I’ve come across a really good blog entitled “Faith is My Superpower” written in a voice of authority and wisdom; a blog written by Sharon Light, I believe.  Light takes me in with her voice of authority and wisdom; touches my heart with her love of the Lord as she writes about the Days we’re in and how faith will see us through.  Anything.  Her wish to inform and bring more preople into the family of Christ is inspiring.  I hope you’ll visit with her on her Faith is my Superpower blog.

Some of you may recall I’m a fan of P. M. Forni, professor at John Hopkins University, who co-founded the John Hopkins Civility Project in 1997, an aggregation of academic and community outreach activities, to assess the significance of civility, manners, and politeness.   He’s the author of Civility: The Twenty-five Rules of Considerate Conduct [how we ought to treat each other] listed below.

• Pay Attention
• Acknowledge Others
• Think the Best
• Listen
• Be Inclusive
• Speak Kindly
• Don’t Speak Ill
• Accept and Give Praise
• Respect Even a Subtle “No”
• Respect Others’ Opinions
• Mind your Body
• Be Agreeable
• Keep It Down (and Rediscover Silence)
• Respect Other People’s Time
• Respect Other People’s Space
• Apologize Earnestly
• Assert Yourself
• Avoid Personal Questions
• Care for Your Guests
• Be a Considerate Guest
• Think Twice Before Asking Favors
• Refrain from Idle Complaints
• Accept and Give Constructive Criticism
• Respect the Environment and Be Gentle to Animals.
• Don’t Shift Responsibility and Blame

Peggy M. Parks, AICI CIP, writes her opinions on The Civility Solution here.
You can hear excerpts of The Civility Solution on WNIC here.

World famous Susan Boyle is toasted at the 2009 Tony Awards; Dolly Parton opined, “Oh, she’s fantastic!  She’d be great on Broadway.  I want to meet her, too.” Liza Minnelli was in agreement, but added, “If she could stand the pressure. You know.”   Allison Janney, who stars in the Tony-nominated “9 to 5,” said Susan Boyle “will shine” once the media hoopla settles down.  “She just needs to get all the heat off her from this craziness and settle down and get into her life again.”  Susan Boyle was also toasted by Constantine Maroulis of “Rock of Ages,” and actress Gina Gerson said  from the start that Ms. Boyle is Broadway material. Constantine Maroulis, if you will remember, was American Idol 4’s 6th placer.  Constantine went on to perform in Rent and The Wedding Singer on stage.  He’s currently nominated for Leading Actor in a Musical Tony due to his work  on Rock of Ages.

Way to gooooo, Susan Boyle!!

I guess I don’t need to tell you how deeply disappointed I am that Susan Boyle wasn’t voted top winner of Britains Got Talent 2009 competition.   Makes me wonder if viewers just took for granted that she’d win without their votes because she is loved the world round.  At any rate, Ms. Boyle is the winner as far as the world is concerned.  Take heart, Susan Boyle! We’ll remember you until the end of time.  [I can't even remember the name of the dance group that won, officially.  Isn't that telling..?!]   For all of you who are visiting here for the first time, I’m presenting Ms. Boyle’s last performance on Britains Got Talent 2009, I Dreamed a Dream.   Her performance gave me goose bumps and I cried at the absolute beauty of her instrument – and – the humble nature of this amazing woman.  Thank you, Ms. Boyle for sharing your God-given instrument with the world.  We are richer for it……and God bless you with everything you need in this lifetime!

I’ve not lost the irony that her last performance, I Dreamed a Dream, would be so apropos with the competition’s final results.  When I listen to it now, with the knowledge she didn’t win top place in the competition, I don’t look at the contest result as the end of a dream, but as the beginning of fantastic opportunities in voice performances.   I’d love to hear her sing opera, too.  Good luck, Susan Boyle!  Your Dream has Just Begun!!!

Why hasn’t Susan Boyle been “discovered” before this time?  I think she’s sensational.  What a blessing the world can now hear her interpretations of the music that not only is sung out loud, but obviously resides inside her heart, as well.  Truly, music is the universal language.  I hope you like this song sung by Susan Boyle as much as I did.  ENJOY!

This video comes to you via Jiba Jaba, a new site for public messages without having to register!

You can visit Jiba Jaba here.

Remember when your mother told you to never judge a book by its cover when you were growing up?  It was to teach us not to assume we can glean to know someone/something about which we’ve just laid eyes on for the first time – especially by physical appearance alone.  If you never heard this expression before, you’re not alone, but I think the whole world now knows what this saying means after viewing Britains Got Talent 2009 the other day when the audience saw Susan Boyle for the first time on stage.  She was auditioning for Britain’s equivalent to our American Idol competition.  This 48 year old, matronly woman stood on stage with a mic in her hand; Simon asked her name, where she came from, how old she was, what her “dream” was, and what she was going to sing for the judges – all while the audience was tittering and laughing and looking at her with disbelief.   She maintained her poise, dignity and humor throughout the initial questioning and finished by telling the audience she was going to sing I Dreamed a Dream from Les Miserables. Then she cued the music; she only got out a couple of notes when the audience went absolutely bananas clapping, whistling, and uttering all kinds of pleasant sounds.  See for yourself!

