Santa's Secret Elf Irving

Santa has long had an elf named Irving, the only Jewish elf among Santa's small army of elves. This has never been a secret.

But what happened this Christmas was a secret until now.

And God Spoke Again

The following is a fictitious conversation, in which I asked God why we have wars, poverty and environmental destruction. The answers may interest you:

An Interview With Jesus

This morning, Christmas Day, I conducted a fictitious interview with Jesus, seeking answers to questions I and perhaps you have long wanted to ask:

"Good Morning Jesus. May I ask you a few questions?"

"Of course my son."

"Are you the savior?"

And God Spoke

These are Three Commandments that are at the core of my journey in this life and came to me while in prayer. They are meant to be shared with you. I have posted them in Fables because you can reject them and the dialogue that follows as fictitious or treat them as I do, a profound reality.

The Three commandments were received in the words exactly as shown without explanation, but I have presented them as a dialogue with God beginning with the First Commandment so as to explore their meaning:

When You Have A Good Heart - Anything Is Possible

"Congratulations on your 30 years with TWX," the robo signed CEO letter read, as Fred reached for the silver pin contained in the envelope with the letter.

"Actually, it has been nearly 32 years," Fred thought, as he sat in his cubicle in global aerospace giant TWX. "I remember joining this company shortly after I graduated from high school."

Now 50 years old, 20 pounds overweight and with a thinning gray hairline, Fred realized how fast time had passed.

When he arrived home that night, he shared the letter and the silver pin with Margaret, his wife of 25 years. "You realize Fred," Margaret replied, "Your job pays the mortgage on this lovely home and it pays the college expenses for both of our daughters."

Margaret then gave Fred a big hug and added, "You are a very special man."

That night Fred had trouble sleeping. For he knew his life was passing by very quickly and he had an impossible dream, a fantasy that could never be fulfilled.

Since he was 10 years old Fred secretly wished he could play for the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.

But at age 50, 5 feet, 6 inches tall and with no athletic ability, that could never happen. Or could it?

A Little Touch Of Heaven

"Why me," Artie always complained. "I'm so tired of all the demands people make of me. Help me do this, help me do that. I resent people asking so much of me."

With that resentful attitude, no surprise, Artie had no special lady in his life, had no real friends and never got ahead at work. He was lonely and frustrated, and even his family avoided him.

"Why can't I find love and happiness," he said with heartache gripping his spirit.

Jack's Joyous Journey

9 year old Jack was an only child, who lived with his parents in a modest Santa Monica home.

But both of Jack's parents had to work to afford their home and pay their bills and Jack would come home after school and take care of himself until his parents came home each night.

Jack was a lonely boy.

In his 4th grade class he was a loner, because he was shy around the other children and he was terrible at sports, often being the last boy chosen for any team.

So when Jack would walk home alone after school, he would go inside and do his homework at the kitchen table and then watch a little television.

His favorite television show was "Fantasy Island," and the fantasy of visiting an Island paradise always intrigued Jack.

The Fool

"The more I give, the richer I become," William told his many critics.

But most people in the town knew he was a fool, always donating most of his hard earned money to help those in need.

The Mystical Clock

Jim was in his attic rummaging through old keepsakes when he came across a tightly sealed white box.

By the old fashioned paper that comprised the box, it appeared to be very old, and in Jim's 70 year lifetime, it had never been opened.

So gently, Jim opened the box and found in it a small old brown clock, with a gold key laying next to it.

The clock face was white, it's hands were black and attached below the face was a silver plaque with the year the clock was made: 1883.

As Jim took the key to wind this old clock, he saw a note that read, "Who shall wind this clock - beware for time may stop."

A Revelation

It was Christmas, 1942 as the Nazis collected by the thousands, the Jewish men, women and children they held in Poland's Warsaw Ghetto and by force, packed them into trains heading to the Treblinka death camp.

Moshe, a 65 year old college professor, and his family were among those that day who were to make that horrific one way trip.

But the Jews were organizing a revolt, when rumors spread that feared Nazi military leader Axel Schultz would be arriving.

Schultz was renown for his volatile temper and his brutality to the point many of the German soldiers feared him and kept their distance.

That morning, German soldiers rushed into the Warsaw Ghetto, with German Shepherds barking loudly, as guns at the ready, the soldiers shouted commands at the Jews, who were thrown onto trucks headed to the rail station.

Some Jews, especially older people who didn't move fast enough were executed on the spot, as the rifle fire echoed loudly.

