This was part of the village at the Farms. The main attraction were three farms representing different eras of America’s past. It was a neat place to visit. Continue reading Living History Farms, Des Moines–Sept 2010
This like the other posts in the category is from the book entitled “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff… and it’s all small stuff” by Richard Carlson. It has many items that are particularly useful to us seniors. Our retirement years should be sweat free so to speak. Making peace with imperfection is something that I don’t have much of a problem with but I know several other seniors who still have a problem with things that are not perfect. My wife is one of them. Perfectionist seem to go through life fretting almost everything they encounter. Things like: dirty cars, … Continue reading No 2. Make Peace with Imperfection
Although I don’t focus very much on the Old Testament I have always been troubled about how it seems to condone slavery. There is an interesting article in USA Today about this topic. See it at In Civil War, the Bible became a weapon – USATODAY.com. Here is a little bit of it. God said so In the 1860s, Southern preachers defending slavery also took the Bible literally. They asked who could question the Word of God when it said, “slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling” (Ephesians 6:5), or “tell slaves to be submissive to their masters … Continue reading When the Bible becomes a weapon….
The concept of the Trinity was something that was invented many years after Christ’s ascension. It did not originate from Jesus but was invented more than one hundred years after is resurrection. It has, however, become a bedrock item in much of the Christian church. But it seems many church denominations have now replaced the Holy Spirit with the Bible. From my studies on this substitution seems to have significantly grown about 100 years ago but its actual inception was probably during the Protestant Reformation. During some recent discussion with a Christian clergy I was told that I should not put too much … Continue reading The Father, The Son, and the Holy Bible
I started getting the National Geographic magazine again. I used to look at them regularly when I was in grade school and high school many years ago but haven’t noticed them much since then. Many joke that older people like myself get NG because of the larger print. Personally speaking there is probably some truth to that. But it does have a lot of very interesting topics in between the covers and I have more time to read them now. This month there is also a large wall poster about the "World of Seven Billion”. I will spend a … Continue reading U.S. vs. the World
One of the most depressing things to me is that some seniors seem to spend their lives just waiting to die. They have no ambitions or goals for their senior years. They spend their days do little or nothing. In other words they are very passive seniors; they say they gain their joy from inactivity but is that really true or just a cop out for not doing anything? I must admit that I am probably more adventurous than many seniors. I enjoy constant stimulation. I enjoy planning and doing things that I have never done before. To sit around … Continue reading Waiting to Die….
It seems that some Christians think that this world is simply a waiting area for the next one in heaven. They take on the mantel of we are all just poor miserable sinners who are capable of nothing good. So the only thing to do is to wait passively to get into heaven which is their “true” home. This philosophy is primarily accounted for by the epistles of Paul. Since Protestants latch onto Paul much more than Catholics this world view is associated primarily with them. Many hunker down in their churches each Sunday singing praises to God and waiting … Continue reading Waiting to Die….
As I have mentioned in the recent past I have disassociated myself with the Christian church that I was part of for over nine years. I have always tried to not mention what my religious affiliations were on this blog but now that they are severed I will say it was with a LCMS Lutheran church. The pastor of the church was a regular viewer of this blog and gave several often opposing comments which I welcomed. I thought we had agreed to disagree on some of the secondary issues surrounding our individual faiths. That was fine with me. But then I … Continue reading Intrepreting the Bible….
I must admit that I am a Internet junkie. I pay most of my bills on-line. I get most of my news on-line. I purchase a lot of goods and services on-line. I follow friends on Facebook I get and receive many emails daily As a result of all this activity I have a lot of logins and passwords strewn across the Internet. I also must admit that until recently I had not really taken my many account passwords very seriously. That changed about a month ago when I discovered that someone had gained access to one of my … Continue reading About Passwords and the Internet….
This is just too sad to take lightheartedly. There is a global food crisis in much of the third world. Part of that is due to us using so much corn for ethanol. We have so much in the country and so much of the world is starving. Something is wrong with that! Continue reading Global Food Crisis…..
Here is a converted barn in Door County Wisconsin near my favorite winery. I must admit that I am hooked on cherry wine from there. Continue reading Door County Wisconsin – September 2006
It is a rainy day here in Indiana but considering that it is not snow it doesn’t get me down. And the fact that between July and September of last year we had less than an inch of rain total, I welcome a rainy day now and then. The picture above is one of my favorite ones of my hubby. It was taken about 25 years ago during our visit to the Wisconsin Dell. I love her more now than I did even then. Continue reading Rainy days don’t always get me down….
I have often said that I am a follower of Jesus Christ. He is indeed my Lord and Savior. But, is there a difference between being a follower of Christ and being a Christian? Up until recently I had not tried to discern any difference in those two state. But now I am coming to understand that they can be two quite different things. Being a follower of Jesus Christ means that I study his words as found in the Gospel text and take them to heart. Those words are what drives me throughout my life. Jesus gave us many … Continue reading A Follower of Jesus Christ….
I just changed the word “Satirical” to “Lighthearted” for this blog title. It seems that the word “Satirical” has come to mean something quite different than in Will Rogers’ day. Looking at what Wikipedia says http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire some might get the wrong opinion of what I am trying to do here. According to Wiki there is now a definite dark side to satire that is more predominant today than the more light hearted approach that Will Rogers used. I am definitely not on the dark side and neither was Will! :) Its funny how some words change at time goes by. In … Continue reading What is Satire?
I seem to be on a Pickles streak here but it is nice to see something focused on us seniors. Almost everything else is for the 18 – 35 crowd. :) Over 85% of the people in the U.S. claim to be religious. But just what are they religious about? That is the question. Continue reading About being Religious
Here is a well used Indiana barn. Continue reading Indiana–June 2009
This is my favorite view of our homestead. I call it “up on the mountain” as it is the highest point on our property. This is where my outdoor glider resides and is where I do most of my spring/summer/ fall reading and the corresponding naps. :) I ache to get back to my mountain home. Given the warm weather lately, hopefully it will be soon. But that is probably wishful thinking. Continue reading Anxiously awaiting…
(Here is a post from the past and on another of my blogs. Find the original here http://waiting4god.net/2010/10/04/10410/ ) I heard an interesting sermon this Sunday. It was about waiting for God. As you know this is a topic dear to my heart. Some examples given in the sermon were all the prayers to stop the BP oil leak and the many amber alerts that take place in the U.S. nowadays. The sermon thread seemed to be that we are always disappointed in the silence of God when it comes to our prayers. Why didn’t God stop the leak earlier? … Continue reading Waiting For God…
There has been a lot of press lately about how Facebook was used during the Egyptian protests lately. Showing its affect on democratic reform definitely put a positive spin on this social network. But then I go to my Facebook homepage and I see something entirely different. There are no great social causes being espoused there. Of the 50 or so “friends” I have there are a few organizations who try to promote common causes but not many. I do want to admit up front that I am not very active in Facebook. I post occasionally just to let people … Continue reading The Thing about Facebook…
I have had many interesting meals and cherished friendships at the GD Grill. I also got “popped” there one year for my birthday thanks to my friend Dave R. I haven’t been there in 15 years. We will have to plan another visit there sometime in the future. Continue reading Guadalajara Grill–October 1994
This is where our democracy started. It is a very spiritual type place. This was my second visit there. Continue reading Independence Hall Philadelphia–April 1994
RJ's Corner - Having My Say 