Well, all the presents are wrapped, holiday foods prepared, tree & decoration complete. It is Christmas Eve. Right now I thinking about Mass tonight and not without some apprension over singing the Gospel tonight. But no matter how it comes out, I'll be proclaiming it with Joy!..

 I can't really place when it happened but it did; I had become a cynic. Maybe it was the economy,  unemployment, the last election or just me marching into middle age, but I had become increasingly cynical about life. I mean, politicians and CEOs put power over people, doctors and lawyers only care about money, most marriages are doomed to infidelity, promises will be broken, death is the only certainty, etc, etc, etc....

Thank you Tiger Woods, for releasing the 'genie in the bottle'.  Maybe it's not what you intended but what was in the dark has come to light and your carefully -constructed- media-exploited world has come crashing down. Your frail humanity shines while your media god images tarnishes, foes revel in your downfall, friends turn away and 'lovers' well....Let's just say there's not to much 'love' to be found there...

He  just appeared one morning on my route to work, sitting on the railing, smoking a cigarette, a shopping cart with 2 small suitcases next to him, a crutch at his side. I was stopped at the light and as I looked over our eyes met. I nodded, he nodded.

I was thinking recently about my grandmother who passed away when I was 18. Lord I loved that woman, she was strong in body, mind and spirit. She was wise. I remember when I had my first heartbreak she said to me it would not be my last and she was right; she said I would love again, and again. She really had a wisdom that far surpassed any education she might have had. And she ruled the family like an empress....

The idea behind the six degrees of separation is simple: If a person is one step or relationship away from each individual he or she knows and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the individuals he or she knows, then everyone on Earth is six relationships or less away from each other, so I'm putting it to the test....

Brokeness. I've experienced it on a recent trip to Trinidad during which I had time to attend a prayer meeting there and having the opportunity to pray for so many wonderful people who came forward with various degrees of 'brokeness'...

I've had to make an unexpected trip to Trinidad to see my mother who had to have emergency surgery. She is in a stable but serious condition to date. In the course of my short stay I've had the opportunity to see lot's of family and old friends who have come to the hospital to visit. And I have come to realize that though years have passed and situations have changed that we still all have great commonality in faith...

I remember looking on CNN as the Berlin Wall came down; facinated because I never imagined I would witness the end of The Cold War that way. Actually it was the beginning of the end of the Cold War, but I was present (unnuked) in this moment of history. Now there seems to be a new Cold War developing; this time not between superpower nations but within THE only superpower nation. Yep, you betcha, as SP would say right here in the good ole USA....

Brace yourself, cuz here it comes! In November, Columbia Pictures is releasing the disaster movie 2012 dealing with the end of time per the mayan calendar. Google it (2012) and you'll be amazed at the amount of stuff out there. People are selling doomsday supplies....