118 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 9-5-15”

  2. I sent the photo in he header to Donna a couple of weeks ago, labeling it something like “I don’t care which side of the fence has greener grass!” All Misten sees is geese without a herder.

    The next photo is also a view we see from out our back window, but looking left. Over these fields (which had been harvested) and trees, we see sunsets every evening. Here, the light on the trees and the clouds and the light on the neighbor’s extra acre of grass he bought from the farmer are all lovely.

    At the bottom is half a mile or more down the street, two neighbors side by side (or two or more large lots) don’t have houses on the road, but well back from the road, and in the front are many acres that have been allowed to grow in wildflowers. All summer we drive past (or I walk down to it) and the colors are changing, the golds of sunflowers and black-eyed susan, the purples and pinks of New England aster, and so forth.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  3. The comment “collapsed” on me before I could finish it, and I don’t know how to uncollapse it, or move to the bottom of the comment to keep writing, when it does that. Anyway, I was going to say that third shot was taken a couple months ago, earlier in summer, and I thought that the field, the trees, and the sky made a lovely landscape. Just after taking this one, I turned and saw an electric wire filled with about eight barn swallows, so I got some photos of the birds too.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  4. The two photos I can see are lovely, Cheryl. You are blessed! God is good. He put so much beauty in the world, and people never see much of it because that’s not where their mind focuses.

    Like

    Reply

  5. Good morning, evening, and all the between times!

    I am feeling better, but as I go to regular food, that will be the true test.

    May all the blog family who are in areas observing Labor Day have a great long weekend!♡

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. Yesterday someone (Kim, I think) questioned applesauce as part of the BRAT diet. If you use it, make sure it is the sweetened kind. I remember when the children were little we’d give them those foods because they absorb the acid that causes upset stomachs. But unsweetened applesauce just adds more acid. The sugar neutralizes the acids in the applesauce so the pectin can do its thing.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  7. Oh, and Chas needs to explain the lock combination better, as well as his ending of the post this morning on yesterday’s thread: CULOM. (See the end of the 9/4 thread.)

    Like

    Reply

  10. And Kim is saying she’ll see me again. Is she planning a trip up this way? Hey! How about a multi-party Midwest meet-up in Hannibal? Cheryl and 6 Arrows, with their families, along with anyone else in the middle of the country, could join us.

    And she called me an old man. Well, I guess I am, since I was born in the 50s.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. Lazy day. I slept until 8:47. We are going down to the bay house in a little while. We will have to be home before the Alabama game. Mr. P asks so little of me, but he does ask this, so I behave myself and play the good wife.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  12. Reading in Exodus, of God’s instructions for the making of the Tabernacle & its accessories, I wondered: Where did the Israelites get the spices, the acacia wood, all the fabrics, & the olive oil? Perhaps the spices came with them? Were there olive trees in the desert? And why haven’t I wondered about this before? 🙂

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  13. Good Morning, Y’all! Hope all are having a blessed day! Enjoyed the photos, Cheryl!

    My daughter is coming home from the Phillipines today!!😃😃😃
    She has been there working since May…

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  14. I love reading Scripture, *seeing* something I hadn’t really seen before — and wondering why I hadn’t seen it before. Such depths!

    Well I feel a lot better after 10 hours of sleep. I’d only gotten 3 hours the night before and had to push through a long day at work writing 2 stories (and, sadly, it was a rare time when the top editor sent out a note saying we could all go home early if we were finished in honor of the 3 day weekend; but I had too much to do, had to put in a full day anyway).

    But NOW I have a 3-day weekend and going to sleep at 9:30 last night and sleeping until 7:30 this morning was so wonderful.

    What a crazy week. But it’s over. (Finished it off with a story on Trump who will be coming to the Battleship Iowa on 9/15 to give what they’re saying is a “major” address on national security; everyone is already planning local protests — we’re an extremely liberal/Dem area, of course, people blew their tops when they saw that Trump was coming 🙂 even though he has a golf course in the neighboring city so he’s not been a complete stranger to these parts through the years).

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  18. To pacify PeterL, a picture is on the way. Against my better judgment. I sat here with my finger on the key for a full minute before I got nerve to hit “send”. Maybe Aj won’t post it. But the damage is done.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  19. CULOM is generic. The OM at the other end was likely a 22year old woman.
    Women radio operators would likely be in a ground station. I never met a female radio operator on flying status.

