LIFE STYLES OF THE POOR AND NOT SO FAMOUS Who cares about intelligence, wealth, status, position, power, authority, or control? All these are meaningless if, and this is a big IF, the person who possesses all these is not HAPPY. We are enthralled by the "Life Styles of the Rich and Famous." Their 10,000 square foot condos and estates excite the imagination. Yet no man, woman, or child can live in any more than 2' square at any one time. All the rest is pure fluff. Beyond the basics of food, clothing, and minimal shelter, there is little need for a house full of walnut furniture and crystal dinnerware. Does food taste any better when consumed with silver spoons? I believe not, and how do I know this? When I'm hungry I eat. In our home, we have stainless and pewterware. Truthfully, I can't tell the difference when rice is served and I shovel it away on one other the other kind of metal. A billion Chinese people use chopsticks and they seem to enjoy their lot. At last count, I believe I've owned at least 22 vehicles in my 30 driving years. Every one of them was the one I always wanted. I've owned Fords, Chevys, Dodges, Plymouths, Oldsmobiles, GMC's, Volkswagens, and some others. They all moved forward, most of the time. The most expensive cost $5,000. They provided transportation. Now fathom buying a car for more money than most of us spent for our homes? I believe you get my jist. Anything more than basic transportation is a pure Want. We in this neck of God's Country are so blessed. We pine for little. Our needs are mostly fulfilled. We see, hear, and read about the tragedies around the world. Rarely are we touched by such traumatic events. It is now tornado season. The May 1985 "Big Blow" that split Forest County in half is just a memory now. Every day that I ride across Forest Rd. 221 I am reminded of the power of the wind. At Abraxas, the damage to the old trailers served as a catalyst for a $5,000,000 Capital Building Campaign. Some tragedy, huh? The new buildings are made of redwood. Most realize that natural redwood darkens as it ages. The architect's solution: stain the natural redwood with redwood color. Now the redwood can remain "redwood." Last night on the Loleta Road, a 40 acre fire charred some of the forest floor. The fire was fought and put out. We certainly did not experience anything like those folks did in the San Bernadino Mountains outside Los Angeles. Again and again we are confronted with the choice between substance and fluff. We generally choose fluff because we are rarely in need. What does it mean to be satisfied? To be warm, dry, fed, clothed, sheltered, and with family and friends we love is enough. The joy of possessing these is a piece of heaven on earth. War is an outcome of greed. We went to the mideast to protect oil, not people. How different our response in Kuwait was as compared to Somalia. What are we doing in Bosnia? Nothing much, because there isn't anything we really want. Beyond the "looking glass in Alice's Wonderland" there's poverty, tragedy, violence, destruction, and death. What we are more concerned about is whether Mario Lemieux will play another season? Will the Penguins "threepete?" Who cares? A hundred years from now, no one will remember any of these sports figures, the teams, the league standings, and all the rest. Richard Nixon passed away this week. The earth lost another enigma. He was a man who struggled to be a role model. Congressman, Vice-President, President, and then, citizen again, all he needed to do was tell the truth in 1972. What he did was "stonewall." It cost him dearly. He made me fully understand the concept, "when you think you're looking good, you're looking bad." Had you told the truth, you, and a host of us would have been happy. Rest in peace, Mr. President. Each day a host of common "saints" pass away and only a few notice. Their lives are invisible like the wind blowing across the human landscape. On "All Saints Day" I don't celebrate the memory of St. Joseph, St. Ann, and St. Augustine. No, I remember St. Alex Badenoch, St. Thomas Cathcart, and St. Edith Gaul. They all knew how to tell the truth. Their lives were not enigmas but models of everything that makes life worth living. The greatest mystery in life is to discover how to find happiness in what we do, who we are, what we want and need to become. This can't be measured in rubles and gold, in barrels of oil, in turbocharged automobiles, in condos in the Bahamas, or in 10,000 square foot playgrounds. Nearly 5 billion people currently inhabit the earth. Most will never get their fifteen minutes worth of fame and glory as we are all led to believe. In fact, who wants it really. Ever notice that many people on the news these days are murderers, rapists, arsonists, drug dealers, and drunks arrested for driving under the influence. If the Fourth Estate owes us anything, it is a reprieve from so much garbage. I believe in the Freedom of the Press implicitly. However, I abhor ratings. These stories do nothing to raise the spirit of woman or man. Remember O. Henry's, "Gift of the Magi?" Oh, Henry, where are you now when we need you? Lie to Congress, and like Ollie North, the next step is to run for the Senate. He'll fit in quite well, I imagine. Some people will actually vote for him because he is a "great patriot." No wonder we can't trust those in power in Washington. Will Ollie give us something to believe in, to make us happy? Not! to quote Wayne and Garth. There is a notion among philosophers that nothing has any meaning unless we give it meaning. It's in the syntax that we often get stuck. If I say, "The dog bit Johnny," you all understand. Now, if I say, "Johnny bit the dog," the syntax changes the entire meaning, and there is some confusion. Around the world we go. Each journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. If that step is taken toward finding happiness, then the journey can be a joyous one. Windwalker often reminds me of the often quoted Native American prayer: "Criticize no one until you've walked a mile or more in his moccasins." Wealth can bring us happiness if it is in seeing a strutting gobbler parading along an old logging road. Intelligence can bring us happiness if it is knowing that simple things keep us in touch with our ancestral roots. Position can bring us happiness if it is holding a place in a loving family. Authority can bring us happiness if it is being the authority on who we are, what we want to become in life, and how we are going to achieve Happiness in our own time. Everything else is meaningless.