"You can't leave! All the plants will die!"

Obviously, I haven't blogged in some time.  Oh I've tweeted and instagrammed but not blogs.  I have finished a book I started in 2008 and wrote a short story recently.  I might just post some of that on a new site.  Thanks to those who might have enjoyed or stopped by to read a post.  Check back in a couple months if you're interested to see if I've posted the book or any stories.  I do enjoy writing but I think I'll post what I write instead of writing to post.  You can follow me on Twitter @FoxErnie. 

Trust in God, He's the one who put this all together for Good.  It's people who make things tough.  Pray for the Peace of Christ to take over this world.  And may God Bless each of you with renewed faith, new faith and His peace which transcends all.  Thanks...And of course for something that has nothing to do with faith...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDGbVaisNPgh4&v=GbVaisNPgh4

Merry Christmas and God Bless Us, Everyone!

The last time I wrote it was a piece about William and Kate's newborn child.  I kind of compared it to the birth of Jesus.  Just read it again today and thought about tweeting it out again, but, hey, it's probably time to write something new.

This time just short of two weeks before Christmas can be stressful for some, hopeless for some, joyful for many. The 'OFFICIAL KICK-OFF"for the season is, of course, Black Friday which is now on Thanksgiving Thursday. Perfect.

There was a time when gift-giving on Christmas was a time to indulge your kids, sure.  Mom and Dad would get each other a little something, plus each of the parents would give the kids some money to buy something for the other parent.  A boxed shirt and tie set, maybe some Hai Karate after shave, a boxed Windsong perfume and powder gift box, maybe a pin or brooch.

Christmas Eve was a night for church; my dad ONLY went to church on Christmas Eve.  Even when he died his funeral was at the funeral home and not in a church.  Mom and sis went regularly (to church not the funeral home); I was more like my dad then.

Christmas morning was a magical time when stuff appeared out of nowhere for us.  Stockings had a few coins, an apple or orange, a candy bar.  There was new underwear, new shirts and pants and of course wonderful toys.  One year a race-car set, one year a Lionel Train, clock-radios (Imagine! A radio with a clock in it!) every year had the big gift and then basically new clothes to wear to school.  (Jerry Seinfeld talks about Chanukkah and receiving little gifts for eight days, a pen, some pencils, a notebook, basically a back-to-school holiday).

We have really created a "Sport of Christmas" where we rush for the new electronics, toys, styles, fashions, for some folks cars with giant bows in the driveway, trips to St. Moritz and more.  It seems many of us are trying to win at Christmas.

The gift part of Christmas is modeled after the Three Wise Men (Magi or Magicians) who visited Jesus, Mary and Joseph about 1-2 years after his birth, following the star that appeared the night of his birth.  They brought Him gifts that they would bring a king, expensive spices, incense and gold, none of which the young family could have ever afforded.

It sounds old-fashioned and out-of-style to ask people to remember the birth of Jesus the savior at least for a moment or two on Christmas day.  Sure, be with your family, rally around the tree and open your gifts, have a nice dinner. As you celebrate Christmas, though, perhaps you can offer wonderful gifts to those who could never have afforded them, either through an organization or adopting a needy family.

As you celebrate Christmas remember this true story of a baby born in a stable; a child born to a young woman who would say, "I am the Lord's handmaiden, let it be as you have said" when told she would become pregnant by the Holy spirit and give birth to this son, Jesus, the Christ, Emmanuel.

This child grew into manhood and would live a sinless life; never did anything wrong.  He was God in the flesh; He came to show people God's love and His reality to those who would listen.  Then He took God's punishment for sin upon himself, that anyone who believes in Him would avoid that punishment and be able to stand in the Presence of God one day. 

As you celebrate Christmas and this Holiday Season remember the birth of the One who will return one day, when there won't be anymore war; even sorrow and weeping will be gone. We have this time of our lives to accept or reject this child this savior.  God gave us free will; He allows us the option to choose. He loves us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to die once for all for the forgiveness of sins. This Christmas rejoice in the birth, life, death and resurrection of the Savior of the World.  What joy we should have that God loves us so much...just because. Christmas is a great time to renew a belief (maybe look into it for the first time) and feel God's great love for you personally and everyone else in the world, too. Merry CHRISTmas. 

King of England vs King of Kings

On an otherwise uneventful night some time ago a newly married couple takes refuge in a barn.  The young woman probably still in her teens is in labor.  They couldn't find a better place to stay.  The man probably near 30 years old comforts his pregnant wife, both certain of a birth to come but a bit uncertain of the child's future.

Nine months prior the couple who were engaged but not married found out the young woman was pregnant. The woman and her fiance had never been intimate. He stayed with her even with the stigma that accompanied the young woman. 

Okay, you might have guessed the story...it's the birth of Jesus.  The first of those outside the barn to know about the birth were shepherds.  These shepherds could not have been much lower in social status.  They were the least in terms of education, social graces and respect, probably.  They often smelled like the flocks they tended, slept outside and many times would not speak to another human other than when a few of them would congregate for safety and companionship with their flocks.  Safety in numbers from the dangers of the night, perhaps.

Well many heavenly host appeared to these resting shepherds this night.  These rough and tumble men would leave their flocks to check out for themselves the amazing announcement of a very special birth.  Imagine leaving the very flocks you were paid  to watch; you could be jailed, even killed if something happened to the animals.  But these shepherds knew there was more at stake.

Over the past nine months the world has anticipated the birth of a king...3rd in line perhaps but a young king nonetheless.  His mother in her late 20's and his father the Prince are now proud parents of a little boy who one day would be King George. The first to know about this birth other than the parents, scores of doctors and nurses was the Queen of England, then the entire world. This baby is some 30-50 years away from the throne but you can bet we will be able to view each birthday, each vacation, graduation, milestone including the gaffes from now till the boys' days are over.

Let's face it.  This boy will be King of England should he outlive his grandfather and father.  He will be the most famous of all the royals on Earth followed by tabloids, entertainment reporters and royal groupies.  This child as he grows and upon coronation will have about as little to do with running a kingdom as I do. But for some reason even those of us in the States will be fixated on this royal family.

It is perhaps a good time now to remind everyone in the US that our country became separate from England in part to split from the King of England.   It seems weird to celebrate a monarch whose relatives ticked us off so much we kicked his people out of an entire nation.

Well the young royal will grow up with palaces, great vacations and education along with a seemingly endless bucket of money and privilege.  I'm not complaining, I would have liked to have such opportunities and probably would have handled them worse than even Prince Harry.

When we go back to the child born in the barn we find he grew up in the home of a carpenter.  While a nice profession a carpenter was above shepherds but still low in status.  Joe and Mary would not be on the social register.  Let's face it, his mom was a young girl "in trouble" in a time when you could get stoned (rocks not dope) for being pregnant out of wedlock.  His dad almost left the girl, but was persuaded to stay.   Great love there.  Nice work Joey.

This child as he grew up would be obedient to his parents, work with his dad and learned the basics of his faith.  He would not enjoy an endless bucket of money, schools or privilege.  While people were amazed that this child had such a great understanding of his faith, greater than even the teachers, they did not make the connection between this boy and a king.  Even when some would say he was the promised king of the ancient scriptures most poo-pooed this notion, his beliefs and lifestyle.

The child grew into a man.  A man who had no home, no possessions, no job.  He relied totally on his Father-the One who sent his son with a message for a lost world.  The man knew those who He came to save would turn him over to the officials.  He would then willingly accept a death penalty to honor his Father and grant all others who choose to acknowledge Him immunity from that same sentence.

One boy is born and is anointed king.  He is destined for notoriety, wealth, even fame just because of a birthright.  One child is born in poverty and gains some notoriety in life but is as much despised as adored.  One child lives a life of opulence and entitlement, one a sinless life that he willingly gives up for all who would trust in him.

The world looks at the young King George and celebrates.  This king-to-be will appear at state ceremonies, speak to adoring crowds and return to his palace.  He will be honored and revered by most and yes despised by some.  Most look at the royals and wish we  could live such a life.  It looks good from the outside, doesn't it?

The world doesn't give much thought to the child born so many years ago.  The child born to be truly King of Kings and gave his life for all has been forgotten by most, despised by many, adored by some.  Most of us look at Jesus and can't imagine living such a life.  It doesn't look very glamorous from the outside, does it?

You don't need faith to believe in young King George.  He's already been out there for people to see.  You do need faith to believe in Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Alexander the Great and even Jesus.  Jesus' life is as real as any of the others and whose death and resurrection leaves a legacy of forgiveness, compassion and of eternal life. 

    

When do we save the Children?

A deranged young man Adam Lanza killed 20 children and 6 adults on December 14th, 2012.  He killed himself rather than facing justice.  He also killed his mother prior to heading to Sandy Hook Elementary School.

We look for someone to blame in these cases.  But since the gunman and his mother are dead, we look to the guns as the blame for these deaths, because there is no person to prosecute, no one at whom to point fingers.