    As for the middle number being larger: Safes in our day were particular. You had to turn the dial at least three times clockwise, stop on your number, turn it counter clockwise, PAST the previous number, then to the last number.
    It has been a long time, but that’s how I remember it. That’s why ELVERA, JANICE, KIMMIE would work, but not WINNIE.

    Like

    Reply

  20. Well, fortunately Misten moved here a little late in life and never considered going over a fence until we had those snows in winter 2013-14 that allowed her to go over. By that time, she was too old to figure out how to go over fences in summer, too, because the fence wouldn’t keep her in if she figured it out. (The fence on the other side of the yard is a bit shorter than this one, and this side is short enough that an experienced dog her size could scale it.) The fence was installed to keep in a terrier, not a collie, and when I first saw the fence I thought, “Oh no, I hope she never figures out the potential in this one!”

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  21. My backyard fence is very tall (6+ feet, most of it covered in thick vegetation) but my dogs have, on rare occasions, managed to dig out under them.

    I remember asking the neighbor over the back fence if she notices strange dogs just popping up in her backyard from time to time 🙂 as I’d often find them on the sidewalk in front of her house when they got out and I realized it quickly enough.

    Well, sure enough, I see there’s an online petition that’s been started to tell Trump we don’t want him giving his speech in our town and to STAY OUT — ironically, the lead-in text to the petition talks about how proud the town is of its “diversity.” 🙂 🙂

    Can’t make this stuff up.

    I need to get moving, I have to pick up some meds for my dogs at the vet and then go up to Hollywood to get Carol to the phone store as she got some music app on her phone and now owes money & the phone is shut of. Oy.

    I told her to buy a cheap radio instead if she wants to listen to music.

    Like

    Reply

  24. I’ve written so many stories on the homeless recently, I can’t even count them now!

    daily breeze dot com will have most of them still floating around (“local news” tab) along with trump 🙂 which is still the lead rotating display, I think.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  27. My uncle and aunt had a Collie named Lady. They had a very high wooden fence but in one section there were some small trees that made the most fantasy-like arbor and I would move a bench over and play “pretend” all afternoon. The problem was that I would forget to move the bench back (really, I was a child, an adult could have checked if they knew it was a problem) and it was just the right height to help Lady go over the fence.
    I had forgotten about her and about that little fantasy land I had.
    (I was an only child surrounded by adults. I lived quite a bit in my mind)

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  28. Thanks Janice — this is for cheryl: https://www.audubon.org/news/peregrines-and-photographer-bunk-out-chicago-mans-apartment

    We had a series of cats when I was growing up. My mom was OK getting a dog, but it was ultimately my dad’s call — and while he’d come very close to saying “yes” sometimes, he’d always pull back (until a little black terry-poo mix “found” and adopted us when I was a teenager).

    My dad grew up on an Iowa farm and never thought the city was a good place for dogs.

    But – But – But, I’d beg …

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  30. I finally relaxed enough to sleep and woke up refreshed. Thank you for praying, Jo.

    Lovely pictures, Cheryl.

    As a pre-teen, I desperately wanted to have a dog. My parents had a dog, a huskie puppy, when they first moved to the house they built; but she ran into the road and was struck by a car and had to be euthanized. My father never wanted another dog; and my mother would point out that we could hardly afford other expenses, never mind the food and vet bills for a dog. Nevertheless, I dreamt. I read all the dog training books I found in the house, and researched all the breeds. My first choice was, of course, a collie, not that I had ever seen or read Lassie at the time. Then, I wanted a really big dog, so I would dream of getting a Saint Bernard, or maybe a German Shepherd. Later on, as I read that short-haired breeds were better for asthmatics, I decided a Basenji would be the best dog. These days, I’m so sensitive to animal dander, I doubt I could have any dog.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  31. German shepherds are wonderful, Saint Bernards can be unpredictable, thus the inspiration for “Cujo” 🙂

    One of the women in my BSF group years ago had 2 Basenjis, I remember seeing her at the dog park one day and she had one of them wrapped around her neck 🙂 as she walked to the gate to leave.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  32. I used to ‘babysit’ my aunt and uncle’s curly haired, non-descript mutt when they went on vacation. He was a pretty good dog, though ferocious towards other dogs; but that hair got every where, even working its way into the lining of my coat.