And then all of a sudden everything stopped and aside from shrieks from those who had just lost their loved ones, it was silent.

Moshe looked and saw a large black German touring car pull up. When the man in the back seat got out, everyone knew who it was.

Standing 6 feet tall, with thick short blond hair and steely blue eyes was 40 year old Axel Schultz, his muscles rippling through his custom fit black uniform.

After surveying the situation, he shouted commands to the German soldiers and then told the Jews anyone who didn't cooperate would be instantly executed. To make his point he took out his pistol and shot a mother and her small daughter each in the head.

From then on that day, the Jews did as they were told. When Moshe's turn came to get into a truck, he turned to Schultz and shouted, "May you rot in Hell."

The next day Moshe, who was still cursing Schultz, was executed in a gas chamber. Two years later defending Berlin, Schultz died during an air raid bombing.

The Purple Rose Of Palos Verdes

"Come to me," the purple rose whispered to each passerby. "For in my purple glow and in my scent, I am a tiny piece of heaven on earth."

But everyone scurried by, too busy to pay attention.

That is until Murray heard the whispering. He was hiking the hills of Palos Verdes, a coastal town near Los Angeles, seeking solace from the passing of Marge, his wife of 30 years.

All Life Is In The Moment

In 1970, during the Vietnam War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers was on patrol, when suddenly they came under heavy arms fire from the Vietcong.

And then as suddenly as it began, the firing ended, leaving only a strange silence in its wake.

Izzy Schwartz, A Peasant In King Arthur's Court

King Arthur, England's legendary 6th century King, along with his Knights of the Round Table are famous for their brilliance, courage and chivalry.

But what isn't well known is the important role played by Israel "Izzy" Schwartz that made King Arthur such a success.

Wisdom From The Great Sage

With her 60th birthday nearing, Barbara deeply desired to learn her life's purpose.

Since childhood, Barbara had read about a great sage, now 94 years of age, who lived in the rugged mountains of Nepal, a man people journeyed to from all over the world.

Barbara decided to go see the great sage.

The Man Who Was Rich In Gold

Wallace was a very rich man, his wealth measured in gold so plentiful that it filled two bank vaults. This is more gold than many nations possess.

How did Wallace make so much money?

A Moment Of Truth

In the 1970's Alicia Williams-Wilson was one of Hollywood's biggest movie stars, and she was box office gold. It seemed every movie she made was a hit.

But during the 1980's, fueled by a cocaine and alcohol addiction, she was married and divorced three times and in moviemaking , she became highly unreliable in learning her lines and even in showing up.

The Hollywood studios wrote her off and her movie roles ended.

Eventually Alicia hit rock bottom as she went broke, and lived with a group of other addicts in an abandoned building in the San Fernando Valley.

One night, she overdosed.

The Voice Of A Red Rose

One warm and sunny day, a man stood before a garden of red roses.

"They all look so pretty," he proclaimed. "But they are all the same," he added as he started to walk away.

"I'm not the same," said a little high pitched voice. And as the man turned back to the red roses, he saw one of them swaying, despite there being no breeze.

A Gift From An Angel

Angels are often in our midst but most of us aren't aware of them because Angels usually make their presence known softly to those who seek them.

One morning after a night of little sleep, Harry tumbled out of bed, waved his fist in the air and with his usual bad attitude hollered, "I need an Angel in my life, for I'm desperate for Divine Guidance. No-one likes me!"

Just then, as the rising sun lit the room, a cranky voice answered, "Whattaya want from me Harry, you're a pain in the neck."

The Man With The Chocolate Pants

There once was a man who loved chocolate so much, that he went to the village chocolatier and said, "Can you make for me a pair of chocolate pants?"

When The Heart Can See What The Eyes Cannot

One magical evening 25 year old Fred brought 23 year old Freda, the woman of his dreams, home to meet his parents.

As a foursome, they had dinner together and talked afterward over dessert, and then it was time to bring Freda home.

"I hope they liked me," Freda told Fred. "How could they not," he replied with a big smile. "You are beautiful."

But when Fred returned to his parent's home to hear their comments, he was terribly disappointed.

The Mayor Of Palos Verdes Confronts A Serious Immigration Issue

Palos Verdes is a seaside community near Los Angeles, and like many parts of the world, fears of immigrants confront its residents.

Those residents were only too happy to,reap the benefits of lowly paid Hispanic immigrants when they did the jobs most other people didn't want to do. And because Hispanic immigrants worked so cheap, residents could save money on almost anything residents were involved with.