In Detroit Semeria Greene stabbed her 8-year old daughter just before the new year and days before her daughter's birthday.  At least one of her other young children witnessed the killing.  Semeria Greene was arrested and charged.  We have someone to blame.  We are not blaming the knife or crying out for the banning of certain types of knives.  We have someone at whom to point fingers and cry out "Shame!" and "Murderer!"

Susan Smith put her two children in a car and sent that car into a lake in South Carolina, killing the children.  She is in jail, we had someone to blame.  No one suggests that cars kill people.  We can look at her and shake our heads and think "Murderer!"

On December 3rd in Detroit D'Andre Lane was sentenced in the 2011 murder of his 2-year old daughter Bianca Jones, allegedly because she wet her bed.  He was convicted of beating her, placing her body in an incinerator and inventing a car-jacking story to cover the crime. We have somone at whom to point fingers, to cry out "Murderer!"

I grieve for all these children.  I don't understand how a stranger or a parent could cause such violence to anyone, and especially against innocent  children.  Whatever the weapon, whatever the cause, the killing of children affects all of us who hear the reports.  We need a villian, we need to make someone responsible, and I believe we feel cheated when the perpetrator kills themself, as Adam Lanza did, and we have to find another avenue for our rage.

VP Biden is looking to craft some kind of weapons legislation, to avoid another Sandy Hook.  Guns are the villians here, since we can't put someone on trial.  Those groups and indiduals like the NRA are villified; an angry nation requires a pound of flesh to somehow make a horrible situation better.

I do not now nor have I ever owned a firearm. Not my style. My Step-Father Harold some twenty years ago sold his collection of rifles and handguns. He was an NRA member, and sent a letter to the NRA indicating that "people are no longer responsible enough" for him to risk having his weapons fall into the hands of someone bent on evil. I applauded him; this military sharp-shooter whose affinity for rifles came from his military training. He was not a hunter; he was trained to shoot people. He had a loaded handgun on his bookshelf headboard on his bed.  Harold never killed anyone.

It's a horrible tragedy when people die in an violent act. When children are involved, it tears at our hearts and makes us demand answers, demand changes.  But what about other violence against children?

Since the Sandy Hook tragedy on December 14th, a span of 27 days, 10 of which were Saturdays, Sundays or holidays, a conservative number of 68,000 (yes, 68,000) unborn children were killed by abortion in the United States.  Who do we point fingers at and cry out "Shame!"?  How many fundraisers are there for these innocents?

Womens' Groups cry out against the selective abortion of female children in China.  At least half of the US abortions are female children; where is the outcry? Who can I blame for these deaths?  What legislation can I cry out for from VP Biden, from my Congress?

Why is the killing of 20 children in Sandy Hook a national tragedy but the killing of some 4,000 other children that same day looked at as "a woman's choice of what to do with her own body?"  Why are D'Andre Lane, Semeria Greene and Susan Smith murderers, along with Adam Lanza if those 4,000 other children killed each day do not matter?

See, for many of us, all life is precious.  I grieve for the children and families of those killed at Sandy Hook, as I grieved for the children killed in the federal building in Oklahoma, as I grieved for Bianca Jones and Tameria Greene (Semeria's daughter) I also grieve for those victims of abortion, whose lives for some reason are less important than others.

Please understand, I'm not trying to downplay the horrific tragedy of the Sandy Hook murders.  I am a father of two (grown) children.  I try to put myself in the shoes of parents whose children die through accidents, illnesses or violence imagining if it was my kids, and I cry.  It would be hard to ever lead a normal life after such a loss, such a senseless unexplainable loss as in the case in Connecticut.  I pray for the families of all the victims, as I do for the family of Bianca Jones and Tameria Greene and  the scores of others.  And I thank God my family has been safe.

When we decide the deaths of some innocent children require new and stronger governmental regulations but in the same breath fight any regulation regarding the deaths of other unborn children, it smacks as hypocritical.  If the senseless killing of 20 children in Connecticut, 2 in Detroit and 2 more in South Carolina demand a pound of flesh, what about the 4,000 lives cut short daily in the name of "choice"? 

I suppose as my liberal friends would suggest that I just don't have the intelligence nor sophistication to undertand the obvious difference between the value of some children's lives versus others.  I hope I never do.

A Walk Around My Brain

It's been a while since my last post.  I've thought about writing a few times, but just didn't have the verve, or whatever.  The world has been spared some senseless musings for a while.  Anyway, I just have a bunch of junk in my head that is spilling out...

I read an article about how 1800 WEALTHY Americans have revoked their citizenship to avoid taxes and specifically since the Obama Administration (many are big donors to the Democratic Party, by the way).  It made me giggle, because if the "1%" leave the country, the top earners in the 99% will then be the 1% and they will be hated.  Hopefully they are able to escape the tent cities before they are stoned ( yeah, there's an easy joke there) or pillaged I suppose.



Apparently this spot is "occupied.



Lots of election year garbage.  It is horrible how the country is divided Conservatives vs Liberals.  You used to be able to argue politics in any barbershop, bar or coffee counter (even at work) without starting a hate-filled shouting match.   We as AMERICANS have to decide to work together and not leave our future in the hands of career politicians.  I always suggest to vote for the richest guy, because he has a higher sell-out price than someone who needs the job.

Entitlements.  This is where we're killing ourselves.  Here in Detroit there was an angry protest about the bus service in the city.  It is pretty lousy compared with other metropolitan areas, and funding is an issue.  The protesters declared "we have a RIGHT to good bus service".  Well, no, you don't.  You don't have a RIGHT to cable TV, cell phone service, wealth, a single-family home, etc.  We have skewed what rights are and for some reason are dependent upon the government to provide us our "rights".

I hate abortion.  It's not about a woman's right to choose for many of us; it is senseless murder.  I will protect a woman's desire to NOT have sexual relations that might end up in pregnancy but once you've made the  CHOICE to engage in intercourse I do not believe you should be able to kill a child in the name of birth control.  While women's groups cry out against China's parents killing girl children, at least half of all the 4000 plus abortions in the US daily are female children, who apparently get NO CHOICE.

War is fatiguing for most of us and decimating to so many families who lose husbands, children,  loved ones.  I grew up during the Viet Nam Conflict.  Every day I heard the number of Viet Cong killed and the number of Americans killed.  Every day from the time I was about 6 years old and have memories until I was in high school I heard the numbers like sports scores.  Just prior to the abolishment of the draft my birthday number pretty much guaranteed I would have been in the service.  Now it has been Iraq and Afghanistan.  So many people have been killed, it's hard to justify after a while.  Our freedoms, our way of life is worth fighting (dying) for but some battles can be fought with money, justice and good works.  Sometimes, armed conflicts are going to occur.  The choice is whether to go in hard and try to win typically killing thousands and thousands of innocents, or to wear the other side out.  I choose peace but sometimes you do have to fight.



Here's to all those forgotten soldiers in Viet Nam.



I was watching "Sleepless in Seattle" the other day while enjoying that weekend extra cup of Joe.  I guess it was made in the 1980's (the movie, not my coffee).  Since I've seen the movie before, I was just sort of paying attention to everything else but the movie.  I saw typewriters, Rolodexs', "princess" desk phones, VCRs and more, including those moussed-up hair dos, shoulder pads etc .  EVERYBODY was trying to be the 1% and it wasn't a sin.  Weird how things change so quickly.

I also was watching an interview with Angelina Jolie and noticed as she is aging she looks more and more like her dad Jon Voigt.  Look out, Brad....She still is lovely, though.  Maybe it's the stress of all those kids getting to her.  And I actually did like the "Salt" movie.  Kinda cheap knock off of the Bourne series, but an entertaining watch on network TV.

This is supposed to be "sexy lip-biting Angelina"  Kinda looks like a lot of women in college bars around 2:00 AM

Replacement Refs are getting more attention than Brett Favre ever did.  Hockey players are on strike or locked out or something.  I'm a big fan but really don't care anymore.  I'll watch the games if they're on, and if they're not, I'll probably be better off.  And that includes all professional sports.  Although if the Lingerie League goes on strike it would be horrible.  Where do they televise that anyway?  Truthfully, you watch enough TV you'll see enough of Victoria's Secrets and Soma to last a lingerie lifetime.

I'm off for now.  If you're in the US, please stop arguing politics.  Two great statements from two Presidents (one from each side).  "Don't ask what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" and   "No more free lunches".  You could look 'em up.



If you don't like Uncle Sam, you just don't like America.



Tatt mania

Just as the number of cooking shows has turned millions of Ramen Noodle eaters into home gourmets (and tremendous food bores many times), the number of Tattoo shows has sent countless millions to shops ranging from Thailand grungy to Park Avenue glitz.  Rather than buying Emril's latest cookware or Mario's latest Italian cuisine adventure, these people just can't wait to get tattoo'd.  Hey!  When will we have "Paulie's Home Tattoo Kit"?  Imagine the fun of self-torture with dozens of inked needles.  (No erasers, by the way).

