Soap Box Podium News

2005-03-07T20:55:00.000-08:00

THE GREEN CITY OF LAUGHTER
THERE'S no use gilding the pill. Work is disagreeable, and the joys of labor are forms of that optimistic self-hypnotism that buoys so many lift-yourself-by-the-bootstraps cults.
I hate work; I always have hated it. When I was a boy I loathed bringing in the coal and weeding the strawberry patch. I liked to play ball and go swimming.
I still hate all forms of work. But I have discovered how to make play out of it; and I enjoy play.
My job is more fun than any form of diversion I can indulge in after working hours. I would rather do my daily stunt than play golf or go to the ball game or attend the theater. I am 100 per cent happier on my task than off.
And I think this is the solution of the "labor problem." It is to solve how work may be made play.
When we take pride and interest in what we do it is not work. The housekeeper that delights in keeping her rooms in order, the clerk that enjoys performing his duties, the doctor that is enthusiastic over his profession, the carpenter, plumber, painter, or teamster that puts his soul
into his business such people work does not gall nor fret. Such have solved the "labor problem."
Machinery is slowly lifting the curse of labor from men. A vast deal of the dirty work that used to be done by hand is done by steam. The huge dredges at Panama did the task of hundreds of men with shovels and buckets.
Every child should be given a training in some kind of useful activity that is congenial to him. The time is past when there is a chance for the man who is "willing to do anything"; it is the man who is capable of doing "something," and of doing it well, that is employed.
More and more this world is becoming a colder and harder place for the person who simply wants the wage. Those who love their trade so well that it is play, who are miserable when they cannot work at it, and who are trained to skillfulness in it, are driving out the wage wanters.
Every factory, mill, office, farm, store, and railroad in the country is crying out for fit, capable, enthusiastic hands who will attack work in the spirit of play.
And only so is good work done.
Says Coningsby Dawson in The Craftsman:
"Play may be the best kind of work, the difference between work and play is a difference in training and mental attitude. Teach a child to play sadly and call his play work, you make him a laborer who toils even when he is playing.
"Ugliness and drudgery are no part of God's plan for His world. If man insists on inventing them God leaves man to do the explaining. Boys and girls playing in a green city of laughter, that was what God meant.
"Gray faces everywhere! Men and women who know anything but how to earn bread! In the crouching tread of cities the sound of the fear of life and the terror of death! And yet always between the stone cities lies the green City of Laughter where work is play, where birds sing as they build their nests, and rivers flow silver through meadows, certain of the sea and
unhurrying.
"The day is coming when, one by one, our wise men, like the old Eastern dreamer, will steal out from the walls of work into the grassy Metropolis of Laughter. There the work will still go on, but unknowingly. No one will be old; the streets of that city will be full of boys and girls
playing." END.

2005-03-07T20:48:00.000-08:00

THE SILENCES
I WENT down by the seashore, and after long watching and dreaming I fancied it was given me to understand the voice of the waters.
And the waters said to me, "You wonder why we do not talk to you. We are talking ever and forever; but you have never, till now, been still enough to listen.
"The three voices, that of Nature, that of God, and that of Love, are never perfectly heard except at the bottom of the funnel of silence.
"There are few of your race who understand wind-sounds and the notes of birds, water voices, cloud-writings, and the signals that are wigwagged to souls by waving trees, and the color ideas that are spelled to them by flowers.
"You wonder why you cannot comprehend bird talk, as people do in fairy stories. You speculate as to whether monkeys communicate real ideas by their chatter, and whether cock-crows and hen-cackles are mere noise or have intelligent contents.
"Your difficulty lies in that you do not realize the extent, the range of ideas. You know that there are sounds of too high and others of too low vibration for the human ear to perceive. You know also that the colors perceptible to the human eye are comparatively few; that there are colors, beyond violet and beyond red, that are too subtle for the eye.
"It is precisely so with thoughts or soul vibrations. There is a whole world of ideas too simple for you to grasp, and another world of ideas too complex for you to grasp. Human beings think only a few notes in the middle of the gamut of Nature.
"I can only hint at our meanings, mine and the winds' and the bird's. We speak of such great realities as Alternation and Continuance, of Whirling Years and the Time Wheel, of Fecundation, Generation and Dissolution, of Star Meanings, of Lives and of their Masks and Appearances, of the walled-off yet interlocked Worlds, such as the World of Fishes, the World of Insects, the World of Microbes, the World of Field Mice, the World of Human Creatures, the
World of the Unborn, and the World of the Dead.
"We speak of the deep, voiceless Instincts, of the meaning of Heat and Cold, of the mysteries of Food, Drink and Sleep. We talk of the tragedies of Danger and of the comedies of Play. These are famous topics with barnyard creatures. The rats and roaches in your house discuss them. They interest the insects and the little woods people.
"We have our Laughter, though not as yours, for the universe is saturated with humor. We have our days of Mourning and of Loneliness, we have our Sins and our Remorse; "There are two kinds of humans that understand us, the witless and the worshipful."
Then I was aware that my friend was shaking me.
"What is the matter with you?" he said. "I have called you several times. Have you gone crazy?"
"Only part way," I answered. "Tell me why we are accounted sane only so long as we keep to the limitations of the ordinary; and that we never see the truth of poetry, religion, or nature until we overstep the limits? Is all greatness madness?"
"Give it up" returned my friend; and yet he was a hatter and measured the human head for a living! END.

2005-03-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

UNCONSCIOUS GOODNESS
THIS is not written for the many, but for the few who understand.
Confess your sins, if you will, but not your goodness.
A high and noble quality in you, if it is once brought to light, withers as a flower plucked from its bed in the woods and worn on your dress.
There is no real purity but that of which you are unconscious. This permeates you and flavors your personality. The minute it is exposed by boasting it becomes offensive.
I doubt if preaching, moralizing, arguing and otherwise definitely laboring with people to make them good has ever been of much real benefit.
The actual uplift is that force that lies within our nature, concealed in the texture of the soul.
The cosmic powers of souls are silent and invisible; as the sun attracts the planets by its mass, as the hyacinth perfumes the room by its presence.
When you tell of a good deed you have done you have spoiled it. That instinct is correct which leads the brave man to belittle his own courage.
No act is fine unless it be done solely to gratify ourself, solely to win the praise of our own exacting soul; the bloom of virgin beauty is rubbed off from our nobleness when it is to get the approbation of others.
We complain that our efforts are not appreciated. Whatever is appreciated is depreciated. Only those helpful deeds that no one knows, which we ourselves do not recognize, are of the purest gold.
No one will be more surprised on the day of judgment than the genuine saints, who will exclaim in amazement: "Lord, when saw we thee sick, or ahungered, or in prison, and ministered unto thee?"
Action and speech, doing and talking, and all sorts of conscious exertion, are of second class, compared with the high worth of being.
This is proved by little children, who, we are shocked to discover, are not much influenced by our lecturings, and disregard our advice, but whose eyes penetrate to what we really are, whose ears hear the voices of our character; so that they follow us, but not our words.
No deeds of mine can counteract the subtle dynamic of my personal influence. If I endow churches and colleges, if I feed multitudes of the poor, if I give my body to be burned, and yet if I am essentially mean, my net result in the world is bad. On Time's books the debit of my character will outbalance the credit of my effort.
The day will come, when humanity is mature, that there shall be no more of what we now call charity or benevolence. For charity is the conscious attempt to correct the injustice of our acceptance of unjust customs.
In the perfect day to come no man will give to relieve another's distress, none will work to convert and redeem, for each shall try to do justice; and where there is universal justice all charity is swallowed up.
Then set loyalty to yourself as your goal. Think, speak and act to get that inner praise of your own being. Regard yourself as fortunate when you can do good without being found out.
And consider yourself most fortunate of all when you are not appreciated, when you are misunderstood, and when yolir good is called evil.
For then you are one of the real aristocrats of virtue. Then you are truly of a kin to God, who is forever silent, forever cavilled at, yet forever healing and helping by His very existence.
END.

2005-03-07T20:38:00.000-08:00

A REASON FOR LOVE
THEY were no longer young. He was just past and she was almost fifty.
They had made a little wild excursion together. One spring day, when Old Nick was in the air, one of those prematurely warm August days that come sometimes in May, they were walking along the street in Paris, wondering where they should go to dinner.
Oh, no, no! nothing of that kind. Bless you, they had been married so long that they had a grandchild. They were Americans. He happened to be working in Paris. She was his wife.
Still, for all that, the Old Nick was in the air, the eglantine trees were budding in the Luxembourg gardens, and even these two felt they simply had to do something out of the way.
They took the first tram-car that came along and rode out to the end of the line. They were landed at one of the gates of the city, right by the fortifications. There they found a little restaurant and dined on the sidewalk.
They began to talk about love. When two who have been married a quarter of a century talk of love you better listen; you might learn something.
There is just one point brought out in their conversation that I wish to note. It struck me as a rather ingenious one.
"How do you know you love me?" he asked.
"Well," she responded, after reflecting a bit (perhaps if she had been twenty she would have answered by a look only, but now she took the question up seriously, as if anxious to answer herself as well as him), "one reason is that if I'm ever in any trouble, if I should lie sick or have
any calamity happen me, or anything terrible, I should want you, first of all.
"And another reason is that whenever I have any pleasure, when anything in the way of good luck comes, or when I see anything beautiful, my first instinct is to find you, to enjoy it with me."
"Those," he replied, "are really good reasons."
They were silent a bit. The Past is always a third guest when fifty-year-old lovers talk. He was in the thought of both. Then she added:
"And most of all it is the feeling, the certainty, that no matter what I do or say, no matter what happens or can possibly happen, you would be right by me; you would just be for me; you'd just be there, asking no questions, but just be for me, whoever, whatever was against me-till death." END.

2005-01-31T02:47:00.000-08:00

NOAH AND THE FLOOD, DID IT HAPPEN? EDITORIAL
When we think of the flood, it usually takes place some where on the east end of the Mediterranean Sea. It rains for 40 days and 40 nights and covers the highest Mountains. Every one wants to know for sure if the earth was really covered with water.
If the story is true, then, Greenland and Antarctica would have been completely covered with water. Both places would have enough cold stored in the ice to prevent it from being completely melted down to bare land. If all the worlds ice did melt then the oceans would have risen some 300 feet after the flood, ( information from the radio) all coastal regions would be covered. The ocean level would have gone down slowly as the ice and snow thickness would be built back to its original depth.
Another question to ask, what would be the air temp if the water level went up to cover mount Everest? Could people survive that high in an unheated Ark?
As the water level on earth went down some of the water from the flood would have left a layer of ice covering both Greenland and Antarctica. This ice would have traces of the salt from the oceans. The salt concentrations would be less than the sea water since it would have been diluted with rain water.
I know that ice cores have been drilled in both Greenland and Antarctica. Some place in the ice cores there should be a layer of ice containing the salt of the ocean. If no layers of ice can be found containing salt, then it would be impossible for the story of Noah to be true and Greenland and Antarctica would not have been covered with water from the flood.
I do believe that a "local" flood could have taken place, making the story of Noah true, but the entire earth would not have been flooded.
Another question we must ask, If Noah took aboard one Male and one Female of each animal on earth, how did all the animals get from Australia, all animals would have to swim thousands of miles in the ocean. The animals from North and South America would have to cross the frozen Baring Sea. Thousands of small animals and insects would have frozen to death trying to get there. I think that those animals did not make the trip and they were not with Noah on the Arc as most people believe.
This would be a good project for the National Geographic Society to make a one hour documentary. I think the world should know what the test reveals. END.