I was totally stunned by her performance; found myself crying with joy for her towards the end of her performance – actually, it was when she sang the line, “as they turn your dream to shame,” and she held that note on the word shame for as long as she did.

Absolutely spectacular!   What can I say?  Susan Boyle had me at hello.

Here are the Lyrics (Thanks to NewHotdox via YouTube)

I Dreamed a Dream

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used
And wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung
No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame.

And still
I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms
We cannot weather…

I had a dream my life would be
So different form this hell I’m living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.

God Bless Tom Wright for telling it like it is, namely, that the Church has been trivializing Easter and that “Christians must keep their nerve – the Resurrection isn’t a metaphor, it’s a physical fact.”  Amen, Brother!

Tom Wright’s article, The Church Must Stop Trivialising Easter, is one every Christian ought to read and that’s why I’m providing a link to it today.   Here’s just a few of Wright’s gems embedded in his article:

• Easter was the pilot project.  What God did for Jesus He intends to do for the whole creation. Christians are called to be new-creation people here and now.
• True meaning has remained hidden; the Church has trivialised it; the world has rubbished it. Church has turned Jesus’s Resurrection into a “happy ending” after the dark and messy story of Good Friday.
• “Resurrection” to first century Jews wasn’t about “going to heaven” rather the physically dead being physically alive again. Nobody back then expected just one person to be bodily raised from the dead in the middle of history.
• The Resurrection is not what social science calls “cognitive dissonance”. Resurrection is not about someone coming back into the present mode of life, rather, someone going on into a new sort of existence, bodily.
• Split between God and the “real” world produces a public life lurching between anarchy and tyranny; an aesthetic swinging dramatically between sentimentalism and brutalism.
• Politicians can not save the world.
• Death is final weapon of the tyrant, the anarchist; resurrection indicates this weapon doesn’t have “the last word”.
• Church must work with Easter energy of justice and beauty, facing down skeptics, speaking once more of Jesus in a way that will be heard.

The Right Rev Dr Tom Wright is Bishop of Durham

..to jumpstart my heart, as well as this blog, don’t you think, dears?  I could spend way too much time here explaining my absence due to a number of hardships, but it would pale in comparison to the hardships most people are going through at this time.   Let’s just say the last half year has been quite challenging, and still is.  However, I know my attitude and well-being is tied into my writing and instilling hope and perseverance in others.  I appreciate all of you who have stopped by to leave comments and wisdom to share with others.  So, to all my former readers out in the vast CyberWorld – Welcome Back!

Here’s an excellent article I just had to scoop up, copy & paste here, for all my dear readers because it really is a keeper from Steve-Olson.com.  I encourage you to check out his blog for very insightful and inspiring thoughts on living a life of virtue.

From Steve-Olson.com’s blog:  6 Methods for Building Exceptional Character and Integrity

“So how can one develop exceptional character and integrity? What produces these traits? I believe it must be hard for a professional athlete, an American Idol winner, or an A-List Blogger to maintain character and integrity in the face of wealth, ego, fame, and obsequious praise. To retain the power that comes with such a position requires a clear understanding of personal responsibility. We consistently see hubris take down athletes, rock stars, writers, and actors. But what can we learn from the folks in the spotlight who avoid the trap of arrogance and ego?

· Become other person centric – The path to exceptional and remarkable character is found by creating value for other people. Remember, Wayne Gretzky assisted his teammates twice as much as he himself scored (1963 Assists vs. 894 Goals), and still smashed every individual scoring record in history. If you focus on other people, on their needs and what makes them special, you will find yourself naturally acting with character and integrity because your selfishness will fade. How can you be selfish when you see so much greatness in others? How can you fail once you open your eyes to the sea of talent and unique abilities which surrounds you? Many people talk of character traits such as honesty, fairness, compassion, generosity, and courage. These traits become natural and effortless when you become other person centric.

· Contribute first – Never start by focusing on what you can get; focus on what you can give. Winners give 100%; they don’t get 100%. Never say, “I’m not going to help until I know what is in it for me.” Instead say, “give it everything, this is what I want to do, and the results will take care of themselves. “ Your positive actions produce the fruits of existence. Contribute first and the rewards will take care of themselves.

· Develop mental toughness – Build defenses in your mind against negative influences. Quit watching the news. Quit listening to fear mongers. Quit listening to the voice in your head that says you can’t succeed. Kill the idea that some obstacles are too large to overcome. Smash the idea that success is pure luck and you aren’t one of the lucky ones. I know this is easier said than done. But you can begin to shutdown the negative voices in your life and replace them with positive voices. You can start right now. If you hang out with a habitually negative influence, find a new friend. I mean it. There is no point in consistently being fed negative thoughts and images. You can’t change other people; you can only change yourself. And if enough of us change ourselves, we will change the world. When you can’t avoid the negative voice, learn to actively counter negative words and images by consciously forcing positive replacements into your mind. If you do this frequently enough over time, you will develop a habit of mentally replacing negatives with positives, and this habit is the essence of mental toughness. Mental toughness is the ability to maintain positive focus, action, and thought in the midst of all appearances to the contrary.