    Like

    Reply

  33. I was reading some of that woman’s articles in the Breeze and learned that homelessness is on the increase but I read an earlier article of hers in which the President says he is going to end homelessness by 2015 so looks like we are in the clear on that one.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  34. I just posted this on the News thread, but I’ll post it here, too, since we were discussing this yesterday…

    A friend on Facebook shared this, from a conservative Republican lawyer in Kentucky. (Again, as I said on the main thread the other day, I’m not arguing for or against her actions, but am considering the varying arguments.)

    The same friend who shared this said that the argument that she took an oath under one law & shouldn’t have to recognize this new law is specious, as laws change or are amended all the time. (Again, just sharing for your consideration. Don’t shoot the messenger. 🙂 )

    From J. Russell Lloyd:

    “So the saga continues. For those of you who are not very political or are not from our fair (usually) Commonwealth, Judge David Bunning imposed a sentence of incarceration for civil contempt on Kim Davis, the County Clerk of Rowan County for her failure to comply with an Order from his Court, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The sentence is for a violation of an Order of the Court; not because Ms. Davis is Christian and not because Ms. Davis believes that same sex marriage is a sin. …

    “First, Judge Bunning was appointed by President Bush (43) and is the son of retired Kentucky Senator Jim Bunning. He is a conservative through and through. The Bunnings do not take their political beliefs lightly.

    “Second, this is the only time that I can remember seeing a contemnor get through an entire appellate process before being required to comply with a Court Order. Usually, one is required to comply with an Order of the Court regardless of the appeal. If compliance is refused, then a contempt sentence is enforced, regardless of whether or not you are appealing the Order. Kim Davis got special treatment on this issue.

    “Kim Davis is in jail because she willfully and intentionally violated an Order of the Court. She received all the due process allowed her (all the way to the US Supreme Court). She no longer has any cause (good or otherwise) to refuse compliance with a Court Order in a Nation of Laws.

    “Third, Judge Bunning threw Ms. Davis a life preserver. After imposing a sentence for contempt, Judge Bunning took a break. When Court resumed, he interviewed the Deputy Clerks for Rowan County as to whether they would comply with his Order. Five (5) of the six (6) deputies affirmed that they would comply with his Order. He then recalled Ms. Davis and asked whether she could refrain from interfering with the deputies while they issued marriage licenses. If she would do that, then he was satisfied that she was not in contempt and could go home. Ms. Davis refused even that much. Ms. Davis’ guarantee of personal religious freedom does not extend her the right to impose those beliefs on others, particularly when she is acting as the government.

    “Predictably, an outcry of judicial tyranny and religious persecution has arisen. This is not religious persecution. In the United States, we do not examine the sincerity or reasonableness of your religious beliefs in the public arena. You can believe any and everything in the name of your faith. However, the government may not deny you services based upon the religious belief of the government, its agents or employees. When that happens, then a clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment occurs, which is precisely what happened when Ms. Davis refused to issue marriage licenses under “God’s Authority”.

    “As far as judicial tyranny goes, the outcry is completely unwarranted. Ms. Davis is subject to the jurisdiction (read authority) of the Court. She got access to justice in a way that few will ever experience. She was given special consideration at every step. This is not tyranny by any conceivable definition of the word, and to call it tyranny diminishes the claimant.

    “For those who may be tempted to take the outcry seriously, let me ask you to consider whether you would tolerate a government that denied you access to services and status available to everyone else because of religious beliefs that you did not share. If we are to continue to be a nation of laws, then we must do so much better. We must stop giving attention and authority to those who seek to take us back to a time when the government cried “God Wills It” and the cry became law.”

    Like

    Reply

  37. The government is not absolute, citizens are free to protest and go to jail in trying to make their larger point and that’s what she’s done

    Like

    Reply

  41. I’m back. Did you miss me? Had to come home from playing to watch the Alabama Game. Found out a boy I went to school with was abused and has written a book. I am currently waiting for my kindle to charge so I can down load it and read. I understand it my be difficult. I remember him as a sweet boy. It will hurt my heart to do this but I understand it is a good book.
    I don’t know why my Kindle seems to not be holding much of a charge.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  42. I can’t get my kindle charged and that is the only way I am going to be able to read this book tonight. In the mean time I have been “stalking” the author, finding out what has happened in his life since I last saw him. I went to a very small “Christian” school. At the most there were perhaps 45 or 50 students in my class. This is the 3rd male from that small group that is gay. The 2nd that was sexually abused. I don’t know about some of the girls there are a couple that I can remember that wouldn’t surprise me. Gallup says that only 3.8% of the population is gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. What are the chances? What was going on?