2005-01-31T02:44:00.000-08:00

3. HOSPITAL'S, FRIEND OR FOE EDITORIAL
What do you think about Hospital's? Let me advise you of some problems.
1. My Wife had sharp pains in her chest, we thought it could be a heart attack. I took her to a hospital emergency room. The Doctors could not diagnose the problem. And they sent me to a hospital in another town. When I took her to the other hospital, they diagnosed Gall Stones.
2. Another time a woman took her 3 year old child to the Hospital emergency room with all the skin burned off the palm of his hand. At 3 he did not know that a pan coming out of the oven would be 300 degrees in temprature. While waiting the child was set on top the nurses station counter. After 15 minutes waiting the child hit the small desk bell. The nurse came out and was MAD that the child rang the bell. The mother said that if you are so busy and can not come out to check, I will take my son to another hospital. She did and the child was in with the doctor with in 4 minutes.
4. This was almost beyond belief, 2 women, both appeared to be over 70 years old were brought in wheel chairs to the door. Each was wearing the hospital gown with the back open. A blanket was put on top of them, but not the bottom of their legs, the bottom side of their arms were not covered. Out side the wind was blowing about 25 miles per hour, the outside temprature was 14 below O, they were wheeled out to the van. All of the unprotected skin was subjected to the wind and cold. They should have been loaded in the shelter and protection of the ambulance garbage.
5. An 82 year old lady was bought to the hospital and the temprature was about 0 outside. The driver drove into the ambulance garbage where there was a wheel chair. Going into the reception area. The nurse came and had a fit, saying that the garbage was for the ambulance. He ask, do you have radio contact with the ambulance? Does any ambulance have a patient and coming here? She said no. What is the nurses problem with using the garbage that wasn’t going to be used?
6. A woman had a stroke and was taken to the hospital. The first thing they did was take a Cat scan. The Doctor said that this hospital could not take care of her problem and a hospital in Minneapolis could give her proper treatment. The cost of a helicopter ride was $3,500.00 So they transported her to Minneapolis. The woman's son asked the Doctors how bad her condition was. The Doctor said that if the hospital would have faxed up the cat scan first, his advice would be, not to transport the patient since there was no possibility of survival.
6. Another person went to the hospital emergency room with pains in his left arm pit then his right arm pit, then going across his chest. After a number of tests, the diagnosis was, its either a Heart Attack or Heart Burn, but we don’t know for sure which. 7. A hospital needed more room and built a new hospital. At the main entrance was a roof about 40 feet high but it only protects from rain coming straight down. Wind blown rain and snow blow right under the roof giving almost no protection for people walking in the front door. If you go to the back door where most patients come and go in wheel chairs and others that have a hard time moving around, There is no protection from wind or rain while trying to get into or out of their vehicle. Haven't the designers ever thought about the patients coming and going and provide any protection?
7. One hospital allows no smoking on their property, you must go across the street to smoke. A woman with 2 broken legs and in a wheel chair went out side to smoke about 50 feet away from the front door on a windy day. The hospital staff came out and said that you need to go across the street to smoke. Funny thing is, they have a canopy over the patient drop off entrance. They have room for 6 cars to off load patients while the cars stay running. The cars exhaust can find its way into the front door to enter the building. The volume of carbon dioxide and other exhaust gasses produce more problems than the smoke of one cigarette.
All of the above problems are true. It seems to me that hospitals need to think more about their patients. END.

2005-01-31T02:42:00.000-08:00

3. THE KITCHEN

IF I ever get money enough to build a house of my own the first thing I shall construct will be the kitchen. The kitchen is to the home what the stomach is to the body. The Greeks used to think the soul was located in the stomach, and it wasn't a bad guess. Certain it is that you cannot see much glory in the universe while you have any kind of a stomachache.
My kitchen will be five things: big, light, clean, well equipped, and comfortable to loaf in.
To begin with the last, I do not see why a man who owns a house should be excluded from an essential part of it. Why should I be condemned to sit always in the front room surrounded by uncomfortable furniture, slippery floors, and fragile bric-a-brac, while the hired girl enjoys a neat, homey kitchen?
When I feel like it I want to occupy a cane rocker by the window, look around upon shining brass stew pans, and read in the recipe book how to make ginger cookies.
And then the sounds of the kitchen. They are more intimately lovely than any other house voices. First and foremost the song of the tea kettle: it just sings home and mother and solid comfort right into the core of your everlasting soul. Then the roar of the fire in the stove, the bubbling of the pot where the potatoes are boiling, the angry sputter of ham frying, and above all the solemn tick-tock of the old clock, beating time like an orchestra leader over the whole performance.
Also come the odors of the kitchen; the fragrance of bread just out of the oven, of the fowl done to a turn, filling the air with an aroma beyond that of flowers, and, Lord bless us all! if that isn't a real pumpkin pie the cook has just delivered into the world! It is an event that should be celebrated with cheer and song.
The eye feasts likewise. I want a floor of old-fashioned red brick on my kitchen floor; in all the realm of art no color is so rich. I want the copper utensils to gleam like burnished shields upon the shelf. I want to see the flash of the Sabatier knives in a row on the wall, weapons in the noble war of gastronomy. I want to see the old Delft-blue bowls and brown cooking vessels round about. Besides, there are the whiteness of white flour on the biscuit board, the sparkling heaps of sugar, the rosy-cheekedness of apples, the orangeness of oranges, and the grapeness of grapes.
There is no place where you can feel so human as in the kitchen. When you are tired of being respectable, and your soul is sick of good clothes, oh, to come aside a while here, in slippers and shirtsleeves, and in the cane rocker aforesaid read in peace in your daily paper all the antics of this mountebank world.
And then, best of all, the little boy comes in, you know what he wants, and although it is against the rules, you steal for him two Jonathan apples and three sugar cookies; he beams undying love at you, and skips out before mother sees him, while you, partner in such delicious crime, read your paper as if nothing had happened. END.

2005-01-31T02:39:00.000-08:00

2. THINGS

MISS MATHILDA TOMMET of Milwaukee left a will the other day eight and one-half feet long, written in her own hand on sheets of paper pasted together. In it she bequeathed to one relative "my best bedspread and one-half of my best towels"; to another a high-backed chair, admonishing her executors to "be sure to take the one standing on the north side of the sideboard"; to another her chickens and feed; while vegetables, fruit, pickles, a pail of lard, and "father's old clock" go to another, and to her dearest enemy a pair of old shoestrings.
Then there was Thoreau, who in his, house by Walden Pond would have no furniture; he found a stone once which he fancied, and kept awhile, but soon threw it away, as he found it had to be dusted. One of the greatest tyrannies of life is THINGS.
The most common form of insanity is the mania to OWN. One of the first acts of a person who comes into money is to load himself down with a pile of rubbish that makes his life a fret and his deathbed terrible.
The very rich collect. They get together spoons, canes, pictures, vases, pitchers, books, or marbles. When there is no more room for them in the house they build a wing and pack it full. I knew a man who had $20,000 worth of old postage stamps locked up in a safety deposit vault. I knew an old woman who never traveled, although she longed to travel and had plenty of means, because she was afraid her parlor carpet and her blue china dishes would not properly be taken care of.
The stores are heaped up with THINGS. The most skillful men are employed to persuade people to buy THINGS for which they have no earthly use.
Every home contains expensive books that have stood on shelves for years without a soul looking into them.
American living rooms are as cluttered as Westminster Abbey. Every mantel is loaded with junk. The walls are covered with pictures, most of them bad. The floors are so thick with chairs and superfluous stands and tables that few can wind their way through them by day and none by night. Things, things, things ! Bedrooms are full of them, closets heaped with them, the attic is choked with them, the woodshed and barn are running over.
When we go away on vacations we take trunks full of things. When we go to Europe also we find that baggage is the plague of our life.
It is a relief to turn to the books of the Hindus and read, "Even if they have longer remained with us, the objects of sense are sure to vanish. Why, then, not forsake them ourselves? If they pass away by themselves they cause the greatest pain to the mind, but if we forsake them ourselves they cause endless happiness and peace."
And in another Oriental book we find this searching word: "For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of THINGS which he possesseth." END.

2005-01-19T13:08:00.000-08:00

THE SERVING VERSUS THE MONARCHIC VIRTUES

The Serving Virtues are humility, loyalty, selfcontrol and unselfishness. The Kings of earth, whether ancient or modern, whether European hereditary aristocracy or American selfmade plutocracy, are noticeable for their lack of these quailties. Such virtues are absolutely
inconsistent with the desire to dominate. The only governor who could have them would be the one who accepts rule merely because it is the best way he can serve.
The monarch virtues are pride, egoism, love of power and desire for prominence. These are essentially mean. They beget cruelty. They are what is the matter with our civilization. They cause a man to build a palace on Fifth Avenue as the moral apex of a pile of human suffeAng whose base is the sweat-shop and the gas-choked mine swarming with his stunted brothers.
On the contrary, you never meet a really great man, a truly majestic soul, full of the cosmic power of justice and altruism, who is not humble, who is not more considerate of human values than of money values. You never knew a beautiful soul that was not self-forgetful. These are not King-virtues.
They are blacksmith, school-teacher, housebuilder, poet and shoemaker virtues. They are the kind Jesus had, who was a Carpenter. They are the real virtues of God, who is Servant of All.
END.

2005-01-19T13:06:00.000-08:00

PREPARATION

Before an artist can do anything the instrument must be tuned.
One way to open a locked door is to fall at it and scratch, kick, and shove I A better way is to get the key.
In other words, pluck and force and will power are all right in their place, but they are far from being the only secret of success. They are downright silly without--preparation.
Knowing how is half the battle. Practice and study count. Skill and efficiency mean a long time getting ready. We are familiar enough with this truth in ordinary matters. We send boys to school and prentices to the shop, and would-be stenographers to night school. For we recognize that the untrained man these days has to get off the earth, there's no room for him.
But we often fail to carry this primitive common sense over into the more serious concerns. We forget that one also has to learn-how to live. One cannot go at it tooth and nail It is not to be stormed, forced, and stampeded. Jt takes science, trainin, and practice.
The learning how is hard, always; but essentia The only things one can do without practice are over-eating, over-drinking, laziness, bad temper selfishness, and general meanness, also uselessnes But the good things come hard. Take humility rarest and noblest of virtues. The only road to humility is by being humiliated, which hurts.
The only way to patience is by self-restraint under irritation. If there is nothing to gnaw an worry and heckle us, then we never learn that beautiful art of patience. The only path to belief that is, to the only kind of belief that is of any us to character, is through doubt. Faith is a
product that is ground out of the mill of dismay, confusion, despair and struggle. Intellectual assent is cheap. The confidence that is a triumph of the soul over pessimism and fatuous reasonings is worth something.
The only means toward rest 'is work. It is to tired bones the bed tastes sweet. The soul can never enjoy letting go that has never hung On Real placidity is the product of strenuosity.
So also the preparation for knowledge is love Truth is not a lump of something a man may go and pick up. Truth is not, any thing at all. It is relation, a quality, a shine, an odor. It is not perceived by the intellect; it is perceived by the heart the intellect merely criticises and classifies it.
The secret of Edison's discoveries, and of Koch's, and of Marconi1s, is love. Only love can see. It has the X-ray eye. And this is true in business, or science, or literature, or art, quite as much as in religion. Brains can amass truths and pigeonhole them and arrange them; only passion of some sort can find them out where they are hidden.
Sorrow, disappointment, heartbreak, bereavement, all such things are the anterooms of greatness. There is a state into which a man can grow where he resembles an ordinary man about as much as a fine thoroughbred horse resembles a brokendown hack horse, or as a big American beauty rose resembles a dusty weed. Nobleness of charcter, grandeur of soul, sweetness of spirit, no one can get these without being prepared.
Some of us have the ignorant notion that we could be noble if we cared to make the effort. We are like the man who, when asked if he could play the violin, said he didn't know-he'd never tried.
What a deal of getting ready to live is needed! A man never really learns how to live till he's ready to die. And if with most of us, all of us, life is a mighty getting ready, then it is a getting ready for-what?
It is this tremendous question that unlocks the door of death and gives us our surest hope of the life beyond. END.

2005-01-10T23:18:00.000-08:00

GAY MARRIAGE IS WRONG EDITORIAL
If God or his word the Bible or Heaven or Hell have any meaning, then the Gay life style is wrong. Read Leviticus 18, 22. It clearly states that, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Also Leviticus 20, 13. It clearly states that, "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.
I do not know if there is a place in the Bible that puts restrictions on a woman lying with another woman as she would lie with a male. Is it possible that Bible inferred the same restrictions for women that it stated for men? It is odd how we can interpret things to fit "our definition" of the life we want to live.
Some place in the Bible it states that a man shall take to him a "Wife." The choice is yours, abide by his laws or you will abide by his punishment. God will not abide by your feelings.
I have a small book, 114 pages, "Understanding The Fear Of The Lord" written by Floyd D. Martin from Minneapolis, ISBN1-886158-18-5. Humans do not understand that we should Fear God. I think we bring him down more to our level and that we feel he will understand us. The reverse is true, we need to take ourselves up more to his level and understand him, his power, his laws and his way of dealing with us after death.
We do not know what a Soul is, we can not comprehend what God can do with our Soul to cause our punishment for not following his laws. I think God could cause your body to feel the pain of being burned alive and for eternity he would not let your body ever be consumed and turned into ash. We should fear God for what he can do to us after death, and in his world.
I think if we fully understood God and his ability to punish us, we would all turn to angles over night. Note the comments after the next story that a man wrote back to me, apparently he has no fear of God, any idea what God will do with him? END.