But in recent years, a flood of Spanish speaking people arrived, and as they prospered, they bought the lower priced homes in the community so their children could attend Palos Verdes schools and their families could have a safer, better quality of life.

As their numbers grew, so did the use of the Spanish language that increasingly seemed to be everywhere.

Under the guise of preventing illegal immigration, residents began restricting the sale of homes and even the movement of Spanish speaking people around the community, except as gardeners, nannies and other low paid positions.

Come nightfall, they were expected to be gone.

When no-one would sell Juan and Bonita Vargas a home, the Mayor of Palos Verdes called a community wide meeting.

At that meeting the television cameras were everywhere, as residents held up signs condemning the Vargas' and some of them screamed out in anger. A chant soon echoed, "Go home where you came from, there's no place for you here."

What If

As the bright yellow butterfly flitted about in the summer sunshine, she noticed William, his shoulders slumped, his head down and a frown on his face.

She landed on a pink rose in front of William and asked, "How could you be so sad on such a beautiful day?"

"I'm upset," he replied. "The economy is weak and if things get worse, I could lose my job. And what happens if I get sick? Plus at 60 years of age, I'm not getting any younger. Death could be around the corner."

Wisdom From A Butterfly

As Howard watched from the comfort of his backyard, the golden Monarch butterfly flitted through the warm summer air, landing on the scented white flowered jasmine.

"Oh, I wish I could be carefree like you," Howard said aloud. "But my cancer is growing worse and my body is withering away. Soon I'll no longer be here to keep you company."

Just then the Monarch butterfly flitted into the air and landed softly on Howard's paisley red and green shirtsleeve.

How The Mayor Of Palos Verdes Faced A Tough Reelection

The election campaign was ugly, as so many U.S. campaigns are, as the Mayor's opponent had vastly outspent him running a series of negative ads, claims which were now repeated at a town hall meeting shortly before the election.

At this point the Mayor's opponent was a heavy favorite to win the election.

Compassion From The Mayor Of Palos Verdes

Palos Verdes is a Los Angeles superb with beautiful homes and lush landscaping located along the ocean.

But one home had become rundown, a real eyesore with paint pealing and a yard filled with dis colored newspapers and overgrown in weeds. The neighbors vigorously complained to the city demanding that action be taken against this homeowner.

As a result the Mayor of Palos Verdes went to the home of this resident and knocked on the door.

"Yes," said an elderly woman as she opened the door.

"I'm the Mayor," he replied with a smile. "And I wanted to meet you."

"I'm hardly worth meeting," she answered. "My name is Julia, please come in."

Wisdom From The Mayor Of Palos Verdes

Palos Verdes is a lushly landscaped little scenic community along the California coast. At City Council Meeting after City Council Meeting, its citizens demand services, each of which cost money.

The Gift Of Life

Dear Reader, The following Fable is based upon a real life story:

Herbert was 93 years old and was in the beginning of congestive heart failure. He was frail, and had so little energy that he could barely walk beyond his apartment.

His family, which consisted of his daughter, her daughter and her husband and two early teen sons were with him most evenings and on weekends. And he now had round the clock caregivers who came and went, all of them compassionate Filipino ladies.

In his youth everyone called Herbert "Herbie" and he was often the leader at work and in his personal life, the life of the party. But at 73, Herbert had a massive heart attack and stunned everyone, doctors included when he survived and then recovered.

But now at 93, Herbert's heart was beginning to fail, his breathing was labored and his death would not be far away.

Three years earlier, Margaret, Herbert's wife of 65 years had passed away and not a day went by that he didn't long for her.

But as his family would gather around him, he would sometimes raise his voice to just below a scream, saying "I don't want to die! I want to be here with my family!" However in a private conversation with his daughter, he said "I'm afraid to die."

You Never Know

For more than 200 years, until 1865 slavery was legal and practiced throughout much of the United States. Today's Fable was taken from a real life story:

From his birth on a tobacco plantation James and his mother only had each other, for his father had been sold to another plantation, and James would never meet him.

And being owned as a slave meant either James or his mother could also be sold at any time.

But James' owner Julius Atkins and his wife Agnes liked him so well, that even though it was against the law to educate a slave they educated James with Mrs. Adkins, a former school teacher, serving as his primary teacher.

James not only learned to read and write but to do math as well. And as he had access to the Adkins' library, he became very well read, a real scholar.

He began to have big dreams for what he could do with his life, a life that did not belong to him.