    Like

    Reply

  43. Since yesterday, whenever I refresh a page on here, it takes much longer than usual to finish refreshing/reloading. None of my other tabs have been doing that. Anyone else having that problem?

    Like

    Reply

  45. Just in case you don’t realize it, the “We have a winner” above is a link to the Pigskin Picks for this week. It works for me and it’s there because the thread is not on the top posts list right now, and doesn’t show up in the NCAA tagged posts.

    Like

    Reply

  48. I loved Lassie, too. One of the memorable (awful) moments of my childhood was when my uncle, a TV repair man, was playing with the tubes in the back of our TV set. “How would you like color TV?” he asked.

    “Yes!”

    “Even if it means a pink Lassie?”

    Horrors. “NO!”

    The boy who played Timmy lives a block from my house. I haven’t spied him yet, but I walk by several nights a week . . . he owns poodles, according to the neighbors.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  51. oh, Chas, don’t begin your Sunday with a grumpy face!
    Morning Chas. We had a combined service with the tok pisin service. I only know phrases of tok pisin, so missed some of what was said. I felt like Donna, the service began at 9 and we usually begin at 10:45. I felt I needed to be there early to put out the offering baskets, but then it was already done.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  52. Speaking of grumpy, fourteen year old girl woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Whew. It has been ugly. And off to church in a few, unless we don’t get this satisfactorily resolved.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  53. I was supposed to go to church where we attended for 17+ years today, but I had to stay home. Now I’m not even going to my current church because I woke with a migraine. It’s gone now, but too late for me to go. 🙂

    Like

    Reply

  56. Last night and early this morning I read Under the Red Velvet Cover. It was hard. I am glad I read it and glad that the boy seems to have turned into a fine man. I cried my way through part of it.
    I think about the smiling, happy boy I knew and then I think about the words I read. How many people do we see every day who are hiding behind a smile.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  57. From today’s devotional readings:

    “Why doesn’t God remove our struggles when we become Christians? Because he wants us to keep relying on his grace … What this means is that sometimes God allows us to struggle with a lesser sin to keep us from falling victim to a greater one — pride. Because if we were immediately cured of certain sins, we’d become insufferably arrogant. God has done that with me repeatedly. I hate experiencing suffering and battling sin. But I know how wayward my heart is without them. Struggle is a sure and constant way of driving the proverb: ‘There but for the grace of God go I’ into our hearts …” — Dr. J.D. Greear, “Learning to Fight” in September’s Tabletalk Magazine

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  63. The news I couldn’t share last week is now “general knowledge”, but not to be shared on “social media”. So I cannot share it here.

    But I can share that grandchild #5 is on the way, due in mid-April.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  65. Labor Day, a morning to sleep in! And OF COURSE I woke up at 5:15 . . . We hope to go hiking early this morning before it gets hot, so maybe I’ll get some work done before my husband awakens!

    Congrats on #5 Peter–you’ve caught up with me and my goodness, it’s a circus when they’re all together! And an awful lot of fun. 🙂 We have one boy and four girls, how about you?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  66. Michelle- So far two of each.

    Chas- I slept in until 6:30. But since I normally get up around 5 on a school day, I got an extra hour-and-a-half!

    Like

    Reply

  68. Last week I read a horrifying, fascinating and terribly sad book called “Those Who Leave Do Not Return,” by Shulem Deen. It’s the tale of a Hasidic Jew, raised in the faith, devoted to the traditions and married at 18 to another Hasidic Jew whom he met for seven minutes before the ceremony.

    I read Chaim Potok’s “The Chosen” and other novels about the Hasidic and Orthodox Jews, written in the 1960s, particularly after my “Fiddler on the Roof” stage where I thought Judaism fascinating. I’ve been a donor to Jews for Jesus since high school–I thought I knew a lot about Jewish faith and practices.

    This memoir, however, went deeper as Deen told his story–despite living in a Hasidic community, he became intrigued by the outside world first by surreptitiously listening to the radio late at night. Everything he heard fascinated–including the traffic report.

    Over his wife’s increasingly frantic objections, he bought a car, a computer and then, the worst, a television–a tool of the devil. This memoir details the unraveling of his faith until he finally left Hasidic life, divorced his wife (who refused to go with him) and ultimately lost all contact with his five children.

