???

Sorry.  I won't be posting for a while.  Not sure if I want to keep this, at all.

Red

What’s Really Important?

A friend had to remind me of that.  Thank you Sheila. (See comment on previous post)

I decided to try to make this posting upbeat.  Feeling a little better about myself  since last Saturday.  Life’s little ups and downs, I guess.

I received the following in an e-mail from a long-time friend.  I’ve known him since elementary school and I won’t tell how long that’s been (our bowling balls were rocks).

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Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room:

One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs.  His bed was next to the room’s only window.  The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.  The men talked for hours on end.

They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their military service, where they had been on vacations… every afternoon, when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods when his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.

The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake.  Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats.  Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.

As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scenes.  One warm afternoon, the man by the window described a parade passing by.  Although the other man could not hear the band – he could see it in his mind’s eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words.

Days, weeks and months passed.  One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep.  She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.  As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window.  The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside.  He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed.  It faced a blank wall..

The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate to describe such wonderful things outside the window.  The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall.

She said, “Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you.”

Epilogue:

There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations.  Shared grief is half the sorrow, but, happiness, when shared, is doubled.

“Today is a gift … that’s why it’s called The Present.”

I pray you will pass this on to all your friends for whom you wish God’s Blessings.

Dream or Reality?

Sitting here without a thought in my head.  Not one that can be published, anyway.

            I re-read my last blog and it was really scattered.  I’ll try to make this one less so.

            I look at the people around me, that I don’t like, and I realize how similar I am to them.  I see me in some of the things that I don’t like about them.  OK, a lot of things.

I’m the dreamer who is suddenly forced to awaken.  I’m torn between trying to go back to the dream (usually not possible) or getting up and doing something in the reality (sometimes not desirable).  Often it’s difficult determining which is the dream and which is reality.

            Perhaps a dream state is more natural.  Our bodies produce a chemical which helps us go to sleep, but does not do anything to help us wake up … thus, we have alarm clocks.  Isn’t it interesting that the term “alarm” is used?  Alarm = send a warning / generate fear / cause a “fight or flight” response.

            Sometimes I feel like George Bailey during the first part of It’s A Wonderful Life.  I’ve often thought that title should have ended with a question mark.  Have I significantly affected anyone’s life?  I don’t know.

* I never finished college.

* Courtesy of Uncle Sam, I participated in a war … but I didn’t do anything particularily significant or heroic.

I pray that God has forgiven me for the part I played in that conflict.

* I never saved anyone’s life … that I’m aware of.

* I was an auto mechanic for many years, but never did anything notable.

* I have been doing smog inspections for 36 years and can’t even remember the vast majority of the 75,000+ tests I’ve personally done.  Recently, because of events and research, I’ve come to the conclusion that even all the tests I’ve done are totally insignificant … the program is not about cleaner air, it’s about politics (by now you know my opinion on that subject) and money.  The people who control politics and money don’t care whether we can breathe, only that we continue to pay a multitude of taxes and government “fees”.

* I never built anything lasting.

* I participated, am participating, in a wonderful marriage.  I believe that had more to do with a very loving and tolerant woman than anything I did.  I still love her very much.

* I had a Tax Preparation buisness for a few years, but, that is history.  Mostly due to the economic downturn, proliferation of home PCs, government fees, software and the fact that it isn’t fun or profitable any more.

* The past few years of medical bills I’m sure have helped a couple of doctors and health insurance executives take trips to the Bahamas … is that significant? … I doubt it. <G>

* I’ve been an Ordained Minister for several years.  I’ve never done anything with it … maybe I should?  At the time I got ordained, it was free and I did it just for a lark (online - Universal Life Church).  I can do the same things other ministers can do;  preside at marriages, funerals, baptisms, etc.  NO circumcisions (reserved for a Rabbi with training).  That’s OK by me.

And Moses said:  “Lord … let me see if I’ve got this straight.  The arabs get all the oil and we get to cut a half inch off our what”?

            The other day I told a customer about Earth being the Insane Asylum of the Universe.  He asked me if I knew this because I had been to other planets and seen the difference?

