Category Archives: religion

Gratitude for Those Who Serve

Posted on by
1

On this Veteran’s Day I want to take a moment to express my gratitude to all the men and women who are faithfully and bravely serving around the world in the armed services, the Peace Corps, the Red Cross, and the Foreign Service. I want you to know that we remember you and appreciate you. Thank you for your service to our country.

“…whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant…”
– Matthew 20: 25-27

Flag for Russell Terrell, WWII veteran (photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell)
Dee Molenaar, WWII, Coast Guard

Kind people, unite!

Posted on by
11

I am discovering there are a lot of beautiful people in this world:

  • One of my dear Facebook friends asked me to tell my students (who are mostly Latino) that she loved them. This teared me up. One of the students – a student I know has been dealing with some fear today – happened to appear at that moment and I passed on my friend’s message. He smiled and thanked me and left the room to go wherever he needed to go next. Pretty soon one of the counselors comes up, smiling. He tells me the student I’d just been talking with asked him to come up and make sure I was alright. He says the student’s concern really touched him. It really touched me, too.
  • My friend, John, who voted for Donald Trump, FB messaged me last night to ask me how I was doing! And he stayed on Facebook and listened to my answer – and responded with nothing but kindness.
  • AND another friend who voted for Trump joined me and three of my fellow Clinton supporters in a group hug yesterday.

    Solidarity, my friends – not solidarity in this party or that party, or this candidate or that candidate – but solidarity in kindness. If humanity is going to survive, I’m thinking this is the kind of solidarity we’re going to need.

    Kind people, unite!

    And now pictures of the sunset last night – just because…

    photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
    photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell
    photo by Karen Molenaar Terrell

It is the Humoristian way.

Posted on by
4

My dear Humoristian hooligans –
We have got our work cut out for us. We are entering times that will test our courage, our love of humanity, and our Humoristianity. The world is in desperate need of us. Our country is in desperate need of us. Our LGBT friends, Muslim friends, and Latino friends need our courage and love more than ever. Our friends at Standing Rock need us. This is not the time to cower and quake in our shoes. This is the time to think beyond ourselves and our own fears, and step up to help others who really need us right now. Courage, my friends! It is the Humoristian way.
Karen

not-alone-2

Love the Hell out of the Cranky, Crabby, and Crusty

Posted on by
Reply

My dear Humoristian hooligans –
The next week may test our mettle. But we shall continue in the Humoristian way. We shall (cue in the music here – something rousing – maybe the theme song from Chariots of Fire) continue in our mission to spread laughter across our planet 24-7; we shall love the hell out of the cranky, crabby, and crusty; we shall bring mirthful merriment to the morose and melancholy; and hope and courage to the fearful and discouraged. We will love as the sun shines – without discrimination or agenda. And we will find the joy and beauty in each and every day. Go out there and make ’em laugh! Amen.
Karen

Starbucks Cups

Posted on by
2

For crying out loud! When did it become unpatriotic and divisive to want to bring people of different backgrounds together?!! When did showing love and kindness to others become a political issue?! You’d think people of every stripe and polka dot would at least be able to agree on the notion that kindness and love are good things! If this has now become a partisan issue – I want to belong to the party that promotes love and kindness, thank you very much.

“‘During a divisive time in our country, Starbucks wanted to create a symbol of unity as a reminder of our shared values, and the need to be good to each other,’ said Howard Schultz, the coffee giant’s chairman and CEO.”

politics

My Joy

Posted on by
3

My Joy

My joy depends on no man
or woman or place
or circumstance and nothing
can keep my heart from soaring.
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

snowgeese-in-flight-contrast

Photo of snow geese by Karen Molenaar Terrell.

 

 

Note to Self

Posted on by
2

“Not personal intercommunion but divine law is the communicator of truth, health, and harmony to earth and humanity.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

not-separated

“In the Eyes of Most of Us”

Posted on by
Reply

When I read “your two thinkers are very
discredited in the eyes of most of us” 
after a friend had posted a story on poverty
in America I found myself sitting here
with a frown between my brows, 
trying to puzzle it out.

Who are “the most of us” of which you
speak? Most of who? Most of whom?
And are you including me in your us?
Because I actually want to read what
my friend has to share about poverty
in America. I might learn something new.

Complacent, comfortable, isolated, insulated,
we sit each in our homes, assuming
everyone thinks exactly the same way
we do. We turn our televisions on to
the usual channels and listen to the same
old perspectives, and nod our heads

in contented, unquestioning agreement.
And our ponds grow stagnant without fresh,
tumbling brooks stirring up the waters
our joints get calcified and rigid as we sit
in our easy chairs, nodding our heads, lulled
by the same phrases parroted over and over…
– Karen Molenaar Terrell

“The time for thinkers has come. Truth, independent of doctrines and time-honored systems, knocks at the portal of humanity. Contentment with the past and the cold conventionality of materialism are crumbling away.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

most-of-us

 

Dear Class,

Posted on by
Reply

Dear class,

Bullying is not cool. Being a bully does not make you a winner, and it does not make you right. Insulting others, pushing others around, trying to stop others from expressing their opinions and beliefs, ganging up on others, harassing others, and using your power as a mob, or as an individual, to intimidate others is not okay. Bigotry is not okay. Brazen disregard for the rights, safety, and well-being of others is not okay.

Alrighty. Carry on then…
Mrs. T.

“It requires courage to utter truth; for the higher Truth lifts her voice, the louder will error scream, until its inarticulate sound is forever silenced in oblivion.”
– Mary Baker Eddy

 

My Go-To People

Posted on by
Reply

During this contentious political season – when stories of defriending, blocking, ad homineming, weeping and much gnashing of teeth are circulating on Facebook – I feel compelled to take a moment and give a shout out to the friends who have shown nothing but class to me – even though we sometimes/often disagree on political issues. These are my “go-to” people when I need a different perspective on things…

republican-friends

“We should remember that the world is wide; that there are a thousand million different human wills, opinions, ambitions, tastes, and loves; that each person has a different history, constitution, culture, character, from all the rest; that human life is the work, the play, the ceaseless action and reaction upon each other of these different atoms. Then, we should go forth into life with the smallest expectations, but with the largest patience; with a keen relish for and appreciation of everything beautiful, great, and good, but with a temper so genial that the friction of the world shall not wear upon our sensibilities; with an equanimity so settled that no passing breath nor accidental disturbance shall agitate or ruffle it; with a charity broad enough to cover the whole world’s evil, and sweet enough to neutralize what is bitter in it…”
– Mary Baker Eddy