    It’s terribly sad, because like so many Amish stories–instead of abandoning the legalism of the religion yet still seeking the God it’s suppose to worship, he ran after the emptiness of the “world”–cigarettes, alcohol, bars, entertainment, television, the Internet. He even wrote a blog criticizing the Hasidic life (gasp!).

    That’s what broke my heart. He abandoned God, not the religious trappings that ensnared his family into a rigid social order that left no room for creativity, reading (he stopped attending any form of school at the 8th grade; never got beyond fractions in math), Bach, music or any of the other beauties out here that are not detrimental to the soul but send us to God in joy.

    There was no joy in his life then and there is none now. He was stifled and told repeatedly he must have blind faith. It was when he ran into a less rigid Hasidic who told him there were rational reasons for following God that he began to look outside his narrow point of view. Unfortunately, he didn’t use his freedom to find Christ or even God himself, he ran to the world.

    I’ve been mulling this ever since, so sad that it ended in defeated nothingness, yet what else could have happened to a man who didn’t seek redeeming truth, but escape? If there’s a lesson here, please remember, that Jesus provides the framework for the life he and God and the Holy Spirit created us to live. It’s not a prison, it’s a frame with boundaries, but what you put inside is your creative spirit, joy, and beauty.

    God is good. It’s men and women who have fallen short of his glory.

    😦

    What do you think? Have I just written Tuesday’s blog post? LOL 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  70. Yesterday my pastor preached from Luke on forgiveness. He divided forgiveness up into two distinct types. One he called “potential forgiveness” and the other “full forgiveness.” He did this because the verse being addressed says to forgive if the offending party repents. He said the potential forgiveness delivers freedom from bitterness to the hurt person but that a two-way transaction must take place for full forgiveness and true reconciliation. Any thoughts?

    Like

    Reply

  72. It has been my experience that forgiveness isn’t something you do for the other person, it is something you do for you.
    There are two people currently roaming the earth who hurt me in ways I can’t explain and cost me financially, emotionally, etc. I am still carrying the scars from the damage they have done to me. They are blithely living their lives without a care in the world about what they did to me. Forgiving them has no effect on them. I can continue to be bitter and nurse the hatred of them for what they have done to me or I can move on and try to salvage something.
    Both have contributed to where I find myself today.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  74. Michelle, I love several of Chaim Potok’s books, but they’re haunting reading. I’ve reread three or four of them several times. (Most recently, this summer, My Name Is Asher Lev.) I got to hear Potok in person 12 or 15 years ago, but I think he is dead now.

    Modern day Judaism is really just religiosity without God. It isn’t even Old Testament Judaism, looking forward to a Messiah. It’s just the ritual, and it’s a heavy load to bear. I don’t blame people from walking away, but you have put it well–where are they walking to? It’s like those who leaves fundamentalist Christianity not for Christianity with grace, but for licentiousness . . . no gain whatsoever. Freedom without boundaries isn’t freedom at all, really. It’s anarchy. If you “love” a lot of men or a lot of women, you have no idea what love really is. If you drink a lot of beer or wine or whatever, you aren’t enjoying “freedom” to indulge, you’re in bondage to an expensive habit that may cost you everything.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  77. I don’t want to brag and make anyone jealous but I just got done fixing my breakfast. After getting up, showering, spending some time in the Word, fixing breakfast for the small folk, doing the chores with the small folk, and walking the dogs. Life will probably continue the same tomorrow.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  79. Aren’t there other verses that call for forgiveness, but without the need for the other person to repent? Jesus forgave those who crucified Him, & they didn’t repent. (At least not at that time. I hope they did at a later time.)

    The Bible tells us that we will be forgiven as we forgive others. That is pretty alarming when you know you are having a hard time forgiving someone, but certainly want God’s forgiveness for yourself.

