Look Again!
This is the famous picture named “My Wife and My Mother In Law” Do you see an old woman looking down or a young woman looking away?
Have you ever built a 1000 piece puzzle, where you couldn’t figure out where to place any more pieces, and then it just jumped out at you? Have you ever looked at a magic eye drawing and suddenly seen something you didn’t see before? Have you ever looked at a drawing of something and then suddenly seen a completely different picture? Have you ever found Waldo in a Where's Waldo book? If so, you have proven you can see things you could not first see.
How about hearing? Have you ever completely misheard lyrics, and then one day realized what they really were singing? Like “there’s a bad moon on the rise” was not “there’s a bathroom on the right”? Or thought God’s name was Andy because of the song “And he walks with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own”. That proves we mishear things the first time.
And one last thing about how we can misthink. Have you ever been wrong? I know I was once. My wife DeAnn probably remembers. She might say “it was more than once, Don!”
But there are certain things you never forget. When President Kennedy was killed. Where you were on 911. The Covid fear. The day you lost a loved one.
You don’t always see what you expect. You don’t always hear what you thought you heard. And you celebrate events that are meaningful like Memorial Day to honor the 1.1 million American lives lost in wars since our country began. We will never forget. Each year we gather. As people with something in common. We all love this place where we have freedom. We have a common book of understanding called the Constitution. We coexist, differing in religion, differing on views of the world, different looks, different settings. All in one country. Under God. Indivisible. With liberty and justice for all. According to the US book of law. The Constitution.
When something bad happens, we see our society face the question: What should we do? What did we do after the Civil War? We united. What did we do after 911? We united. Now we ARE one country, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. United doesn’t mean in agreement. It means we see the greater good in differing ways.
When we face something bad, we get to decide what to do. In the eyes of a 9 year old we witnessed a crisis last week. Our granddaughter was disqualified in a swimming race. She violated a stroke rule in breaststroke. Instead of thinking “what can I do?”, she immediately blamed her coaches for teaching her wrong. Then she blamed the stroke judges for unfairly judging. At no time did she think or say, “I need to do better.” She was angry. She believed that things were unfair. As if she had enemies. In time she came to understand she can improve for the future.
We are coming up on 250 years of America. There has been a lot of bloodshed to get to 250 years. But when you look at what we do, as a country, we forgive our enemies. Japan, Germany, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq were all rebuilt, or are still being rebuilt by American taxpayers.
In America, we have watched towns and churches grow and die. People are always seeking a better choice. Many people have chosen to have no faith in government. Many people think our society is in decline. I do not. I see so much hope in young people. They think and explore and decide based on what they find. Many young folks are finding the wisdom of faith. The hope of faith. The restoration of faith.
The Holy Spirit is always at work. So are evil spirits. An unseen battle surrounds us, and is in us. Many Americans are asking “what have we done!?” “Where do we go from here?” Our goal is always to build and rebuild. Our nation. Our loved ones. Ourselves. Let the spirit of goodness hold you tight. Drive the evil spirits away by focusing on doing good.
I believe in the Holy Spirit. I believe because I have experienced unexplainable feelings, insights, and motivations that have guided my life’s actions. I know there is a lot going on I cannot see, but I can feel. On a microscopic scale, I know each cell in our bodies has a DNA chain that would stretch 6 miles if uncoiled. On a universal scale, I know our planet is hurtling through space at 67,000 mph. And on a spiritual scale, I know there is an ongoing competition between good and evil on earth.
In the movie Pinocchio, the blue fairy appointed Jiminy Cricket to be the wooden puppet’s conscience. He tried to live in a way that would allow him to become a real boy instead of a puppet. Jiminy helped communicate right and wrong to a wooden puppet.
I believe the Holy Spirit is actively at work in the world. The holy spirit surrounds us and represents good. The Holy Spirit gives us guidance on what is right and wrong. Certainly anger is high on the list of wrongs. Forgiveness is high on the list of good.
In my faith, the Apostle Paul wrote lists of what is right and wrong. In Galatians he describes “right” as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In 2 Timothy Paul describes “wrong” as lovers of self, lovers of money, those who are heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, have no self-control, and are brutal.
I pray that God will help us be aware of all that is going on within us and around us. I pray that the US will be a peacemaker and continue our history of building democracies around the world. What is the most valuable thing about democracy? The right to vote in free and fair elections.
I see something very wrong in America. Congress is getting rich in office. Incumbents are getting giant donations from outside their state. They use the money to buy reelection. Lifetime politicians are bought and paid for. This has caused potential voters to give up their faith in government.
Use your vote! Term limits matter. Invoke your own. Americans can unite and remove lifetime politicians from Congress.
I hope you will donate a few minutes to sign my petition to get on the November ballot. You can request one at donforussenate.com. We need 10,000 registered voters to give us a printed name, signature, and address by early July. We currently have thousands of signatures, but not 10,000. I am not accepting donations. I am not spending tons of money. I am not in the primary. I hope to be on the November ballot if I get enough signatures. We need a choice that is not a party. I hope to be your best choice.
By Don Louis · Published 2026-06-01