From The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

“It’s hard to love somebody who sees the world as black and white, without also fearing them.”

“I know it doesn’t absolve anyone of anything, but the Kabul we lived in in those days was a strange world, one in which some things mattered more than the truth.”

“Sometimes, I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself. And that, I believe, is what true redemption, is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good."

"Perspective was a luxury when your head was constantly buzzing with a swarm of demons.”

“I thought of a line I’d read somewhere, or maybe I’d heard someone say it: There are a lot of children in Afghanistan, but little childhood.”

Christmas: Light in the Midst of Darkness

When I was in naval aviator training, one of the tests for night vision was to put us in a room that was completely and totally dark. You could not see any movement by moving your hand in front of your eyes-- none. Never had been in complete and total darkness before or since. Then what seemed like a microscopic green light would appear somewhere in the room and then a red. Then the lights would appear at different spots. We had to push a button to indicate the direction of the light. Those who could not see the lights were taken out later for more testing. The amazing thing was how such a tiny light could make such a difference.

I've used this as a metaphor many times to illustrate what I think of God-- Light, Love, and Life is what I define as God-- He, She, or It.

If your life is filled with bright lights this Christmas, give thanks. If your life is surrounded by darkness this Christmas, I hope you find some light in the midst of the darkness which is what I think Christmas is all about.

CHRISTMAS QUOTES

Do give books - religious or otherwise - for Christmas. They're never fattening, seldom sinful, and permanently personal. Lenore Hershey

A good conscience is a continual Christmas. Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)

A turkey never voted for an early Christmas. Irish Proverb

At Christmas play and make good cheer, For Christmas comes but once a year. Thomas Tusser

Aren't we forgeting the true meaning of Christmas? You know, the birth of Santa. Matt Groening (1954 - ), The Simpsons

At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth;
But like of each thing that in season grows.
William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), Love's Labour Lost

Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit. Kin Hubbard (1868 - 1930)

Christmas is a holiday that persecutes the lonely, the frayed, and the rejected. Jimmy Cannon

Dear Lord, I've been asked, nay commanded, to thank Thee for the Christmas turkey before us... a turkey which was no doubt a lively, intelligent bird... a social being... capable of actual affection... nuzzling its young with almost human- like compassion. Anyway, it's dead and we're gonna eat it. Please give our respects to its family... Berke Breathed, Bloom County Babylon

Ralph Waldo Emerson Said It...

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.

Spoken by a 1st Grader

When the blind leadeth the blind... somebody's gonna get hurt!

OLD FRIENDS

Old Friends-
Pitchin' pennies in the park
Playin' croquette till it's dark
Old Friends.

Old Friends-
Swappin' lies of life and loves
Pitchin' popcorn to the doves
Old Friends.

Old Friends-
Lookin' up to watch a bird
Holdin' arms to climb a curb
Old Friends.

Old Friends-
Lord, when all my work is done
Bless my life, and grant me one
Old Friend.
Just one Old Friend.

Written by Roger Miller
Sung by Willie Nelson & Roger Miller

HAVEN'T GOT TIME FOR THE PAIN?

Carly Simon sang it, Haven't Got Time For the Pain. People identified with it, and a classic was born. But such a philosophy of no time for the pain can be hazarduous to your physical and emotional health.

Pain is nature's way of telling you to make some adjustments. Hence the avoidance of pain can be very serious. To avoid pain by abusing drugs, alcohol, work, or food, can be disastrous. If you haven't got time for the pain, you're too busy. If you take time for the pain, in a creative healthy way, you are enhancing healing.

Feelings denied is healing delayed. Feeling is for healing and denying the pain, masking it, or distracting it, is delaying the healing processes. If you get some help for your pain, you'll probably say, I wish I'd taken time for this long ago.

THE SKIN HORSE

In her classic story, The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams has the skin horse to say, "Once you're real, you can never be unreal again, it lasts for always."

What a powerful description of what it means to take off our masks, drop our labels, prejudices, denials, and defenses.

Far too often, to dodge disapproval, we squelch our true opinions; from the fear of rejection, we silence our beliefs; to avoid confrontation we sacrifice our personal truth.

Which means we accept the slavery of unreal living to avert rejection and disapproval. But living that isn't real, isn't iving at all.

One of the great satisfactions of being a therapist, comes through seeing people set aside the bondage of masks, labels, and defenses and emerge as real, never to be unreal again.

Are you there, yet?

From SOCRATES Himself

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.

Envy is the ulcer of the soul.

The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.

The unexamined life is not worth living.

10 Mark Twain Zingers

Truth is more of a stranger than fiction.

Man is the only animal that blushes. Or needs to.

The report of my death was an exaggeration.

Familiarity breeds contempt - and children.

Good breeding consists of concealing how much we think of ourselves and how little we think of the other person.

Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example.

A banker is a fellow who lends you his umbrella when the sun is shining, but wants it back the minute it begins to rain.

A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read.

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure.

Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.

You Know You're Living in 2009 When...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You email your spouse who's in another room in the same house.

3. Your don't stay in touch with friends and family if they don't do e-mail.

4. You haven't sent a hand-written letter in years.

5. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. You are furious when the t.v. remote can't be found or doesn't work.

8. Leaving the house without your cell causes panic and you go back and get it.

9. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

10. You add really silly things nobody cares about on Facebook 3 times a day.

11. You frequently ask your nine-year-old grandchild for help with your cell phone.

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

A TWISTED WORD OF WISDOM...

Give a man a fish and you will satisfy his hunger for a day.
Teach him how to fish and he will drink beer and fish every weekend!

Cinderella Syndrome

Our culture is indoctrinated with a myth that is incredibly widespread and terribly damaging. It's the Cinderella Syndrome-- the belief that there is one person who is predestined as our partner, one & only, significant other, husband or wife.

Loving, as we do, to hear Cinderella retold, brings huge success to movies, novels and music. We want to believe that there is a Handsome Prince for every Cinderella and the trick is to keep looking until the slipper fits. Totally stupid television programs like The Bachelor play off this incredibly ridiculous concept and should be totally offensive to any thinking person with one eye and half sense!

This Cinderella syndrome is also played out in current relationships. If your marriage goes sour, it means you just made a mistake in selection, so you end it and look again-- another all too often choice that is equally as untrue and damaging.

The Cincerella/Handsome Prince syndrome is pure myth and produces relational madness. If you've been damaged by it, have a stroke of sanity and get some help.

Words from Charles Darwin

The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we ought to control our thoughts.

It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

We must, however, acknowledge as it seems to me, that a man with all his noble qualities...still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.

AS I'VE MATURED...

I've learned that one good turn gets most of the blanket.

I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just jackasses.

I've learned that whatever hits the fan will not be evenly distributed.

I've learned that depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.

I've learned that a child can keep throwing up long after you think they're finished.

I've learned to not sweat the petty things, and not pet the sweaty
things.

I've learned age is a very high price to pay for maturity.

I've learned that some people don't suffer from insanity, they enjoy it.

I've learned that you are responsible for what you do, unless you are
a celebrity.

I've learned that artificial intelligence is no match for natural
stupidity.

IS THIS EVERY WOMAN?

She had a desire to be needed, and a need to be desired.

Questions That Need Answers...

1. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll
squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?"

2. Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna
eat the next thing that comes outta it's behind."

3. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

4. Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?

5. Why does an OB-GYN leave the room while a woman gets undressed if
they're going to look up there anyway?

6. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from
vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

7. If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?

8. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at
you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

9. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

10. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?