2005-01-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

MEN THAT STEAL. EDITORIAL
I found out about a burglary involving 3 or 4 individuals, could be more. When a man decides to burglarize someone‘s property he has tunnel vision. All he can see is what he can gain and not what he is putting up to loose if he is caught. Give this some thought, if they get a few hundred dollars or several thousand dollars, how much have they really gotten?
For the rest of his life he will have the stolen property. Oh! he may sell it, but he will still have the money from the stolen property. Maybe he will give it away, that doesn’t work either, he may not have possession, but he is still the thief that took it. More than likely he will not give it or sell it to a stranger, I am sure it would be a friend, relative or some one he knew. I don’t know about you, but I would not want a friend or relative that will give me or sell to me stolen property. If I can’t trust my friends or relatives more than that, I don’t want them either and we will part forever.
The only way for him to remove that black spot from his conscience is to return the same item he took or pay the replacement cost. Sorry but that is the only way for him to undue what he has stolen. What he has stolen will always be stolen property, even if it is around a hundred years from now and even if a hundred people have owned it.
When the man brings home something that he has stolen, half of the stolen property now belongs to his wife. Minnesota law states that a husband and wife each own half of what they have together. Now you have a wife that was not a participant in the burglary, receiving stolen property taken by her husband. I think at least 90 % of the wives would be furious with their husbands, made them an accessory to burglary. A wife will know when a husband comes home with things costing more than their budget will allow.
I wonder if the man thinks of what his wife and family will do with him in jail. Does he expect the wife to earn enough money to pay all the bills with him setting and doing nothing all day long. Will a wife really want to stay married to a man who has put her in this situation. For me, I would not stay married to someone that would make stolen property more important than our marriage, family and friends.
The day will come when he is the person who is burglarized, do you think he will say "years ago I invaded someone's home and burglarized it and took "what I wanted" so it is only fair that the same is done unto me and I will not say a bad word about them." "I don’t think so" He will be screaming the loudest about his missing property and the invasion of his privacy. How strange it is, this man of two faces.
My advice to any woman, tell your man that he has only one chance to steal, if he uses it, you will be gone. When my grandson tells me he found something, my advice is this, " If it was not yours before you found it. It is not yours after you found it." When you find something, you are only the care taker of that item until you can find it’s real owner. If you don’t want to take the time and energy to find the real owner, do not pick it up. Let it lay for some one else to "find," let some one else steal it. You will not find any material thing that is worth stealing, when you think about what you could loose if you get caught. Keep in mind that in this day and age, hidden cameras and people with camcorders are all over the place. END.

2005-01-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

AMERICAN JOBS GOING OVERSEAS EDITORIAL
It has been said that the person that complains the most about something is the person that has the least to complain about. Almost every day someone is blaming President Bush for sending jobs abroad. I think more of the blame should be placed on the specific individuals that are the true problem. "YOU" are the problem, take a look at all the labels that you have purchased in the last year. How many of those items were Made In America? How many items did you, yourself put back on the shelf and show your Personal Support of American Workers because they were "NOT" Made In America, in the past year?
Everybody blames the President because he is fair game. He can not defend himself against your comments because you are hiding, anonymously.
The specific reason why the big box stores of this country go overseas to have products made, is your American dollar. They have millions of share holders to feed with your dollars and they want as many excess dollars as they can get. "Store 1" can entice you into their specific store by saying "We Have The Lowest Prices." "Store 2" will go out and find laborers to work for even less. "Store 2" can now say, "We Have The Lowest Prices." The stores fight each other, offering lower prices. Where do you think the low prices come from? They come from lower wages paid to "WORKERS," do management and share holders take a cut in pay equal to the workers?
The huge big box stores can go to a manufacture and say we want lower prices because of the huge orders we place with you or we will go to another supplier. The manufacture has a choice, lower his price or lay off the workers making that order.
Do you have any idea what would happen to the big box department stores if you said, I will only buy American Made when I spend my American Dollars. They would have a fire sale trying to unload Foreign Goods with no customers to sell it to. There would be manufacturing plants popping up all over the United States. Unemployment would drop down, almost to "Zero." I know, you are going to say I cannot afford it. Let my neighbor buy American. That sounds good, but he is saying the same about you.
I do not know when it will happen, but I feel that our economy is like a 3 legged stool with one leg being manufacturing. If you take that one leg of manufacturing away, the stool will not stand up. The other 2 legs will also fall.
Our country is like your savings account, how long will you have money in your savings if you keep taking out more money than you are putting back in. How long can the drain of our American Dollars going to other Countries continue. You can see what "YOUR" lack of support for American workers has done to our American Manufacturing sector.
Each day, you have the ability to show your Loyalty and bring jobs back to America by the way you spend your dollars. Can one or a thousand people make the change, NO, it takes every single Citizen. END.

2005-01-10T23:11:00.000-08:00

WHEN DID MAN BEGIN, A THEORY EDITORIAL
Strange as it may sound some people still believe that God created the Universe in 7 of our 24 hour days. They say that God made all the Dinosaur bones and fossil records and put them on earth and that Dinosaurs have never lived. I feel that every one has the right to believe as they want.
The big bang took place about 14 billion years ago as the best estimate of our limited knowledge can be. Based on this time frame, Gods day would be about 2,333,333,333, that is 2 and a third billion, of our earth years is equal to one of Gods days. His hour is 96,222,222 of our years. His minute is 1,603,703 of our years. His second is 26,726 of our years. As you can see we have only started on Gods 7th day, His day of rest.
Some estimates say that the beginning of man started about 1 million years ago. This date is established by the fact of a humans ability to create and use tools. There is no evidence that animals could have ever shaped and used crude stone tools.
As I understand it there were 2 individuals, unknown to each other, that used the birth and death dates given in the bible to work backwards to Adams birth date. As I remember it, both men came up with the same year, the same month, but a different day. That was 2000 years before the birth of Christ. This is interesting when we have human, mummified remains from South America that have dated back to 35, 000 years ago.
The bible states that God placed Adam on earth toward the end of the 6th day. There is a belief that God picked up some earth and in an instant made Adams body, the same as our body is today. The question then becomes "how could any humans be living 31,000 years before the creation of Adam." The bible said that God made Adam in his likeness, does that mean that God has a body like ours? Is it possible that God made man in the likeness of his spirit or soul and the body was a place for God to put his likeness, the soul?
There is a possibility that people believing in Evolution and Christians need to come together. God could have use evolution for the path of putting Humans on earth. At some point in time God could have changed that being and gave him the ability to think. This could be the point where God created Adam
We already know that there are huge holes in the past historical record that we can not fill in. We do not know for sure the dates in which many of the things in the past took place. While this is only a theory, could it be true. END.

2004-12-12T20:59:00.000-08:00

SHE IS MY BABY

She is my mother, said the young man, setting in the chair next to her, holding one hand and stroking the back of her head with the other hand, but I call her my baby.

She is eighty years old, even though she can not speak, she can say more than we will ever know. That diamond sparkle in those tiny tear drops, one in each eye, come and go as if to say, I am here in this body that I can not move and under stand every word that you say.

Old people are very much like babies, and we ought to love them, for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven

I have an idea that life evens up things. When I was young and helpless she took care of me; now she is the baby she was when she was born. I take care of her. I am repaying my debt to her love, with my love. She never left me alone when I was an infant. I do not leave her alone now that she is an infant.

She was patient with me then; now I am patient with her. She fed me; now I feed her. I clothe her and keep her.

She sacrificed her young life to provide for me; I am glad of every chance I have to sacrifice myself for her.

She loved me when I was ignorant, awkward, needing constant care, and all because I was hers, born of her body and part of her soul. That part of her body that is me now, is well and able and will care for her.

Now every feebleness and trait of childishness in her endears me to her, for no reason except that she is my mother. By so much as she is a tax on my time, attention, and money, I love her.
She shall not triumph over me in the day of judgment; for my tenderness shall equal hers.
She watched with me until I grew up; I shall watch with her till she steps into Heaven. Nothing sacrificed by me is as great as the love we received from each other, in it's place. END.

2004-11-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

1. GAY MARRIAGE IS WRONG EDITORIAL
If God or his word the Bible or Heaven or Hell have any meaning, then the Gay life style is wrong. Read Leviticus 18, 22. It clearly states that, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Also Leviticus 20, 13. It clearly states that, "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them.
I do not know if there is a place in the Bible that puts restrictions on a woman lying with another woman as she would lie with a male. Is it possible that the Bible inferred the same restrictions for women that it stated for men? It is odd how we can interpret things to fit "our definition" of the life we want to live.
Some place in the Bible it states that a man shall take to him a "Wife." The choice is yours, abide by his laws or you will abide by his punishment. God will not abide by your feelings.
I have a small book, 114 pages, "Understanding The Fear Of The Lord" written by Floyd D. Martin from Minneapolis, ISBN1-886158-18-5. Humans do not understand that we should Fear God. I think we bring him down more to our level and that we feel he will understand us. The reverse is true, we need to take ourselves up more to his level and understand him, his power, his laws and his way of dealing with us after death.
We do not know what a Soul is, we can not comprehend what God can do with our Soul to cause our punishment for not following his laws. I think God could cause your body to feel the pain of being burned alive and for eternity he would not let your body ever be consumed and turned into ash. We should fear God for what he can do to us after death, and in his world.
I think if we fully understood God and his ability to punish us, we would all turn to angles over night. Note the comments after the next story that a man wrote back to me, apparently he has no fear of God, any idea what God will do with him? END.

2. ATHEISTS, ARE NOT TRUE ATHEIST EDITORIAL
Have you ever really thought about an atheist and their beliefs?They try every chance they get to remove any trace of God or Religion from the American way of life. They try to force their beliefs on us by arming themselves with ammunition taken from our own Constitution and using that ammunition to shoot down our own beliefs. I sometimes find that the ones who complain the most, are the ones that have the least to complain about in the first place.If we are to believe an atheist and his sincerity, we must ask one question. How can you live in America? An atheist is not a true Atheist. His statements are only used for his personal goals. I think you will find atheists do not object to every thing about God, almost every town has a Ten Commandments monument on public property. They do not make sure that every single one of them is removed in the United States.If an Atheist is a true believer, he or she could not have a copy of the word "God" on his person. If you check his clothes, I am sure he would have many copies of the word "God" on him. He could not eat, pay bills or purchase any thing. He could not work or receive any Social Security when he retires. In general he could not do any thing that requires the use of American Money, since all American money has the word God on it.Would he ever leave America because of the problems his beliefs are causing him to endure, in America, because God is everywhere. "I don’t think so"Take a look at the lady and her family that were operating an Atheist Origination in the United States. She had collected several million dollars, each with the word God on it. As I understand it, her and her family were killed for all those copies of the word God.I have always wanted to ask an Atheist this question. If by chance there is a God and there is a judgment day. Will you say to God? When I was alive on earth I had the choice to believe in you and abide by your commandment's. "I chose not to believe" Now, God, I will accept any punishment you have for me with out complaint or excuse for my actions. Could any one of them give me the simple answer, "YES"? END.
3. Comments to the above:
Leo said... Your religion has taught you false things about what atheism is. You say that atheists are hypocrites for not trying to purge themselves of all things related to god. Unfortunately you miss the entire point of atheism, atheism is not about hating god or being free of god. It is about not being fanatical about your beliefs and tolerating those of other people. Unlike a religion, there is no clause about atheism being the only correct belief, so it does not bother us in the least that we continually interact with things related to god.So what if there is a god? Firstly, I would be very surprised, and then I would say to him:"As you know, I did not believe in you while I was alive, however, I led a good life, I was fair to others, helped those less fortunate, and did not do unjust things. If you send me to hell now, how are you better than a petty dictator like we have so many of on earth?" END.
4. Answer, Fanatical! Tolerating! Atheists are the ones removing the 10 Commandments from public property when the majority of the people want it there. Who is not tolerating the beliefs of others? END.

