Looking at the Good Stuff

It has been a good week. It's not that there haven't been problems. There have been several; but for the last few years, I've made a great effort to not concentrate on the problems but to count my blessings instead.

This week has had a number of really BIG blessings. Some of them I've prayed for. Some of them I've seen coming and one was a huge and pleasant surprise.

For all Americans, the season of thanksgiving is rapidly approaching. The thing I like about Thanksgiving is that it is a time when both people of faith and those who are agnostic or atheist as well can and should be thankful for the good things in our lives. For those of us who are people of faith it is right for us to be thankful to God for all the blessings He has showered upon us. For those of us who do not believe, it is right for us to be thankful that we live in a country where the good things in life can almost be taken for granted, thankful for the freedom to be able to do what we want to do to get ahead a little and provide for our families, thankful for the cosmic miracle of our health and our intellect.

This blog is now routinely attracting 1200 to 1500 viewers a week. More and more often people that read my blog are contracting me to ask questions or seek advice or just to talk. I have no credentials other than my intellect, a great deal of empathy and a lifetime of experience all resulting in the most blessed of lives. A while back I mentioned I have a Google Voice Number and that any one reading this blog is welcome to ask for it and to call.

This week two of  you took me up on that offer. One of these guys and I talked for about three hours. The other talked for an hour and a half or so. They are both great guys, family men with their strengths and their weaknesses, their triumphs and their struggles, their questions and their concerns. In short they are guys just like all of us.

It was an honor to talk to these guys. I don't think I had any significant answers for either of them, but I came away feeling that just being able to let everything hang out and talk openly with someone who cared about their situation meant something to each of them. That is, in and of itself, well worthwhile. I hope others of you will take advantage of the opportunity, not just for your sake, but for mine as well. I never fail to get something out of talking to a guy. I never fail to gain new insight that I can fit into my own life. As the old song says, correctly, "No man is an island. No man stands alone. Each man's joy is joy to me, each man's grief is my own. We need one another, so I will defend each man as my brother, each man as my friend."


I have to admit, I was much surprised by the reaction to my last blog piece, "An Inchoate Thought". I expected to be snowed with critical and hostile feedback concerning that piece. Instead, every bit of feedback was positive. I hope all of you reading this blog understand the reason homosexuality and bisexuality is so much in the news these days is because there is a sea change in attitudes taking place in this country. More and more, people are willing to let homosexual men and women be full and participating members of society.

The cretans and the religious nuts in our society who are Christians in name only, see this growing acceptance and it scares the ever loving shit out of them. The resulting hate and screaming and acting out of their prejudices is the product of their fear and nothing else. Just under the surface of their thoughts is the realization, even for them, that they are fighting a loosing battle. They know they do not represent the American mind in this issue. The die is cast and they have lost. That is a true blessing.

However, one has to be aware that an injured dog can still be dangerous and can still bite. The majority of Americans who are tolerant need to be on their guard because these people will stop at nothing to mold the world into a mirror of their own hate. As they continue to loose the battle for hearts and minds and especially as they see more and more churches welcoming homosexual people into their fellowship, the religious nuts may be tempted to resort to increased violence as a last stand.

Everyone should be aware of the possibilities, but at the same time confident that the battle has in fact been won. The ultimate outcome is no longer in doubt.

There is no doubt times are harder now than they have ever been in the lifetimes of most of us. I'm afraid they will get harder still before they begin to get better. While we must be mindful of the hard times and open to the bitter pills it will take for us to turn things around, we must never loose sight that The United States of America is an exceptional country even now. In spite of the ludicrous insinuations of one of my fellow Texans, Ron Paul, America has no need of fences to keep its citizens in. If anything we need fences to keep from being over run by people yearning to live free with the opportunity to better themselves and their families. People all over the world are doing anything they can to come to America, legally or illegally because of its exceptionalism.

Most of us have the good luck to  have been born here.

Jack Scott