April 2008 — This is the Longeberger Basket headquarters in Ohio. It is a seven story building. I showed the picture to a friend recently and she still doesn’t believe that this is a real building…. Continue reading Basket Building??
Today I want to look at some words from Brian D. McLaren in his book A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions That Are Transforming the Faith Our faith is vain and self-centered if it only brings blessing for us or to us. It also must result in blessing that flows through us to the world….. If we locate Jesus primarily in light of the story that has unfolded since his time on earth, we will understand him in one way. But if we see him emerging from within a story that had been unfolding through his ancestors, and if … Continue reading Who Do We Owe Our Allegiance???
Man was made to mourn: A Dirge Many and sharp the num’rous ills Inwoven with our frame! More pointed still we make ourselves Regret, remorse, and shame! And man, whose heav’n-erected face The smiles of love adorn, – Man’s inhumanity to man Makes countless thousands mourn! By Robert Burns 1784 I always wondered where the phrase “Man’s inhumanity to man” came from. I didn’t realize it is generally attributed to Robert Burns. I’m not sure what the difference between a poem and a dirge is? They look pretty much the same to me. Wikipedia, as usual, has several other references … Continue reading Man’s Inhumanity To Man…..
The number two Republican in the House of Representatives almost tanked the recent compromise on making some tax breaks for the middle class permanent. The reason, he says it does not solve all our fiscal problems. Mr. Cantor seems to think that every bill that goes through the House must be the be-all and end-all for the problems being addressed. Particularly those involving our safety net. He must think every problem has a silver bullet. Continue reading “The Persona of Eric Cantor…..”
I want to spend this post telling you a little more about today’s emergent churches. No, this is not just a different denomination coming onto the scene but instead is a paradigm shift taking place in the church itself and many times within existing church structures, even at the individual congregational level. Let’s look as some more words about this from Harvey Cox in his book The Future of Faith Emergent congregations are especially well equipped to live creatively in the newly post-Western Christianity. They are careful not to confuse the life and message of Jesus with the “Western” elements … Continue reading Not to Confuse Jesus With the Packaging….
In order to prepare some posts over at RedLetterLiving I have been studying some about the why the Roman Empire collapsed. Of course everyone seems to have an opinion about that. The anti-Catholic folks say it is the pope’s fault. The maker/taker folks claim it is because the empire became a welfare State. But I kind of align with a majority view that they just had to spend too much money to keep their armies spread out among most of the world. Their military expenses accounted for almost one-half of all their spending and that included building the coliseum … Continue reading Spread Out Over The World…
I sympathize with my conservative friends. 2012 was just not a very good year for you in the political realm. So, in the spirit of cooperation I want to give you a very serious (well sort of serious) New Years Resolution. Quit Being The Party Of The Rich That one thing alone probably cost you the presidency and several other of your recent political defeats. Let’s face it Paul Ryan’s drastic budget cuts to the nation’s safety net in order to give millionaires bigger tax breaks was the death knell of your hopes for the White House. Mr. Romney’s … Continue reading Some Advice From A Liberal Friend…
Source: DNA of Newtown Shooter Adam Lanza to Be Studied by Geneticists – ABC News.
Beaudet noted that studying the genes of murderers is controversial because there is a risk that those with similar genetic characteristics could possibly be discriminated against or stigmatized, but he still thinks the research would be helpful even if only a “fraction” may have the abnormality or mutation.
“Not all of these people will have identifiable genetic abnormalities,” Beaudet said, adding that even if a genetic abnormality is found it may not be related to a “specific risk.”
“By studying genetic abnormalities we can learn more about conditions better and who is at risk and what might be dramatic treatments,” Beaudet said, adding if the gene abnormality is defined the “treatment to stop” other mass shootings or “decrease the risk is much approved.”