5. SENTENTIAL WISDOM
THE following is a collection of sentential sayings (sayings in a single sentence) which may give you food for thought
Every kind of effort is useful except worry.
Ignorance is the hardest thing in the world to discover, especially your own; only the very wise can see it.
As most insane people think they are sane, so the fool is surest of his knowledge.
The best mirror in which to see yourself is your Work.
The seed of all Tragedy is a failure in Courage.
"To the hero there is no tragedy" (Maeterlinck).
"Butterflies are the souls of torn-up love letters" (Victor Hugo).
Only the great realize their littleness.
The only way to get anywhere is to start from where you stand.
"It is never too late for the soul of man" (Olive Schreiner).
Appreciation is to the human soul what the rain from heaven is to the plant.
The only practical use of Death is to show us what is worth while in Life.
"It takes two to tell the truth" (Thoreau).
There is but one sensible prayer it is to know the Will of God.
All there is to Efficiency is to know what are Essentials and do them, and to know what things are Nonessential, and let them alone.
You cannot prevent Evil Thought from knocking at your door, but you need not let him in.
Being Good is as much a matter of practice as playing the violin.
There is but one quality we are to hate. It is Egotism. And it has a thousand disguises.
Only the useful is beautiful. Only the beautiful is useful.
Love is not blind. Love is the only thing that can see.
Man is like a bicycle; he is safe from falling off only as he keeps going on.
The best antiseptic is health.
The best way to kill a lie is to keep on telling it.
Sincerity is more convincing than eloquence.
The bitterest pessimists are the young. For one soured old man I can show you ten soured young men.
The first and easiest noise to make is crying; and people can criticize, complain and croak who cannot do anything else.
No one is so much a slave to habit as Nature; the sun never rises in the West.
Success may be an accident, but Failure is always a habit.
There is no intelligent Faith that has not grown out of honest Doubts.
A fault acknowledged is half cured.
Do unto yourself as you would that others do unto you.
Education consists in correcting the errors of Common Sense.
No good literature was ever produced by one who wrote about people or things he did not know and did not love. END

6. THINGS YOU CAN LIVE WITHOUT
RUSKIN once said people could live without pictures, but they could not live so well. There are many things in life without which people can live, but not so well. Man is a creature of infinite want, but of remarkably few needs. The machinery of his life is immensely complicated, but surprisingly little keeps it running. The animal needs that keep life in his body are soon met. But it is in the margin beyond these that all that makes man a higher being takes place.
The beauty of music is one of the things you can live without. Life goes on even if the soul is never touched by the tenderness of song. Life goes on, but it does not go on the same. Something irreplaceable is lost.
Travel broadens and enlarges a man's life, but it is not necessary to it. The writer once talked to an old woman in the Kentucky mountains. She had lived in the same spot for over sixty years and had been only twice to a town five miles away.
Education is one of the things you can live without. A man may never have read a sentence in his life and yet may live longer than one who is widely read. He may live longer, but not so well!
Fine, worthwhile literature, the real food of the soul, can be entirely neglected. You can live all your life and never hear the name of Shakespeare. All the richness of the great minds of the past, the real legacy of older days, may never be heard of, but life goes on. Man can exist without religion. His body goes on living even though his soul is never awakened. The love and appreciation of flowers, of birds, of the wide, clean beauty of nature, can be entirely left out of his life, and still it continues.
One of the chief evils of poverty is that it means that "the things you can live without" often have to be discarded for the bare necessities. Like those born blind who cannot conceive of color or those born deaf who cannot imagine sound, those who never experience "the things you can live without" rarely miss them. They live on without them. But they do not live so well. END.

7. GOD'S PHONOGRAPH
ONE time, in my dream, a man showed me God's phonograph. It was a little box made of time and light and feeling, all wrought of gold and lily work. He told me that this phonograph contained a record of every word I had ever uttered, of every thought that had ever found place in my consciousness, of every love and hate that had vibrated from my heart.
"Whenever you talk," he said, "you are not speaking into empty space, but there is a spirit by your side which holds before your lips this machine. The recording apparatus in it turns unceasingly, and every emotion of your being is caught and held.
"Here is a row of keys. Press the appropriate key and you can hear again what took place at any period of your life."
This was curious. I pressed one key and heard myself crying and babbling at the age of six. I pressed another key and heard my recitation in school at the age of ten. By pressing other keys I heard my former episodes of anger, of love, of aspiration and of folly.
After I had listened a while I had a strong feeling of depression.
"Take it away," I said. "It makes me sick."
And the man asked, " Why do you say that?"
I answered, " My chief sentiment is pity. I am sorry for the soul to whom I have listened. He was so ignorant, so mistaken, so lacking in foresight, and there are few feelings worse than self-pity."
"Do you think, then," he said, "that God's feeling towards all men is one of pity, perhaps contempt? "
" I do, now," I replied.
"But," he answered, as he put the instrument away, "that is where you are mistaken. You have partial wisdom; God has perfect wisdom. Your difficulty is that you judge what took place at a former time as if you had done it at your present age. But the quality of any act depends upon the period of growth at which the person is who does the act. To you life is a series of errors; to God it is a continuance of growth. The gardener is not disgusted with a tree because it was once a sapling, nor with a flower because it was once a bud. Neither is the Creator angry with men because they were once more imperfect than they now are. Growth is the law of life, and growth implies imperfection. The Creator does not make any life perfect; he makes it to become perfect. Whatever is alive grows. Cling to that word 'growth,' it is the key that unlocks the Universe.
The Creator is not displeased with the human creatures He has made. He makes no mistakes. Our apparent mistakes are a part of his plan."
For all that, I should not want to listen often to God's phonograph. END.

8. DUST
WHEN I go along the crowded street I am greeted everywhere by whirls of dust. I find my shoes covered with it. Horses kick it up and it is everywhere, even in my lungs. This dust, however, is a remarkable thing. Out of it comes all that grows; the trees, the flowers and the crops all spring from it.
What is it? The decayed and disintegrated results of former life. All that lives must find its final abiding place in dust. The death of all things, however, is not so remarkable as the birth of new things out of this common element.
I myself am a product of dust, for He who created me made my body out of the dust of the ground. A man is just as much a growth of the soil as a tree. His evolution has only been a little longer. By and by he must return to the dust from which he came.
This dust, therefore, contains in itself the potentialities of all being. In it are the trees, birds, flowers and men of the future. How many times in the past has this Dust been a man, tree, animial, flower or any other living thing ?
It is a symbol of myself. For what is personality but a something or other composed of things, we know not what?
What are ideas and thoughts but things that have found lodgment in us and have floated to us from somewhere?
I have no original ideas. The very words I use are the detritus from others' ideas. And the very passions of my body and soul are but a temporary grouping of certain sensations that belong to the human race.
It is an interesting spectacle to watch human beings and all the growths that surround them, whether of plants or animals, rhythmically rising from the dust and settling back again. All life and growth as we know it, is but an episode. If there were no new births, all things would go speedily back to the dust from which they came.
Dust, therefore, is a remarkable substance, containing in itself not only the death of all living things, but the potentialities of their regeneration. END.

2004-11-18T21:39:00.000-08:00

9. THE NEW ENGLAND STATES KEEP CRYING. EDITORIAL

It seems like we have to listen to the residents of the New England States complaining about the high cost of heating fuel every year. When the oil embargo took place in the mid 70’s I was burning #2 fuel oil when the price went out of sight and I spent $1,500.00 for one heating season. The next year I switched to wood for heating and I could get by paying less than $200.00.

Years later we switched back to #2 fuel oil. I knew that fuel prices would go up in the winter and the colder the temprature the higher the price would go. It doesn’t take many smarts to know that if I had 2 or 3 of the 365 gal fuel oil tanks full at the start of winter I would make it through most of the winter with out buying fuel. The savings, of the difference in summer price and the peak winter price paid for the tanks in a couple years.

If almost everyone in New England would have enough fuel to last most of the winter, at the start of winter, the peak price would drop down. The fact that users do not want to own their own storage, it forces the oil companies to own it. The oil companies charge the consumer for the use of their storage year after year after year.

The New Englanders, by their own actions, create their own high prices and create an artificial high demand during the winter when it is not necessary. As I see it, they are, the problem, as well as the answer. Why should the rest of us listen to people complain about their problem that they themselves can fix and in the process save their own money.

A good recommendation would be for any one that uses fuel oil or propane to double or triple their own storage capacity. This would help get you over the winter high demand hump. A side benefit would be that the fuel truck would make less trips to your location and use less diesel fuel in the winter. If large numbers of home owners would have filled up last summer the truck diesel fuel might be cheaper and you would be paying less at stores that now pay a fuel surcharge, passed along to you. END.

2004-11-18T21:37:00.000-08:00

2. ATHEISTS, ARE NOT TRUE ATHEIST EDITORIAL

Have you ever really thought about an atheist and their beliefs?
They try every chance they get to remove any trace of God or Religion from the American way of life. They try to force their beliefs on us by arming themselves with ammunition taken from our own Constitution and using that ammunition to shoot down our own beliefs. I sometimes find that the ones who complain the most, are the ones that have the least to complain about in the first place.

If we are to believe an atheist and his sincerity, we must ask one question. How can you live in America? An atheist is not a true Atheist. His statements are only used for his personal goals. I think you will find atheists do not object to every thing about God, almost every town has a Ten Commandments monument on public property. They do not make sure that every single one of them is removed in the United States.

If an Atheist is a true believer, he or she could not have a copy of the word "God" on his person. If you check his clothes, I am sure he would have many copies of the word "God" on him. He could not eat, pay bills or purchase any thing. He could not work or receive any Social Security when he retires. In general he could not do any thing that requires the use of American Money, since all American money has the word God on it.

Would he ever leave America because of the problems his beliefs are causing him to endure, in America, because God is everywhere. "I don’t think so"

Take a look at the lady and her family that were operating an Atheist Origination in the United States. She had collected several million dollars, each with the word God on it. As I understand it, her and her family were killed for all those copies of the word God.

I have always wanted to ask an Atheist this question. If by chance there is a God and there is a judgment day. Will you say to God? When I was alive on earth I had the choice to believe in you and abide by your commandment's. "I chose not to believe" Now, God, I will accept any punishment you have for me with out complaint or excuse for my actions. Could any one of them give me the simple answer, "YES"? END.

2004-11-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

1. MEN THAT STEAL. EDITORIAL

I found out about a burglary involving 3 or 4 individuals, could be more. When a man decides to burglarize someone‘s property he has tunnel vision. All he can see is what he can gain and not what he is putting up to loose if he is caught. Give this some thought, if they get a few hundred dollars or several thousand dollars, how much have they really gotten?

For the rest of his life he will have the stolen property. Oh! he may sell it, but he will still have the money from the stolen property. Maybe he will give it away, that doesn’t work either, he may not have possession, but he is still the thief that took it. More than likely he will not give it or sell it to a stranger, I am sure it would be a friend, relative or some one he knew. I don’t know about you, but I would not want a friend or relative that will give me or sell to me stolen property. If I can’t trust my friends or relatives more than that, I don’t want them either and we will part forever.

The only way for him to remove that black spot from his conscience is to return the same item he took or pay the replacement cost. Sorry but that is the only way for him to undue what he has stolen. What he has stolen will always be stolen property, even if it is around a hundred years from now and even if a hundred people have owned it.

When the man brings home something that he has stolen, half of the stolen property now belongs to his wife. Minnesota law states that a husband and wife each own half of what they have together. Now you have a wife that was not a participant in the burglary, receiving stolen property taken by her husband. I think at least 90 % of the wives would be furious with their husbands, made them an accessory to burglary. A wife will know when a husband comes home with things costing more than their budget will allow.

I wonder if the man thinks of what his wife and family will do with him in jail. Does he expect the wife to earn enough money to pay all the bills with him setting and doing nothing all day long. Will a wife really want to stay married to a man who has put her in this situation. For me, I would not stay married to someone that would make stolen property more important than our marriage, family and friends.