    Sometimes forgiveness is an ongoing process. We think we’ve forgiven, but then find ourselves feeling the bitterness again. So we try to forgive again. When I feel like I don’t have it in me to forgive, I pray, “Lord, I forgive So-&-so with my will, in the Name of Jesus.” Or something similar. Eventually, the forgiveness makes its way to my heart.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  80. So last night we were down at the Bay House and it got ‘long about dark” and time to fix some supper. Somebody had brought 6 pounds of thinly cut pork chops, someone else had gone to the store and bought Ford Hook Lima’s, and someone else had brought a “mess” of corn. There was some discussion about how to cook the corn. Somebody wanted to soak it in water in the sink and then microwave it in the shucks. At that point I was in charge of the Lima Beans. (I had added water, salt, and butter and set them to boil) Finally I suggested we fry the corn, but proclaimed that I could not be the one to cut it off the cob because the last time I did that was 1994 and I ended up with 9 stitches in my hand. Philip decided he would cut it off the cob for me—that’s not all he did. While I walked outside for a minute he cut up hot dogs and added to my lima beans. Ick. I wasn’t happy, but since we are all happy at the Bay House I just went with it and they all got eaten.
    Not having any oil or bacon grease (my mother always used bacon grease) I threw half a stick of butter in the pan with the corn and started cooking. It was looking kind of dry so I did another whole stick of butter –It was a lot of corn. Someone insisted we add some heavy cream at the end which is not anything I have ever done but hey why not. The corn was quite the success and when asked how I had done it I told them I put a stick and a half of butter in it. Someone called me Julia Child for all the butter but in the end I was Paula Deen. It was that extra half stick of butter what put me over the top.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  81. It is, of course, not raining here.

    In fact, temperatures are headed upward again, looks like we’ll peak in the high 80s by Wednesday. 😦 But then it should go back down.

    At least it’s September. While we’ll get some hot stretches this month, as is typical here, they will be shorter lived as we get closer to fall.

    I went through a Potok stage, good books, but it’s been a while.

    Forgiveness — I believe it is the peacemakers ministry that described it as holding an attitude of forgiveness always, whether the other person repents or not. Yes, only full repentance results in reconciliation between 2 parties. But until that happens, we are to maintain an “open-arms” demeanor.

    One of the best books I read on the topic (based on on Romans 12:14-21) encourages Christians to go on the offensive, as it were. This is war, spiritual war, and we are to love and pray and desire good for our enemy — overcoming evil with good.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  82. someone posted this short video of the skid row cop who spoke last week at the homelessness forum I had to cover. Impressive guy.

    But I read a story last night (it was late, on my iPad, now I need to re-find it) saying that LA’s approach (and the approach in our community definitely) of breaking up encampments is going against the tide of the feds who may be in a position to withhold $$ should we not get on board. This officer says the encampments quickly become hubs for crime as drug dealers and other predators descend.

    I tend to think that his 17 years on the skid row beat gives him some authoritative knowledge in that area. (video is about 5 minutes, not overly long)

    Like

    Reply

  83. Michelle – I think I am going to record The Civil War, & watch it in bits & pieces over a period of time. I’ve seen it, or most of it, at least, before, but am interested in seeing it again.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  84. The Gospel Coalition posted this today on the Civil War program, focusing on the church’s role during the Civil War:

    http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/5-civil-war-lessons-for-the-church

    ________________________

    ” … Not all American clergy turned their pulpits into political stages, however. Especially in the border states—slave states that never seceded from the Union—many pastors attempted to remain neutral, focusing instead on preaching the gospel of grace to sinners. While nearly all preachers believed God rules over all of creation, they held to a concept of the spirituality of the church that argued God’s kingdom is not of this world, so they refused to engage in political preaching. (This observation shouldn’t be taken to imply the church bears no responsibility to faithfully exercise its moral prophetic voice to society.) … The kind of ‘Christian nation’ our churches should desire is one filled with Christians—that is, a nation whose residents recognize their guilty state before a perfectly righteous God, repent of their sins, turn in faith to Christ, grow spiritually through the Holy Spirit, and feed weekly on the means of grace in a local church. That is a cause worth dying for.”

    Like

    Reply

  85. I will be praying for Officer Joseph, may he continue to be a light for Christ and may he hear those words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” at the end. Thanks for sharing a very encouraging story, Donna.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  87. On the forgiveness topic, Jesus’ words on the cross came to mind, and also when husband and I discussed this he remembered Jesus’ words from the cross. But when I thought more about it, Jesus was asking the Father to forgive rather than saying that He, Jesus, forgave. I told husband that the Christian has the Holy Spirit liv8ng inside and that what we can’t on our own forgive that we release it to God to do it for us. Is that what Jesus was showing as an example on the cross for us to do? That is my own personal question, rather than something the pastor mentioned. He also pointed out that the Charleston church members although acting in a really good way toward forgiveness could not have fully gone through the forgiveness unless the shooter was repentant.

