Quote of the Week

“A lie will gallop halfway round the world before the truth has time to pull its breeches on.” – Cordell Hull, Nobel Peace Prize recipient in 1945 for establishing the United Nations

The Sounds Of Silence

Ours is a noisy culture. Voices on cell phones, U-tube, television all vie for our attention. No matter where you go, there is always some sort of music blaring in the background. Or you plug yourself into your i-Phone/i-Pod and walk down the street ignoring all around you. Layer on top of that the screech of cars, airplanes flying overhead, and the obnoxious barking dog on the street how is anyone supposed to focus, think, enjoy the beauties of the world around them. Indeed our world is LOUD.

As a writer, I can also add to that the noise the voice in my head. It is always crafting sentences, how to turn my adventures into stories, what to write for a blog post. But I have also discovered silence as a tool to help me be a better writer, a better person, and to put me in touch with myself and my Creator

Here is a quote from Simon and Garfunkle’s well known song of the 60s “The Sounds of Silence”:

“And in the naked light I saw ten thousand people, maybe more.

People talking without speaking, people hearing without listening

People writing songs that voices never share…

And the signs said ‘The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls

And tenement halls’

And whisper’d in the sounds of silence.”

It takes time to make peace with silence. But once you do the benefits will quickly astound you. Take time to unplug, close your windows, lie still on your bed and…just breathe. Once the original anxiety over what you should do passes, you will find your mind clearing, and a song entering your soul. God speaks in those quiet moments as Psalm 46 states “Be still and know that I am God!” Or take a drive through the country on a nice day, no radio, no cell phone, just you and the beauty of nature. Let us not burry our humanity in the noise of technology or the beauty of creation in constant distractions that really do not feed our soul. Life is too short!

Quote of the Week

“Truth, is not hard to kill, but a lie, well, that is immortal.” – Mark Twain

Fun With Words

From Reader’s Digest Sept/2017

Let me “run” this by you:

Run is the most complicated word in the English language. It has only 3 letters but more than 645 potential meanings, gives its chief competitors, set and put a run for their money. According to the Oxford English Dictionary editor, it took nine months of work to record all possibilities (a “run” of a pregnancy!).

So how long of a list can you run off?

Quote of the Week

“Tell the truth, or someone will tell it for you.” – Stephanie Klein, writer

Fun With Words

From Reader’s Digest 9-2017, Life in These United States

The game card said: “Name three wars.” My daughter’s response: “Civil War, Revolutionary War, and Star Wars.” – Amy Casella

Quote of the Week

“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it’s the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”– Mark Twain

What the Rose Bowl Parade can teach you

The commentators are a wealth of knowledge of arcane factoids:

For instance, we’ve all taken a “Jitney”. Some are ferries, some are buses but have you ever wondered where the name came from? Back in the beginning of the 20^th century, it cost 5 cents to ride public transportation. A “jitney” was slang for a nickel. The name stuck for the short route transports even though today it costs a hundred times more to ride them!

And have you ever wondered what a group of butterflies are called? They are known as a “Kaleidoscope”.

Quote of the Week

“There is no greater gift than thinking you had some impact on the world for the better.” – Gloria Steinem