The day will come when he is the person who is burglarized, do you think he will say "years ago I invaded someone's home and burglarized it and took "what I wanted" so it is only fair that the same is done unto me and I will not say a bad word about them." "I don’t think so" He will be screaming the loudest about his missing property and the invasion of his privacy. How strange it is, this man of two faces.

My advice to any woman, tell your man that he has only one chance to steal, if he uses it, you will be gone. When my grandson tells me he found something, my advice is this, " If it was not yours before you found it. It is not yours after you found it." When you find something, you are only the care taker of that item until you can find it’s real owner. If you don’t want to take the time and energy to find the real owner, do not pick it up. Let it lay for some one else to "find," let some one else steal it. You will not find any material thing that is worth stealing, when you think about what you could loose if you get caught. Keep in mind that in this day and age, hidden cameras and people with camcorders are all over the place. END.

2004-11-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

WHY I LOVE YOU

THUS said a lover to his lass: Why do I love you?

I don't know.

I never intended to love YOU. I did not deliberately set about it. Love came to me, "out of the nowhere." I was struck by it as by a stray bullet. It seems a kind of divine accident.

It is not because you are beautiful. You were not beautiful, to me, until I loved you. Now every feature of you is beautiful, every way you have. Beauty does not beget love; love begets beauty.
I love you because you are different from all other persons in the world. Love has individualized you. You are as peculiar to me as I am to myself. You seem a rare pearl the like of which nobody except me ever found. You are a treasure trove.

I love you because you will not let me be. You haunt me, follow me, dwell forever in the back of my mind. I cannot get rid of you. I am conscious of you, standing there among my thoughts, even as I am conscious of myself.

Nothing you have done makes me love you. Please do not ever try to do anything to make me love you. All you need is to be yourself. The more nearly you come to perfectly, freely expressing yourself the more charming you are.

Any adornment you put on interferes. Any effort you put forth to make yourself attractive is a false note. Your jewels, ribbons, rings I merely endure them. The more completely you are just yourself the more you appeal to me.

I love you because going on living without you would be unbearable. You have entwined yourself in my destiny. We are not two separate units side by side. We have combined into one personality by a sort of spiritual chemistry. We, having loved, are as different from what we were before love's fire fused us as water is different from the two gases that compose it.

I love you because you have captured my future.

I love you because you have changed the world. Once it was a mere place; now it is a home, comfortable, warm, light.

I love you because you arouse my better self. Your love keeps me from lapsing into a lower plane. You make me generous, loyal, thoughtful, punctilious in honor, patient, strong. When I think of you I must be the best I can be.

I love you because to me you are the most significant expression of the eternal. In your face I see the infinite. Through you, by you, I climb up from the brute to the human. Through you I get glimpses of the divine. END.

2004-11-03T17:09:00.000-08:00

RAIN MAKER GOOD

THE little parish of Yellowdale farmers, had long been without a minister. One day Rev. Mr. Surely visited the village, and was asked to stay over Sunday and preach to them. The people were pleased with his sermons, and some were anxious to have him stop. A meeting was called to know the mind of the parish. "I don't see any use in having a minister," said Sharp, a rich old farmer. "A parson can't learn me anything. If we've any money to spare, we better lay it out in something that will bring a fairer return."

The Sabbath loving part of the people argued strongly against him. "Well," answered Sharp, not choosing to show himself convinced, "I've heard tell of ministers that could pray for rain, and bring it; if we could hit on one of that sort I'd go in for hiring him."

Mr. Sharp was a man of consequence, and the younger and less knowing of his neighbors were quite taken with the idea. "That would be a minister worth having," they thought. And after much talk, it was agreed to have, Mr. Surely upon this condition, that he would give them rain, or fair weather, when they wanted it; for their farms often suffered both from severe droughts
and heavy rains.

Mr. Surely was immediately waited upon by a committee of the parish, who soon came back, bringing the minister with them. "I will accept your terms upon one condition," said he, "that you must agree upon what sort of weather you want." This appeared reasonable, and matters were arranged for a year's stay at Yellowdale.

Weeks passed on, bringing midsummer heats. For three weeks it had not rained, and the young corn was beginning to curl with drought. Now for the minister's promise. "Come," said Sharp, with one or two others, whose hilly farms were suffering, "we need rain; you remember your promise." "Certainly," answered the minister, "call a meeting."

A meeting was called. "Now, my friends," said the pastor, "what is it you want?" "Rain, rain," shouted half a dozen voices. "Very well, when will you have it?" "This very night, all night long," said Sharp, to which several assented. "No, no ; not tonight," cried Mr. Smith.

"I've six or seven tons of well made hay out. I would not have it wet for anything." "So have I," added Mr. Peck. "No rain tonight." "Will you take it tomorrow?" asked the minister. But it would take all tomorrow to get it in. So objections came up for the next two or three days. "In four days, then?" said Mr. Surely. "Yes," cried Sharp, "all the hay will be in, and no more be cut till" "Stop, stop," cried Mrs. Sharp, pulling her husband smartly by the sleeve, "that day we have set to go to Snowhill.

It mustn't rain then." In short, the meeting resulted in just no conclusion at all, for it was found quite impossible to agree. "Until you make up your minds." said the pastor, on leaving, "we must all trust in the Lord."

Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Peck got their hay in, but the day the Sharps were to go to Snowhill it began to rain in good earnest. Sharp lost his visit, but his crops gained. END.

2004-10-29T22:08:00.000-07:00

If you like 3 minute stories try my other blog "minisermons.blogspot.com

2004-10-29T22:02:00.000-07:00

MY MOTHER DEAR.

THERE was a place in childhood that I remember well,
And there a voice of sweetest tone bright fairy tales did tell,
And gentle words, and fond embrace, were given with joy to me,
When I was in that happy place upon my mother's knee.
When fairy tales were ended, "Good night," she softly said,
And kissed, and laid me down to sleep, within my tiny bed,
And holy words she taught me then-methinks I yet can see
Her angel eyes, as close I knelt beside my mother's knee.
In the sickness of my childhood, the perils of my prime,
The sorrows of my riper years, the cares of every time,
When doubt and danger weighed me down, then pleading all for me,
It was a fervent prayer to Heaven that bent my mother's knee. END.

2004-10-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

MY GRANDMOTHER'S BIBLE. GREAT

THIS book is all that's left to me now,
Tears will unbidden start,
With faltering lip and throbbing brow
I press it to my heart.
For many generations past
Here is our family tree;
My grandmother's hands this Bible clasped,
She, dying, gave it to me.
Ah! well do I remember those
Whose names these records bear;
Who round the hearthstone used to close
After the evening prayer,
And speak of what these pages said,
In tones my heart would thrill!
Though they are with the silent dead,
Here are they living still!
My father read this holy book
To brothers, sisters, dear;
How calm was my poor mother's look
Who loved God's word to hear!
Her angel face, I see it yet!
What thronging memories comet
Again, that little group is met
Within the halls of Heaven!
Thou truest friend man ever knew,
Thy constancy I've tried;
When all were false,
I found Thee true,
My counselor and guide.
The mines of earth no treasures give
That could this volume buy;
In teaching me the way to live,
It taught me how to die! END.

2004-10-29T21:59:00.000-07:00

THE OLD FOLKS. GREAT

IF you would make the aged happy, lead them to feel that there is still a place for them where they can be useful. "When you see their powers failing, do not notice it. It is enough for them to feel it, without a reminder. Do not humiliate them by doing things after them. Accept their offered services, and do not let them see you taking off the dust their poor eyesight has left undisturbed, or wiping up the liquid their trembling hands have spilled; rather let the dust remain, and the liquid stain the carpet, than rob them of their self-respect by seeing you cover their deficiencies. You may give them the best room in your house, you may garnish it with pictures and flowers, you may yield them the best seat in your church-pew, the easiest chair in your parlor, the highest seat of honor at your table; but if you lead, or leave, them to feel that they have passed their usefulness, you plant a thorn in their bosom that will rankle there while life lasts. If they are capable of doing nothing but preparing your kindlings, or darning your stockings, indulge them in those things, but never let them feel that it is because they can do nothing else; rather that they do this so well.

Do not ignore their taste and judgment. It may be that in their early days, and in the circle where they moved, they were as much sought and honored as you are now; and until you arrive at that place, you can ill imagine your feelings should you be considered entirely void of these qualities, be regarded as essential to no one, and your opinions be unsought, or discarded if given. They may have been active and successful in the training of children and youth in the way they should go; and will they not feel it keenly, if no attempt is made to draw from this rich experience ?

Indulge them as far as possible in their old habits. The various forms of society in which they were educated may be as dear to them as yours are now to you; and can they see them slighted or disowned without a pang? If they relish their meals better by turning their tea into the saucer, having their butter on the same plate with their food, or eating with both knife and fork, do not in word or deed imply to them that the customs of their days are obnoxious in good society; and that they are stepping down from respectability as they descend the hillside of life. Always bear in mind that the customs of which you are now so tenacious may be equally repugnant to the next generation.

In this connection I would say, do not notice the pronunciation of the aged. They speak as they were taught, and yours may be just as uncourtly to the generations following. I was once taught a lesson on this subject, which I shall never forget while memory holds its sway. I was dining, when a father brought his son to take charge of a literary institution. He was intelligent, but had not received the early advantages which he had labored hard to procure for his son; and his language was quite a contrast to that of the cultivated youth. But the attention and deference he gave to his father's quaint though wise remarks, placed him on a higher pinnacle in my mind, than he was ever placed by his worldwide reputation as a scholar and writer. END.

2004-10-29T21:53:00.000-07:00

CARD FILE

In that place between wakefulness and dreams, I found myself in the room. There were no distinguishing features except for the one wall covered with small index card files. They were like the ones in libraries that list titles by author or subject in alphabetical order.

But these files, which stretched from floor to ceiling and seemingly endlessly in either direction, had very different headings. As I drew near the wall of files, the first to catch my attention was one that read "Boys I have Liked". I opened it and began flipping through the cards. I quickly shut it, shocked to realize that I recognized the names written on each one. And then without being told, I knew exactly where I was.

This lifeless room with its small files was a crude catalog system for my life. Here were written the actions of my every moment, big and small, in a detail my memory couldn't match. A sense of wonder and curiosity, coupled with horror, stirred within me as I began randomly opening files and exploring their content. Some brought joy and sweet memories; others a sense of shame and regret so intense that I would look over my shoulder to see if anyone was watching.

A file named "Friends" was next to one marked "Friends I have Betrayed". The titles ranged from the mundane to the outright weird. "Books I Have Read", "Lies I Have Told", "Comfort I Have Given", "Jokes I Have Laughed At". Some were almost hilarious in their exactness: "Things I've Yelled at My Brothers". Others I couldn't laugh at: "Things I Have Done in My Anger", "Things I Have Muttered Under My Breath at My Parents".

I never ceased to be surprised by the contents. Often there were Many more cards than I expected. Sometimes fewer than I hoped. I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the life I had lived. Could it be possible that I had the time in my life to write each of these thousands or even millions of cards? But each card confirmed this truth. Each was written in my own handwriting. Each signed with my signature. When I pulled out the file marked "Songs I Have Listened To", I realized the files grew to contain their contents.

The cards were packed tightly, and yet after two or three yards, I hadn't found the end of the file. I shut it, shamed, not so much by the quality of music, but more by the vast amount of time I knew that file represented.

When I came to a file marked "Lustful Thoughts", I felt a chill run through my body. I pulled the file out only an inch, not willing to test its size, and drew out a card. I shuddered at its detailed content.

I felt sick to think that such a moment had been recorded. An almost animal rage broke on me. One thought dominated my mind: "No one must ever see these cards! No one must ever see this room! I have to destroy them!" In an insane frenzy I yanked the file out. Its size didn't mattered now. I had to empty it and burn the cards.

But as I took it at one end and began pounding it on the floor, I could not dislodge a single card. I became desperate and pulled out a card, only to find it as strong as steel when I tried to tear it. Defeated and utterly helpless, I returned the file to its slot. Leaning my forehead against the wall, I let out a long, self-pitying sigh. And then I saw it. The title bore "People I Have Shared the Gospel With".