    Like

    Reply

  92. Janice, not speaking as a theologian here . . . but I don’t think we can parse Jesus asking the Father to forgive as meaning that He (Jesus) didn’t forgive them. Rather, He was dying for the sins of His own people, and presenting His perfect law keeping and then His sacrifice on the Cross on behalf of those His people. He was asking as an advocate that their sins would be forgiven, in His name. He was interceding for them as He intercedes for us. Which ones would be saved, only He knows, but apparently He was claiming at least some of them.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  93. We were talking a while back about perseverance, losing your salvation, salvation by faith alone, election, etc.

    I was catching up on the Tabletalk devotions recently and liked this entry:

    “Christians are engaged in a war against the remnants of sin that remain within (Rom. 7:13-20, Gal. 5:16-24) and sometimes the flesh appears to be gaining the upper hand (1 Cor. 3:1-4). … Only those who have been regenerated by the Spirit and given the gift of faith will feel such a conflict, so the war within as we endeavor to put the flesh to death & obey the Lord proves that we belong to Him. It is evidence that sin does not have dominion over us, for if it did, we would not fight it (Rom. 6:1-14). … It is hardly possible to be in Christ without having a desire to serve Him. When Christ sets a person free, he is free indeed and he has an inner drive to resist the bondage of sin that once held him fast. those who do not show any desire to resist sin and pursue a life of loving discipleship should have no confidence that they belong to Christ. Be encouraged that you are in Christ if you are striving against sin and endeavoring to live faithfully for Him.”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  94. I also think when we reach the point that we ask God to forgive someone else, it is because we feel we are asking on their behalf, so I would think that would mean we have already forgiven them.
    If I haven’t forgiven you, how can I plead with God to forgive you. I see it almost like a parents love for a child. “God, forgive BG for ripping my heart out. She doesn’t know what she is doing”.
    Make sense?

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  95. The narrative of the OT is contained in these books, according to David Talley, professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, and Chair of the Biblical & Theological Studies Old Testament Department at Biola University.

    Interesting!

    Genesis
    Exodus
    Numbers
    Joshua
    Judges
    1 Samuel
    2 Samuel
    1 Kings
    2 Kings
    Ezra
    Nehemiah
    He writes:

    “If you were to read these eleven books, beginning with Genesis and reading them in succession to Nehemiah,” the post states, “you would read through almost the entire story of the Old Testament. The reason it must be stated that it is ‘almost the entire story’ is because there are some additional stories isolated in parts of other books. …”

    http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/2015/09/03/almost-the-whole-story-of-the-old-testament-in-just-11-books/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  96. I was challenged and commanded to forgive from the example of Christ on the cross when my husband left. Another friend called and spoke on the difference between forgiveness and trust. We are commanded to forgive, but trust must be earned…….

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  101. Lazy, lazy day. It does seem that the general consensus of EVERYBODY who knows me is to leave guy. The more I think about it the better I like it. Also I am not dreading going back into retail. I would like to start off with about 30 or 32 hours a week. I have worked 40+ hour weeks for a long time and I am tired.

    BG and I went and got cheap Mexican food for her, took a spin through Tuesday Morning, went to a garden shop so I could look at water fountains. I am determined I want some sort of water feature in the new back yard. I feel so guilty here when I run water because of the drought that Michelle and Donna are experiencing.

    Tonight is clean out the refrigerator and eat all the leftover food night.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  102. Yep, you can, Cheryl!

    I don’t mean to brag, but I just got out of the shower . . . seven hours after we left for a “short” hike! Absolutely gorgeous day on the California coast. We walked along the water about an hour and then up into the piney hillside, headed toward the “Pygmy Forest,” which turned out to be shoulder high scrub brush. Not worth 35 minutes climbing up, but it made for a nice walk down again. Stop for lunch (salmon and crab cakes, oh, my!) and now home where the two middle children delighted me by saying they weren’t staying for dinner and were going to oldest son’s house.

    Wonderful. I don’t have to cook (we ate lunch at 2) and can spend the rest of the day relaxing, perchance a nap??

    Labor Day is not that at all for me today!

    (And I thought of all of you when I took a photo of a heron in a field.)

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  103. So Cheryl forgot to close the bold font on her post so that the “Like” would stand out. Does she want us all to “like” her post? Getting 100 posts is not common much anymore, but this thread is on its third day, so actually she would would have a post somewhere in the 60s or 70s. With that in mind, I hereby claim this as

    75!!!

    (Even though it is #39 for September 7.)

