SELF LOVE

"...men shall be lovers of their own selves..."

Lots of loving of self lately. Self is all I think of as I try to get to the commode or do the exercises prescribed, or wanting a hot cup of tea. Sis Lois says, "What's new!". I guess she is right, only now self can't be hidden by pleasant phrases or reciprocated by a kind gesture of my own.

I'm listening and learning.

Home...

Well, I'm home after a stay in the hospital for a hip repair. It is so good to be home with Max and Bailee worrying over me. Wayne is giving shots, cooking (or serving as so many are helping out with good food) laundry, and overseeing my every move. Every day goes better.

We're in different waters, but good to be home.

Wait . . .

"They also serve who only stand and wait."- John Milton

In 2 Samuel King David divides the spoil with those who were too exhausted to continue on the fight and were used to hold the line and wait. The main contingent complained when it came time to divvy up the stuff. David directs the stuff to be divided equally.

I suppose a matching analogy would be Paul's picture of the One Body of Christ where the smallest member is worthy of honor.

Call no man cheap for whom Christ died.

Jesus Christ gives value to all.

The small c . . .

Keep experimenting, and don't be afraid to combine the verbal with the visual. Don’t capitalize your I’s all over the place (or, at the very least, don’t let it swell your ego when you do.) -e.e. cummings, 1894 - 1962

So, let's not give c the capitalization it usually garners from its prey. It's serious, but it's not all.

Good intentions. . . Good enuf?

Townhall - When Good People Do Bad Things

Good intentions cause most of the world's great evils.

If you really want good to prevail, the key is wisdom, not the heart.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom" (Proverbs 9:10).

The quote below from Eliot seems to have truth in it too, but it is a lot more sinister about the human intention or rather no intention, just grandiosity of self.

"Half of the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important. They don't mean to do harm but the harm does not interest them" - T.S. Eliot, poet (1888-1965)

Which do you think is more true of the human condition?

Unto all longsuffering with joyfulness...

Bear Claw: You've come far pilgrim.

Jeremiah Johnson: Feels like far.

Bear Claw: Were it worth the trouble?

Jeremiah Johnson: What trouble?

(Jeremiah Johnson quote posted by Vanderleun, August 22,2010.)

"That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:10 - 14).

Bind my wandering heart. . .

When you are engulfed in sin, you are blind. No, not blind, but with tunneled vision. You see only the object of your desire, whether it is a drink or a vengeance or a lover or perhaps something so banal as your own exaltation.

Worse, with tunnel vision comes a queer kind of clarity, a crisp focus. You believe that you now see more clearly than you ever have before. This is a deception; when all you see is a glass of whiskey, you are more apt to notice the glistening drops of water on the rim, the swirl of a cloud within the drink, the way the light strikes its surface. You imagine you see the world with some special sight, but in truth you only see that miserable drink in that dingy bar; you don’t see the sunlight or hear the crying out of the world or notice that you are only a tunnel-blind wretch in a pit, a wretch who imagines he has discovered an exception to the law of creation, which is that sin brings curses.
WORLDmag.com Community Blog Archive Bind my wandering heart

Depth of mercy! can there be
Mercy still reserved for me?
Can my God His wrath forbear--
Me, the chief of sinners spare?

I have long withstood His grace,
Long provoked Him to His face,
Would not hearken to His calls,
Grieved Him by a thousand falls.

There for me my Saviour stands,
Holding forth His wounded hands;
God is love! I know, I feel,
Jesus weeps and loves me still.

(Charles Wesley, Tune: Aletta, William B. Bradbury)

Moon touch the earth?

Just amazed to see how things "work out" with relationships gone sour. Like my Mom said, "I wouldn't be surprised to see the moon come down and touch the earth." What a Great God we have! - Lois Greenlund

Lois is my sister...this is from a post on FaceBook after a bad day was replaced with a good day. God shows up and He is effectively working in those who believe (I Thessalonians 2:13), through His Word.

Mother's walk with this God produced great faith...God could do the impossible. It wouldn't surprise her. How about you?

Adios, Gray Lady

"Perhaps one picks up all newspapers in anticipation and puts them down in disappointment. But the New York Times, at no extra charge, also leaves one feeling one lives in immitigably dreary times, and it does so daily. I don’t need it. Cancel my subscription, please. Joseph Epstein" Adios, Gray Lady

I feel this about the newsgathers also...where is the important news?

I am so thankful for our young Pastor, who studies God's Word, and gives us some "real" stuff that is very GOOD NEWS to this sad, dreary world and its inhabitants. (You can hear Pastor Bryan on Grace Life Bible Church web site on right side of this page.)