I said:  “Yes, and I told someone about it.  That’s why they put me here.” <G>

Gotta Go Now.

Life, Me And ...

My better half of 42 years is a school librarian.  If I have any questions about books, authors, movies, music, etc., I ask her.  If she doesn’t know, she finds out.  She knows the Dewey Decimal System.  I’m lucky to be able to find a fiction author using the alphabet.  I’m completely dependent on her knowledge and her ability to find information on the internet.  She is awsome.

“In the case of good books, the point is not how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you”

Mortimer Adler, 1902 – 2001

                        Educator & Philosopher

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            The #1 job of a bureaucrat is:  protect the bureaucracy … at all cost.  Especially if that cost is paid by the tax payers.

            What’s the difference between the U S Congress and the Boy Scouts of America?

The Boy Scouts have adult supervision.

           

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            When I started this blog, I didn’t expect to be doing so much introspection.  I find myself analyzing myself! …………………………… Did I say that right?

I find myself using the “Ego” words (ie. “I”, “My”, “Me”, “Myself”, etc.) a lot.  Then I remember the name of this blog.

            I’ve begun to doubt that I was a good parent.  We had three boys.  Each has his own personality.  I’m proud of them all.

            Each seems to live in his own world and now and then gets to sign in on a “Visitor’s Pass”. <G>

            I have never dealt well with children.  Sometimes I’m surprised God allowed me the priviledge of having them. 

            Don’t misunderstand me … I’m not fishing for denial, pity or forgiveness.  The past is what it is.  I do have regrets, I think we all have some of those lurking about, but, we can’t change the past and I’m not sure it would be a good idea to do it if we could.

            Back to the subject, I’m sure sometimes, maybe a lot of times, I expected too much of our boys.  I was selfish and wanted them to grow up quickly so I could enjoy them.  This put a very heavy load on my wife, which she carried extremely well.  Our children couldn’t have wished for a better mother.

            Children have to learn to be children before they can be expected to grasp the many facets of being an adult.  I guess I spent a lot of time and energy figuring out how to “earn a living” and “provide for my family.”  Some, or a lot, of that probably would have been better spent “enjoying my family.”

            Like I said:  “The past is what it is”.  All we can hope for is to learn from our mistakes and not keep remaking too many of them.

            I’m not sure it’s just children I don’t tolerate very well.  It might be people in general.  I think most dogs are better people than most people and the more dogs I meet the less I like people.

            Maybe it’s just not in my nature to like, or trust, the vast majority of humans.  When the protests started in Cairo, I thought:  ‘This peaceful protest is going to turn into a riot.’  Sure enough, it did.  Complete with looting, burning and killing.  When you fill the pot full and keep stiring, it’s bound to boil over. 

To misquote an old PP&M song lyric:  “Where ever two or more of them are gathered, it’s insane.

Where’s the love … Where’s the love”.

I’m beginning to wonder if this is a blog or a book.  Maybe I should let it end somewhere in between.

More later.

Catch Ya On The Flip Side.

This One Definitely Starts As A Rant …

One of our neighbors had their home burglarized the other day.  The court would probably say the perp was a poor underprivileged person.  I say the perp is a thief.

The Reactionary Redneck rears his ugly head.  First knee-jerk reaction:  I’ve had to work hard my entire life to get what little I have and I get very angry at the thought of some lazy, scum-of-the-earth thief taking it from me and mine.  If we didn’t have security doors and a monitored alarm system, we could be the victims.

Then I came upon this poem:

           

POEM TO PONDER

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights, nor its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp--
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics, and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Bob, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, 'What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

'And why is everyone so quiet,
So somber - give me a clue.'
'Hush, child,' He said,
'they're all in shock.
No one thought they'd be seeing you.'

 

Kinda Makes Ya Think, Don’t It.

Matthew 7:1
JUDGE NOT THAT YE BE NOT JUDGED!!

Remember...

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian

any more than standing in your garage makes you a car.

Every saint has a PAST...
Every sinner has a FUTURE!