When I was a kid, the only people with tatts were sideshow freaks and WWII veterans.  My step-dad, a post WWII German occupation troop ended up with tattoos.  I think he liked German beer...a lot...  By the time I met him, he had grown from a wispy 140 pound army teen to a 180 pound man with Popeye forearms, and the tattoos were no longer distinguishable.

I was in Florida at Clearwater Beach and there is no where else like a beach other than a nudie bar or MTV Spring Break show, I suppose, to view so many tattoos.  From the ridiculous to the sublime, it was like a catalog shoot for a tattoo company.  Memorial Day Weekend at a nearby Michigan State Park was like a family tattoo reunion.

Now, it's okay to get tattoos, I'm not trying to be a cranky-pants. But I have never seen an aging person whose tattoos looked good.  On top of that, it's beyond just "Mother" tattoo'd on a soldier's arm, it's entire portaits, relief maps, guilded body designs, and more. 

I look at Kat Von D on her TV show and look at an average looking woman with all kinds of stuff all over her.  I wonder what she lacked in her life to mark up her body so much. Was she looking for attention or looking to cover up and hide?  When I've watched her show  see she seems very insecure, even with all her seeming success.  I feel bad for her, hopefully the money and fame are worth it.

I think there are a lot of people in the world who feel an emptiness, an unworthiness, a lack of connection.  So many turn to gangs, maybe drugs, alcohol, tattoos,etc. to try to find a connection, a circle of people who understand them or like them.  And I feel bad for them.

Everyone I know has felt alone, outcast, maybe even unloved at some time in their life.  A few have committed suicide, some have entered into truly destructive lifestyles.  Most have come out of it okay, as they had a "home base" to touch and connect.  For many of those it was faith in God.  You know, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth and everything seen and unseen.

I have found in my life that people who seem to have a hole in their heart will try to fill it with something, anything.  And I think that hole is that they're missing a relationship with the One who has known them from the beginning, the One who has numbered even the hairs on their head.  See, you can have a very empty heart if you don't know your father. 

On an earthly level many children of divorce or abandonment struggle in life because they had no father to look up to, no father to be the moral head of the family, no father to be strong in the face of fear, of loneliness, of the unknown.  On a more eternal level, God the Father desires the best for you, an abundant life (which means good stuff and not so good, a full life's experiences) and He desires you come to him crying out "daddy!"  He desires to see you succeed, not fail.  But the effort is still up to you.

Now, I've seen preachers and pastors with tattoos.  Never seen tattoo'd Nun. I've seen teachers, laborers and executives with tattoos.  Really, it is a choice, as is all of life. And as always, the Father allows you freedom of choice. For each choice you make you will affect the path of your life and the ease or difficulty of walking that path.  You were made in God's own image.  Near as I can tell, he doesn't have tatoos.  He did not want you to be in this life to be miserable, or to lead a lifestyle that will make life difficult, perhaps even shorter than it otherwise would have been.  He created you perfect in His eyes. Understand the He looks at you just the way He wanted you to be, know you are important to Him whether you believe or not.  He believes in you.  God Bless.

American Picker Philosophy

For a while now, I've been in a bit of a funk.  While I enjoy going to movies, concerts, my kid's homes, etc., it's been a bit weird, like I have a "take it or leave it" attitude.  I find myself chained to a chair or sofa in my living room after work, then on the weekends, etc.  I'm not a shut-in, and my wife and I have gone and done some fun things, but I've become kind of a couch-potato over the last year and a half.  Define couch potato, you say?

I took a promotion at work about then.  It has been more stressful and less rewarding than the previous job, and it seems like sometimes it doesn't matter what I plan or try to do to make things better, we just stay the same, and the same isn't working particularly well.  Maybe that's why.

I went on prescribed anti-anxiety medication for a time in late 2010 and early 2011.  The first script made me high, which some people might enjoy, but for me it was like hovering above myself and watching what was going on.  Great at a frat party perhaps, but not so much for me.

The second script kept me at a level status, I didn't get too happy or angry, I didin't lose myself in hysterical laughter nor try to punch through any walls.  It seemed, however, like I was a spectator to the world, like I really wasn't involved.  It was that time I started coming home from work and just kind of "vegging out".  I think I got stuck in that veg mode somehow.  Hard to get out.  I quit the pills, didn't want to lose myself in a chemical fog.  Seemed like so much fun in Reefer Madness.

Now, I'm a Christian, I trust in the Lord, I look for His healing, help, support, but I'm human, and sometimes I don't listen.  It seems sometimes like some of the joy was taken out of my life and I'm not sure how to get it back. Don't let Christian folk get in your head with "you just don't have enough faith, pray your way out of it", etc.  It's just not that simple sometimes.

My father's side of the family has dealt with clinical depression.  Many of the relatives have struggled.  I call it the Fox Crazies, I've tried to warn my nephew and my kids.  I think sometimes, though, we try to blame conditions, illnesses and symptoms for our shortcomings or problems, when maybe it's just us trying to duck out of reality.

I can be a reality ducker sometimes, all without the use of drugs or alcohol. I do tend to use food as a crutch, though, and apparently TV.  But I do know that drugs to "level you out" leave out some of the great spark, creativity and drive that can be a blessing and a curse.  I can get soooo happy and I can get sooo down.

Being an adult and realizing these things, I don't even consider "ending it all" or anything way overboard.  I do, however, struggle sometimes.  I have the love of a wonderful wife, two great kids, my in-laws are great, we're all working...you really have to look at the blessings you have, I know I have to remind myself to look. 

There is never any time that everything sucks, at least for me, and I'm sure for others that struggle with their own funks.  I think of my kids, my wife, the fact that we have jobs, educations, live in decent areas and the fact we have so much to be thankful for (for which to be thankful I suppose for you English majors: oh, yes, I have dangled a participle in my time).  And, yeah, I could'a been someone, I could'a been a contender; thanks, Marlon, but other than not having my name in lights, things are okay.  Sometimes its so easy to look back and be disappointed about time I've wasted and things I should have done, I forget to look at what I have done...

So do I have great wisdom to share?  I think I do.  I was watching American Pickers while recovering from some minor knee surgery.  I saw many, many people who had collected so much stuff over time.  They had property with multiple buildings on them full of stuff, some well-organized, some not so much.  All of the folks seemed happy.  All had followed a path they enjoyed for many years and allowed them to retire to a quiet life of collecting (hoarding) and just getting along. Be a picker

Here it is: No matter what your age, do something you WANT to do for a vocation make it your avocation.  You might have to do it in conjunction with your current job, but start it.  Do you want to paint, write, make music, dance, be a politician or preacher?  Take one small step every day in that direction, don't miss a day, and work toward that goal.   I believe it is an old Chinese proverb "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".

Great advice.  I would also suggest checking in with the Lord for direction and guidance.   See, I believe you can pray your way out of it and God does give us enough faith to start with.  God, however, will need YOU (ME) to actually DO something in conjunction with Him answering our prayers.  We can't sit on the couch waiting for a call. 

So, here's to taking a step today, even right now after you read this.  Here's to growing in faith, or finding it in the first place.  Here's to less drugs and more effort.  And may God Bless us, everyone.

I am Judas

Being Palm Sunday, pretty much every Christian church Gospel readings and sermons will be about Christ's entry into Jerusalem.  He was going to celebrate the Passover, knowing all the time he was heading for crucifiction, death, and more....but that's next week.

I started thinking about Judas.  This was the disciple who ended up "selling out" Jesus to the authorities for 30 pieces of silver (that's where the term "blood money" comes  from by the way).  Judas would leave the Passover meal early to find the religious elite and take them to where Jesus went after dinner, the garden of Gethsemane.

Judas told those who would arrest Jesus, "the man I kiss on the cheek is Jesus".  Well, the rest of this story is for Easter weekend.  We'll focus on Judas now.

Judas had some issues from the beginning.  He was the one who held the disciple's money bag, for offerings they received to help the poor.  Only sometimes Judas would help himself to some cash.  I guess he figured he "deserved" a little bit.  Sometimes I feel I "deserve" an early departure from work, or a longer lunch, I work hard....

Judas really got cheesed when a woman of low status (we might say not only had she been around the block a few times but that the street might have been named after her) took some very expensive perfume, probably her only possession of worth, and poured it on Jesus' hair.  Judas thought it was a waste, "that perfume was worth a year's salary, it could have been sold and used for the poor".  Judas probably was thinking how much he would have made on the deal.  I get jealous sometimes when I think someone got a better deal than me, even when I think I "deserved" more.

