THOUGHTS AT THREE A.M.

WHY ALL THE WEDDINGS ON 07/07/07?

The rush to hurry to the altar started in Vegas just after midnight in every chapel on the strip! The crush to get hitched on this most romantic of days continued until midnight night! This date will go down in history as historical...or is it hysterical?...as being the most popular date for weddings, for a number of reasons. First, of course, June being the most popular month for weddings,and then naturally, as unusual a date as "7/7/07",it seems unlikely that the groom, in years to come, would have trouble remembering their wedding date, as so many husbands seem to do. Since thousands of couples around the world opted to be wed on this day, we shall see how well that theory is born out in practice,in years to come. Then, two, it happened to fall on a Saturday, which is again, the most popular day of the week,not only to plan a wedding,but to ensure that the rest of the wedding party can have that time off for the ceremony,and for attendees of the nuptials....families and friends to be able to make it to the festivities. 

But, finally, and most importantly, this is the one day in the lives of the newly weds,perhaps, that their minds turn to hopes of God blessing their union, and since Seven is God's number of perfection,it stands to reason, that he would bless this day.

OUI?

FIREFLIES!!

A night or two ago,Brian Williams of NBC did a piece on fireflies, or what has always been known as lightening bugs here in the Midwest. According to him,they are another small insect that is disappearing from our environment. Since he and some experts claim this is the case, they had one or two of the glowing creatures captive in two hands, held loosely,protectively, on camera, outside in the dark,for children who  supposedly had never had the opportunity to see them, and the tone suggested that they never would.

So tonight about twilight, I took occasion to look out my backdoor, to see if the solar powered lights that illuminate the walkway were lit up yet,and since it was not completely dark, they only glimmered softly, but were not up to full power yet. But the sight that met my eyes  reminded me of that story,and made me smile. The entire garden was filled with dozens of what looked like tiny stars come to earth, sailing about, flashing their little lights, so that the whole yard sparkled with them.

So, you can rest easy about the fireflies. If you live in an area where the lights are too bright for them to appear, like New York, or Vegas, or Los Angeles; take a little trip to the Midwest,where you can drive down residential streets and see block after block after block of yards filled with lightening bugs. Where you can roll down the windows of the car and smell the fresh scent of new mown lawns, and see children still chasing the tiny flashing points of light with delight, in places where true darkness still falls.

OUI?

DID YOU EVER MISS A DAY SOMEWHERE?

You know what I mean. All day long you've been thinking it was Sunday,and it turns out it's Monday instead? Well, where did that day go? Of course, you didn't really miss a day, but it feels like you did. Monday, Memorial day, we had a fine time. There were all sorts of activities around town, from the Memorial at the Arsenal, with the color guard, the 21 gun salute, and of course the playing of the "taps" over the graves of the glorious dead heroes, the "Hero Street" memoriam, to the huge bicycle race,and innumerable city planned cook-outs...all of which were televised,and overly touted at first light. As patriotic as Yon and I are, there are some things that just don't need to be done and done and done. We chose to dip back into the archives of the video room and do the breakfast and a nap, and brunch and a movie,and lunch and a movie,and dinner and a movie. We sang, we laughed, we watched "39 steps",a collection of "Dragnet" with Jack Webb, another collection of "Sherlock Homes", "Serving Sara" with Nicholas Cage, and then we took a break from the movies long enough to watch "Jeopardy!" while we boiled eggs and potatoes,and I chopped celery, and onions,and Yon fired up the grill and we had bar-b-que burgers, bar-b-que chicken, and THE hottest brats I ever tasted in my life! Oh!, and baked beans. By the time we got the salad all put together, everything else was done,and we turned on the movie "Tuxedo" and altogether, it was a magnificent day! But, about half-way through the flick, I glanced at the bird-clock,.and was horrified that it was after 7 p.m!  OMGosh! I said,"We missed Jimmy!" Yon looked at the clock, and he too was stunned! It took us several minutes to sort out the fact that it was not Sunday! Now, as I mentioned just a moment ago, we had watched "Jeopardy!" which does not air on Sunday,and we even watched bits of "Judge Judy",and still, we  completely allowed ourselves to go on this guilt trip for having missed the evening Sunday service,which we had not missed yesterday!

I don't know how the mind can play these tricks on us. I only know they happen. Now, I have an excuse. Since my trip to the hospital, and the tons of medications they poured into me there, and sent me home with a new machine for breathing treatments, I have had a time coming back to myself, what with patches for this, and antibiotics for that, and steroids,and God knows what all, my memory is messed up, and tap water  now tastes like insecticide,and a lot of the foods I used to love I can barely choke down, just to take my pills. But it never occurred to me that my loosing a day would also effect Yon son in the same way. But, perhaps that's just my influence. I was so certain that it was Sunday, he didn't question me.

But,maybe that's just because he loves me, and he was humoring me.

Or, we were having such a great time, it felt like Sunday to him too.

It could happen!

OUI?

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY BUILDS HOUSE IN ONE DAY!!

