If I Ruled The World by Shauna V. Brown      Years ago my good friend and fellow performer, Ralene Gerrard Bills, sang a song. I fell in love with the melody and words:            If I Ruled the World   Words by Leslie Bricusse/Music by Cyril Ornadel  If I ruled the world, ev’ry day would be the first day of spring  Every heart would have a new song to sing  And we’d sing of the joy every morning would bring          If I ruled the world, ev’ry man would be as free as a bird,          Ev’ry voice would be a voice to be heard          Take my word we would treasure each day that occurred  My world would be a beautiful place  Where we would weave such wonderful dreams  My world would wear a smile on its face  Like the man in the moon has when the moon beams          If I ruled the world every man would say the world was his friend          There’d be happiness that no man could end          No my friend, not if I ruled the world          Every head would be held up high  There’d be sunshine in everyone’s sky  If the day ever dawned when I ruled the world

Every day the first day of spring -- I’m ready! Birds--let them sing. Happiness everywhere --yes! Hearts lifted in melodies inspired by the spirit--applause.  Smiles on faces -- not often enough.  Sunshine --oh, to feel the warmth of it. Heads held high -- we must.         Yet, I  find that everyone of us do rule a world--  worlds of our own making. We have the capacity to choose it, define,mold it into what ever we want it to be. You and I are the masters of that which is around us. We can choose to see the good or focus on the bad. We can seek to share that which is uplifting or dwell in negativity.We can lift our voices to cheer another, or sit back and hope for a better. We can spread possibilities. We can treasure more often the hugs and tickle more frequently. We can sing aloud of God’s redeeming love. We can make a difference! We can live and thrive in a wonderful world.       While visiting the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany, I was taken in deep thought as to the cruelty and treatment of those prisoners.  Yet, in the midst of all the darkness some of the prisoners made a choice of their world. Conditions didn't change - they did. They choose to see differently. Even though they were surrounded by death and hatred they selected words like hope, faith, forgiveness, trust, God.  Let me share a few thoughts of those who lived in such concentrated camps of darkness:       “Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings... It’s something we make inside ourselves.”  Corrie ten Boom       “How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”  Anne Frank      “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”          Viktor E. Frankl         Hey, surround me by Pollyanna types. Buy me rose colored glasses. Paint my room yellow. Be sure to plant daisies and blue forget-me-nots in my garden. Bring me rainbow colored balloons and I’ll be a happy camper.  Yet, I know and believe with full heart the key factor in my world--is placing God - central to all things. I want Him just the way and where He is --  FOREVER.        I realize and testify that in my world there will come cloudy days, intense storms, and seasonal dark moments. Equally, I have learned and rejoice that those drenching, down pours will pass, and the sun will come out again.  (Sounds like another song.)            So whether we dance in the rain, bloom where we’re planted, cry over spilt milk, look for the silver lining, find ourselves between a rock and a hard place, or endlessly seek to sprinkle joy along the way... it is our choice in the world we are creating.           IF I RULED THE WORLD ---- YOU DO!