During the Thanksgiving season one year ago I wrote a blog about my Mom celebrating her 90th birthday. Today I am happy to report that my Mom will be celebrating her 91st birthday this week. She is a vibrant person who reads constantly and knows more about national and local news than most people. She is an inspiration to me and my family in that she always has a positive attitude. I am so fortunate to have such a loving and compassionate mom.

During this time of year, we must take time to remember all the things we have to be thankful for. As a nation we are getting closer to national health reform –even though we are not sure what exact provisions will actually be included. The current health system works for some, but for most of the folks this foundation represents, the current health system is not providing adequate access to health, mental health, dental and preventive care to those in need. National health reform gives us an opportunity to improve our current system.

I am thankful for the elected officials who are willing to discuss ways to improve our current system, and not bury their heads in the sand and say everything is OK. Now is the time for people of good will who are looking for positive solutions to improve our health care delivery system to step forward. We are living is historic times and I hope we have elected officials who are willing and able to be historic leaders.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sometimes I go months without reading a good book and sometimes I find myself reading two or three books at the same time. Well, I have been reading a lot lately.

Two weeks ago Mitch Albom was in Kansas City promoting his new book “have a little faith”. I had bought this new book because I had really enjoyed reading other books written by this author…especially his book entitled “Tuesday with Morrie”.

This new book touched my heart. It is a true story about two religious men from different backgrounds and with different faith journeys. One man was a rabbi from the Bronx; the other was a minister to a homeless congregation in Detroit. While the rabbi always felt comfort with his faith, he never stopped asking questions, especially when his young daughter died. The other minister was a drug addict who spent years in prison and living on the streets before he started his church for the homeless. He too struggled with his faith because he saw so much destruction and pain in the world.

One of the things I like about this book is that I bet every person who reads it will discover something unique to ponder depending where they are in their own faith journey. My take is that my faith journey is about asking questions and having enough curiosity and courage to challenge my current thinking so I can hopefully reach a deeper and more personal relationship with God. When I stop asking questions and having doubts…then my faith becomes stagnant. Faith is a journey of hope. Without hope, the meaning of life and death is hard to comprehend.