Today May 24 th, 2007, the folks of Rock Island, Illinois,and surrounding communities pulled together in a huge way, and built a house for Travis Hern. For those of you who don't know, Travis Hern is a football player who was critically injured while playing his game in September of 2006.It seemed a normal play, but suddenly the unforeseen occurred,and Travis and an opposing player from the Alleman High School team came head to head on the field, along with a lot of other boys on the Rocky High and Alleman Teams.But out of that tangle of arms and legs and bodies, all of the other boys got up, but Travis just laid there. Quickly the game was halted,as emergency people and equipment converged on the field and Travis was rushed to the hospital,and the game was called off.Parents, coaches, and both teams knelt on the field to pray for him and everyone felt awful when they found out that Travis's neck and spinal column were severed. All the students of all the local high schools rallied around the cause as word spread that Travis was paralyzed,and his family didn't have the money to pay for his medical bills, nor to fund the sort of housing the family and Travis would need to survive. Every school was involved in raising money,spearheaded by the students themselves.They sold ball caps, had runs, and began planning right away for a wheelchair accessible house for the family.

In an amazing show of support for one of our own, The Quad Cities put everything in place without the major funding one normally associates with such an undertaking, and today, as dawn broke, the foundation was already in place, the property bought,and beginning at five a.m. Everyone from contractors to football teams showed up on their own to take part in the actual building of Travis's house, TODAY!

As we watched over KWQC TV 6, the walls went up, the roof was put on, the ramps were built, the wiring and plumbing went in, the walls were finished,and the flooring was installed, and all under the watchful eye of the several inspectors who needed to okay everything who had to sign off on any house for immediate inhabitance.

By the time night fell, special lighting had been put in place to flood the area to daytime brilliance so that the work could continue until everything was completely done,and by morning, as I understand it, the house will be move-in ready. They even said the sod will be laid by the football players from every school from 70 miles around. And all of it. Every last bit, was all done by volunteers.

You'd expect such a feat to have been paid for in part by some huge corporation or rich philanthropist such as Oprah Winfrey,but the only high profile names connected with this was Michelle Wei, who sent a sizable check when she heard about it a while back, and Mike Ditka. Well, God bless them both, but most of the money for this event, came from the dollars raised by the efforts of the local school kids, in their compassion for a fallen chum, ignoring completely school rivalries and crossing community lines.

Sometimes the best of humanity comes out of the worst that can befall us.

OUI?

technorati tags: Habitat for humanity, Travis Hern. 

GOD IS HOLDING MY HAND,HERE IN THE HOSPITAL!

In case you haven't  noticed, I 've skipped posting a day or two...ha,ha,ha! It's been a long while,but I have a perfect excuse. I been sick.

Okay, I thought I was dying. Could have been Asthma...or P-monia,but I was stubborn, as usual,and didn't want to leave my abode. I didn't want to go to the hospital,and be uncomfortable. I would not listen to yon son as he pleaded with me to go,even though he is the one person on the face of the earth that  I love most, in this I was being terribly selfish.Please son,forgive me.

I still don't know If I'll live through this,but after seeing the anguish in those beautiful brown eyes of  yours ,if I had it do over again, I would have taken better care of myself ,so we would have had more time together.But it was more important to me to get stuff done,than to consider the length of my life.

And yet,even as I write this,I'm doing it again.I've been advised to have another test,which I am ardently trying to talk my way out of!

Man is ever perverse. But,I have reason to praise the Lord,because the tape that Yon son brought up to me in my walkman was the very one I needed to hear, to help me make the descion.

Are you confused yet?

I know  I am!!

OUI?

VIRGINIA TECH!: WHEN TERRIBLE THINGS HAPPEN!!!

I know that you are hurting right now. We are all hurting, because word has gotten around so quickly...all but hermits and those who don't care have seen the news,and heard all about that "depressed" young man who decided to go on a rampage today and ended up shooting and killing 22 people, including himself,and injured countless others.It's a hard thing to witness via t.v.: it's an even harder thing to report, or blog on.And yet, it's even more difficult to be silent. If by not saying anything on the situation gives one the feeling that some people don't care, then I must speak. If in speaking I bring you to tears, or to wrath, then that at least is an emotion more easily understood and dealt with than the emptiness inside left by the vast sense of waste of those lives, so full of potential,cut short before they could realize their dreams and ambitions. My heart and soul goes out to the parents of each and every student  injured or killed today,as well as the families of the instructors who put their lives on the line to protect their students.

In the next few days your going to hear a lot of flowery speeches about those involved,and see footage of people in churches crying and praying,just as we have seen before when a tragedy has occurred. Whether this signifies a long term beginning to a commitment to God from now on, or just a short term gesture,because they are frightened or in mourning,none but God can tell. People will react in strange ways at times like this.

As my Mother used to say: this reminds me of a story.

It seems a young mother took her little boy to his first day of school,and walked up to the teacher, and informed her that in no uncertain terms she did not expect the teacher to hit her little sensitive boy."Oh?" the teacher said," Then he's so well behaved, he won't be acting up?" "Oh,no! I don't mean that at all! He probably will act up...a little. But he's so sensitive, that all you have to do, is hit the kid next to him, and he will settle right down!"

