Jennie Dukes

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=3 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="02c285a1erlcgo.png"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>Charles  Irwin</B></FONT><B>    </B><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Charles Irwin"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Fran Martin"><U>Fran Martin</U></A>   |   <B>Jennie Dukes</B>   |   <A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marjorie Footitt"><U>Marjorie Footitt</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Paul King"><U>Paul King</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=80 BGCOLOR="#00FFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="02ad4c00egertu.png"> <div> <A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Friends writings"><U>Friend's</U></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> <div> <U>CONVERSATION WITH AN ANGEL</U></div> <bR> <bR> <div> "Mum, you do know I love you, don't you?" </div> <div> "Yes, of course I do."</div> <div> "I always found it difficult to tell you this as I was growing up. It wasn't a happy household, and I often envied the seemingly ideal situation in other households. Friends appeared to have the ideal mother, and you and I fought constantly."</div> <div> "We can't go back, we can only move forward, living each day and doing so in a way that leaves no regrets."</div> <div> "Are you happy Mum?"</div> <div> "Sometimes, it does sadden me to watch my children struggle with life, especially John and Wendy, but I know from where I am now, that the lessons and challenges you are given are for a reason." </div> <div> "One thing I have never understood is why some are dealt such a bad hand, and these people are usually very good people, yet others, the real bastards, seemingly have all the Aces dealt?"</div> <div> "Who are we to judge the character of people and how they live their lives? The greatest discovery we can make is that of unconditional love." </div> <div> "You sound like you have become religious Mum! Have you seen God?"</div> <div> "I don't personally believe that anyone has ever seen God. God is manifest in all things physical but is not himself a physical entity. People who claim to have seen him may have been so profoundly moved by the discovery of his existence that they have needed to project this emotion onto something that they can understand in the here and now."</div> <div> "That's another thing, why do we always refer to him in the masculine gender? Why does he have to have a gender at all?"</div> <div> "Well, I believe that there is this inherent trait in humans. When we are overwhelmed by the magnitude of an idea or concept which is so outside the 'what we see is what we believe', we have a tendency to package the whole thing up into a diet that we can digest more easily. In the earliest days of Mankind, women were not regarded (by men) as equals, and you know that God existed before Man, and has been with Man since he was first born."</div> <bR> <div> "Do you know Mum, I don't think the equality of the sexes is ever going to happen! We are so different. Men think differently, they are opposite in every way you can think of. Did you know they are responsible for 99% of all physical crimes, murders and such?"</div> <div> "Did you know that women are more adept at murdering the soul?"</div> <div> "What do you mean?"</div> <div> "It is true that men and women are different and for good reason, they are meant to unite to balance each other. What you say about men and the physical nature of their crime may be true, but where do we women fail them in that they are ever likely to react in this manner?"</div> <div> "Are you telling me that women are responsible for men, and their actions?"</div> <div> "Not at all. But think about this, we claim as women to be the caring, nurturing gender. Those of us who become mothers have a unique opportunity to pour our love into our children, no matter what sex they are. In a partnership we should support our mate and let him know what we need to support us. As parents of the child we should provide a secure haven for growth. If we did this, would there be so many men who are totally alienated from their conscience? Don't you think that Man nurtured in love and allowed to grow up secure in his place in the world would find himself incapable of violence?"</div> <div> "That all sounds ideal Mum, but how many families do you know where the image presented is the reality? Surely egos, self need, selfishness on the part of parents plays a part. And just think, where does this 'ideal situation' arise? How many individuals are there who have been nurtured in this way and come together with a partner who has similarly been raised in the same way?"</div> <div> <I>"My darling Jennie, you have always lusted for the 'ideal'. I agree with you it happens very seldom and isn't that sad? For everyone? As I told you before, the lesson in our lifetimes is to just 'be', give up the expectation that we are entitled to anything, just give of ourselves to others from the deepest recesses of our being. The rewards will astound you. This is what we humans have named unconditional love. God calls it Heaven." </I></div> <bR> <div> <U>© Jennie Dukes April 2002</U></div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> Þ<FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FF00FF" FACE="Wingdings" >{</FONT>Þ<FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FF00FF" FACE="Wingdings" >{</FONT>Þ<FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FF00FF" FACE="Wingdings" >{</FONT>Þ<FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FF00FF" FACE="Wingdings" >{</FONT>Þ<FONT SIZE="7" COLOR="#FF00FF" FACE="Wingdings" >{</FONT></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" width=80 BGCOLOR="#00FFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>