Do as I say...

3 John 1:11 Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

Not as I do.

Ever hear those words? My mother used to spew them at me and my siblings all the time. Did I ever listen? Hail no!

When I saw her doing things, I always followed suit and did them like a puppy learning new tricks, only in my teen years did I realize that she was right. I shouldn’t have done as she said or did! What she was doing may not have been right and I shouldn’t follow her ways and actions. So I went on my way, converting myself, living the way that I wanted and growing as a spiritual human being.

To this day she doesn’t understand the person I turned out to be because some of my siblings are still following in her footsteps twenty and thirty years later. They harness greed like my ancestors before them, they live for themselves, not concerning themselves with family and all that a family, or the term family, is meant to be. Yeah my family is screwed up a little too tight.

Mother and Dad raised six kids, me being the baby, and here I am today leading and setting examples of the way maybe, just maybe, life should be lived; in a humble, respectful, caring, giving, sharing, manner.

I’m a writer and as such I like to lead other writers into a world of fascination, imagery, and scribbling their hearts out. Would I ever tell them to ‘do as I say?’ I never ever want to come off as my way is the only way because certainly as time goes on, life is lived and we as a human species all change in our own way.

I am comfortable in my own skin knowing I am a leader and people follow. I like knowing that I might have changed one person in my lifetime and if I’ve changed more than one persons life, then kudos for me. Don’t throw me a party and shout hooray to me, just pay it forward and do the same for the other human beings living in a desolate society, dry of any compassion.

Sure the movie stars are sending millions of dollars to help in Haiti, as are other churches and missionaries sending help. We leap at the chance to help, only when tragedy is upon us. Do we leap to help when our brother or sister is in need? Not all of us do, we cower at the sheer thought of giving of ourselves, but in writing, that is just what we’re doing. We’re giving of ourselves one word at a time.

So yes...Do as I say...and feel free to DO AS I DO!

Are YOU a HERO?

Are You a Donor?
In today’s world people overlook necessities and just run headlong into their own little cosmos. They never stop to think of other people and getting ahead of the game to them means, success at winning the game.

Have you ever thought about becoming an organ donor? You see stories on television where one person donates a kidney, and you say "Aww that is so special, I wish I had the nerve to be that brave."

We’re in an age that everyone can be a hero to someone else! Why does someone wait until their loved one is tragically killed to be approached to ask if you’d like to donate their much needed organs? What is everyone afraid of?

I have a friend who needs a cornea. He has to wait until someone tragically dies and hopes that the young cornea is available to him. There is urgency with cornea donations. Apparently the cornea doesn’t refrigerate and keep for weeks. Five-days tops is the maximum time for corneas. My friend had a cornea transplant in his left eye a few years ago and I was saddened to hear that a young man of eighteen had committed suicide and his parents donated his organs. Now he desperately needs a cornea transplant in his right eye, or he will stay ‘legally blind.’

When we die, our bodies become shells. Empty cavities where all of our innards are taken out and tossed in the garbage. Our death means something to only our immediate family and friends. By donating your organs, your death becomes a significant part of someone else’s life who can keep just one small part of you alive and living!

Having a part of you alive gives solace to your family. Knowing parts of you are still in existence gives them the feeling that they can move on in their life knowing you are still alive somewhere. Spiritually your soul lives on,(some may disagree) so why not on a physical level, keep your organs alive? If you believe when you die, you die, you’re gone, out of this world never to be heard from again. Why would you remain selfish even in death? Wouldn’t it become your last sacrifice? Wouldn’t donating your organs make you somewhat a hero to someone else, making you a legacy in someone’s, anyone’s mind?

In this day and age, you can still be a hero! You don’t have to pull someone from a flaming fire, save someone from a flooding car, retrieve a cat out of a tree, you can donate an organ and to a family become the hero of legacy proportions in their minds and your family’s minds.

Think about it. Be a hero. Keep YOUR life…alive! If you’ve always felt a failure, this is one instance you can make your family proud! Do it for you, if not for someone else.