The successful mapping of DNA is perhaps the major accomplishment of our times. Determining what each point on that map means will prove to be even more significant. A case in point should be learned from one-hundred years ago. In the early nineteen hundreds eugenics was the “scientific breakthrough” of the times. Here is how Wikipedia defines that movement: Continue reading “Studying the DNA of Newtown Shooter – A Double Edged Sword…”
Source: Paul as Usurper of Christianity? « Common Treasury. I am aware that there has been much discussion in the past on the alleged contrasting visions of Jesus in the gospels (especially Matthew, Mark, and Luke-Acts) and the message in the Paul’s letters. There is something to the charge I think (not that I have studied this in great detail); I have on a couple of occasions tried to get into Ludemann’s examination of the issue in Paul: The Founder of Christianity but have never really got past the first chapter, perhaps I’ll try again in due course…. [W]e would be … Continue reading Paul as Usurper of Christianity?
I have been feeling gloomy lately; I wonder why? Everything runs in cycles, but our congress it seems, so hopefully my outlook will swing back to something more normal soon. There are not many in Washington that I look up to anymore but Olympia Snowe was one of them. Those two ladies from Maine always given me hope that there is indeed light at the end of the tunnel. Senator Snowe usually put the country above party when it came to the many partisan votes of recent years. She has become a rare breed in that respect. She was … Continue reading Olympia Snowe leaving the Senate….
I got the above title from one of my blogging friends over at Living Richly in Retirement. It was a rather innocuous sentence embedded in a post about selling her house. But it did strike me as part of my philosophy of life. Since I have no kids the following could be coming from total ignorance but I don’t think any of us should leave anything but a pittance to our heirs when we leave this earth. It would just spoil them anyway. Let them take care of themselves as they expect us to take care of ourselves.
This is very contrary to all the latest trends going on in this country now but I am a contrarian so you should have seen this coming. We want to eliminate the inheritance taxes entirely in this country so that all the wealth can pass from one generation to another unscathed. We say a couple million bucks is just not enough for our kids. They need it all. Being that if nothing changes we will be a plutocracy in a couple more generations this makes sense.
Continue reading “Take Care of Yourself, and Let Your Kids Do the Same…..”
At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us. — Albert Schweitzer I must admit that in some ways I am not a very creative person. I have often times in my life needed a spark from another person to get me headed down a path. So, I certainly appreciated the quote above from Albert Schweitzer. I have deep gratitude for those who have lighted the flame within me. I am a … Continue reading Rekindled By A Spark….
Anyone who has read much of this blog knows that I take the creeds of the Christian church to have done more harm than good. Here are some words about that by Harvey Cox in his book The Future of Faith: Creeds were always something theologians invented, often to stake out spheres of authority. The vast body of lay Christians knew little about them and cared less. Their faith was embodied in stories, saints’ days, baptisms, weddings, and funerals. But these everyday people constituted, after all, the vast majority. The priests and theologians always remained a tiny minority. Consequently the … Continue reading Those Non-Western Christians…
I see that the latest poll shows approval ratings for congress is about 18%. In my mind that is about where it belongs. Those yahoos just don’t know how to play together. They are more dysfunctional than most marriages today! So 82% of us don’t approve of how they are doing their jobs. After thinking about it the most alarming thing about this latest statistic is that 18% think congress is doing a great job!!! I don’t think I have ever come across any of those 18%ers. Just who are these guys? I don’t know them but I think they … Continue reading Congress’ Approval Rating….
Yeah that’s me a few days ago. We had a dusting of three inches of snow that I removed from our 150 foot circular driveway. This one I could handle with my trusty Craftsman tractor. Continue reading Oh the Snow….
The more popular my blog becomes the more I am open to the morons who troll around on the Internet. While I have the best readers in the world (thanks Bob for the phrase), I also have my share of moron trollers lately. Most end up on my blacklist who are blocked from further comments (thank heavens my blog host has that and it anti-spamming capability). So, when I came upon this article about how to deal with these guys it got my attention. Here are my two favorite ones from the article: Source: Top 10 ways to deal with the … Continue reading How to deal with the Internet’s biggest morons…
Source: Deal or No Deal, Washington Debacle Will Linger Into New Year – ABC News.
Washington is now broken beyond the point where bold individual leadership can even fix it. The forces at play are bigger than the ability of the president, House Speaker John Boehner, or any other person or persons to turn them around without the certain promise of a revolt in the party ranks that would leave them out of effective power.
The cliff metaphor suggests a jump into a void, but at least one that has a bottom. Yet as the nation watches this slow-motion wreck, the depths of dysfunction have yet to be fully explored.
