Where would Christmas be if pregnant, teenage, unmarried Mary had been counseled by Planned Parenthood?

I am in the woods
Without a compass
And can't decide
The path to take
Because I don't know
The way.
Confused.
Disoriented.
I search my pockets
Once again
And find
An Old Novelty.
I open it.
It shows
True North.

What is the "Old Novelty"?
Is your life orientated or disorientated?

A word warp is the misuse and abuse of a word. When an individual uses a word warp, that seldom creates a problem. But when the media begins to widely use and hammer the public with a word warp it can create much confusion.

A current, popular word warp is the misuse of the word "orientation". "Orientation" means lining up a map with the points of the compass--to have the map correctly lined up with the physical environment. There are not multiple choices for orientation. A map is either orientated or it is disorientated. If you turn a map upside down and insist that it now has a "South orientation," the map is still disorientated no matter how much you protest with a word warp.

The phrase "sexual orientation" referring to homosexual behavior is a word warp. To be sexually orientated is to be sexually lined up with the physical environment and spiritual environment. In other words, to have the parts correctly aligned and functioning according to their design.

No matter how much the media may promote this word warp, homosexual behavior is a misuse of human sexual design. Therefore it is a physical disorientation of sexuality.

Sexuality also has a spiritual orientation. It is called marriage. It is one man and one woman exclusively committed sexually to one another in love for life. All other forms of sexuality are a disorientation -- what the Bible calls sin.

Under the cover of many word warps, our culture is flooded with sexual sin. Sexual orientation (sexual purity) is mocked while sexual disorientation is constantly promoted and hyped. Meanwhile, due to our society's sexual disorientation, std's, unwanted pregnancy, hiv, hepatitis, divorce, fatherless children, abortion, child sexual abuse, and many other ills are rampant.

"Where do you dump the trash," I asked. "Outside the front gate," was the answer. So I opened the front gate and saw nowhere to put my trash -- just an unpaved street in Kota, Rajasthan, a city of 700,000 in India.

I went back and asked again and got the same answer. So I double checked outside the front gate -- still no sign of a trash can. I went back and said: "I can't find a trash can out there."

"We don't have a trash can," was the reply. "You just dump it on the ground outside the gate."

"Dump trash on the ground?" I asked. "It will be alright. When you dump it step back in the gate and watch," I was told.

Well I was in India so I did as I was instructed dumping my office size trash can right outside the front gate of Emmanuel School and Church and the home of M.A. Thomas.

I stepped back inside and to my amazement several adults, one at a time, began to come and pick through my trash taking away certain items. Then several children came and did the same thing. Finally the pigs that roamed the streets came and ate the rest. My trash was gone -- not even one thing was left.

I was amazed. All the things I had seen as worthless -- used paper, plastic wrappers, bits of wasted food, packaging, broken things -- people outside my door had snatched up and taken home.

When you feel like you have nothing but trash in your life -- take another look and rummage through your life with an open mind. You are overlooking and discounting some important things. Don't allow disappointment or heart ache to rob you of sincere appreciation of the things you still have going for you -- food and clothing, shelter, the ability to see and hear, the opportunity to be alive, the ability to read English, the knowledge of how to use a computer, curiosity, the courage to read things that challenge your thinking, an open mind, (I could go on and on).

What you call trash may not really be trash at all. It might be wonderful, overlooked blessings or good fortune in an ugly costume. So be hopeful and be encouraged. You have a good future if you will make it happen

And remember those in our world and in our country who have so little that even my trash or your trash is a blessing to them -- those just outside your gate. You probably walk or drive right by them daily. Start with a smile or a prayer. Even little things mean a lot to those outside the gate.

I picked up a new release at Blockbuster last night -- "Akeelah and the Bee." Ebert & Roeper had given it a "Two Thumbs Way Up" on the cover and Greta Van Susteren from the Fox News Channel called it "The best and most powerful family movie I have ever seen." On top of that it is by Starbucks Entertainment -- how's that for name dropping?

If you have read my blog much you know I do my best to avoid putting vulgarity, violence, decadence, profanity, and other self-destructive material into my mind and that is almost impossible to do with the mental and moral filth that surrounds us nowadays -- so this was a must see movie for me.

It is about an 11 year-old girl, Akeelah Anderson, who attends a run down, all black, inner city school in Los Angeles. She is being raised by a single mom because her dad was gunned down when she was six. Akeelah is surrounded by violence, negativity, and self-destruction, but she has one thing going for her -- she has never missed a word on a spelling test.

Akeelah's principal convinces her to enter the school,s first ever spelling bee. She easily wins and then is sent to the Los Angles School district spelling bee. The contrast is amazing. Almost all the kids in the district bee are white or Asian, clean cut, and have two parents in the audience supporting them -- there is a strange shortage of hispanic and black kids. To everyone's surprise Akeelah places in the top ten and gets to go the the regional spelling bee.

Her principal talks a black college professor into coaching her and they work extremely hard all summer preparing her for the regional bee. It is almost like "Rocky I" for words. She even jumps rope and spells words I don't know how to pronounce while her coach bangs on a metal watering can.

Akeelah then places third in the regional and gets invited to the National Spelling Bee in Washington, DC. Her mother, her siblings, and the kids in her school who have been working against her finally come around and begin to support her and help her train for the national bee. For the amazing ending -- you'll have to rent it! It is awesome.

"Akeelah and the Bee" is very inspiring and uplifting. It faces the reality of Akeelah's underprivileged life (and the reality of so many black people's lives in America) but it doesn't leave us there. It shows how one young girl can overcome almost impossible odds to inspire and motivate others and bring hope to a community.

Why not watch something that will build you up? Why not put aside the negative, destructive, and vulgar media for one night and be encouraged by "Akeelah and the Bee."