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.

Wisdom of man

1 Corinthians 2:5 -- "...your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men but on the power of God."

 

Is this not a good word in a time of trouble and discord? If we can be honest with ourself for just a moment, where has the wisdom of man gotten us? Over and over again, down the annals of time, history shows us that the widsom of man has, perhaps brought some comfort and affluence to some, but for the most part has been despotic.

 

Look where you will; you will see the trouble brought by the wisdom of man. The Crusades? Yes, the work of the wisdom of man. Religious activism? Yes, the work of the wisdom of man. The Holocaust? Again, the work of the wisdom of man.

 

When the Almighty, the Lord, the Creator, the Sustainer of life, the Great Physician says we should live in peace, and love one another as He has loved us...how can we justify killing each other, or taking away property from each other?

 

When our heart is right with God, we will see and live the peace that passes all understanding, and our hearts will be filled with His love.

Peace

Well, we have come to that time of the year. What time of the year, you ask? Well, that time of the year when our thoughts turn to fuzzy little bunnies and colored eggs. I am convinced, that for the most part we have forgotten the meaning behind Easter. Or more especially what brought us to the point.

 

Think about this for a moment, or all day if you like.  Luke 19:41-44 -- "And when He approached, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, 'If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.'"

 

What are the things that make for peace? Well, for one, it is the total vanquishment of the enemy. Once your enemy is hobbled and no longer able to disrupt your peace, you will have peace. Within this thought is the idea that we all struggle with enemies, demons if you will, within us that strive to disrupt our peace. Paul informs us in Philippians 4:7 -- "...the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Jesus is quoted, in John 14:27, as saying "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you, not as the world gives, do I give to you." This peace that passes all comprehension, comes not from destroying another person, but from destroying those passions that reign so strongly within us. We can never be at peace, until we are at peace within our self and with God. All the martyrs down through the ages have attested to this fact...once we have peace with God, we will have peace unspeakable and full of glory.

cogitating again

So, this morning, I was relaxing, listenning to the radio, when my ears were assaulted by a commercial for tires. What penetrated my mind was the idea that if you purchased so many of certain tires you would get an immediate rebate of $75.

 

I guess, over my lifetime, I have benefitted from rebates of some kind. However, this morning the idea just struck me wrong. If the business has the money to give an immediate rebate, why not just lower the price that amount? Ah, but as the old circus owner once quipped "a sucker and his money are soon parted". Why do we like the idea of getting something back, more than having a lower price?

 

Guess that is why scams are so popular where you are invited to send a thousand dollars to recive a million dollars; only to realize you won't be getting anything.

 

My old father-in-law said it pretty succinctly, "too soon old, too late smart!"