Memorial Day

I went and visited my grandparent's graves on Friday.  This was the headstone near their graves.  

 

My Grandpa, Hyrum John Sandberg was a P.O.W. for 3 years and 5 months in WWII and was a part of the Bataan Death March.  He passed away in 2007, at the age of 87.

My great uncle, John Garry Thatcher, was killed during WWII, when a German submarine torpedoed his mine sweeper ship off the coast of Italy.  He was 20 years old.  

Thank you for your service and your sacrifice.  Thank you for your great examples.

“America without her soldiers would be like God without His angels.”- Claudia Pemberton.

An Octopus Can Change Colors

I learned, from watching Blue World, an octopus can make his or her colors change depending on the environment he or she wants to hide in. They turn pink while sliding around the coral,  pale when sliding across the sand, and also red. There was also a fish that waits to make prey come to them, by disguising itself as coral.

We as humans have a bit of a chameleon complex as well.

Humans change their colors.  We constantly try and change the shade of our skin.  We tan in the summer and are pale in the winter.

We wear different colors of eye shadow, blush, and lipstick to bring out our best features. We wear foundation to take the redness out of our face and make our freckles extinct.

We change our clothing to match the seasons.  We wear red and green in December, black and orange in October, and pastels shades in the spring for Easter.  We wear plaid in the Summer and when going camping.  We wear American a during the Fourth of July.  We wear sequins and glitter when going somewhere fancy, like Vegas, or a formal night on a cruise.

I remember watching a show about New York, and an artist said all artists and New Yorkers must wear black.  Every artists know how important colors are and what they can do to enhance their creations.  For an artist to wear black, is like trying to not interfere with the beauty of the world.  To let the world speak for itself and be an asymmetrical part of the design.

Every fashion magazine tells us what colors to wear and what colors to buy.  We have to wear lime green this season, we have to have a rose gold iphone and sky blue purse, so we can blend.

A Powerful Message

I was given a copy of this prayer at school and it had a profound effect on me:

A Prayer of Responsibility for Children



by Ina J. Hughes



We pray for children who put chocolate fingers everywhere, who like to be tickled, who stomp in puddles, who sneak popsicles before supper, who erase holes in math books, who can never find their shoes . . .



And we pray for those who stare at photographers from behind barbed wire, who can’t bound down the street in a new pair of sneakers, who are born in places we would never be caught dead, who never go to the circus, who live in an x-rated world.



We pray for children who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions, who sleep with the dog and bury goldfish, who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money, who cover themselves with band-aids and sing off key, who squeeze toothpaste all over the sink, who slurp their soup.



And we pray for those who never get dessert, who have no safe blanket to drag behind them, who watch their parents watch them die, who can’t find any bread to steal, who don’t have any rooms to clean up, whose pictures aren’t on anybody’s dresser, whose monsters are real . . .



We pray for children who spend their allowance before Tuesday, who throw tantrums in the grocery store and pick their food, who shove dirty clothes under the bed and never rinse out the tub, who love visits from the tooth fairy, who don’t like to be kissed in front of the school bus.



And we pray for those whose nightmares come in the daytime, who will eat anything, who have never seen a dentist, who aren’t spoiled by anybody, who go to bed hungry and cry themselves to sleep.



We pray for children who want to be carried, and for those who must, for those who we never give up on and for those who grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it. On this Children’s Sabbath Weekend, hear our cries, Adonai, and listen to our prayers.



Amen