ReFraming Pageant Answers

I've been putting a lot of frames together of late, and all this framing has got me thinking.  First of all, I am super happy to have a lot of frames to make!  Secondly, frames usually fit together nicely - eight mitred cuts married into four corners aligned which makes my little OCD heart sing!  Frames are the final compliment to the art they embrace.  They join in concert with a mat to make a perfectly lovely piece for people to enjoy.  Frames are beautiful by themselves, but they are better wrapped around something someone loves.  
So I've been thinking about the fractious nature of our society, political and social, and what to do about it.  You know we type "A" people think we can fix anything.  Clearly, I'm no different.  I spend a lot of time working on getting a framed piece of art together, making it "just so".  Since I put such effort into making a frame and since I have this refrain in my head "Think Globally, Act Locally", I've decided I'm going to try to spend a little more time making an effort to do my part to fit the world together.  I'm going to try to listen more, judge less; smile more, roll my eyes less (whether that's an actual eye roll or one in my mind!); try to remember that the root of "sarcasm" is "tearing flesh" and it's best served sparingly and in very small doses.  I'm going to try to remember that another's path is not the same as mine and may bear no similarities, ergo I might not ever comprehend it. 

I guess all this Christmas stuff has gotten to me!  But I don't think it's so bad to give grace over enmity.  In fact, I think it's a good way to go.  I know it's Pollyanna of me, well maybe a little more Charlene Frazier Stillfied, to think I can or any one of us can actually make a difference, but I can't help but think, at least hope, it is possible.  What's the point if we don't at least aspire to be better? 

Since it's Christmas, I thought I'd post the words of one of my favorite hymns.  Whether you are a person of religious conviction or not, Christian tradition or not, I think the words are worth a read.  I really do want world peace, and I've never even been close to a beauty pageant!   


I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

Till, ringing singing, on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)