I didn’t think it was possible to find someone who has a darker attitude towards those in Washington than I do but Rick Klein who wrote the above article certainly seems to beat me at that game. I have been accused by some of putting all the blame for the current dysfunction on the Republicans but I realize that it takes two to play the idiotic games they play in that city. But I must insist that much , but certainly not all, of the blame belongs with the GOP and that is because of their adamant fixation on one word, “never”. The other fundamental part of the problem is the lack of great leaders.
Continue reading “Washington Is Broken… But How To Fix It???”
I am going into the attack mode this morning. I don’t do this often but sometimes one of those 39,000 versions of Jesus Christ around today severely strike my ire. That is the case with the “Prosperity Gospel”. When I came across these calendars in a stand recently their position next to each other got my immediate attention. Here are some words from Christianity Today that speak to the issue of the prosperity gospel: Source: Joel Osteen vs. Rick Warren on Prosperity Gospel | Christianity Today. 17 percent of Christians surveyed said they considered themselves part of such a movement, while … Continue reading Prosperity Gospel And Joel Osteen — Fact or Crap……
Source: Ahead of “milk cliff,” McConnell piecing together new farm bill – Political Eye – CBS News. and would extend at the post-August 2012 level the USDA’s Milk Income Loss Contract (MILC) program, which compensates dairy producers when domestic milk prices fall below a specific level. I’m just a simple guy but I don’t understand how milk would go to $8/gallon if the farm bill is not passed. Everyone knows that part of this legislation is for the government to buy large quantities of milk and cheese to prevent a glut in the market place. This seems like reverse supply/demand … Continue reading Ahead of “milk cliff”……
This is a continuation of my mini-project to strike down some of the myths around Thomas Jefferson. The myth at hand is that he intended the United States to be a Christian nation. If anything can clear up the misconceptions of Jeffersonian history, it must come best from the author himself. Here are some of his words about things religious: About Heresy Millions of innocent men, women and children, since the introduction of Christianity, have been burnt, tortured, fined and imprisoned; yet we have not advanced one inch towards uniformity. -Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia, 1782 Anyone who has visited … Continue reading Being Told What To Believe……
Americans have one particular trait that they need never have any fear of some other nation copying, that is, we are the only people that will go where we know we are absolutely not wanted. — Will Rogers January 8, 1927 — And you thought this was a recent thing didn’t you. But once again Will shows us that we have been butting our noses in where we are not welcomed for at least eighty years now and I suspect much longer than that. This trait is very strange to me; about the same as our fascination with guns. … Continue reading Where We Are Not Wanted….
Source: DO NOT OPEN « creativetidalwave. Working in a deaf school for many years I learned the value of incidental learning. So many students lacked a lot of common knowledge often taken for granted. We are constantly learning from events and situations that are going on around us though we are often not aware or participating in them directly. Being deaf cuts one-off from a more experiences than most are aware. They are often clueless of what is happening around them because they are not alert to turn to observe due to a lack of being able to hear to know something … Continue reading Being Deaf….
Since this is the first post here in 2013 I pray we all make a new years resolution to not embarrass God!! We followers of Jesus seem to think that our self-proclamation that we are Christians doesn’t affect anyone but ourselves. But in reality making that claim and then not living up the actions necessary to show the world that you follow Jesus embarrasses God. It makes him look bad when everyone who knows you to be a Christian see you doing things that are definitely not Christ like. The primary way that someone comes to be a follower of … Continue reading Don’t Embarrass God….
Since this is a first day of the year post it has to be about the resolutions I have made for 2013. Being a list maker you might think that my list is quite long but you would be mistaken. We are all the slaves to the calendar so when we turn from one year to the next it seems a nature time for changes. I am no stranger to changes; in fact I most often embrace them! This year my list of changes is quite short. I don’t know if that is because I am starting to see … Continue reading New Years Resolutions…..
“A happy New Year! Grant that I May bring no tear to any eye When this New Year in time shall end Let it be said I’ve played the friend, Have lived and loved and labored here, And made of it a happy year.” – Edgar Guest I am a quotes guy so you think I could easily find a quote to start off this New Year. But that proved to be more difficult than I imagined. Even my hero Will Rogers let me down; he just didn’t seem to have much to say about New Years day. But I … Continue reading Plain and Simple….