See, Judas followed Jesus because he heard Jesus was "King of the Jews".  He thought Jesus came as a warrior king, to kick the Romans out of Israel and become the reigning monarch of the nation.  Judas did not so much have a taste for war but for the spoils of war.  He thought of living in palaces with the new king, sharing riches of the kingdom, being a "big shot".  When Jesus came as a humble servant, preaching peace, speaking about being a humble servant, and turning the other cheek when someone insults you, Judas became disillusioned.  He figured he could make some money selling out this Jesus.  I've taken jobs for the promises of extra money, status, etc. even when the job I had treated me well and paid me fairly; and I certainly remember that when you just "go for the money" you end up working with people who don't necessarily care for you, but ONLY what you produce.  And it's an empty feeling.

Judas never really believed that Jesus was who He said He is, "I and the Father are One".  Judas was looking for fame and fortune, the spoils of war, riches of a king, status of the "upper crust".  It was only after betraying Jesus did Judas go back to the religious leaders, throwing their money back at them.  With the money, a field was purchased to bury poor people, since those pious religious people couldn't hold on to this blood money.  Judas, who would hang himself in guilt, would end up in that field.  Sometimes I wish I could take back things I've said or done that have negatively affected others.  But what is done is done.

I look at myself, a proclaimed Christian.  I think of how I dreamed of winning the most recent $640 million jackpot to live in a bigger better home with a bigger better car and not have to work anymore.  I remember the times I have done EXACTLY the opposite of what Jesus would do, either because I didn't want to miss out on some fun, or miss out on an event, or miss out on making fun or sport of someone.  I think of the times when I want so much to live in a "mansion" or in some tropical paradise, or be some famous writer or speaker or something.  Then I think of how little that matters. 

The real payoff is after this life is over.  Eternity is a long time.  This life is fairly short.  If I can only take hold of that hope of eternity in a place where there is no sorrow, no pain, no disappointment.  A place where there is no racisim, no sexisim, no pressure to keep up with the Jones' and no dog-eat-dog mentality.  Just peace, joy, love in the presence of the Lord whose only desire is that you trust in Him and trust Him at his Word.

Judas never got it, until it was probably too late for him.  I sometimes am Judas, when I put my selfish desires above those of the Father, and above those around me who deserve something better than a selfish father, friend, co-worker or boss. 

When life seems like it's tough to take, maybe it's because I'm trying to go my own way, instead of the way of the Father.  And I know His way is great; I know when I do follow His ways my life is much more complete and peaceful; even when trouble or sorrow or pain come my way, He makes it easier, because He is always with me.  My journey from here on out?  To follow Christ even to the cross, because eternity with Him trumps anything this world has to offer.

Okay, Where's the Separation?

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

The message above is the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America.   This is where people of no faith go to when they scream "separation of church and state"!  You'll note there is no such language.  The part of religion mentioned here just means the government can't tell you how, what or where to worship.

This amendment clearly allows free expression of religion, meaning if a judge wants to put a sculpture of the 10 commandments in his courtroom, he can.  If there is another judge who wants to do one for the Quran, that's okay, too.  If a student wants to begin with a prayer at a sporting event, prom or graduation, so be it.  See, we have the judicial arm of our governing system basically ruling against our own constitution when they don't allow the "free excercise thereof" in respect to religion.   The judicial arm isn't supposed to have a say in this, Congress is, and they're not allowed to install a government-backed religion or outlaw a particular religion.

Now we have the Health and Human Services directive that even religious employers must offer employees paid contraceptive medications, devices, etc. as part of their health care.  This is TYPICALLY backed by the Obama administration and members of the President's party.  Why aren't those same people who would threaten to arrest a Texas teen if said teen opened graduation ceremonies with a prayer standing up and shouting "Separation of Church and State!"?

I guess nowadays, you can only use the "separation" words (that do not exist in the Constitution by the way), if it benefits non-religious interests.  If that same phrase BENEFITS a particular religion, apparently it doesn't count or doesn't exist.

I will never understand why it is so important to allow people to end pregnancies or prevent them. I do believe the smaller the population, the easier it is to control.  I believe if you pander to enough special interests, you can "buy" their votes in elections.  I believe when you make the value of a life simply a word like "choice" you reduce value of human life in general, making it very easy to defend, oh let's say a health care program that will refuse care to a very ill older person, because their life is worth less than a similarly ill younger person. 

You might say "separation of church and state is in the constitution".  I say find it and show it to me.  Then look up some Thomas Jefferson letters and see if you find it there and check the context.  Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindi, and other religions are constitutionally guaranteed the right to freely express their religions.  In my opinion, if religious employers demand that those taking a paycheck from them live under a specific set of rules knowing at time of hire they are going to be under the guidelines of that religion's order, there should be no governmental pressure to change the religion to match the employees beliefs.

You might despise organized religion.  You might be one whose faith is first in their life.  Either way, you both have freedoms to lose if the HHS decree is allowed.  When the government starts getting into YOUR business, you'll be looking for help, and all the ones who would help will be outlawed, or gone.  The government should fear the people.  We have the power to vote the buggers out, and replace them with real hard-working Americans who will look at the constitution not as an ancient document flawed by the lack of sophisticated technology, but as the real beliefs of a people looking to create a nation that serves it's populace, and not the opposite.

Just a Wandering Mind

I am always amazed at the press a dead entertainer gets these days.  It was big news when Marilyn Monroe died, but not the hub-bub of Michael Jackson or Whitney Houston.  It's not clear to me why their funerals were telecast, why so many people had to comment on so many issues.

These are people for whom life held no meaning, apparently.  It seems they misused their gifts at the end, using drugs and/or alcohol to mask an emptiness that no top-ten hit, countless buckets of money nor fan adoration could fill.

I think back of my mother deceased some 3 plus years now.  How she bravely faced cancer and a terminal diagnosis, and passed away sweetly (though loudly snoring) after 84 years.  This is a woman who only found true love at age 50, had a couple failed marriages, lived in a poor miner's home as a child and in a lower-middle class lifestyle as an adult.  She managed to live past age 48 or 50.

I think of my friend Doug, killed in a rock-climbing accident when only 24 years old.  He grabbed life for all it is worth and would've lived a thousand life times over compared to mine if he only could have even doubled his years.

I think of so many of the disabled people for whom my company provides products and how they manage through neuro-muscular diseases, amputations, closed-head injuries and the like to get through each day, most with as sincere a smile you will ever see, and many with real tears.  I see them grabbing for life  rather than woe-is-me drama, they provide support for others in similar situations, speak to youth groups and school-aged children, write, paint and just get along.

If I could advise some of these "stars" I'd tell them to take off their make-up, their fancy wardrobe, lose their entourage and go out regularly volunteering in their communities.  Spend some time in adult foster homes, playing games or taking walks with the residents; maybe buy them some dinner, or cable or whatever.

I would encourage these lonely celebrity souls to come with me to church, pack bags at a food bank to be delivered by others, visit nursing homes and senior homes and simply read, or sing or hang out and speak to the residents.  I would encourage them to visit sick children in hospitals and write letters to the troops overseas, all without the presence of photographers, publicists, stylists, wardrobe assistant or make-up person.

When someone values, really values the lives of others, then they can find value in their own lives.  When I think of Houston, Jackson, Joplin, Belushi, Monroe, Hendrix, and so many others who have taken their own lives with weapons, booze or drugs I see so many empty lives.  What a shame to have so much and have nothing.

If you have an emptiness in you and you've tried filling it with lousy relationships, chemicals, food, a reckless lifestyle or whatever your coping mechanism is, I have a thought for you.  Get on your knees right now and talk to God.  Ask Jesus Christ to make Himself known to you.  Pray for forgiveness, ask Him for His love; tell Him you are looking for Him, your Father, to fill that empty spot inside you.  See, so many times that empty hole is where we have taken God out.  Ask Him to fill you with His love, ask Him to be real to you. 

Your life might not be peaches and cream right away.  But as you draw near the Lord and He draws near to you, you will know there is a place of perfect peace in the Lord.  Fill up your emptiness with the One who offers truth, peace and love.  Oh yeah, and he'll never leave you or forsake you.   If you're not sure how, drop me a line or comment.  I'm here to give you a hand.  Maybe there is a person in your life who needs you to reach out.  Whitney could've use a hand, Michael and the rest.  Let all of us secure in the love of God reach out to those who are in obvious need.  God Bless.

Stings a bit....

So I'm listening to Colin Cowherd on ESPN radio the other day.  I can't remember exactly what he was talking about but he said, "you hear it and it stings, because it's true and it's uncomfortable".  How many times have you heard "the truth hurts"?  Sometimes it does.

Then I started to think about a little different angle.  Many years ago, boxer Cassius Clay decided to be a follower of Islam and took the Muslim name Muhammed Ali.  Fine, fine, it's really fine.  Your choice, man.  Bless you for having the courage of your convictions.  Shortly after his commitment of faith, he would begin each interview after a (successful) fight with "First of all I'd like to give praise to Allah".

Nary an interviewer ever mentioned, complained, editorialized or pontificated about this.  And it wasn't just once and, remember, Ali was about the biggest name in sport for a time and truly a citizen of the world.  Not a peep out of mainstream "journalism". 

