It is 10.21.2023. A new opportunity awaits. This is my 28, 631st time to step up to the plate. Do I swing for a home run in center field, throw a bunt to 3rd, a single to right field, or try for a base on balls? A lot depends on the pitcher, who in this allegory represents life. You still need a plan to deal with what life throws at you. I think I’ll point my bat to the stands and lay down a bunt to 3rd and run for 1st. Today is Caramel Apple Day, Babbling Day, Celebration of the Mind Day, Garbanzo Bean Day, International Day of the Nacho, National Fetch Day, National Pets for Veterans Day, National Pumpkin Cheesecake Day, and Sweetest Day. Now some history to demonstrate that the chaos we have today is a lot like the chaos of the past. On this day in 335 Roman Emperor Constantine the Great ruled that Jews were not allowed to purchase and circumcise Christian slaves. On this day in 1774 the first flag to bear the word “Liberty” was flown at Taunton, Massachusetts in defiance of British rule. On this day in 1944 US troops captured Aachen which was the 1st German city to fall. On this day in 1945 women were allowed to vote in France for the first time. On this day in 1948 the UN rejected a Russian proposal to destroy atomic weapons. You might want to read that one twice. On this day in 1967 tens of thousands of anti-Vietnam War protesters marched on the Pentagon. I didn’t get to participate because I was in Vietnam. Today we will hear from the grave of Jack Kerouac who was a beat generation poet and author. Jack said, “Rest and be kind, you don’t have to prove anything.” “I realized either I was crazy, or the world was crazy; and I picked on the world. And of course, I was right.” “Suppose we suddenly wake up and see that what we thought to be this and that, ain’t this and that at all?” “I saw that my life was a vast glowing empty page, and I could do anything I wanted.” “Life must be rich and full of loving – it’s no good otherwise, no good at all, for anyone.” Abide.