The handle was brighter than those around it, newer, almost unused. I pulled on its handle and a small box not more than three inches long fell into my hands. I could count the cards it contained on one hand. And then the tears came. I began to weep. Sobs so deep that the hurt started in my stomach and shook through me. I fell on my knees and cried. I cried out of shame, from the overwhelming shame of it all. The rows of file shelves swirled in my tear-filled eyes.

No one must ever, ever know of this room. I must lock it up and hide the key. But then as I pushed away the tears, I saw Him. No, please not Him. Not here. Oh, anyone but Jesus. I watched helplessly as He began to open the files and read the cards. I couldn't bear to watch His response. And in the moments I could bring myself to look at His face, I saw a sorrow deeper than my own. He seemed to intuitively go to the worst boxes. Why did He have to read every one?

Finally He turned and looked at me from across the room. He looked at me with pity in His eyes. But this was a pity that didn't anger me. I dropped my head, covered my face with my hands and began to cry again. He walked over and put His arm around me.

He could have said so many things. But He didn't say a word. He just cried with me. Then He got up and walked back to the wall of files. Starting at one end of the room, He took out a file and, one by one, began to sign His name over mine on each card.

"No!" I shouted rushing to Him. All I could find to say was "No, no," as I pulled the card from Him. His name shouldn't be on these cards. But there it was, written in red so rich, so dark, so alive. The name of Jesus covered mine. It was written with His blood. He gently took the card back. He smiled a sad smile and began to sign the cards.

I don't think I'll ever understand how. He did it so quickly, but the next instant it seemed I heard Him close the last file and walk back to my side. He placed His hand on my shoulder and said, "It is finished." I stood up, and He led me out of the room. There was no lock on its door.
There were still cards to be written . . . . . "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13

This story is the best e-mail story I have ever read. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." END.

2004-10-19T21:39:00.004-07:00

WHY I LOVE YOU
THUS said a lover to his lass: Why do I love you?
I don't know.

I never intended to love YOU. I did not deliberately set about it. Love came to me, "out of the nowhere." I was struck by it as by a stray bullet. It seems a kind of divine accident.

It is not because you are beautiful. You were not beautiful, to me, until I loved you. Now every feature of you is beautiful, every way you have. Beauty does not beget love; love begets beauty.

I love you because you are different from all other persons in the world. Love has individualized you. You are as peculiar to me as I am to myself. You seem a rare pearl the like of which nobody except me ever found. You are a treasure trove.

I love you because you will not let me be. You haunt me, follow me, dwell forever in the back of my mind. I cannot get rid of you. I am conscious of you, standing there among my thoughts, even as I am conscious of myself.

Nothing you have done makes me love you. Please do not ever try to do anything to make me love you. All you need is to be yourself. The more nearly you come to perfectly, freely expressing yourself the more charming you are.

Any adornment you put on interferes. Any effort you put forth to make yourself attractive is a false note. Your jewels, ribbons, rings I merely endure them. The more completely you are just yourself the more you appeal to me.

I love you because going on living without you would be unbearable. You have entwined yourself in my destiny. We are not two separate units side by side. We have combined into one personality by a sort of spiritual chemistry. We, having loved, are as different from what we were before love's fire fused us as water is different from the two gases that compose it.

I love you because you have captured my future.

I love you because you have changed the world. Once it was a mere place; now it is a home, comfortable, warm, light.

I love you because you arouse my better self. Your love keeps me from lapsing into a lower plane. You make me generous, loyal, thoughtful, punctilious in honor, patient, strong. When I think of you I must be the best I can be.

I love you because to me you are the most significant expression of the eternal. In your face I see the infinite. Through you, by you, I climb up from the brute to the human. Through you I get glimpses of the divine. END.

2004-10-19T21:39:00.003-07:00

RAIN MAKER GOOD
THE little parish of Yellowdale farmers, had long been without a minister. One day Rev. Mr. Surely visited the village, and was asked to stay over Sunday and preach to them. The people were pleased with his sermons, and some were anxious to have him stop. A meeting was called to know the mind of the parish. "I don't see any use in having a minister," said Sharp, a rich old farmer. "A parson can't learn me anything. If we've any money to spare, we better lay it out in something that will bring a fairer return."

The Sabbath loving part of the people argued strongly against him. "Well," answered Sharp, not choosing to show himself convinced, "I've heard tell of ministers that could pray for rain, and bring it; if we could hit on one of that sort I'd go in for hiring him."

Mr. Sharp was a man of consequence, and the younger and less knowing of his neighbors were quite taken with the idea. "That would be a minister worth having," they thought. And after much talk, it was agreed to have, Mr. Surely upon this condition, that he would give them rain, or fair weather, when they wanted it; for their farms often suffered both from severe droughts
and heavy rains.

Mr. Surely was immediately waited upon by a committee of the parish, who soon came back, bringing the minister with them. "I will accept your terms upon one condition," said he, "that you must agree upon what sort of weather you want." This appeared reasonable, and matters were arranged for a year's stay at Yellowdale.

Weeks passed on, bringing midsummer heats. For three weeks it had not rained, and the young corn was beginning to curl with drought. Now for the minister's promise. "Come," said Sharp, with one or two others, whose hilly farms were suffering, "we need rain; you remember your promise." "Certainly," answered the minister, "call a meeting."

A meeting was called. "Now, my friends," said the pastor, "what is it you want?" "Rain, rain," shouted half a dozen voices. "Very well, when will you have it?" "This very night, all night long," said Sharp, to which several assented. "No, no ; not tonight," cried Mr. Smith.
"I've six or seven tons of well made hay out. I would not have it wet for anything." "So have I," added Mr. Peck. "No rain tonight." "Will you take it tomorrow?" asked the minister. But it would take all tomorrow to get it in. So objections came up for the next two or three days. "In four days, then?" said Mr. Surely. "Yes," cried Sharp, "all the hay will be in, and no more be cut till" "Stop, stop," cried Mrs. Sharp, pulling her husband smartly by the sleeve, "that day we have set to go to Snowhill.

It mustn't rain then." In short, the meeting resulted in just no conclusion at all, for it was found quite impossible to agree. "Until you make up your minds." said the pastor, on leaving, "we must all trust in the Lord."

Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Peck got their hay in, but the day the Sharps were to go to Snowhill it began to rain in good earnest. Sharp lost his visit, but his crops gained.

And so it happened once or twice again. The year rolled by, and the people could never all agree upon what kind of weather they wanted. Mr. Surely, of course, had no occasion to fulfill his part of the contract, and the result was that they began to open their eyes to the fact that this world would be a strange place if its inhabitants should govern it.

They saw that nature's laws could be safely trusted in the hands of nature's God. At the close of the year the minister spoke of leaving. This the people would not listen to. "But I cannot stay under the old contract," said he. "Nor do we want you to," said Sharp. much humbled; "only stay and teach us and our children how to know God and obey his laws."
"And all things above our proper sphere," added the pastor, "we will leave with God; for he doeth all things well." END.

2004-10-19T21:39:00.002-07:00

MOTHER'S VACANT CHAIR. GREAT
I GO a little farther on in your house, and I find the mother's chair. It is very apt to be a rocking-chair. She had so many cares and troubles to soothe, that it must have rockers. I remember it well. It was an old chair, and the rockers were almost worn out, for I was the youngest, and the chair had rocked the whole family. It made a creaking noise as it moved, but there was music in the sound. It was just high enough to allow us children to put our heads into her lap. That was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries. Oh, what a chair that was!

It was different from the father's chair, it was entirely different. You ask me how? I cannot tell, but we all felt it was different. Perhaps there was about this chair more gentleness, more tenderness, more grief when we had done wrong. When we were wayward, father scolded, but mother cried. It was a very wakeful chair. In the sick day of children, other chairs could not keep awake; that chair always kept awake, kept easily awake. That chair knew all the old lullabies, and all those worldless songs which mothers sing to their sick children, songs in which all pity and compassion and sympathetic influences are combined.

That old chair has stopped rocking for a good many years. It may be set up in the loft or the garret, but it holds a queenly power yet. When at midnight you went into that grog-shop to get the intoxicating draught, did you not hear a voice that said, "My son, why go in there?" and a louder than the boisterous encore of the theater, a voice saying, "My son why go in here? " And when you went into the house of sin, a voice saying, " What would your mother do if she knew you were here?" and you were provoked at yourself, and you charged yourself with superstition and fanaticism, and your head got hot with your own thoughts, and you went home and you went to bed, and no sooner had you touched the bed than a voice said, "What a prayerless pillow!

"Man! what is the matter?" This! You are too near your mother's rocking-chair. "Oh, pshaw!" you say, "there's nothing in that. I'm five hundred miles off from where I was born, I'm three thousand miles off from the Scotch kirk whose bell was the first music I ever heard." I cannot help that. You are too near your mother's rocking chair. "Oh!" you say, "there can't be anything in that; that chair has been vacant a great while." I cannot help that. It is all the mightier for that; it is omnipotent, that vacant mother's chair. It whispers. It speaks. It weeps. It carols. It mourns. It prays. It warns. It thunders.

A young man went off and broke his mother's heart, and while he was away from home his mother died, and the telegraph brought the son, and he came into the room where she lay, and looked upon her face, and cried out, "O mother, mother, what your life could not do your death shall effect. This moment I give my heart to God." And he kept his promise. Another victory for the vacant chair. With reference to your mother, the words of my text were fulfilled: "Thou shalt be missed because thy seat will be empty." END.

2004-10-19T21:39:00.001-07:00

Blind Eyes.
A BLIND man was once asked if he had no desire that his sight should be restored to him; he answered boldly, "No; because Jesus says, If thine eye offend Thee, pluck it out. God probably saw that mine eyes would offend me, so as to endanger my soul, and so He has prevented this great evil, by plucking them out Himself; and I thank Him for it." END.

2004-10-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

Afraid to Swear Alone.
THE wicked practice of swearing, which is so common as to offend the ear in every hotel, and almost in every street, is often mere bravado. Boys think it sounds manly to be profane, and men think it gives force and character to their sayings. Unlike most other vices, it is done openly, and is intended by the swearer for other people's ears. It is a public sin against God, and a public insult to all good men. The boldest blasphemers are often the greatest cowards. "I will give you ten dollars," said a man to a profane swearer, "if you will go into the village graveyard at twelve o'clock, midnight tonight and swear the same oaths you have uttered, when you are alone with God." "Agreed," said the man; "an easy way to make ten dollars." "Well, come tomorrow, and say you have done it, and you shall have the money." Midnight came. It was a night of great darkness. As he entered the cemetery, not a sound was heard; all was still as death. The gentleman's words came to his mind. "Alone with God!" rang in his ears. He did not dare to utter an oath, but fled from the place, crying, "God be merciful to me a sinner!" END.

2004-10-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

AMERICAN JOBS GOING OVERSEAS EDITORIAL
It has been said that the person that complains the most about something is the person that has the least to complain about. Almost every day someone is blaming President Bush for sending jobs abroad. I think more of the blame should be placed on the specific individuals that are the true problem. "YOU" are the problem, take a look at all the labels that you have purchased in the last year. How many of those items were Made In America? How many items did you, yourself put back on the shelf and show your Personal Support of American Workers because they were "NOT" Made In America, in the past year?

Everybody blames the President because he is fair game. He can not defend himself against your comments because you are hiding, anonymously.

The specific reason why the big box stores of this country go overseas to have products made, is your American dollar. They have millions of share holders to feed with your dollars and they want as many excess dollars as they can get. "Store 1" can entice you into their specific store by saying "We Have The Lowest Prices." "Store 2" will go out and find laborers to work for even less. "Store 2" can now say, "We Have The Lowest Prices." The stores fight each other, offering lower prices. Where do you think the low prices come from? They come from lower wages paid to "WORKERS," do management and share holders take a cut in pay equal to the workers?
The huge big box stores can go to a manufacture and say we want lower prices because of the huge orders we place with you or we will go to another supplier. The manufacture has a choice, lower his price or lay off the workers making that order.

Do you have any idea what would happen to the big box department stores if you said, I will only buy American Made when I spend my American Dollars. They would have a fire sale trying to unload Foreign Goods with no customers to sell it to. There would be manufacturing plants popping up all over the United States. Unemployment would drop down, almost to "Zero." I know, you are going to say I cannot afford it. Let my neighbor buy American. That sounds good, but he is saying the same about you.

