GO! GAMES, TOYS AND CALENDARS! HEARTBREAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL. GLITZ. GLAMOUR. BROADWAY. WITNESS POWER & POETRY. UTAH SYMPHONY. CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICES, LOOKS LIKE ALL RADIO STATIONS, THE NEWS, SUBWAY GIFT CARDS, KOREAN BBQ, TONS OF SPONSORS, HOLDING A HOMELESS FUNDRAISER, FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS, STARTING TODAY! THE SCRIPTURES, SAY THAT TO SOME IT IS GIVEN TO BE RICH AND TO OTHERS TO BE POOR. I TEND TO MAKE TONS OF PEOPLE RICH, BUT MUST BE IN THE POORER CATEGORIES, BECAUSE, I SURE, GET MYSELF, INTO SHIT THAT GETS ME, THERE ON A CONTINUAL BASIS! DOWN AND OUT, A ROUGH PATCH, HERE AND THERE, FIGHTS OVER BUS PASSES, YOU NEVER KNOW WHERE UNEXPECTED MEANS WILL TAKE YOU . . . TAKE FOR INSTANCE, I RAN SMACK DAB INTO THE FUNDRAISING CREWS! I CALLED THE SALT LAKE RESCUE MISSION, TO SEE WHAT TIME LUNCH WAS, SO I RUSHED FROM THE MALL WHERE I TYPED MY BLOG, USING YESTERDAY'S LARGE DIET COKE PAPER CUP, AS A PROP, TO LEGITIMIZE MY USE OF THE MCDONALD'S INTERNET, ALWAYS DEPENDABLE, AND WITH SEVERAL FEEDS AND SOURCES . . . BUT, THAT $4 MEAL WAS MY LAST FOR THE NEXT TWO WEEKS, SO, I DECIDED TO LOOK UP THE RESCUE MISSION, AND WENT TO LUNCH THERE--I ALWAYS EAT HEALTHIER POOR, AT SOUP KITCHENS, MISSIONS AND HOMELESS SHELTERS, AND SALT LAKE CATHOLIC COMMUNITY SERVICE, WAS NO EXCEPTION, WE HAD, A YUMMY RICE, CASSOROLE, FRESH STRAWBERRIES, A VERY FRESH SANDWICH WITH HAM AND CHEESE, PUNCH AND A LARGE PIECE OF APPLE PIE! VERY GOOD! I AM NOT SURE HOW THE SPONSORS ARE OPERATING THIS, BUT, I AM SURE A DRIVE BY AND HAND-OUT TO THE NUMBEROUS COPS AND SECURITY DUDES, DOWN THERE, AND PRETTY NEWS CASTERS, WILL TAKE WHATEVER YOU ARE WILLING TO GIVE! I USED TO BE SOMEWHAT AFRAID OF THESE PLACES, AND IN CHRISTMASES AND YEARS, PAST, I WOULD GO WITH, MY SECOND OF FOUR HUSBANDS, AND EVER SATURDAY MORNING IN MIDWAY AND HEBER CITY, WE WOULD DRIVE AROUND TO ALL THE GROCERY STORES, TO COLLECT THEIR DONATED FOOD, SO MUCH THAT THE WHOLE FORERUNNER, WAS FULL, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE SMALL SPACES WERE WERE SITTING IN! THEN, ON SUNDAY AFTER CHURCH, WE WOULD LOAD, KIDS, OR JUST US, AND VENTURE DOWN TO THE SAME PLACE I ATE TODAY, AND SERVE SUNDAY MEAL TO THE HOMELESS, NEVER FOR ONE SECOND, DID I IMAGINE, THAT I WOULD EVER BE HOMELESS OR WITHOUT MONEY FOR A MEAL, ALL THE RIGHT THINGS GOING MY WAY, GOOD FAMILY, THE RIGHT EDUCATION, GREAT CAREER, WONDERFUL KIDS, AND THEN, THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR, BETWEEN, THIS BAD ASS CON LAW CHICK, AND THE PATRIOT ACT, COPS, PROSECUTORS AND JUDGES! AND, IT HAS PRETTY MUCH, BEEN DOWN HILL FROM THAT POINT ON . . . BUT, GOING DOWN THE UPSTAIR CASE, IS SOMETIMES, GOING ON THE SELF-IMPROVEMENT PATH, ON THE STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN, RATHER THAN WHAT IT APPEARS, LIKE GOING ON THE TO HELL! I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO WITNESS, LOVE, KINDNESS, HUMANITY, EVEN GREAT MARRIAGES, TRUE COMMRADARY, GIVING, CHARITY, AND TRUE CHRISTIANITY, LIKE I NEVER COULD HAVE BEFORE, ISOLATED, INSULATED, PROTECTED BY A WARM HOME, NICE CARS, AND A SUFFICIENT BANK ACCOUNT. EVEN BEING WHERE I AM TODAY, WOULD I CHANGE A THING--NOT REALLY! I HAVE LONG, DESIRED FOR, ZION, FOR THE CITY, THE STATE, THE NATION AND THE WORLD TO BE, ZION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, OR BEING OF "ONE HEART AND ONE MIND!" I THINK IT IS IN THESE EFFORTS TO CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER, TO BEAR, ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS, AND TO LOVE BEYOND, LIMITS, HAS, MADE ME A BETTER PERSON, OVERALL! PLEASE REALIZE THAT, OFTEN, UNLIKE, REPUBLICAN THINKING, THESE PEOPLE, CAN'T WITHOUT HELP, JUST PICK THEMSELVES UP BY THE BOOT STRAPS AND MAKE IT ON THEIR OWN, WITHOUT, HELP, SERVICES, STARTING WITH FOOD, SHELTER AND CLOTHING! WE OFTEN TAKE ALL THESE FOR GRANITE, AND SEE THEM AS A GIVEN, WELL, I AM HERE TO TELL YOU, THAT THEY ARE NOT A GIVEN, AND ALL IT TAKES IN AN UNEXPECTED MEDICAL BILL, A SICK CHILD, A LAY OFF AT WORK, OR EVEN THE NORMAL, A DIVORCE, DEATH OF A SPOUSE, OR A MILLION DIFFERENT THINGS, AND MOST PEOPLE, REALLY ARE, JUST "ONE PAYCHECK AWAY FROM HOMELESSNESS!" SO IN THIS SPIRIT, TO CELEBRATE THIS SEASON OF CHRISTMAS AND THE HOLIDAYS, REMEMBER, THAT, THERE ARE THOSE, WHO THIS SEASON IS THE MOST PAINFUL OF ALL! MOST HERE, ARE WITHOUT, A SUPPORT SYSTEM, WHICH SAVES MOST PEOPLE FROM FINANCIAL RUIN, SOME ARE VETS, OTHERS FROM ABUSIVE HOMES, OR BATTERED WOMEN, SOME HAVE COME FROM INCREDIBLY ROUGH, AND TUMBLE HOMES AND CIRCUMSTANCES, AND IF YOU KNEW THEIR STORIES, YOU WOULD WEEP, FOR AND WITH THEM, AND IT IS SHOCKING THAT, SOME TURN OUT, AS GOOD, DECENT AND NICE AS THEY ARE, GIVEN THEIR BIRTH AND HOME CIRCUMSTANCES! PLEASE OPEN YOU HEARTS, REMEMBER, HE, JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON, AND HE SAID, THAT THE TRUE LOVE OF HIS, CHRIST'S, IS CHARITY, OR THE PURE LOVE OF CHRIST, TO VISIT THE HOMELESS, THE PRISONER, THE FATHERLESS, THE WIDOW, AND THE POOR, AND WHEN SAID SAW WE LORD, WHEN YOU CLOTHED THE NAKED, FED THE HUNGRY, VISITED THE LONELY IN PRISON, IN AS MUCH AS YOU HAVE DONE THIS UNTO THE LEAST OF THESE MY BROTHERS, YEAH HAVE DONE IT UNTO ME! THERE WAS A PARK BENCH, IN WASHINGTON, D.C., THAT WAS RECENTLY, DEDICATED AND BLESSED BY POPE FRANCIS WHEN HE VISITED, AMERICA . . . ON THE PARK BENCH, UNDER A BLANKET, ALL MADE OF BRONZE, THERE IS A MAN, A HOMELESS MAN, BUT ON HIS HANDS AND FEET, WERE THE MARKS OF THE NAILS, THAT WERE USED TO HANG HIM ON THE CROSS! HE SAID, SPARROW OR BIRDS HAVE NESTS, AND FOXES HAVE HOLES, BUT, I HAVE NO PILLOW, FOR WHICH TO LAY MY HEAD . . . GIFT UP! HELP THESE GOOD PEOPLE, MEET THEIR GOALS, TO RAISE MONEY FOR THE SALT LAKE MISSION, TO CONTINUE, AND MAY ALL, PEOPLE, BE BLESSED THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON! MAKE IT A MERRY ONE . . .