Whatever will be

I have been living under the assumption that squirrels hibernate for the winter. That just isn't so.

 

As I sit here at the computer and look out my window, I can see the squirrels running around and cavorting in their squirrely way, in spite of the sub-zero temperature and the snow on the ground.

 

Perhaps this is a manifestation of the "glow-bull worming" or "Klimate change" we have been hearing so much about. Perhaps the old "Wendy's" commercial is coming back to haunt us..."It isn't nice to fool mother nature!"

 

Whatever it may be, up here in the southern frozen tundra we have squirrels being squirrely all year long.

Time and Tide

Well, the "oldies" station in Minnesota plays this record quite a bit that has a guy trying to get in touch with a girl on the phone, but her mother will not let her on the phone.

 

He interjects with the words "And the operator says forty cents more for three more minutes".

 

How well I remember those days. Seems like you could not call anywhere without having to go through the operator and if you were on a pay phone, you better make sure you have enough quarters in your pocket.

 

I am afraid that my children have never had to work through that kind of a call, and I am doubly sure, none of my grand children will ever understand.

 

But, when I think about it, I never experienced having a neighbor holler over that you have a phone call.

 

Yes, time does roll on.

Caught you looking

So, last night, about 10:15 I got ready to get ready for bed. As I walked by a window, I thought, what is all the light shining through?

 

When I looked out the patio door, it was snowing, and it was as light as day. I confess, I am not so sure I can recall another time when the night was as bright as the day. Talk about cognitive disonance!

 

Next, when I got up at 5:45 this morning, it was still bright as day; and now, two hours later nothing has changed except the cloudy sky is now a grayish-purple kind of color instead of dark grey.

 

These definitely are interesting days to be alive in which God delights in giving us situations to stretch our mind and cause us to smile and say thank you, LORD, for your awesome blessings.

Social media

The time has come to put away childish things. I think that is what I am thinking.

 

I guess it has been about 12 years, or so, I have maintained an account on face book: that social media that took the internet by storm some years ago.

 

The childish part that I mentioned was how I spent the majority of time on facebook playing games. The bingo games available definitely held my attention for hours at a time.

 

Truth be told there were friends I kept up to date with that I will miss. I first met Breda many years ago, on a blog she maintained. I do not remember the name of the blog, but she caught my attention and was able to keep it.

 

I met Katherine through her blog Smoky Mountain Cafe. A transplanted Louisianan to Tennessee. With facebook, she didn't need to maintain the blog mch anymore.

 

Lori, whom I met when we were driving school bus back, seems like centuries ago. She no longer utilized email, and thus kept me up to date with her photos and adventures through facebook. We still call and text on occasion and get together every once in a while for coffee of lunch.

 

It seems, to me, there is value in social media. Though it can become an addiction like anything else that will consume your time and attention.

 

After the many years I participated in facebook, recently I ran up against their algorithims for logging in. Within a two week period, I was locked out the system, which refused to verify my loggin security information. Three times in that two weeks I was forced to change my password in order to log in. The fourth time I was prompted to change my password, I decided, enough is enough. My world does not revolve around facebook. I do not have a "smart phone" that would keep me in constant contact with any social media on the internet, so why get my granny pants in a wad over petty stuff. Ergo, I emailed the support people and asked them to remove my account.

 

Thus I have come back to this blog I started a number of years ago, who anyone can access.

 

May the Good Lord bless and keep you, til we meet again.

Passing thoughts

Have you ever said something along the lines of: “You are as bad as a two year old”?  Think about it for a moment!  What is so “bad” about being a two year old?

What comes to mind is the picture of small children asking a lot of questions and finding excitement in seeing and learning new things. As adults, we just don’t have the time and patience to be answering questions all the time {in fact, aren’t we a little perturbed that no one has the time for our questions?}, or lolly gagging around to see the beauty of a rock or water flowing in a stream.