This was why it was illegal to educate slaves, for education could only frustrate them with dreams that could never be fulfilled and it could lead to revolution or to slaves fleeing from their owners.

Yet despite being slaves James and his mother were living relatively well. That is until tragedy struck.

Advice From A Golden Yellow Butterfly

Sunday afternoon as I stood in the warm sunshine among gorgeous roses in bloom, a golden yellow butterfly flew by flitting here and there, absorbing the magnificence of all that surrounded him. As I watched him, the following story presented itself:

Wog The Wonder Dog

Wog The Wonder Dog was the best friend of 5 year old Calvin, who discovered Wog when he first began staying overnight with his grandparents, a kindly old gent named Kent and a lovely lady named Sady.

Rescuing A Lost Soul

"Give me your money," a desperate young man shouted at Oscar as he was about to close up his grocery store for the night. "I've got a gun."

"Don't do this," Oscar replied." You're going to be sorry for this money will never buy you peace or self-respect."

Stunned by the response, the would be robber was unable to utter another word as contradictory emotions swept through his mind. Anger, frustration, sympathy for himself, sympathy for his victim and most of all heartache for what he had stooped to overwhelmed him.

Finally he replied in a soft voice, "I don't know what else to do."

Herbie The Talking Chipmunk

It was 1956 and 10 year old Richie was sitting on the steps of his back porch looking at his baseball cards. Just then a voice chirped up, "Do you think the Dodgers can win the pennant?"

The Flight Of The Bumblebee

Fred was such a warm and friendly man, that everywhere he went he cordially greeted people with a smile, a handshake and sometimes even a hug.

Then Fred would listen to those people as they talked about themselves, in most cases feeling joyful in his presence and in the interest he took in them.

An "Imaginary Friend"

7 year old Timmy used to shutter in his bed, as his parents would scream threats at each other far into the night.

Hearing those threats, he wondered whether he and his 4 year old sister Leila would lose their home, would the family be broken up and what would happen to the two of them if the family was broken up?

Then one night Timmy's father didn't come home, and his mother angrily told him it was because his father had taken his own apartment and would be living with one of his "whores," a word Timmy wasn't familiar with.

A Wistful Trip Down Memory Lane

Shortly after his 80th birthday, Carl sat down along a riverside, on a bench under an oak tree to take stock of his life.

Redemption

63 year old Artie Fox was everybody's favorite guy.

A CEO for over 20 years, Artie's company outperformed all of its competition over that time because employees wanted to work for Artie and were inspired by him to do their best, for Artie always took a sincere interest in each person and did all he could to help one after the next to get ahead.

And then one fateful day:

An Amazing Career Change

52 year old Jill sat in her tiny cubicle, lost among a giant room filled with tiny cubicles, anonymous to the executives of the company that employed her for the last 30 years.

It was never supposed to be this way.

Discovering Gold Today In Calaveras County

During the great California gold rush of the 1840's and 50's, a huge amount of gold was discovered, dramatically changing the lives of vast numbers of people. But that was over 160 years ago. Could a couple today discover gold on their old gold rush property?

Love And Sorrow Are One

"I can't stand the pain," Doris cried out as tears ran down her cheeks. "I don't know if I can go on."

"I understand," replied her 75 year old minister as he listened to her describe the recent passing of her husband Bob, after 42 years of marriage.

Through The Eyes Of Sammy Sparrow

"I spread my little wings," he thought to himself. "And with the next gentle breeze I soar into the air, free to live my life.

"Success Waits For No-One"

"I'm in a hurry," the voice called out. "Get out of my way."

The Life Of A Leaf

Dear Reader: This is an inspired piece presented to you exactly as it was presented to me.

You Are A Blessing To Us

Last week Gloria turned 34 years old and she is sometimes depressed with her life.

Hanging With Thomas Jefferson

Thomas Jefferson is renowned in U.S. history, particularly as a Founder of the nation, the primary writer of The Declaration of Independence and as the third U.S. President. He is known the world over for his writings on democracy and of the rights of man.

However, largely ignored in history is that he was a large slave holder on his Virginia plantation, freed none of his slaves, took one early teen slave, Sally Hemings and fathered her children, and later he went broke, requiring a government bailout to keep his plantation.

This morning between 3 am and 4 am, the following discussion took place with Jefferson and I wrote his words down. What you will see is unedited and are just as those words were expressed.

Black Angel

Tim held his head in his hands as he cried so hard, he was convulsing. On the desk in front of him were containers of sleeping pills, which he intended to take.