I do not know when it will happen, but I feel that our economy is like a 3 legged stool with one leg being manufacturing. If you take that one leg of manufacturing away, the stool will not stand up. The other 2 legs will also fall.

Our country is like your savings account, how long will you have money in your savings if you keep taking out more money than you are putting back in. How long can the drain of our American Dollars going to other Countries continue. You can see what "YOUR" lack of support for American workers has done to our American Manufacturing sector.

Each day, you have the ability to show your Loyalty and bring jobs back to America by the way you spend your dollars. Can one or a thousand people make the change, NO, it takes every single Citizen. END.

WHEN DID MAN BEGIN, A THEORY EDITORIAL

2004-10-15T14:08:00.000-07:00

WHEN DID MAN BEGIN, A THEORY EDITORIAL
Strange as it may sound some people still believe that God created the Universe in 7 of our 24 hour days. They say that God made all the Dinosaur bones and fossil records and put them on earth and that Dinosaurs have never lived. I feel that every one has the right to believe as they want.

The big bang took place about 14 billion years ago as the best estimate of our limited knowledge can be. Based on this time frame, Gods day would be about 2,333,333,333, that is 2 and a third billion, of our earth years is equal to one of Gods days. His hour is 96,222,222 of our years. His minute is 1,603,703 of our years. His second is 26,726 of our years. As you can see we have only started on Gods 7th day, His day of rest.

Some estimates say that the beginning of man started about 1 million years ago. This date is established by the fact of a humans ability to create and use tools. There is no evidence that animals could have ever shaped and used crude stone tools.

As I understand it there were 2 individuals, unknown to each other, that used the birth and death dates given in the bible to work backwards to Adams birth date. As I remember it, both men came up with the same year, the same month, but a different day. That was 2000 years before the birth of Christ. This is interesting when we have human, mummified remains from South America that have dated back to 35, 000 years ago.

The bible states that God placed Adam on earth toward the end of the 6th day. There is a belief that God picked up some earth and in an instant made Adams body, the same as our body is today. The question then becomes "how could any humans be living 31,000 years before the creation of Adam." The bible said that God made Adam in his likeness, does that mean that God has a body like ours? Is it possible that God made man in the likeness of his spirit or soul and the body was a place for God to put his likeness, the soul?

There is a possibility that people believing in Evolution and Christians need to come together. God could have use evolution for the path of putting Humans on earth. At some point in time God could have changed that being and gave him the ability to think. This could be the point where God created Adam

We already know that there are huge holes in the past historical record that we can not fill in. We do not know for sure the dates in which many of the things in the past took place. While this is only a theory, could it be true. END.

2004-10-15T14:04:00.000-07:00

ENERGY'S FUTURE EDITORIAL
Have you ever noticed that 2 groups of people form around each of the energy sources. The people who are against Carbon Dioxide from Coal do not seem to object to Carbon Dioxide from Ethanol plants. People against pollution from electric generating plants have not reduced their electric usage and started burring candles. People who complain about vehicle emissions have not left the city and gone to a place with out cars. People like to complain, but they will never come up with a solution to eliminate the problem they are complaining about.

The Wind Mill Farms have one group that is against them because 50 or 100 towers 200 feet tall located together cause an eye sore on the landscape. The other group wants more towers to provide renewable energy.

The Coal burning, Electric Generators have one group against the burning of Coal because it puts pollutants in the air as well as Carbon Dioxide gas, a Green House Gas. The advocates for Coal say it is the cheapest way to generate electricity and we have vast amounts of coal reserves. The Coal supply as I have heard will last about 500 years. Will humans be around when it runs out? What will we use for a replacement?

The Ethanol we produce from corn helps reduce pollution emitting from our cars and adds Millions and Millions of gallons to our automobile fuel supply. We can thank Ethanol for lower gas prices. What do you think the price of gas would be if we had to replace Ethanol with Gas from petroleum? With the good points said, the other side is this. I was told by a manager of an Ethanol plant that the molecule of Ethanol weighs the same as the molecule of Carbon Dioxide gas. The weight of the Ethanol produced at a plant is the same weight as the Carbon Dioxide ( a green house gas ) that is put into the atmosphere. An Ethanol plant producing about 40 million gallons of Ethanol per year would produce about 320 million pounds of Ethanol. It would also put into the atmosphere 320 million pounds of Carbon Dioxide each year.

Nuclear Power plants produce radio active waste. Those against Nuclear say that we can not prevent the release of radio active material and a Nuclear accident would kill untold numbers of people. Advocates say it has the least overall effects on the environment.

Natural Gas, something we take for granted. I can look ahead and see the day when all the natural gas is gone, will that be in 100 or 200 years? I don’t think the earth is producing it as fast as we are using it up. When its gone, all the gas pipe lines will be abandon. Electric Generating Companies now are converting Coal burning, electric generating plants to Natural Gas. This puts a higher demand on the pipeline system, higher gas cost for you, as well as reducing the gas available for home owners.

Oil, how long will it last is not as important as how will we control the demand to keep it in line with production. Some time in the future oil will run out, what will we use for a replacement. Today we are at the point where demand is greater than our ability to pump oil out of the ground. Think about the demand 5 years from now as demand grows faster than production, who is going to give up or reduce their consumption of oil. I think the railroads will start a comeback as they can transport huge volumes of freight for a tiny fraction of the fuel required by the trucking industry.

Hundreds of years from now when all the concentrated energy of Natural gas, Coal and Oil are gone, what will we use? How many Windmills will we need to build? I think, at that time the only energy resource will be Nuclear. We need to start looking to the future. END.

IT TAKES MONEY TO MAKE MONEY. EDITORIAL

2004-10-15T13:59:00.000-07:00

IT TAKES MONEY TO MAKE MONEY. EDITORIAL
It’s one of those things you do not seem to see so easily. Let us take the Credit Card industry as showing the way they transfer money from the average person that can not pay in full each month. A well to do person can pay in full the bill each month. The well to do persons have the use of the Credit Card Companies money for about a month. They may pay a small yearly fee if that. They do not pay for the cost of most of the statement and billing services. They pay no interest for the use of the money. BUT WHO PAYS? The person who can not pay the bill in full each month pays an outrageous high interest fee. This high interest fee goes to cover the billing cost for the well to do Credit Card holders that can pay each month. More than likely the well to do person is making monthly interest on his money and at the same time using other peoples money for FREE.

Take a Credit Card Company So and So, due dates would jump around and could change by as much as 14 days. I talked to the to one of the Customer Service Representatives and they said that the due dates are controlled by the computer. If the computer catches up on billing, then the date can be moved up by 8 days, this fluctuation caused some of my payments to be late. That late fee could run over $30.00 for one late payment. I called them back about 10 months later and told them that, "I feel they are moving the due date around so that I might have late payments that added to their over all bottom line." This lady told me that if I mail in a payment early the computer thinks I can mail in all my payments early and moves up the due date.
I will have to say this, that she could set my monthly payment due date to come on the same date every month. Only time will tell.

It is my belief that if every one could pay the full payment every month the Credit Card Companies would have to start charging every Card Holder a fee. That would cover the Card Holders use of the money they now use for Free. Can you see any Company loaning out money for a month plus the cost of statements, mailing costs and processing payments in return for Free? I think you can see how well money can be transferred from "The not so well to do" to "The well to do" END

HIGH COST HEALTH INSURANCE? EDITORIAL

2004-10-15T13:57:00.000-07:00

HIGH COST HEALTH INSURANCE? EDITORIAL
Here is one of the small Loop Holes. Let’s make up the JJJ Repair Co., with 250 employees. One of the benefits they offer is Health insurance. You put in your application and are hired. There policy is that they start the health insurance on the on the First Day of your Second Year of work with them. Of course they know that a large part of their work force is Seasonal. More than likely you will not be employed for the 365 days it takes to make the first year. So you will not have any Health insurance the first year. You can come back the next year and try again. Remember they are offering it, but how do you get it?

Let us say this time, they have work for you for several years. On the 366th day you get your insurance. With office calls running about $ 100.00 pr visit, you will not go during the first year unless it is something serious. Let us say during that first year Cancer started in one family member. Many Cancers grow quite large before they cause a problem or give an indication you have Cancer. Some time in your second wear of work, that person is Diagnosed with Cancer and it has had some time to grow. Now the Insurance starts to pay part of the bill, that is substantially higher than it should be because of the lack of going to the doctor for a physical each year. This Cancer might have been caught in it’s early stages had insurance coverage been provided.

When you started work for JJJ Repair Co., your job was working at the BBB Manufacturing Co. the customers factory, installing new plant windows. When JJJ Repair contracted with BBB Mfg. your wages were established. Included in the wages were Gig's expenses plus your benefits. I do not believe that JJJ Repair will go to BBB Mfg. on your 366th work day and say John Doe has worked one year and now I have to increase his wages enough to cover his benefit package. It is my belief that JJJ Repair has been collecting that benefit amount for the past year. Then on your 366th day JJJ Repair starts paying for your insurance.

This is the problem as I see it. JJJ Repairs has been collecting your insurance benefits from BBB Mfg. for the past year and putting the money into the Company as profit.

The sleeping insurance company that hasn't woke up yet, has seen a lost in there premium for 1 year, that money is in the pocket of the employer. The insurance company has seen a substantial increase in expenditures because the insured has not gone to the doctor in the past year. The Cancer that might have been caught in the early stages is to far along and the patient will pay with His or Her life

In a case like this, The Patient Forfeited There Live, early, the Insurance Co. had to charge all remaining Clients higher Insurance rates to cover the Loss. The fictitious JJJ Repair Co. Take half of the work force, working less than 366 days. Then take the 125 employees and multiply there years benefits cost, say $200.00 per month. This would be clear profit, about $ 300,000.00 per year with no expense attached to it, it’s free money. Is there a company like this operating in your town? END.

"WHY ME LORD, WHY ME ?" EDITORIAL

2004-10-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

"WHY ME LORD, WHY ME ?" EDITORIAL
Each one of us has a "BULLETIN BOARD OF LIFE" and on this bulletin board is posted many things. Some of those things we see and take the necessary action. Other notes are so small or buried so that we do not notice them and take no action.

When my wife was diagnosed with cancer, I felt so bad that I would loose her, for I know that every one has their day. After giving it some thought, I realized that it was not because I would loose her but it was that she knew when she might die. But for me, I might be killed in an accident so quick that I will not even know that I have died.

For her, God said " You are special to me, I am going to post this "CANCER" note on your "BULLETIN BOARD OF LIFE".

I want to give "YOU" that extra special time and a one time opportunity for you to be by my side, for eternity. You NOW have the opportunity to change eternity for yourself. But remember, I have given you the opportunity, what you do with it is entirely up to you.
You, like me would like to live forever, but that isn't possible. This is the time to make the best of the worst, so that you can live forever. To my "wife" I hope that you will listen to God and take advantage of this one time opportunity.

Prayer to God and the asking of forgiveness for our sins with sincerity, is absolutely necessary to complete your journey to heaven. Remember "A prayer a day" helps keep the "Devil" away. END.

DISABILITY AND YOUR MONEY. EDITORIAL

2004-10-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

DISABILITY AND YOUR MONEY. EDITORIAL
Let us take you for example. Say that you get an illness that is not job related and you will be off long enough that you employer can not keep your job open and hires a permanent replacement. After you have recovered you must find employment in order to feed you and your family. You may be forced into finding a different occupation. We all face this possibility and we accept it.
Now let us take a person that has an injury at work. The Doctor says that he is 100% disabled for the job he was doing. He then goes home to set and wait until he has the Doctors OK to go back to work. During that wait he will be doing all kinds of things that a person who is 100% disable should not be able to do.

This is the problem. That persons disability may not have any effect on his ability to do hundreds of other types of work. A person that normally works on his feet could have a broken leg and be in a wheel chair. There are thousands of jobs that are done by people setting in chairs.
I believe that a person is 100% disabled it they are a Quadriplegic. A Paraplegic would be only 50% disable. You must remember that a Doctors 100% disability only pertains to part of the jobs in the entire job market. While this person is 100% disable for the job he was doing, this same person is 100% capable of doing thousands of other jobs.