    Like

    Reply

  107. Ooh, Kim, get some musical dancing fountains for your yard. You can program the music for all the holidays and plus all your favorite tunes … Well, wait, maybe your neighbors wouldn’t be so appreciative.

    Like

    Reply

  108. Well, I must say that I vicariously enjoyed that hike with you, Michelle. Back when I was in CA (1996) we hiked around Point Lobos and my knees were killing me. I did not realize how all those baked potatoes (night shade spuds) were damaging my joints. But the scenery was some of the best I have ever seen. And I still remember the beauty of the pumpkin fields that ran down to the shore that we saw on our trip. I did not expect that. I don’t remember exactly where we were. We drove a long stretch on that famous roadway. And Pebble Beach golf area was super along with the Monteray Aquarium. We stayed in that old hotel, is it the St. Francis at Union Square? Wesley and I hiked over to the TinTin shop and went to CA Pizza Kitchen, Chinatown and the t-shirt shop where I got a Kiblan cat shirt. We went with my friend to the Redwood Forest, Arbortorium, and Explorarium (maybe just my family went there where they had cow eyeballs to dissect). We also went to Fisherman’s Wharf and a tower that I don’t remember the name of and seems like maybe the Presidio(?) It was a whirlwind sightseeing trip unlike any other I have been on. I feel tired thinking about it! I am not sure I got the name of everything right. Also, Carmel-by-the Sea, and a marine center where they worked with dolphins. How on earth did I ever have energy to do all that? No wonder my knees had problems!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  109. Back to the matter of forgiveness: It seems to me that when one has forgiven, then the forgiveness is complete whether the other asked for it or not. What isn’t complete, though, is reconciliation.

    But then I started thinking about how sometimes a person, particularly a family member or friend, can hurt us in some way, & we end up forgiving them, but they never knew or recognized that they had hurt us. Yet we continue on in the relationship, & a sort of reconciliation (all on our part, in our own hearts) has occurred.

    I guess it depends on what it is we have to forgive. Not everything we have to forgive needs to be discussed with the other person. I’m thinking of some of my own close family members who have hurt me or treated me badly in some way, but don’t realize it. In some circumstances, to tell the person what they did to hurt you can only make matters worse because the other person just won’t see the wrongness of their behavior.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  110. Michelle’s hike sounds fun and pretty. I took a three hour hike up and down hills around Eagle Mountain Lake this morning. It was already over 90 degrees by 10:30 a.m., but I enjoyed every minute. Six weeks ago I couldn’t have done it as I had a 90% blockage in the LCD artery. A stent provided instant relief from the angina, and our diet has changed and I’m taking medicine for the first time.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  114. So glad you felt like doing that, Ricky. I use to enjoy a hike, but do not get out much these days except to the front yard, and at the office parking lot. I do enjoy hearing about what others are doing and seeing photos from beautiful locales. Most of the people I am around are in worse shape than I am in so I don’t really have anyone to be active with. I’d feel badly neglecting people to run off and have a good time without them. Although I will go to a writer’s conference by myself more than likely.

    Like

    Reply

  115. It is amazing what it takes for us old folk to change our eating habits. Glad to hear you are making the effort, I need to get back on board. I can tell I am feeling worse with all of the garbage I have been eating, but resistance is poor. Just have to remind myself I handled things better when I was eating right.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  117. For those who follow what’s going on within Roman Catholicism:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/a-conservative-revolt-is-brewing-inside-the-vatican/2015/09/07/1d8e02ba-4b3d-11e5-80c2-106ea7fb80d4_story.html

    ” … Papal power, Burke warned, ‘is not absolute.’ He added, ‘The pope does not have the power to change teaching [or] doctrine.’

    “Burke’s words belied a growing sense of alarm among strict conservatives, exposing what is fast emerging as a culture war over Francis’s papacy and the powerful hierarchy that governs the Roman Catholic Church. …

    ” …. ‘We have a serious issue right now, a very alarming situation where Catholic priests and bishops are saying and doing things that are against what the church teaches, talking about same-sex unions, about Communion for those who are living in adultery,’ (one) official said. ‘And yet the pope does nothing to silence them. So the inference is that this is what the pope wants.’ …”

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  118. Good new day for us who are in Christ. He has innumerable ways of making blessings flow. And sweet blessed sleep for those who rest in Him! Isn’t it great to awaken and know He is in control and has given us the end of the story so we know He is victorious over all?

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a reply to Karen O Cancel reply