Source: In Memoriam: 9 Tech Titans Who Died in 2012 | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com. He was just one of several tech titans who died over the past year. None had the name recognition of a Steve Jobs — who passed in 2011 — but they may have moved our world in bigger ways. Among those that passed in 2013 are the IBMer who invented the bar code and the Zenith engineer who devised the first wireless TV remote — not to mention one of the physicist who helped built the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki. Click on the images above … Continue reading Techie Titans …
Dexter, our cat has been chasing a mouse around the house for the last few winter days. When he does he gets Beulah our sixty pound basset hound all excited and involved in the chase. It is funny to see Beulah with her tail wagging a mile a minute sitting next to Dexter staring at the bottom of the refrigerator where a mouse is currently hiding. When I started this post that picture came to mind but that is really not the topic at hand. Instead it is about giving up my computer mouse.
I started out my computer life with a Radio Shack TRS-80 computer in the 1980s. It had no mouse or graphical user interface (GUI for all you techies). Everything had to be typed in on a keyboard and I spent hundreds of hours on doing just that. I was hooked from the very beginning.
Some time ago I came across a blog from a Romanian blogger named Cristian Mihai that got my attention. On many of his posts he seems much too mature for his twenty-two years. But then other times he seems to fit right in to that bracket. He is an ambitious young man who has totally conquered English as his second language. He is also a self-published author. Below is one of the posts that seems almost profound to me. He is talking about what it means to be a writer: Source: You either write or live « Cristian Mihai. You … Continue reading You Either Write or Live
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger. Let a person overcome anger by love. Hate is never ended by hatred but by love. — Buddha — These words could just as easily come from the mouth of Jesus as from Buddha. But in reality Buddha lived on this earth several hundred years before Jesus. It amazes me how similar the reported lives of Jesus and Buddha are. Here are some of those similarities as found at Wikipedia and other sources: Buddha is actually a title which means “the awakened one”, his … Continue reading You Are Punished By Your Anger, Not For Your Anger…
You will not be punished for your anger; you will be punished by your anger. Let a person overcome anger by love. Hate is never ended by hatred but by love. — Buddha — These words could just as easily come from the mouth of Jesus as from Buddha. But in reality Buddha lived on this earth several hundred years before Jesus. It amazes me how similar the reported lives of Jesus and Buddha are. Here are some of those similarities as found at Wikipedia and other sources: Buddha is actually a title which means “the awakened one”, his name … Continue reading You Are Punished By Your Anger, Not For Your Anger…
It seems we hear a lot about how the Republicans say they can’t vote for this or for that because they must “follow their principles”. The trouble with all this is that they don’t want any government so blowing up the system IS following their principles.
Their hero told them that “government is the problem”. But what is a country without government? That condition is called “everyone for themselves”. Is that what we want for our country? I think not; at least for 99% of us.
Is there really anything except shutting down government that can pass through a GOP controlled house of representatives now days? Are they really so head strong on eliminating their own jobs? That would be a first for any government employee wouldn’t it?
This is one of my favorite shots from the recent blizzard. When snow covers the ground the cardinals and a few bluejays are frequent visitors to our old apple tree in the back. They await their turn at the winter bird feeder. Continue reading Christmas Birds
Source: Home for the holidays: Fewer US troops are absent this year – CSMonitor.com. When President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama issued a special holiday greeting over the weekend to US troops fighting overseas, they were addressing the smallest deployment of combat troops in at least five years…. Then, as Mrs. Obama emphasized in the video greeting, there are the 2.4 million veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, and their families, who will continue to require services beyond holiday acknowledgments from the president. Even though I don’t have any friends or relatives in harm’s way now, this is … Continue reading Home for the holidays: Fewer US troops are absent this year…
Source: Norquist: Tea party resurgence if no “fiscal cliff” deal – Political Eye – CBS News. Grover Norquist is predicting that President Obama will be the political target of tea partiers if a deal on averting the “fiscal cliff” fails to materialize. No this quote from the article is not a joke. But it sure should be. As if the tea partiers will suddenly love the president if he averts the fiscal curb. We will see pigs fly before that group has more than four letter words for our president. Grover seems to want to predict the future and so do … Continue reading Grover Predicts….. And So Do I….