· Encourage everyone around you to be the best they can be – Try to surround yourself with people who want to be the best they can be. But not everyone is trying to be the best they can be, so what can you do? The next best thing… encourage everyone around you to be the best they can be. Don’t do it directly. Do it through positive reinforcement. When you see someone begin to move in a positive direction, encourage them, tell them you think they’ve made a great decision, the kind of bold move that is right for them. When they succeed, tell them you knew they could do it. When they experience a setback, remind them it is only temporary and that things will work out if they learn from the setback, make changes, and persist. One setback does not rule a lifetime. Help them up, push them forward, if they don’t know where to go, lead the way and let them follow until they are ready to lead. Before you know it, everyone around you will be pushing themselves to be their best.

· Praise effort, progress, and success – Never use fear, anger, or shame to motivate. Use constructive criticism, but use it sparingly and only after maintaining considerable patience. Never give false praise or phony complements, people will see right through your lack of authenticity. But when you see strenuous effort, real progress, and outstanding achievement, notice it, recognize it, and celebrate it.

· Do the right thing even when it is unpopular – Doing this as a young person may be one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Many of us have failed this test. But that doesn’t mean you have to. When the group is bulling someone, defend the victim. Your heart knows what is right; listen to it and follow it. Listen to your conscience and it will give you the right answer in every difficult situation. You’ll know when this situation appears, your heart will pull you one way and the herd will pull you in another, follow your heart, the herd is headed off a cliff.

Character and Integrity belong to all of us. They aren’t simply traits for other people; they are traits worthy of you and me. The future is yours and it begins right now. The secret to change is within you. Change yourself and change the world.

Photo credit: Cartwheel by Jodi Tripp

Some 30-40 years ago, a certain Cabal of Intellectuals decided to prohibit teachers from teaching “ethics” to their students. You know, the personal qualities that set one above what some refer to as the common herd. A sea of renegades you can see so evident in Today’s world. By the term “herd” I think they mean those who are unethical, dishonest, refuse to be civil and lack character. Sadly, we need not search far and wide for examples of uncivil/unethical behavior. We need only to look at our present “professional representatives,” our own Congress, rift in unethical behavior. It’s terrible that we can’t even trust our elected officials to come down on the side of “ethical, professional representation” deserving of the public trust. Not so long ago, in the not-so-distant-past, we as a People could count on our professional sect – white collar workers and elected officials – to hold themselves to a higher standard than the average citizen. They are role models, after all. This aforementioned Cabal of Intellectuals, be it academic, military or governmental, seemed bent on socially engineering a population of unruly renegades worthy of containment, worthy of imprisonment, internment or martial law in order to facilitate seizing complete control over us plus our precious land and resources. Fleece us, if you will. And sadly, we need not look for some future catastrophic event to put this dastardly scenario into effect.  We are this scenario – now.

Think about it. What would you imagine need be done to bring about complete control of a population? What need be done aside from taking away from the People their jobs, their homes, any semblance of a secure future?

That select Cabal of Intellectuals had a plan, a set of strategies to take down the intellect, reasoning powers and critical thinking faculties of the People, a dumbing-down principle, in affect, so People would be easier to control, corral in, manipulate and exploit for their own purposes.

So what can we do? you might be thinking in disgust. I offer this – educate yourself. Find out what you’re an heir to – left to you by those who fought so hard for your freedom and your right to be left alone. Familiarize yourself with self-empowering documents – like our Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and our Bill of Rights. Then, educate others.

Insist, as parents, that schools teach our children how to be good, upstanding, ethical citizens with knowledge and information to ensure they become pillars of our communities; able to guide others into “good practices” applied to every good endeavor.

We need to lift our children up to their full potential. We need to imbue them with high standards of personal conduct, truthfulness, honesty, and the rewards that come from public service, fair & equal treatment for Everyone, and reverence for every living creature.

How else can we stem the onslaught of indifference, complacency, cruel & unusual behavior that is evident every where we look? The antisocial & psychotic behavior in our “professional” ranks – like doctors and health care workers who molest and rape their patients? Or, high-level managers who steal and lie their way into personal riches? The despicable behavior of our governing bodies?

We hold the future in our hands – now! We are the future! We are the oil that greases the upcoming Machine which is our children who will be the next governing body. They will decide what “we” are to “them,” what means of employment will be available to us, what services they will provide to the needy & poor, what laws will be enforced and how we will be punished for breaking them. Our children will be responsible for our future care as senior citizens. With these things in mind, you can see why it’s imperative that we raise up compassionate, decent, upright, honest and ethical children – they are our greatest and most important resource!