There was an NBA basketball player, might have been Mahmood Abdul Raouf or someone like that, who would not stand for the US National anthem before games (or anytime I suppose).  He claimed it was due to his religion (Islam).  There was a bit of a clamor, but it died down, and this guy was no Kobe Bryant, anyway.

Many boxers in the 70's and 80's when the networks televised a lot of middleweight, welterweight and other boxing matches would give praise to Allah, after a win.  I guess nobody interviews the loser much anyway.

So then we've had Kurt Warner, for one, and Tim Tebow for another give glory to Jesus.  Warner took some much publicized flak about it.  Tebow has been villianized, vilified and pulverized for his open declaration of faith.

Why not so much as a whimper when someone in a prominent position praises Allah and why so much disdain, really, when someone praises Jesus, or simply praises God?  Well, maybe it's as Cowherd said, "it stings a bit, because it's true and it's uncomfortable". 

I believe even aetheists know there is something to this Jesus guy.  It's written in the Bible "even the demons know his name...and shudder".  And when He (Jesus) gets good press, it stings a bit, because the truth hurts.  So sometimes we try to bury a stinging truth by ridicule, maybe by ostracizing someone, maybe by trying to "find the bad" in someone who trys to "act so good".  You know, Tim Tebow, Kurt Warner, and others still give the glory and praise to God even when they lose a game, or have bad day at work, or school, or at home because Jesus said "I AM the way and the truth and the life."  If you try to ignore it, it stings a bit, because you know it's true and it's uncomfortable.

I'll sign off, still giving the glory and honor and praise to God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Merry, uhh Happy,uhhh, Season's, uhhh, Have a Good One.

If you are a Christian, or at least if you believe in God, Christmas time is a great time for either just touching base with your faith or really connecting again as if for the first time.  It's a weird time because even the most pious Christians that Jesus might not want to hang out with are either looking forward to opening presents, eating well, or getting their newly charged Starbucks gift cards.  At least here in America.

There was a column in the Detroit News by Editor Nolan Finley.  He wrote as he was leaving a store after Christmas shopping, he held a door open for a lady entering and said, "Happy Holidays".  Finley wrote that the lady "barked" back," I say Merry Christmas!" in a tone more suited to a union strike vote or Congressional Debate in South Korea just before someone gets kung-fu'd.

Finley wrote that he is a Christian, and didn't mean anything more than to give her a pleasant greeting, but was taken aback by her.....almost militant behavior (my words not his).  I have to admit, I think some folks are getting a bit too worked up over words sometimes.

One of my favorite songs this time of year is "Happy Holidays" when sung by Andy Williams.  The song was recorded probably in the 1960's and nobody then was worried about the secular media, de-empahsizing of the Christian aspect of the season, etc.  It is a pleasant song and makes me smile. Williams also recorded "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year" with something for toasting and marshmallows for roasting, etc. with nary a mention of Christmas.

 Now my favorite Christmas song is "O Holy Night" sung by virtually anyone, I suppose, even Young Jeezy if he does it straight.  Is he still Young Jeezy?  Or has he aged to the point of "Just Jeezy"?  I can tear up during a version of "Silent Night" I love "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and I enjoy reading Luke Chapter 2 verses 8-11.  It's Christmas, right?

Just a segway, here, or is it a segue?  Gotta check that.  Anyway, while I was going door-to-door with some church folk inviting parents to send their kids to church in our Bus Ministry a couple years ago, I spotted two teen girls listening to a rap song in a car.  I walked over, waited until the song ended, and asked, "who is that"?  Now, they knew we were church people, and on top of that we were all caucasian church people in an area of Detroit where most white folk were either cops or drug-buyers.  Really.

So the young lady says, "It's Young Jeezy."  It was a catchy tune, and I told her that and asked her to tell me about Young Jeezy.  She mentioned a couple of things I really can't remember, she didn't know too much about him, other than he was cute and the CD was very good.  Then she asked what we were doing there, and I said, "you told me about Young Jeezy and  we're telling people about this guy Young Jesus".  They actually were very polite when I shared a bit of faith with them, told 'em thanks for their time and went to the next house.  See, you don't have to hit people over the head with your faith, or cut off heads, I suppose.  When God gives you an opening, go ahead and walk through it with courtesy and love.  (And of course confidence because you are certain of your faith and even a Happy Holidays won't shake it).

So next time someone wishes you a Happy Holiday, go ahead and say "Merry Christmas" if you want, or say thanks, or even give 'em a handshake and pat on the shoulder.  But don't act like a spoiled brat or angry mob-inciter and growl out a Christmas greeting that sounds more like fightin' words.  And, hey, for most of us who claim to be Christian, maybe we should wish more people Merry Christmas every other part of the year except December and maybe they'll listen more.

Jesus had a couple issues with religious people.  First, they thought they knew everything about God and nobody else did.  Second, He was kinda cheesed that they seemed to try to BECOME the Almighty rather than WORSHIP the almighty.  Finally, He felt those religious types actually made it difficult for the "sinners" and normal folk to enjoy a relationship with God.  So, when Jesus got the most angry, it was with religious types. You could look it up.

For those of you who proclaim Christ as Lord;  If you indeed read your bible, you know that as time goes on, people will be less interested in an Almighty God and Savior, "the love of most will wax cold", etc.  These times are a sign for us to be extra certain to let people know that God is Love, and through that love He offers eternal life in His Son.  Don't chase people away by being a big cranky-pants at Christmas or any other time.

  Be relational, not religious, be personable, not pious, be a lover of people, not an arbiter of holiday greetings.  Show love, like Jesus did, and worry about the sematics later. With respect to people of all faiths, or none, Merry Christmas.

Occupy THIS

So we have the Occupy Movement.  I must admit, I remember this during the 60's in the campus unrest days.  You had the Berrigans bombing ROTC offices on campus, sit-ins, love-ins, some destruction and wanton rioting, you know.  But during all that unrest, the idea was to tell the government to keep their hands off freedoms.  The 60's were about reminding the "powers that be" that the real power was with the people.

Now, point one, I applaud peaceful protest, and even violent protest depending on the situation.  I applaud those excercising their rights as Americans and freedom to assemble and protest.  I think the concept of  this protest iteself is great.  The part of the Occupy Movement (or OM as I'll call it) that bothers me is that it seems this band of protesters, funded and backed by some big money (from big industry, I might add...George Soros anyone?) seem to WANT the government to take over banks, regulate industry and decide how to allocate wealth.  THAT' S scarier than Abbey Hoffman and the Chicago Six (or was it 7?).  It's scarier than the Black Panthers, the John Birch Society and Jehovah's Witnesses....

I fear that these people who would take from the rich and give to the not-so-rich forget, as they surf on their MacBook, update facebook status ("sitting in the rain smoking hookah") on their iPhones, listening to music on their iPods and tweeting such deep thoughts as ("some of the people are urinating out in the open") forget that corporate greed is in direct response to the need of the public to have all this cool stuff, them included.  AND, if you let the government spread the wealth, there won't be any except in the government (and the big businesses supporting those in power).

I'd like all the people in the OM to think a bit about how talented our senators, representatives, the President and his cabinet are at balancing a budget....Now you're thinking.  You really think they can spread the wealth to lift everybody up, or will most of us be taking a big step back?

Maybe instead of trying to bring down big business and big banking, we can switch money to credit unions, sure, fine.  Maybe instead of bringing down big corporations we will invest in those who, rather than squeeze every nickel out of their company to inflate stock prices and fill the pockets of big investors, they will invest in the neighborhoods where they operate, take a bit of a dividend loss to enrich the lives of their employees and others in ways other than financially. 

WE can stop buying stock and products in "evil companies".  Go ahead.  But don't think it's cool to buy goods from foreign companies because we've seen the sweatshops, melamine in formula and other examples by those companies.

Maybe it's time we the people took back our government.  Don't vote for the usual suspects.  Real grass roots involvment would be to find that person who is all about what's right versus who's right.  Hey!  Everyone should run for office for something somewhere.  Get actively involved.  Occupying a spot and spouting rhetoric (blogging) is fine, I give you points for some involvement.  But let's all get really involved and do the hard work to roust all the Republicans and Democrats and put Americans into offices.  Maybe one of those people will be you.  I announce now that I will run for something next time around.  Maybe I can still get some play for President this time around, you never know.  I challenge each of you to do it, too.

And, as always my friends, May God Bless you and keep you.  Know that beyond corporate bail-outs, partisan politics and just crazy-ass stuff in this world, there is One who you can count on.  When this stuff gets you down, cry out to Jesus, let him know you're scared or hurting or worried.  Wait on His Presence quietly.  And let Him lead you through the hard work it takes to make a world better.  See 'ya.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood

So, it's a beautiful October day, I took a day off from work to enjoy a long weekend and I feel like blogging.  Nothing says got to blog like getting new license plate tabs, untangling a dental bill/insurance issue and setting up an appointment at the vet.  For the dog.  Not me. 

