Help is always available for you

Hello world-wide-web, Heavenly Father my mother has told me that Holy Week is the Holiest of Holy weeks in the year, and that whatever we ask for in Jesus' name during this time will be answered. Now Jesus, I know this must be true, because she's a mom AND a widow, and I know how you are partial to both, so I'm asking for some extra guidance, love, patience, and compassion be sent to all marriages. As always, Lord, thank you. Thank you for Your mercy, Your kindness, and for being with us every single day. In Your Name, Lord. Amen. I've become a fan of "30Rock" - thanks Carlton for getting me hooked on it - and an episode a few weeks ago had a funny scene in it. Tina Fey's character, Liz Lemon, or LL, went to the dentist and her friend/co-worker Jack, Alec Baldwin, took her home and looked after her because she was still sedated from the surgery. I use the term 'looked after' loosely because Jack admits to Liz that while she was still sedated she put a waffle in the DVD player and called for a massage from craigslist. (Liz is talking to Jack on the phone, asking him if she put the waffle in the DVD player, when a man starts banging loudly and roughly on her door. She yells in her best imitation of a man's voice, "You're too late. We've already killed her!" Jack comments, "Well played Lemon.")Jack may not have been very good at taking care of his friend, but he was there for her in her time of need. It's great to have a support system, but what if a person doesn't have a support system? Where does a person go for support, or to talk to someone objective about their problems? Church, yes, but what if you're an agnostic, or atheist? Pray? Definitely, but as I've said in previous blogs, 'sometimes you need someone with skin.' I am going somewhere with this line of questioning, and those of you who know I'm pursuing a master's in counseling have an idea where. Another answer (though not as noble as the given answers) to the above questions is watching t.v. sitcoms like "Cougartown" which is about a recently divorced woman who owns a real estate business and has a funny, intelligent, teenage son; neighbors who are happily married and raising a son; another neighbor who is cute and has a major crush on her; her former hubby, who is also still madly in love with her; and a single woman who works with her in the real estate business and is kind of white trash; or perhaps "Modern Family,"(which I love)is more your style with it's hip gay couple; the older man who is married to a young Latina who has a son from a previous marriage; a 'normal' family: husband, wife, and three adorable kids; a nerd, a princess, and a boy. If people aren't watching the "small box," to find solace, maybe they are happy being unhappy, or they're drinking themselves silly to cope... I'm arguing that something is going on in the collective consciousness of t.v. land. By watching "Cougartown," or "Modern Family," or other similar programs, the viewer can question relationships, possibly even find the shows experiences cathartic. Oprah has been 'healing' the world for years. I envision good things coming from all the actor's 'genuineness'. Perhaps people will eventually Be Real, or, at the very least, go to a therapist and Get real. I know the wheels of my argument are about to fall off, but hear me out: therapy is a good thing. If you've been thinking about going, go. If you haven't thought of therapy, why not? It was Socrates who said, "The unexamined life is not worth living." If the stigma to seeking counsel lifts through some 'osmosis' of a sitcom's character(s), which, again, I think it can, lives change, and all for the better. God wants us to be our best selves. Therapy can help. "I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world." Mother Theresa