"The Work of Christmas"

I would like to share with you the words of Howard Thurman:

The Work of Christmas!

"When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks.

The work of Christmas begins:

To find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among others,
To MAKE MUSIC IN THE HEART!"

as we end this dark year, may we look forward together to this New Year. A new leader, a vaccine and a chance to collectively redeem the aspirations our nation once held.

May we make music in the heart, together, with and for one another.

Merry Christmas DU! Mike C 2020

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE

what am I thankful for? of course, friends and family and that I survived having COVID this year, but the unique thing I am thankful for this year is that Joe Biden won the presidency. This may sound like a political post, but actually it's not.

I am thankful in the sense that it will definitely save our nation from descending into anarchy and being ruled by an authoritarian type dictator. It has weighed on my heart these past four year how debased our civil discourse has become. It has weighed on my heart how close we have come to being ruled by a dictatorship. It has weighed deeply on my heart as to how close we have come to trashing our sacred gift of the Constitution.

My earliest memory is of coming to the US and on our first day having my father read to my mother and I in (German and English) the words on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty:

"Give me your tired your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shores.
Send these the homeless tempest tossed to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

That lamp has been dimmed these past flour years. As an immigrant who had to achieve his US Citizenship, I learned about the constitution many years ago. I learned to marvel at it's uniqueness and protections. During these past four years is had grieved me to see it trashed and disregarded. In addition we have not lived up to the promise of that contract on the statue.

As a child, my mother (who was a child refugee from Hitler's war) would often warn me about certain words and actions that people in power or vying for power, would say and do. She would warn me of the subtle signs of creeping authoritarianism. It so alarmed me greatly five and a half years ago when a politician came on the national stage who was giving the world hints about wanting to edge into a dictatorship.

So it is with relief and a grateful heart for the sake of our nation, the sake of our global relationships and for those oppressed that we have elected a person who cares, who is thoughtful and who is experienced. We can look forward to a new political attitude from our nation leader.

Perhaps we can remember the words of Hubert Humphrey that I have shared before:

"The truest test of a nation is how they treat those in the sunrise of life, those in the sunset of life and most importantly, the poor, the sick and the stranger among us."

It is with those words I am thankful and take not only comfort in but also revel in the promise of things to come!

I am also thankful for you my friends on this site. For being able to grieve together, to share our outrage, to at times laugh not only at those in public life but share humor and personal grief, struggles and joys.

I greatly anticipate the day when we can all be in community with each other together again.

Happy Thanksgiving, be safe, be thankful and enjoy your day!!! Mike C

what do u think the chances are of trump doing any jail time?

and why?

what will the electoral college count be for Biden?

Putting sorting machines back together

I am so proud of my son....he was one of the ones in Tacoma WA who helped get the sorting machines replaced in the USPS offices there

Did you see in the SLC tribune

LDS says "Biden better reflects their values than trump" that sounds like a backdoor endorsement to me. It's possible Biden could take UTah and it's 6 electoral votes.

just got back from our Save the Post Office protest

in our small area of North Tacoma WA we had about 80 folks for 90 minutes engaging others and letting letter carriers and postal clerks know that we support them

Today is our 40th anniversary

we have two great kids, a daughter in law and 2 wonderful grandsons. We have spent the night 287 different cities, 41 states, 23 different countries and 4 continents together

We have run a city initiative and my wife has helped me run for US Congress

We have a ton of wonderful friends and a million wonderful memories

just like sex offenders

fired cops should have to be entered into a national data base and if in that data base other departments should not be allowed to hire them

I have had COVID-19

I have been meaning to write about this, but have been busy with other stuff. Also didn't want to write about it because I was still processing what the future maybe like internally.

Please take it seriously. I am one of the very lucky ones. I didn't have to be hospitalized and I am still kicking to tell about it. In early February, I got very, very sick. (At that time didn't know what it was) I would wake up with the sheets literally dripping wet from sweat, I would make towels wet from my nose dripping. I could hardly swallow, my body ached and I would have to wash the crust from my eyes, with a warm wet wash cloth each morning to be able to see. This went on for about 10 days. Since then I have had kidney and breathing problems.

I found out because in March others got sick and I went and got tested and was also tested for antigens (antibodies) and came back positive.

Because I sing, speak and teach all over the nation for my work, I use my voice (lung power). I now have a minimum of 18 months of voice rehab and also life long monitoring of my kidneys.

Like I said, take it very seriously!!! And like I said, I am one of the truly lucky ones...please take a moment to think of healing thoughts for those still recovering and also prayerful consoling wishes to those who have lost ones in whom they were in community with!

Thanks,

Mike C