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FREEDOM – This leadoff bit in today’s column is not one of the smartest things I’ve written. That’s for sure.

Anyway, here goes: The religions throughout the world all have their divisions and schisms. Each, of course, knows it is the only true one.

Do many people, though, believe in freedom “from” religion, as opposed to most, I think, who would say they do believe in freedom of religion. Wouldn’t you say?

That is, do folks acknowledge and respect the right of someone not to be religious. To be an atheist, agnostic, or even a deist, and not suffer some way socially or vocationally. What might be your thoughts on that?

A BEAUTIFUL THOUGHT – It was at one of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s annual conventions/contests, in Indianapolis I think, but I’m not absolutely sure. It’s held in a different city each year.

One of the Society’s iconic members, the late Freddy King, who won gold medals directing a men’s chorus, singing in a quartet, and also finishing in the top three or four with his women’s chorus, made these remarks at the convention when referencing that which a fellow barbershopper, who had passed away said, “May your life be as beautiful as you were in the mind of God before you were born.”

Ponder that, friends.

MY READINGS – Please know, friends, that I understand that what I’ve been reading of late just might not be at the forefront of your need-to-know hankerings. (An effete attempt at humor.)

Here are several of the most recent books of “my readings.”

“The Billion Dollar Spy – A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal”; “The Long Road Home – The Aftermath of the Second World War”; and “The Allies – Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II.”

GRATEFUL -1 feel blessed that I am still capable of reading even though I am almost halfway through my octogenarian years. My running days have long since passed, and so have my singing capabilities. The evanescence of those avocations is simply how it is.

DIRE PREDICTIONS – The scientific community, especially meteorologists say the on-going record breaking global wanning is putting planet Earth in peril.

Fossil fuel emissions, and the millions of vehicles, especially here in our country, constantly polluting the air, plus other man-caused pollution, all contribute

 

to the most serious threat we as earthlings have ever faced.

Although there are those of certain political persuasions who disagree with that which the learned and informed believe, nevertheless, friends, we really owe it to those who come after us, at least as individuals, to strive to do what we can to alter our lifestyles as it relates to bad environmental habits.

Easier said than done. Alas.