judge. Keep up the great topics of thought, MJ, Calgary, AB

Mark,  I enjoy your articles. They are so random, And each day is so different so thank you for taking the time to write. I hope you don't dive into religion and I'll tell you why. I once read that 85% of the world believes in the first four books of the Bible. The story of Moses parting the Red Sea we can't process today as being something anyone can recreate yet most of the world believes that it happened. I think faith, fear, and hope were stronger years ago. I don't think people questioned as much. Less doubt and more trust in whoever was leading. As the years have gone on we've been tainted by some horrible leaders. Very few political leaders have left a positive 'legacy' in recent years. We don't trust that our leaders will produce positive change and so I believe people are reaching for something else. Something that can't be measured or disproved because everyone will have a faith story that science can't explain. People like to believe that a stronger hand is guiding them. I love parenting my two children with this position because it's reassuring for both of them to know they are never alone, they are always protected, and they are always forgiven. I try not to get caught up in the red tape of denominations and focus more on the basics. On what most of the world believes in which is faith and trust in a higher power that science can't explain. If your living now without believing in a higher power then why question it? It's working for you I'm assuming so by asking your readers to convince you get ready for endless scriptures, videos,  etc pointing out the passion they have on their position of whatever faith they follow. My suggestion is to stick to what's working for you. I'm open minded as well but I'll seek out different religious views on my own. I hope not to read them in your articles because it would take away from the randomness of your writing. Just my feedback, TK, ?


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