I'm leisurely perusing some newspaper articles from the last couple of weeks.  I gotta tell you, this stuff wasn't in the paper when I was a kid. 

One from today, in the Oakland Press via the AP wire service, was about a Viet Namese woman who cut off HALF her husbands' penis and threw it in a river.   The headline read "Viet Namese Woman Cuts off Taiwanese Husband's Penis." He had been out of work and messing around with another woman while the wife slaved as a singer in her parents' Karaoke bar.  You can't make this stuff up.  The wife, we'll call her BLADE, says she did it after her husband fell asleep after taking sleeping pills and drugs.  Tell 'ya what, Blade, I figure he did the drugs, you slipped him the sleeping pills.  And why cut off just half?  Was it longitudinal or lattitudinal?  It's not in the story.  She's been booked for assault.  If they're in the US there would be an ethnic intimidation charge, too.  Now, cutting off the guy's, you know, is a state charge, but the other one, that's Federal.

There's another story from the front page a couple weeks ago.  Now, the Oakland Press in Oakland County,MI is a real newspaper, just google 'em.  But they print some wacky stuff.  The next story was, indeed on the front page.  I believe the headline was "Man Dies after Sex and Drug Party at Chaplain's House".  So I had to read it.  It got better.  The Chaplain for the Ferndale Police Department was also gay, and a leading gay activist in the city Plus he leads a church congregation in the city.  You're jumping ahead, now, aren't you?  So apparently the chaplain has a guy come over, they inject methamphetamine to increase their libido or performance, or whatever, and the guy becomes unresponsive, not just to the sex part but TOTALLY unresponsive.  So the FERNDALE POLICE CHAPLAIN, activist and church pastor PHONES A FRIEND to come over.  The friend then calls the police and ambulance, the unresponsive guy dies.  So, Ferndale fires the chaplain, I don't know what his church will do.  I had a totally different idea going on in my head before I read the story.  So we can put this guy up with Ted Haggard, Jim Bakker and other pandering pastors, I suppose.  Oh, yeah, there are charges pending.

In that same paper on the front page was a story about bullies.  Scotch Elementary school in West Bloomfield, MI.  hosted a FunD run (FUND run,not just fun run, get it ?) against bullying.  The kids got pledges and ran around the school's track for about 20 minutes.  The article stated  "Proceeds this year will fund multiple character education initiatives that target bullying."  What was that, again?  Anyway, it seems like a good idea, builds cameraderie among the older and younger students and has one major benefit:  these kids, when chased by a bully, will be able to outlast him for up to 20 minutes.  Most bullies can't run that long, I'm guessing.  I'm pretty sure this program is more about outrunning bullies when character education initiatives prove fruitless.

Ahh, the world is indeed a changing place.  Character initiatives to target bullies, Police Chaplains having meth and sex parties, and another member amputation. This stuff probably was going on when I was 8 years old, I suppose, but we didn't read it in the papers.  I'm not sure we need the Chaplain and the Blade in the paper, really.  The anti-bully thing is a good thing, but if these character education initiatives involve water boarding or sensory deprivation, I think it'll end up on the front page again.

While I feel sorry for the unnamed man who died at the Chaplain's house, and the guy who ran afoul of Blade, and I wish no children be bullied, a simpler world sure allowed us to sleep peacefully, and without armor-plated undies.  Truth is stranger than fiction.  Until next time....Oh, yeah, click on the title for some fun.

Oil, Light Bulbs and Cafe Standards

Well, it has gone from cool damp spring to a rather hot summer around here.  When I was a kid, we didn't have air conditioning in the house, so the sounds of summer were the box fan in the hallway, crickets, trains, dogs barking, Mrs. Hartline's boyfriend running through the backyard, hopping fences to avoid Mr. Hartline, and the occasional hot-rodder.  Nowadays it's the constant humming of the neighborhood AC units.  Nowhere near as home-spun nor enjoyable, but very, very comfortable. 

When I was a kid, I thought it just natural that all the wood in the house was sticky in the summer and everyone went to sleep with a wet washcloth on their head. Of course all the doors and windows were open.  Heck, you might even sleep in the cool basement (with the lights on to avoid spiders and the walking dead that lived down there when the lights were off).

These days being what they are, I immediately started thinking about energy consumption.  Then I started to think about these absurd new curly-cue light bulbs, which throw about as much light versus a standard light bulb as a lightning bug versus a prison spotlight.  I think about the Federal Governments attempt to mandate 52 MILES PER GALLON for US automobiles (Cafe Standards)  Really?  Then I wonder why we don't drill for oil in the massive fields in the ocean off our shores or the Alaskan mountains.  Then my mind starts wandering and I head off to "crazy old man" country.....

See, it is my humble opinion that much of this global warming, tree-hugging energy running out stuff is not so much about saving the planet as it is about control.  Imagine if cars can get 52 miles per gallon but only can travel 200 miles.  Imagine all the curly-cue light bulbs not saving enough energy and instead of curly bulbs we begin to experience rationed utility use in the name of saving Mother Earth.  Imagine having to shut down industry, entertainment and even LOCAL governments in the name of saving energy for a time?  Perhaps the Feds will TAKE OVER various utilities and industries and ration work, production and energy in the name of the "common good".  Think it can't happen?  Ask GM and Chrysler. 

I was listening to my Sirius/XM radio on the "Bridge" station.  They played a Jackson Browne song and the announcer said that Browne would appear at a "safe energy" rally or concert as he had at the very first one.  Then I laughed out loud.  Then the lady next to me at the traffic light looked at me like I was drunk, or weird.  Then I laughed louder and spat out my Trident.

I laughed because of the term "safe energy".  Just the creation of power for various uses can be described as "unsafe".  Wind turbines produce electricity through movement that produces "dangerous" electricty and heat from friction.  Nuclear has it's drawbacks, burning coal, oil, etc. has natural drawbacks, but all produce energy that at it's core is dangerous when used incorrectly.  There is no safe energy, some is cleaner that others, some with less natural disaster possibilities.  Take wind versus oil.  If you have an oil spill, it can be quite disasterous.  Windmills, not so much danger (but don't try to put them up in the sightlines of a Kennedy).

You know, we should just allow drilling in the mountains and oceans for a finite period, say, 30 years.  Then mandate a tear down of those facilities.  In thirty years we should be able to figure out how to safely dispose of nuclear waste, or use solar, wind, geothermal and other technologies better, safer and more economically than available now.  In thirty years I think we can figure out how to light our homes without curly cues or incandescent lights, run our cars on other fuels, our manufacturing with less-damaging side-effects. 

And you know what?  We can spur more pure research, more profit-minded new companies racing for the best mousetrap.  And you know what?  It becomes the AMERICAN way.  We could be leaders again, but many seem to be embarrassed or ashamed of being in a nation that was once a leader in peace, yes, in war, in research, manufacturing and prosperity.  We shouldn't be ashamed of wanting to be great, none of us individually nor collectively as a nation. 

Global warming, curly bulbs, cafe standards....All designed to create a governmental control of it's people.  And as our nation and other nations begin the take-over, many of us sit quietly, believing "saving the world is good".  Many sit by saying, "you're a crazy old man".  Many just go on with Dr. Phil, Oprah, ESPN and TMZ and let their liberties be not-so-quietly spirited away.

Just think.  How many in our government in any party you pick are career politicians?  They've nary worked a day in their lives, they've just been face-first in the public trough their entire adult lives.  They figure they will always have unlimited energy, unlimited access to gas-guzzlers and private airliners, because they are the ELITE. 

Well folks, this energy stuff is about control.  If a public is controlled by the amount of energy they can use, the distance they can travel and the amounts they have to pay for just the simplest things, they are very easily controlled.  Remember the old Soviet Union and other "Socialist" or Communist nations?  You always read of bread shortages, meat shortages, gas shortages.  It wasn't so much about not being able to produce, it was about controlling production to control a public.  And make sure you belong to the correct political party, or good luck with even the bare essentials.

Anyway, I encourage everyone to read Ayn Rand...an anti-communist atheist who wrote Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead and Anthem.  Great reads.  A great look into mankind, all three.  As a Christian, I once struggled with the fact I so enjoyed an atheist's works.  Then, as I look into her characters, her "good guys" are filled with a certain, spirit I guess.  She might rally in the wonder of man's own spirit, I look at that spirit as the spark given by an amazing creator.  The spark all of us have, to use for rising up and out, the creator's very desire for us to use all the God-given talents we have to achieve for ourselves and to serve  each other.

Hey!  Join me and my atheist friend Ayn Rand and motivate that spirit within you to do something good, or noble, or selfless, or gallant.  Good night, my friends.  Take control of your life with the spirit that dwells within you.  Keep the ELITE from shepherding your lives.  Dare to be great.  God Bless.

