Mental Musings

Facebook has problems. No social media is perfect. But I really like Facebook. It has become a vital source for connecting with others and for getting information about my friends and family. Those who have always lived in the same location or live around most of their family members may not understand this, but for 25 years I have not lived anywhere near my family and I have lived in 5 states and 2 countries during that time. Nothing beats face to face communication. Yes, there are other apps and tools for connecting with people who do not live near you and this is not a new problem. Just 100 years ago some people moved and never heard from or saw their family and friends again. But humans have an innate desire to communicate, even across distances. Ships used to carry messages from one port to another. The Pony Express carried mail across the United States. Benjamin Franklin helped to start the post office in 1775 before we were even a nation. In 1836 Samuel Morse invented a m...

2012 was a tough year. I am not generally one to look back on the negative things, but as I was thinking about this past year I realized that there were many difficult situations for us. There were many good things, but surrounding all of that was some very tough times for our family. I am sure that others can relate. Our year started off with bad financial news. We had just returned from a wonderful Christmas break visiting relatives. After unloading the car, I started to sift through our pile of accumulated mail only to find a letter from a law group in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The letter informed me that by order of the Harford County Courts my pay was going to be garnished $300 a week. After two years of paying the mortgage on two houses, we could no longer financial handle that. We had gone through all of our savings and even took some equity out of our Maryland home in order to keep paying until we could sell the home in Florida. The home appears to b...

Christmas Eve is here and Christmas morn will soon be upon us. There is no telling what special memories I will have from this year to one day share with others, but I already have many fond memories from year's past. I remember listening to all of the old Christmas carols on my dad's reel to reel tape player. We had hours and hours of Christmas music that he had taped from the Armed Forces Radio while onboard his ship during one Christmas. I still hear those songs each year thanks to our Time Life Christmas collections, but I do miss the occasional radio announcer comments to the men and women serving our country. There was the Christmas I discovered the truth about Christmas. It all happened in 1969 as my sister, brother, and I were playing hide-n-seek. I never understood why they were both so bad at that game. I could hide so well that they would never find me. Hours later I would come out of hiding to laugh at them for being such lousy seekers. On this part...

I write because I have difficulty saying what I am thinking. I guess that is a typical problem for anyone with ADHD. My brain is usually 4 or 5 steps ahead of what I am currently doing. But writing helps me to organize my thoughts. One style of writing that I do more for my own enjoyment is poetry. Some of these have been combined with music for hymns, but most are simple poetry that I have done to express my thoughts. I thought I would share a few of the Christmas poems that I have written over the years, beginning with one I wrote this year. Because of Who You Are Stephen R. Poole December 11, 2012 Days of travel on dusty trails, Bethlehem was still to far Yet they continued with the trip, Because of who You are Shepherds left their flocks, Wise men followed the star, Angels sang peace on earth, Because of who You are Wise men came from the East, Each one bringing a jar Gifts for kings lay at Your feet, Because of who You are Gold was used to buy a tomb,...

Wow! That doesn't even begin to express the feelings that I have for how hard everyone worked and for the dedication it took for you to be a part of this year's musical. I woke early this morning just overwhelmed by how incredibly helpful everyone was throughout this process this year. I wanted to thank each of you in person, but with very little voice to speak, I could not do that. You each made a difference in many lives because of your willingness to allow God to use you. Approximately 30 people gave their lives to Jesus and nearly 100 people rededicated their lives to Christ. That is more than 16 decisions per performance, or about 3% of the approximately 5000 in attendance. And these are only the decisions that we know about. God really used this musical to reach people in our community. Let me share a couple quick stories. One individual invited 6 adults knowing that all 6 are lost. One of these had only been to church maybe twice in his life, but after seeing...

Sometimes I want to cry or wallow in despair For evil seems to strike uncalled everywhere Sometimes I cannot see a good deed anywhere A world lost and dying and they don’t seem to care Sometimes I see Satan entice them with a dare Hooks ensnare and slowly drag them to his lair Sometimes I want to scream that life is unfair To give up hope and join those who sit and stare Sometimes my heart aches beyond any compare But all the time I know for sure that God is always there I wrote this as I was reading about the tragic school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Not sure if I will add more or not. Please pray for the families of these students.

I have never understood discrimination I grew up during the desegregation of America. I was going into first grade the year that the Commonwealth of Virginia decided that they needed to desegregate the school systems. Rather than redraw the school districts to include a blend of races, they choose to bus a certain segment of the population of children from one neighborhood to another neighborhood and vice versa . I was bused from our home on Bess Street in the Norvella Heights subdivision in Norfolk to Bowling Park Elementary School , now Richard Bowling Elementary School, on Princess Anne Road in the Bowling Green community. I knew nothing about racism, segregation, hatred, or even class warfare. These are things that you must be taught and my parents did not raise us to discriminate against others. I may have wondered why my brother and sister had to walk to school while got to ride a bus, but it never entered my mind that what I was doing was controversial at the time. ...

Last year I lost twenty-five pounds as I made a concerted effort to get more exercise. I had felt lousy for a couple years and thought that maybe I needed to take off some weight to feel better. Little did I know that I felt lousy because I had a chronic gallbladder infection. This past July I had my gallbladder out and I feel like a new man. However, my exercise routine was directly resulted. For about 6 weeks I could not do my exercises because the recovery from my surgery was slower than I would have liked. After I was recovered enough to get back into an exercise routine, I started working 12-15 hours a day, 6-7 days a week helping to get our musical set built and decorated. Needless to say, my exercise routine has gone out the door. I knew in the back of my mind that even if I was doing a lot of physical labor I still needed to exercise. I could even tell that those long days with quick trips to a fast food restaurant for many of my meals were not helping. I even starte...