We talk a lot about “adult supervision” as if adults really know it all. And we talk a lot about “don’t waste time”; “time is money”; “we only have so many minutes in an hour, or so many hours in a day, and so many days in a year”. Well, I am worn out just thinking about that.  Makes my mind tired.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:1-3, NKJV)

WOW!  Just when my adulting is getting really geared up to show how great I am, how erudite I can be, how special I have become over the years; reality smacks me up side the head, and reminds me that there is something special about being like a two year old.  And as I look around my world, I see so many examples of how we have allowed ourselves to lose the awesomeness of life; the awesomeness of Creation.

More cogitating

Sitting here, quietly, over my breakfast, I am picturing trees, specifically fruit trees. And to some extent grape vines. Keepers of orchards and vineyards will readily attest to the need to prune the trees and the vines.

Along with that thought is the idea that the farther from the root, the weaker the tree and the fruit. When I lived in California, I had the privilege of visiting many orange and grapefruit orchards. I learned that the trees needed to be pruned each year to keep the tree from getting to tall, and to concentrate the branches into a smaller area, to allow the fruit to grow better, stronger, and sweeter.

It seems this is also true in our lives. The closer we are to the root of life, the better, the stronger, and the sweeter is our life. As I look around at the world today, I realize that in many ways we have gotten too far from our root. That root would be The Creator, The Sustainer of all we are aware of. Just like the trees and vines, we have ceased to be fruit bearing, because the life flow has been reduced so much.

When this great nation was conceived, it was under the assumption The Creator had made it available for people to live lives believing, hoping, and trusting in The Creator and Sustainer. The earliest schools were held in churches and used the Bible for most of the teaching. Along the way, we have segregated our schools into buildings far from the churches, and have removed the Bible from teaching. We no longer believe, hope or trust in The Creator and Sustainer, for we are convinced that man is able to forgive sins, provide sustenance and generally take care of everything.

Yes, we have allowed ourselves to be led away from the True Life Blood that creates and sustains to a life blood that destroys.

Just a Pause

At 71-1/2 years I find myself reflecting. I have seen a lot; but I haven't seen everything...in fact, I am sure there are many things I have no desire to see at all. I have been to a lot places; I have not been everywhere. I have done a lot of things; but I haven't done everything...and I realize there are a lot of things I really would rather not do.

Every place I have been, every word I have thought, spoken or heard, everything I have done or not done, everything I have seen has collaborated to bring me to who, and where, I am today.

I recall entering the base exchange, a vendor was demonstrating some kind of a juicer, and he shouted to me something along the line of "Hey, this is just what you need, it will add years to your life." I looked at him, and asked him "how do you know how long I will live? I have made it through a tour in Vietnam, and recovered from a head-on motor vehicle accident at 85 miles an hour, from which three people died. How can you guarantee your juicer will add years to my life?"

When I realize that my dad's dad died at age 34 when dad was a year and half old; my dad died at 54, dad's mom died at 89, mom died at 93, her mother died at 44 and her dad died at 79, I truly recognize there really is no way to guarantee how long we are going to be walking on this earth.

The Psalmist informs us, that when God put us together in the secret of the womb, He also knew the numbers of our days on earth. There is a bit of an argument going around now and then whether God is male or female. In truth, He is both. God embodies the perfection of male and female. When God said let Us make man in our own image, he meant specifically that man would be both male and female. However, that didn't seem to work out, so, God took the woman from out of the man and made two people. Thus we understand the Biblical injunction that a man and a woman shall come together and become one.

Well, anyway, as I reflect on my life and all it encompasses, I can say without any reservation my life was not worth a plug nickle until the day God confronted me in my apartment, 43 years ago, and accused me of destroying something that He had made beautiful. We had a pretty in depth discussion, and I accepted His offer to be cleaned up and made new. It was as if my life had stopped and was began anew. My fellow Marines didn't understand why I no longer wanted to go bar hopping, or imbibing alcoholic beverages all night. Truth be told, it was really quite nice to wake up the morning and not wonder if I had done anything bad during the previous night; not to mention, my pay check seemed to go a little farther each month.

Well, just a little time spent reminiscing and reminding myself that no matter what may happen in this life, I am in God's hands, and I can't think of a safer place to be.