Now let us look to the future.  I know that everyone is getting a little tired of the scenario, but 2009 will be here before we know it.  Triennial 2009 is crucial to changing the course of the Order of the Daughters of the King.  We need each chapter that thinks that this Order is, and should continue to be, an Episcopal Order to send a delegate prepared to vote.  The new bylaws that have been written by the past parliamentarian are not what we want or need.  The new bylaws do not give us the opportunity to decide if we will be an Episcopal or Ecumenical Order.  If we pass these bylaws, we will be an Ecumenical Order.  The leadership is not willing to bring that question up for a fair vote.  Thus we have our work cut out for us.  We will either vote down the bylaws (which leaves us with the mess we have now) or we will have to clearly amend the new bylaws to change the flavor.  It will not be easy.

It all began with a small quotation in an op-ed on the first page of the Opinion section of the Sunday Los Angeles Times:  "As Albert Einstein observed, we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them."  I think it probably caught my eye only because it was the first page; I do not often find much of interest on the editorial pages of the Times.  Since it seemed to have some bearing on a situation with which I am grappling, I tore out that one small portion to remind myself to look it up.  Perhaps I would find some light to guide me toward resolution.  Google does make life easier when it comes to quotations!

I'm not much taken by biography or autobiography, never have been.  I have always found Albert Einstein to be of little interest, beyond his having a fascinating face.  He had, without doubt, a towering intellect which I found intimidating; hence, I had little real knowledge of him or his seemingly incomprehensible theories.  But even that prejudice has fallen to knowledge:  One of the things he said is, "Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute and it seems like an hour.  Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute.  That's relativity." If that's what the Theory of Relativity is about, I can understand that!  So what else did he have to say?  An easy solution to a summer column (lazy days, summer!) is to share some of the gems I found with you.

The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources.

Logic will get you from A to B.  Imagination will take you everywhere.

Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.

If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough.

The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.

I am not only a pacifist but a militant pacifist. I am willing to fight for peace.  Nothing will end war unless the people themselves refuse to go to war.

A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.

The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.

Once we accept our limits, we go beyond them.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

Do those give you something to ponder as you float in the pool or park on the freeway?  If not, I have one more for you:  "When the solution is simple, God is answering."

All blessings,