P.S. Joe Epstein is always worth reading, and if he is off the NYT...well, not good news for them.

Doctors - A "dead parrot" profession?

The Doctor Will See You Now – Or Else! | The Doctor Is In

In Monty Python terms your profession is (was) much like the parrot:

‘E’s not pinin’! ‘E’s passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! ‘E’s expired and gone to meet ‘is maker! ‘E’s a stiff! Bereft of life, ‘e rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed ‘im to the perch ‘e’d be pushing up the daisies! ‘Is metabolic processes are now ‘istory! ‘E’s off the twig! ‘E’s kicked the bucket, ‘e’s shuffled off ‘is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT! : )

Let's hope not...my aches and pains are only increasing with increasing age! And all those medical insurance premiums that we paid for through the years are finally going to be needed...hopefully the Doctor will be in.

What remains. . . death of a child

What no one tells you is that in the months and years to come, people will forget, but you will not. Something in you has died as well, and it awaits resurrection with your child’s body. You will carry this hole in you all your days, and there are no words or heavenly equations to make it good, not so long as you breathe while your child does not.

WORLDmag.com Community What remains

Our first grandchild was stillborn. We do carry him with us every day...wondering what he would be doing...five years ago already. Our last breath will be with the expectation of seeing Jack. That's just the way it is.

Disaster can be our friend...

From David Warren:

A merciful God allows us to suffer the consequences of our stupidities, including especially our moral stupidities, even in this world. It does not always seem merciful at the time. But just as nature has a way of rectifying her imbalances -- painfully, perhaps, but effectively all the same -- so human nature contains the seeds of recovery. Disaster can be our friend.

davidwarrenonline.com - NEWSPAPER COLUMNS

Black Swan Theory

Black swan theory What is fragile should break early while it is still small. Nothing should ever become Too Big to Fail.
No socialisation of losses and privatisation of gains.
People who were driving a school bus blindfolded (and crashed it) should never be given a new bus.
Do not let someone making an "incentive" bonus manage a nuclear plant – or your financial risks.
Counter-balance complexity with simplicity.
Do not give children sticks of dynamite, even if they come with a warning.
Only Ponzi schemes should depend on confidence. Governments should never need to "restore confidence".
Do not give an addict more drugs if he has withdrawal pains.
Citizens should not depend on financial assets or fallible "expert" advice for their retirement.
Make an omelette with the broken eggs.

"If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." (written by Job, chapter 14:14, 1520 B.C.).

"Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (written by the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, 59 A.D.)

Impossible? Nothing is impossible to God! Call it a Black Swan if you want, I call it Good News!

Diet. . .

Someone said this, and it is a great rule of thumb: “Eat food. Not much, mostly plants.”

History Returns to Europe

Perhaps if everybody ends up about the same, regardless of effort or achievement, then life must be enjoyed mostly in the here and now. Why sacrifice for children, or put something aside for heirs, or worry over a judgment in the afterlife? The more the European Union talks about its global caring, the less likely its own citizens are to have children.
Victor Davis Hanson : History Returns to Europe - Townhall.com

Never grow old. . .

"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, We will remember them." ~ Laurence Binyon

Army Capt. Ed Arntson, Chicago at Arlington

Memorial Day

Washington at Valley Forge

Arnold Friberg, painter of the famous work “Prayer at Valley Forge,” died last week (July 2010) at the age of 96.

Truth. . . death to the ego...kind of tickles. . .

From One Cosmos. He reads books that I would not.

A sample of Gagdad's recent musings:

...it is hopeless to defer to biology as to the nature of Life as such. A biologist knows no more about the nature of life than a watchmaker does about the nature of time.

Or something like this, from a more recent post:

Truth must be sufferered... Why is that? Because to know a truth -- i.e., genuine objectivity -- is death to the ego. But once the ego is out of the way, it doesn't hurt at all. In fact, it kind of tickles.

(I've never regretted the loss of perceived truth to real truth. . . although I've never considered it to be like tickles. : ) - Linda)

Behavioral microchips. . .

English: I broke the glass.
French: J’ai caissez le verre.
Spanish: El vaso se cayó y se rompió. (The glass fell and broke itself).

While French and Italian form the responsible, accountable sentence as do other Indo-European languages, Spanish holds over the Arabic passive “not me!” form.

When an infant learns its mother tongue from its mother, these things get programmed into its little behavioral microchips.

Northern Europe and Northern Asia have formed us well.

(from pelaut comments on - Works and Days » Reflections on Small Town American by Victor Davis Hanson.)

Language...the Lord said to let your yes be yes and to let your no be no...and to be accountable. That's the language of what is true and what is not. You think? - Linda