So, my question to you is, what do you think? Might this instance be yet another situation,where God allowed this to happen, in effect, hitting the kid next to us, to get our attention? Another warning to get yourself right with God before something worse comes upon us?

I think it could very well be so.

I'm praying for all of you, and God bless you all.

OUI?

DANNI LYNN'S PATERNITY FINALLY REVEALED!!

So, now this long drawn out battle is finally finished, huh? Howard K. Stern is out,and Larry Birkhead is in. And publicly, at least, the two men seem to have come to an agreement that the transition will be a smooth one, and the little girl will have Howard in her life, even though he is not the father. Well, good. I am certainly glad to have the whole thing over...if it is. I was getting rather tired of the mess, anyway. What's going to be difficult, is when Danni begins asking questions, and the truth of how many men stepped up to claim THEY  were her father. What's she going to think of her beautiful, famous mother then? And, just how much did these guys care about the child before Anna died? I didn't see anyone beating down the door to proclaim their  rights as her father before it was decided that she might inherit some money...did you?

And, what is with this prince O, whatever his name is? Why didn't we hear anything from his wife Zsa-Zsa? Did she stay silent, considering he might be able to get custody of a child who might be worth millions? Don't you find all of that rather disgusting?

And, just what is going to be the final outcome if it turns out that Danni Lynn will inherit nothing?

Just how doting of a "Father" will Old Larry be then?

Howard just might find himself given back his little girl,and "Virgie" will drop her suits, too.

Oh, and one final note. I hope all those "tell all" books flop.

OUI? 

WHERE IS OPRAH'S ANGEL NETWORK WHEN YOU REALLY NEED THEM?

LARGO, FL - A Florida homeowners group wants 3-year-old Kimberly Broffman to take her Big Wheel and hit the road.

  They've banded together to oust the toddler from their Tampa-area community, which bans residents under 18.

The child's grandparents, Judie and Jimmy Stottler, admit Kimberly's been living there in violation of homeowners' association rules for three years. They said her mother has a drug problem, and isn't capable of caring for the child.

The grandparents said they live on a fixed income and can't afford to move until they sell their house. So far, there have been no takers to buy their house, even after they lowered the $189,000 asking price by $10,000 six months ago. They also said they can't afford to hire an attorney.

Just today I watched Oprah's show where some truly amazing people had stepped up and done some wonderful things. One lady found a need for children's pajama's and filled it, with a lot of help from Oprah's audience, and another man quit his job at Microsoft,to take books to Nepal,and build schools and libraries.So, tonight, when I found this story, I sent Oprah an email with this information in it. I am praying for a miracle for these poor folks....it's all I know to do for them.Won't you please pray for them too?

OUI?

THE " GOSPEL" ACCORDING TO JUDAS??

Two men were on the Today show this morning,talking about  a book called the Gospel according to Judas.They are novelist Jeffery Archer,and Professor/ Biblical scholar, Francis Moloney (rhymes with baloney),whom when Archer went to Rome and asked for a Biblical Scholar to help him, this is who was supposed to guide him in making his work, believable, and was told whatever he writes, it's got to be possible. This novel, otherwise known as the fifth Gospel,reportedly debunks much of what we know about Judas,including the thirty pieces of silver,and even the notion that Judas committed suicide. Apparently, they even go so far as to suggest that Jesus didn't turn water into wine, or walk on water.

Well! I don't care if Moloney, (Rhymes with baloney) was wearing a Roman collar or not. They can write their lies until their fingers bleed,and they are still not going to convince me that Jesus Christ wasn't the son of God, and I am certainly not going to plunk down my thirty pieces of silver to buy a book that says my Bible is wrong! Whatever their claims, I can only point them to the prophetic words of St. John the Divine, as he closed out the canon of scripture with these words;

"If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book.." rev.22:18

Have a care, sirs. You are treading on dangerous, dangerous ground!

OUI?

It's been published in eight languages,and hits the stores this month.

WRAPPING UP THE SYMPATHY VOTE!!

I sat and watched him do it, and I still can't believe he did it. I thought I had seen it all, but it really takes a man with a HUGE ego to talk his wife,whose now been diagnosed with in-curable cancer,to continue on helping him campaign for the presidency!I am speaking, of course, of John Edwards, and his dear little wife, Elizabeth. She already has three children to care for, plus now another unending round of medicating, testing,and bouts of fatigue and pain to look forward to, and he's convinced her to go along with whatever he wants to do. The man is an insufferable cad to even ask it of her! If he loves her so much, after 30 years of marriage, why doesn't he do the decent, the honorable and loving thing, pull out of the race and let her rest, and just enjoy what life she has left?

But, no. No, now he's got the sympathy vote wrapped up,hasn't he?

I wasn't so sure about him before, but now I know. He's got his eyes on the prize,and nothing, not even his own wife's illness, is going to stop him from going for it! Now I ask you. Is that the caliber of man we want leading the country? Who has so little sensibility, so little sensitivity, as to put the woman he loves through such torture? And, if he has so little consideration for his own wife, what chance is there  that the plight of sick and aging Americans is going to move him?

OUI?