Forgive us our debts....

So, we've weathered a debt crisis for now. Standard and Poor's has been demonized for lowering our previously perfect credit rating and much of the public and politicos are bashing S&P.  Isn't that just like us?  I mean S&P stated, and I paraphrase, that the US credit rating was lowered do to the lack of long-term planning and the contentious nature of our Congress.  Is that not true?  Japan just received similar notice for the same general reasons.

How do we fix this?  Demand Congress acts long-term and with the best interests of the United States rather than political platforms in mind.  Demand our elected officials get out of the trough, stop filling bills with pork, end the practice of pensions and healthcare for themselves.  Go to work!  You should not be career politicians, you should be career employees of other companies or your own businesses and SERVE the public, not keep pulling dollars out of our pockets.

While we must be careful to look after the neediest of Americans, namely minor children and the aged, we must also stop supporting "poor people" who live in single family homes, have satellite television or premium cable, existing government health care, either through Medicare or Medicaid, get food stamps and always manage to buy cigarettes, weed and booze, and are able-bodied and able to work.  Now, I know times are tough job-wise.  But you can find work out there that will pay at least what is received in assistance.  It's just lowering one's standards to work at Wal-Mart or McDonald's or some job that is below your personal standards, which include taking money for nothing from the government coffers (my pockets) and many times living in places which are best described as hovels.  You know, the average "poor" person in America is still among the top 10% or so of the income earners in the world.  You could look it up.

How about if all of us go out and vote for any politican in a party other than Republican or Democrat?  You can't do Communist, either, because their platform and the Democrats are too similar.  No Tea Party either, too similar to Republicans.  So you have Libertarians, Green Party (ugh!), Independents and others.  Hey, I like Joe Lieberman as an independent, he'd make a pretty good President, I think.  A true American who looks at "what is right" rather than "who is right".

How about if many of us decide to run for office in our cities, our counties and beyond?  Yeah, you need some money, but the internet is a great way to drum up interest and dollars.  You can even Tweet your way to office if done properly.  (You probably have to hire Steve Martin or Robin Williams).

Americans have to decide if all our pet projects that we want the government to subsidize, including global warming, government funded abortions, able-bodied welfare recipients, unions (see stimulus funds), oil company tax breaks, lifetime health care and pensions for Congress members (Presidents are okay, tough job even if you suck at it) are really worth selling our futures, and our childrens'.  We have to look at public employee pensions, our state and civic leaders' deals and the rest.

It's true that everyone will have to take a hit to right the boat.  Yup, that means we probably gotta pay more in taxes, at least for a time. Yup, that means most of the free rides will have to end.  We might have to end our desires to try to legislate that everyone gets to share in wealth, we will always have poor.  We have to demand that elected officials do something constructive for the city, state or nation they're elected to serve.  And we have to decide if we want to do anything to make the changes, or end like so many sheep, or lemmings or turkeys. I once read that turkeys are so, stupid, I guess, that they will actually look up to the sky when it rains, open their mouths and drown.  Now, that might have been in National Geographic or Mad Magazine, I'm not sure which.  Lets' not be turkeys.

A Big Month and some Big Ideas

So, the above photo was shot at sunset on the ocean in Naples, Florida the night before my daughter married a wonderful young man.  Ah yes, who will ever forget May 22, 2011?  As you parents who have married children know, it all goes by so fast, and that includes the wedding.

Short story is it was really three great days of fun for family and friends.  Most of the attendees were friends of my daughter and son-in-law so it was a young crowd, and a great bunch to celebrate with. It was like a family vacation with you and 20 kids, all the same age. Really fun, and great memories.  And a lot of time with just me and my wonderful wife.

So, I start thinking about how you have to give your kids away when they get married.  And, yes, you're not losing a daughter, son, etc.  you're gaining one, I know.  But I'm not THE GUY for my daughter anymore.  Her husband is.  And it's tough.  Like when she went away to college and I missed her so much for so long.  Watching your kids get married is wonderful, but it's also sort of the end of an era, or even a death of sorts.

You have to be realistic about giving things up when it's time, even people.  You can't hold on to days past;  sure they're great memories but that's what they are.  You have to go forward to continue to experience new things, to appreciate what you have now, to grow.  I have to grow, looking FORWARD to holidays with a larger family, maybe grandchildren, and more.  Many of us have lost loved ones to death, both young and old.  While the memories are to be cherished you can't live in the death of the person but relish in the life you had with them and remember how they would like you to grieve less and live more.

That got me thinking about how we hold on to things too long.  Here in Michigan, it took a decade to knock down an old ball park, Tiger Stadium.  It was the field where baseball legends like Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Reggie Jackson played, along with Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer and Al Kaline.  It was the ball park I walked into through the dark tunnel into a sun-drenched carpet of green with bright white uniforms on the players and the aromas only old outdoor ball parks have, like Wrigley and Fenway.  But, it had been neglected for years, trees were growing in the seats, the place was falling apart, scavengers were stripping the old lady of all her past glory, and any valuable copper.  But people couldn't let go of their childhood memories.

I watch my friends go to concerts and watch senior citizens like Steve Tyler and Aerosmith, Paul McCartney, who has been around so long people refer to him as "former Wings' front man", forgetting the Beatles were a fairly popular foursome, and wonder why they keep shelling out hundreds to see these guys. Now, I've enjoyed their music, add in the Allman Brothers, the Stones, Bob Seger, Bruce and the rest, and there were great times as kids.  And it's okay to still like the music but if you're in your fifties you should not get fece-faced drunk and high as Timothy Leary on a work night.  Hey, it's over, grow up.  Let go, enjoy the Black Keys, Lil' Wayne, Eminem, Kid Rock, Jay-Z.  Try it, you might like it.  Make new music memories.

Then, of course I think about how so many of us have trouble really embracing the whole Jesus Saves thing.  See, Jesus SOUNDS cool, but if I have to give up Seinfeld reruns, Friends re-runs, R movies, songs with questionable lyrics, my nightly glass of wine, the occasional Jack Daniels rocks and other things I've held on to with great fervor and passion, I don't want any part of it.  I want to sit in old Tiger Stadium listening to "Stairway to Heaven" without religious overtones, wearing my throwback Converse All-Stars, drinking my old school Pepsi "now with real sugar" for Petes' sake, hoping I can hold on to everything and still have everything else. 

Well, my suggestion is to remember that everyone dies, you too.  There is an afterlife or so many religions wouldn't be hawking their ideas, rhetoric and merchandise.  Life is really a worthless excercise if this time on Earth is everything, isn't it really?  I believe One God did create it, and has given us free will to choose all the iPads, iPods, Jimmy Chus, Mercedes, Cartiers, etc. or Him.  God probably won't ask you to give up anything.  You may find as you give Jesus a chance to really be part of your life that some things won't seem as important anymore.  Heck, you might stop dressing up as Darth Vader and standing in line at Loew's two weeks ahead of the next Star Wars sequel and do something good for someone, which might even be giving up your Darth Vader costume to someone who could use it.  It might be skipping one new generation of smart phones to donate to Habitat for Humanity, or the Tuscaloosa relief fund, or heading to the urban area nearest you and feeding some folks or teaching some kids.  Who knows?  And those new things will probably be the most rewarding and valuable things in your life.

For a plant to grow a seed has to die.  If you hold onto the seed you'll never reap the harvest, or enjoy the shade, or colorful blooms.  Just even as Jesus died and buried sin in the ground, raising up in triumph over death (that we can share), sometimes you have to bury the past, plant that seed, and let your life grow to it's full measure.  Have a great day!

Ahh yes, I remember it well

These photos were taken a week ago while walking my dog.  I took a Friday off, kind of a mental health day.  We took a walk around noon time, and it was really the first day spring was breaking here in Metro Detroit.  I was surrounded with yellows, whites, pinks, lavenders and all kinds of shades of green with a few reds sprinkled in.

Up here in these parts we take a lot of pride in our fall colors, and if you do head UP NORTH from here, the colors can be as beautiful a scene as you will ever experience.  But last Friday, almost for the first time, I realized how beautiful is spring.  Now, one week later, it's rained a couple of times and most of these blossoms are on the ground.  Everything is leafing and turning "summer green".   This splash of nature's beauty goes by so fast here, its' easy to miss as you see those first blooms and immediately start thinking about summer.

Life is like that, no?  I think of all the preparation for my wedding some 32 years ago.  Before I knew it, we were on a plane for our honeymoon, then back to work.  I really have to think hard to remember the ceremony itself (it wasn't hotter than hell, but it was just a few blocks north), and then all the details of the reception.  Christmas, anniversaries, even a great dinner cooked at home; all the build up, then it's over, and we almost forget what happened.  All of a sudden there's a pile of dishes, a pile of wrapping paper, a pile of cards, and I almost forget what it was all about to begin with.