We as a society have let the Doctors take over control of Billions of Dollars of Workman's Comp and Insurance Payments and give the money away with out any strings attached. If a man is 100% disable and still capable of doing hundreds of other kinds of work, then a paraplegic would be 200% disable and a quadriplegic would be 400% disable.

As a voting society we must start taking control and elect officials that will require some type of service from people that are getting paid to do any thing they like with no responsibility.
There is a program that has the mentally challenged being picked up and transported to a work center and doing small and simple jobs that are difficult for them to do. We pay 100% for their needs. And at the same time there is a mentally challenged person that has the ability to repair Bicycles. He is also getting 100% of his expenses paid by your taxes but he has no responsibilities, he is free to come and go as he wants. This is as blatant a case of discrimination to mentally challenged as I have ever seen. At the same time a person who has the ability to do constructive work he is given his days free with no responsibility.

As a society we need to start requiring some kind of service or work for the free money we are giving out. As a worker you have to give up your time to make the money you get. Why shouldn’t we require them to do the same thing we have to do to get the money? This would also apply to thousands of people on Social Security Disability END.

THE KITCHENS OLD WOOD BOX

2004-10-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

THE KITCHENS OLD WOOD BOX
It was kept out in the kitchen, and 'twas long and wide,
And the poker hung above it and the shovel stood beside
And the big, black cook stove, grinnin' through its grate from ear to ear,
Seemed to look as if it loved it like a brother, pretty near.
Flowered oilcloth tacked around it kept its cracks and knotholes hid,
And a pair of leather hinges fastened on the heavy lid:
And it hadn't any bottom or, at least, it seemed that way
When you hurried in to fill it, so's to get outside and play.
When the noons was hot and lazy and the leaves hung dry and still,
And the locust in the pear tree started up his planin-mill.
And the drum-beat of the breakers was a soothin'. temptin roll,
And you knew the "gang" was waitin' by the brimmin "swimmin' hole"
Louder than the locust's buzzin', louder than the breakers roar,
You could hear the wood-box holler, "Come and fill me up once more!"
And the old clock ticked and chuckled as you let each armful drop,
Like it said, "Another minute, and you're nowheres near the top!"
In the chilly winter mornin's, when the bed was snug and warm,
And the frosted winders tinkled 'neath the fingers of the storm,
And your breath rose off the piller in a smoky cloud of steam
Then that wood-box, grim and empty, came a dancin through your dream,
Came and pounded at your conscience, screamed in aggravatin' glee,
"Would you like to sleep this mornin'? You git up and tend to me!"
Land! how plain it is this minute shed and barn and drifted snow,
And the slabs of oak a-waitin', piled and ready, in a row.
Never was a fishin' frolic, never was a game of ball,
But that mean, provokin' wood-box had to come and spoil it all,
You might study at your lessons, and 'twas full, and full to stay,
But jest start an Injun story, and 'twas empty right away,
Seemed as if a spite was in it, and although I might forgit
All the other chores that plagued me, I can hate that wood box yit:
And when I look back at boyhood-shakin' off the cares of men
Still it comes to spoil the picture, screamin' "Fill me up again!"
If I had my druthers, I wish I could go back and do it all again. END.

WHICH CAME FIRST, CHICKEN OR EGG. EDITORIAL

2004-10-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

WHICH CAME FIRST, CHICKEN OR EGG. EDITORIAL
That is an easy answer. "The Chicken" more than likely the slow and gradual development of Cells dividing until there was a division and the development of males and females and mating was necessary. I think the development from a live birth to a gradual coating of the egg with a shell was the normal path of development, then to a bird or animal that now starts laying eggs outside of the body. There is the possibility that birds and animals that lay eggs, started laying eggs without shells in the water. Gradually the animals could have started coating the eggs with a shell for protection against predators. Will we ever know how it happened? We know for sure that the egg did not come first. The chicken must have developed first, then he chicken developed its ability to lay a shell coated egg outside the body. END

POOR EVE TOOK ALL THE BLAME EDITORIAL

2004-09-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

POOR EVE TOOK ALL THE BLAME EDITORIAL
It seems strange to me that everyone thinks that if Eve had not eaten fruit from the forbidden tree there would not be any sin in the world today. God picked out only one tree from the entire Garden of Eden and said thou shall not eat from this one Tree of Life.
I have always wondered, if Eve had not eaten from the tree, how much time would go by before someone did eat from the tree. Let us say that all the people that have live between Adam and Eve and you today, did not eat from the tree, today would you be the first?
As it turned out Eve took the blame for everyone that was born after her, who might have eaten from the tree as she did. We will never know who we would have blamed if it had not been for Eve.
Not one of us has stopped to think about it, but that tree of forbidden fruit is with each and every one of us every day. We can not see it but it is there. Every time you do something that displeases God, it is the same as eating fruit from the forbidden tree. Gods laws are the 10 Commandments, they are the 10 trees that he has forbidden us to partake of, those are the things we should not do and know how to act. If you have not memorized all of the "10 Commandments" how can you know, you are not breaking them.
God said that if you break ONE of my laws it does not matter you have broken them ALL.
If you are making a sincere effort to get into heaven, you must do your best to make sure that you do not have ONE Sin. There is a song "Heaven’s Is Just A Sin Away" that says it all. God’s law is, no sins. We all know that is impossible for us Imperfect Humans to be perfect and we may sin every day with out knowing it. Each day we must ask for forgiveness for that day.
I think that God will look at how Sincere you are and how much effort you put forth each and every day to try and not displease GOD. We think that some religions are to strict when they pray several times a day. We on the other hand are not strict enough. Do we pray one, two or three times a week? END.

HAVE YOU LIVED BEFORE? EDITORIAL

2004-09-29T06:37:00.000-07:00

HAVE YOU LIVED BEFORE? EDITORIAL
I went to a used book store to look around and I pulled this book off the shelf. As I started to read the Forward I could not believe what I was reading. The author appeared to be a Christian and was saying that many believe in Reincarnation. He goes on to tell that Christians should take this into consideration.
I have read and heard that some people have been able to give an excellent detailed descriptions of events that have happened in the past and saying that they have lived before. My thinking is a little different. For a moment let us believe what they say. This person has lived in the past and has been Reincarnated, Oh! 1 or 2 times
This belief puts God in a difficult position, there are 3 possibilities. One, in both lives this individual has not abided by Gods laws and he surely will go to Hell, Second, in both lives he has abided by all Gods laws and he surely will go to Heaven. Third, in one of his 2 lives he abided by all of God’s laws and for that life he should go to Heaven, in his second life he did not abide by God’s laws and should go to Hell.
Based on his possible reincarnation he now has 2 or more bodies. In the Bible it states that when Jesus returns all dead bodies will be brought back to life. This is where his belief has given God a problem. God only has one Soul for 2 or more bodies. How can God divide the Soul. When you mix "2" things together into "1" it is like putting Sugar into Coffee and the "2" can not be separated with out its destruction.
When you think about it, do you really think God would allow this to happen?
I do feel that some people have a kind of perception of things that has yet to be explained.
This is a true story, we bought a miniature Schnauzer at 6 weeks old. Starting with the first night he slept at our house, he would roll over on his back with 4 feet sticking up in the air and go to sleep. He always slept on his back until he was an older dog. Someone contacted us about using him for stud service and we agreered. Our dog and theirs was together 2 times for a period of one hour. When the puppies were 6 weeks old we were called to come over for a pick of the litter. When we got there I noticed that some of the puppies were sleeping on their backs with feet sticking straight up in the air. I asked the people about the puppies sleeping on their backs. She said that all the puppies slept on their backs from the time of birth.
My question was, how did the personal preference of our dog, sleeping on its back, get transferred to the puppies who never seen him sleep, as our dog never slept in their house? I believe their is only one possibility, some how in the breeding process there was a transfer from the male to the female, the same way the genetic code in DNA is transferred and causes development and changes different than that of the mothers.
Another interesting point of view. Many people claim to know when Jesus will return. I know for a fact that Jesus will not return on any date declared by any Human. God will make sure that every date Proclaimed by man is wrong. AND YOU ? END

THE GREATNESS OF MOTHERING

2004-09-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

THE GREATNESS OF MOTHERING
There is no business in the world that requires greatness so much as mothering. Some successful mothers are not so very good, judged by conventional yardsticks, but no mother succeeds who is petty and narrow.
Children do not always respond to piety, to intellect, to love, and to care, but they always respond to greatness. But does not greatness imply these? Usually. Yet it is something beyond, an elusive something that we can easily recognize yet hardly define.
Greatness is a compound of wisdom and vision. Love is the road to it, yet love has many byways. The prime element in governing children is to realize, and thus induce them to realize, that the government is for their welfare and not for your satisfaction. The power and disposition to obliterate self is a characteristic of the great soul. Your mothering is to develop them, to make their moral sense grow, to cultivate their judgment and self; control. It is not to make them toe the mark, and so conduct themselves as not to bother mama.
If a woman is weak, vacillating, and selfish, she can no more conceal it from her children than she can hide a mole on her nose. One invariable trait of greatness is patience. In training children there is one thing worse than being wrong; it is being in a hurry. Impatience, especially if joined with great conscientiousness, is fatal to love. The mother ought to realize the immense advantage her age and experience give her, and never descend to the level of altercation with her little ones. She needs poise, firmness, and some of the all, forgiving nature of God.
She needs to know that it is her own personal nature that is going to impress her children more than any of her acts or precepts. It is good to tell the child what is right, that is, pretty good, but not much. It is better to create a household atmosphere wherein the child feels what is right.
It is not the mother's business to supply a code of conduct, it is her business to guide the child so that his own experience, the ripening of his own convictions, shall form such a code. For the only binding and permanent conscience is that which has grown with our growth. A mother should know that her strongest power is that of appreciation. It is not to reprove and punish. Those may be necessary at times, but appreciation is necessary all the time, as a constant, undimmed, matured radiation.
Hence never hesitate to express approval; but hesitate well before giving reproof. And one of the elements of a mother's task, calling for peculiar greatness of soul, is that she not only has to train her children when young, but she must prepare herself and them for the day when they will leave her.
Many a mother knows how to cling to her children, but not how to let them go. I have known some great mothers. I marvel at them. END.

HOW TO STEAL, LEGALLY EDITORIAL

2004-09-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

HOW TO STEAL, LEGALLY EDITORIAL
In the Faribault Daily News, June 30th Page 7A, is the article, "Teachers Rush To Retire In Texas." 10 Thousand of Texas Teachers and School Districts conspired to take advantage of a Social Security Loop Hole to allow teachers to collect Social Security benefits if their last day of work before retirement is in a job covered by Social Security and they worked one day in Janitorial or Maintenance jobs. If they were paid $18.00 an hour for one day, they would have paid in to Social Security about $11.02. They may get in return about $1,200.00 per month or $14,400.00 per year until they die. Please note that you and I are required to work 40 Quarters, 10 years or 2400 or more days to qualify. Margie Nancarrow a Junior High School principal Stated that "I’m not wanting to do anything extravagant, I just want to live a moodiest lifestyle and take care of myself and NOT BE A BURDEN ON ANYONE ELSE. This article is based only on the information in the Daily News article.
I may not have been good in school and even a blind person could see that a one time payment of $11.02 giving a return of $14,400.00 per year, 144,000.00 in ten years or $288,000.00 if she lives 20 years. She is a burden to the people who have or will pay their fair share. Does she not know where the money comes from, it comes on the backs of the workers over the next 10 or 20 years. 10,000 teachers will pay in about the same, ONE DAY, one time Payment of $11.02 the Social Security would have taken in, about $110,200.00. If the Social Security pays out about $1,200.00 per month or $14,400.00 per year. They would have paid out $140,000,000.00 the first year. That 140 million dollars a year will have to come out of the available money that should be going to the people that have paid in the required 10 years.
The article does not say if other states can qualify for this Loop Hole that has now closed. If only Texas teachers can qualify for this, it does not seem fair for 49 states to pump over $140,000,000.00 a year into one state and one select group of teachers. What about all the other teachers in Texas that do not qualify, it is only fair to say that they will loose $14,400.00 a year when they retire. Where is AARP in looking out for fair treatment for all current and future retirees. END.