The New American Prosperity » It’s about the Magic, Not the Money

New Year

Darby Checketts — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 16:45:21 +0000

I offer just one word to guide and stimulate our thinking about the New Year and it’s a word that has appeared in many of my blog postings. The word is CREATION. What a powerful word it is. Everything is a creation. The new economy will be our creation. Health, prosperity, and happiness are our creations. The word CREATION is the ultimate expression of the spirit of ownership and self-determination. What 2010 will you create? What new decade will you create? If we all cast aside our complaining and criticizing and get on with creating, all will be well with our worlds.

Have I Done Any Good in the World Today?

Darby Checketts — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:34:16 +0000

Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.

Has anyone’s burden been lighter today because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?

Then, wake up and do something more than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure, a blessing of duty and love.

Will L. Thompson, 1847-1909

American Diversity = American Energy

Darby Checketts — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:13:24 +0000

I just returned from a trip to New Jersey. There are two New Jerseys. Those who don’t know the state well envision the industrialized Newark metropolis with its urban culture characteristics. There are also the hilly, heavily wooded areas of New Jersey where both quaint and elegant suburban homes are tucked away and where impressive corporate headquarters and college campuses abound.

New Jersey, with its New York State conjunction and its New England connections, is at the center of America’s historical development—as a place of commerce and as a cultural melting pot. After my several days in New Jersey, I would describe the experience as energizing. There is such a bustle of activity and such a diversity of ideas resulting from the rich blend of peoples and personalities.

After leaving New Jersey, I drove north through New York State to Albany. The fall scenery brought back my fond memories of living in New England with all the historical, architectural, and cultural charm that fills these beautiful states. In these places, it is evident that our diversity creates an iridescent human mosaic and an amazing kind of energy that is unlike anywhere else on the planet. It’s America! I love it.

America’s Best Idea

Darby Checketts — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:30:03 +0000

Is it truly? How can it be? Ken Burns, in his PBS presentation of “The National Parks,” proposes that the creation of our national parks is America’s best idea. Once our nation itself was created (a truly great idea), I do believe that one of the most lastingly symbolic and important things our nation’s leaders did for all of us was to listen to wisdom of the “wilderness prophet,” John Muir. They acknowledged the grandeur of God’s creations that so lift us all—the mountains, the prairies, the canyons, the rivers, the coastlines, the forests and woodlands of our magnificent continent. In the context of our democratic ideals, the national parks are our best idea because these are so much “for the people.” These parks are those portions of our grand land that belong to us all.

I invite you to tune into PBS tonight as there are two episodes of the five-part series remaining. If you miss these the first time around, they will be repeated in months ahead. You will learn much of our nation’s history as you see the strong thread of “national park” interest and inspiration that weaves through it. You will sit in reverence as you see the images of the places most of us have come to love or hope to visit. You will listen in awe to the stories of those who preserved these sanctuaries of nature for our enjoyment and edification. As we stand side-by-side as park visitors, looking up at a glistening waterfall or down into a crimson canyon, we put our daily cares and strife aside. As we sit on a wooded hillside and look down where the buffalo graze and where the antelope roam, we regain a sense of our own spiritual origins.

Roses on the Kitchen Counter

Darby Checketts — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:31:31 +0000

Last Wednesday was Sharon’s and my anniversary. We had recently spent some extra money on special things we needed and figured these would serve as our anniversary presents to each other. On Tuesday, as THE day drew nearer, I offered to buy Sharon a new digital camera. She asked me to wait. I knew we’d go out to eat and exchange meaningful greeting cards, but I felt I had to do more to honor my wife on our special day. As the clock ticked away on the night before our anniversary, I made some excuse about needing to go on an errand and slipped out the door. I went to our neighborhood grocery store, Harmon’s. There I found an amazingly beautiful and professional collection of flower arrangements. I purchased one with six red roses for just under $30. I wondered if I should have spent more.

The roses were a HUGE hit with Sharon. A little later, I even gave her the receipt from Harmon’s. She was pleased that I had purchased such lovely flowers for such a reasonable price. I was pleased I’d had the inclination to do so in the first place.

Here’s the conclusion to the story that ties into Essay #9 in “The New American Prosperity.” For four days now, Sharon and I have stopped to gaze in amazement at the six roses there in our kitchen. (Why in the kitchen? It’s a high traffic area where we see the roses often.) Never in all of our lives have we seen such radiantly red, full-blossomed roses. Thanks Harmon’s. These flowers are a wonder of nature. It would be hard for me to imagine that these were not originally engineered by the angels for those who celebrate their love.

The invitation to You: As you join the conversation, tell us how you are meeting life’s challenges in a way that demonstrates how SMART you are and how HAPPY you are determined to be.