Whether you're 18 or 80, there's still time to relish those events of life.  Every spring, every fall, every first frost, first tulip, first kiss, first love, first everything.  And then the second and so forth.  Many people I've met have some great memories, but they never mention  the perfume of the magnolia blossoms as they bloom.  They never mention the flaming orange maple leaves in October, or the work of Jack Frost on the kitchen window that first frozen morning of winter.  They don't mention the sun-sent golden sparkles dancing on the summer lakes' waves.  They don't mention the first feel of summer-warmed beach sand between their toes, the way the air caresses your face that first warm spring day.  They forget the best cup of hot chocolate ever after buildling a snowman on a cold winter morning.  They can't even remember the crisp autumn air at a Big Ten football game, the greatest smells EVER the first time they walked into Old Tiger Stadium or Fenway or Wrigley.

I thought of how easy I've neglected the beauty of spring lo these many years.  I thought how easy it was to take everything in stride, one moment just a piece of your life fitting together into your own personal jigsaw puzzle.  You're glad there's another piece, but when you finish it, do you remember the small moments, or just the fact that you've built the picture?

Here's to the smell of the first warm spring rain each year.  Here's to the smell of the neighbor's fireplace on a cold Sunday evening in October.  Here's to each January icicle, shining, sparkling and adorning the house like a diamond necklace.  Here's to the beauty of a Northern Michigan summer sunset, the sky just turning dark as the time nears 10:00. 

Here's to my daughter's first steps, my son's first words, my wife's first homemade birthday cake.  Here's to the first hug I ever remember getting from my dad.  Here's my mom's loving back rubs when I was sick as a child.  Here's to the first time I knew God is real.

And then, here's to the second steps, the second words, the next cake (all very tasty, dear).  Here's to every spring, summer, fall and winter smell, sight, and feel.  Here's to every kiss, every touch every taste.  Here's to every prayer, every dream, every effort everytime.

As I near 54 years of age, it amazes me when I have to say, "well FORTY years ago...."  Really?  Forty years ago?  I was 14, I remember 1971 very well.  My sister graduated from High School.  My dad and I put tile, paneling and a ceiling in the basement.  The Viet Nam war was still going on, you could still get gasoline for 19.9 cents a gallon when competing stations would have a price war.  My dad would say "fill it with ethyl" when we'd take the car on long trips to the Upper Peninsula.  Richard Nixon was President.  The Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain were real.  Forty years? 

Now I'm trying to remember that High School Graduation.  It was an evening event at the football field where my graduation would be 4 years later.  Tim Laing was the Valedictorian, my sister was Salutatorian.  I liked her speech.  My mom and dad were there, one of the last times when we would do anything as a family.  The Maverick gas station at Middlebelt and Merriman would have that low priced gas to spur business.  I remember the young man, with his "garage blue" pants and jacket, a shop rag hanging out of his back pocket checking the oil and squeezing every last drop of gas into that Chrysler Newport.  The Berlin wall and the Iron Curtain were ominous names, something to be feared, something to remind us of how good we have it in the U.S.

My daughter's wedding is coming up one week from today.  Both my children graduated from Michigan State University last spring, it was just yesterday (2004 and 2006) when I watched them both graduate from High School.  It was just last week when I shared an orange pop and bowl of popcorn with my daughter the night after my son was born and he and my wife were still in the hospital.  It was just last month when, about a month after we moved into our first house my wife told me she was pregnant with our daughter.  It was just last year when I dropped my date off at her home on a summer's night and KNEW I was in love.  It was just a couple years ago when my mom, dad and sister would spend two weeks at my Aunt Ty and Uncle Happy's house.  Yup, Ty and Hap. 

I look out the window on this rainy Sunday and the pink and white blossoms have been washed from the trees, it's hard to remember how pretty they were just yesterday morning.  I'm glad I have the pictures.  It's kind of chilly and I can't smell the magnolia tree in my front yard.  I just had dinner with my cousins, of whom I am the youngest.   Yikes.

Take time to smell the roses, smell the coffee, hug your kids, love your spouse, take in all this world has to offer.  Time doesn't wait for anyone, right?  So don't you wait till you "have the time" to enjoy all that life, and our Lord, offers.  See ya'.  Just for kicks, click on the title of this post and enjoy.

What came first, the Easter or the (marshmallow) Eggs?

So it's Easter Sunday.  Most churches will be jam-packed, families will get together, Walgreen's, Rite Aid and CVS will be clearing out the "seasonal aisle" of candy and bunnies to fill it up with flip-flops, sunscreen and patriotic beach and picninc paraphernalia.  There's playoff hockey and basketball, the 2011 baseball and golf seasons are in "full swing".  Ha!  Full Swing, baseball and golf; I kill myself.

Just another Sunday, it seems.  It's too bad.  When I was a kid, some 40+ years ago, pretty much nothing but churches and hotels were open on Easter Sunday.  Heck, remember when banks, stores and shops would close down between Noon and 3:00 PM on Good Friday?  There was something special going on; something that consisted of more than the every day routine, more outwardly focussed versus the self-centered society we've grown into.

Easter has become over the years just another sales tool for marketeers "get your Easter outfits at...."  It has become a chicken-clucking bunny candy commercial, a pastel-fashion advertising fiesta, another Sunday in the rotation of some 52 each year.  Kids soccer games, hockey games, baseball games and the like have overshadowed the sacrifice of about 90 minutes of our time to give thanks.  And, hey!  I realize not everyone is Christian, I get it.  But of those of us who SAY we believe in God, many of us find it hard to commit to excercising our faith on a daily basis.  I find it hard, sometimes, too.  Everyday life is so often in direct opposition to the direction God would have us take that we all stumble.

Today, though, this Easter Sunday, perhaps some reflection is due.  You know, many Christians make fun of the "C and E ers"; those people who show up at church at Christmas and Easter.  My step-dad might have coined the term.  He's the first one I ever heard use it.  But Easter and Christmas offerings sometimes are the big times when missions funding can be completed; when the church can provide more outreach to more people, fix their own leaky roofs and update the facilities.  So I say, "Hooray for the C and E ers."  Thanks for coming.  God loves you every day and is thankful you came today.

Now, there is the "just like any another Sunday" thing.  See, I don't care how good you are (or think you are), you and I are human.  We've done things differently than God would choose us to do, call it sin, call it doing your own thing instead of God's, you label it.  Because we do our own thing, we become splashed with the mud of our own desires, we're kind of soiled.  Lets' describe it as following:

Imagine, for example, if everything I did in life that was opposite of God's desire was gasoline.  Imagine every time I went away from God, gasoline was splashed on me.  One day, I die, and I have to stand in front of a HOLY God.  Now, quick definition of Holy....Above everything, perfect, set apart from all other things...See, God is Holy. Let's make this a bit of a physics lesson, now. 

Imagine further that God is a burning fire.  You, the gasoline soaked person, comes to stand before God for judgement.  Before you can even get to Him, the fumes of the gasoline ignite, destroying you.  Even as it is physically impossible for a gasoline-soaked rag to exsist in the presence of a raging fire, so it is impossible for us with our "sins" hanging on us to stand before a Holy God.  It is physically impossible. Its not so much God WANTS us to perish, it is just physics. 

Now, Easter.  Jesus is God's only son, born of a virgin, one with the Father since the beginning of everything.  Jesus is actually the Word of God made flesh.  So, this flesh-covered Word of God comes to show us how to live perfectly.  As a man, he is vulnerable to everything that we can be tested, tempted or tortured by.  As God, He can avoid making a human's pitfalls.

Jesus lives this sinless life, always doing the will of the Father.  Then, he is arrested because the religious leaders don't like him horning in on their deal.  He's handed over to the Romans in charge of pretty much the whole known world at that time.  Then, he's beaten; this not to show how cruel Romans are, but to show what God's punishment on a sinner (that's me andyou) would be.

Jesus is then crucified; this a horrible, horrible death.  You can google "crucified". But, see, Jesus died as a murderer, thief or a  rapist would.  He died as a sexual deviant, a cheater, a liar would've died.  He, this perfect one, took on the offenses of everyone from the beginning of man and for everyone since then and took the punishment God would hand out in judgement, so we won't have to.

Jesus went to Jerusalem on Palm Sunday knowing that Good Friday was going to be anything but good for him.  But it was good for us.  He willingly took the punishment for my sins on that cross, willingly giving up his life for me.  Then, he took His life back, re-animating himself in a great victory over death, the same victory I can have, and so can you.

See, if you can trust in Jesus, you can cover yourself with Christ.  Then, when your days here are over, you can stand before God even in your gasoline-drenched clothes, because Jesus is covering everything you did opposite the Father's will.  And when God looks down on you, this consuming fire, He is looking at you, but sees His Son.  Easter is the day we celebrate.  WE celebrate because as we trust in Jesus, and use His strength to avoid those "sinful" pitfalls, God only sees His only son when He looks at us.  Cover yourself with Christ today.  Happy Easter.