I am a regular reader of a Quaker blog called Quaker Quaker. On a recent posting by Mac Lemann I learned a little about Mary Dyer. Here are some of his words from that post: I had recently re-learned, at Pendle Hill from Marcelle Martin, the story of Mary Dyer and the other Quaker martyrs hung on Boston Common. Mary was a follower of Anne Hutchinson (see the Antinomian Controversy) who preached that every Christian believer could read, interpret, and preach the word of God and that the Grace of God is freely given. Mary was later convinced by George Fox … Continue reading Mary Dyer….. Heretic… Quaker….
I am a tool guy. I have had many of them throughout my life. My barn is stuffed with specialized tools I purchased when I had a cabinet making business. I am also a firm believer in the old phrase The Right Tool for the Job That is you don’t use pliers when the job really calls for a socket wrench. In that regard when I looked out on our 150 foot driveway covered with over fourteen inches of wet snow I knew I didn’t have the right tools for this job. My Craftsman garden tractor is the top of … Continue reading The Right Tool….
Being that we are coming upon the end of another year I am in a self-reflections mode. I admit that much of what I post about is the result of reading a post or article about something and thinking that there is more to the story than is written. Sometimes it deserves an alternate view. Sometimes it needs expanding to attain its full meaning. And sometimes it’s just wrong, at least in my view. :) I write to fill these gaps. While I don’t like others putting me in boxes, particularly those that don’t really fit, I do sometimes try … Continue reading Being A Contrarian….
We have a white out here at the homestead so I will be hunkering down with a picture puzzle and a keyboard today but not at the same time, I don’t believe in multitasking. :) We knew it was coming but don’t really believe it until we see it. We are kind of like our Missouri neighbors in that regard. I stayed late after the Christmas meal at the soup kitchen and shelter yesterday to make food for the guys there through the next few days so they should be ok. My tractor plow is harnessed up and ready … Continue reading White Out in Indiana….
I not only use all the brains that I have, but all that I can borrow. — Woodrow Wilson I know Ben Franklin said to be neither a lender or a borrower but simply speaking he was just plain wrong … Continue reading Borrowing….
Merry Christmas Everyone Continue reading Merry Christmas
Being a Christian I was taught to be very much offended when I ran across the words “Happy Holidays” as that somehow diminished the real meaning of the season. But after I came across a blog post recently I have changed my opinion on those words. I wish I had kept the explanation as I’m sure the original author explained it much better then I can but since I can no longer find it I will have to do the best I can in justifying his idea.
Source: Conservatives urge GOP leaders to be bold, prepare to go over cliff – The Hill’s On The Money. “I think Obama is very mindful of his legacy and is horrified of going over the cliff,” said Andy Roth of the Club for Growth. “Going over the cliff might be a signal that needs to be sent to the president, that he needs to play ball.” He argued that President Clinton was forced to become a less liberal president after Speaker Newt Gingrich shut down the government in 1995. “Clinton would not play ball with Newt until Newt shut the … Continue reading The Pro-Scrooge Christmas Story….
“We all want progress, but if you’re on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive.” — C.S. Lewis C.S. Lewis is my favorite non-theologian theologian. That is he like me was not trained in a seminary or such place. But his book Mere Christianity had a great impact on me and millions of other lay people. I think it is the number one theological book sold. He just seemed to understand things about Christianity that all those trained … Continue reading Turning back….
Source: NRA press conference: Put armed guards in schools (+video) – CSMonitor.com. Mr. LaPierre offered the NRA’s assistance in putting together safety programs in schools that include arming security personnel. Very the long-awaited response from the NRA relative to the Newton Conn. massacre is more guns. With the American flag on one side and the NRA flag on the other the NRA’s executive vice president, Wayne LaPierre also said that it was the media’s fault that guns are so misunderstood in the country today. I was really hoping that this would be a crack in the armor and that … Continue reading NRA Solution to Gun Violence — More Guns
Island House Hotel – A nice place to stay while visiting Mackinac Island. Continue reading Mackinac Island
