Haystacks

1 bag of Butterscotch Chips

3 Tbs (heaped) Peanut Butter (I prefer Creamy)

2 cups Chow Mein Noodles (La Choy has a can that's the right size, but I like having leftover crunchy noodles. )

Put the Chips in a large bowl, microwave to melt. Add Peanut Butter, and stir until thoroughly mixed. Add noodles, and mix carefully. You don't want to crush the crunchy noodles!

When the noodles are coated drop tablespoons or teaspoons of them onto waxed paper and allow to cool. You can put them in the fridge, too. Remember to lick the spoon. :D

Share with Family and friends. 

benning Had An Owie

I must thank so many of you! Many of you donated money, money that will allow me to pay rent until January. By then I expect to be working and earning again! Thank you! Many of you sent cards or letters! I read them once I was freed from the prison of the hospital ( yeah, I'll 'splain that!) and could understand what I was reading. ;)

A surprise, to learn that writing folks remember me! :O

I appreciated the kind, supportive words, trust me. And the prayers and positive thoughts most definitely helped! Thank You!

I suppose some of you wanna know just what the heck happened. *sigh*

Well, on that Wednesday morning I experienced some awful pain in my chest. I wasn't doing anything. In fact I was sitting on the end of my bed. But the pain came! All at once, both sides, it ebbed, and flowed. 90 minutes of it. All I could do was whine, moan a bit, pray for it to stop, and wander back and forth. This was pain I had never experienced before. And when it finally did end, and I knew it wasn't simply taking a break, I took a shower, and went to work.

Dedicated, right? Yeesh!

That evening, after work, I ate a little, and sat down to read. And the pain returned. For 90 minutes, again, I felt as if my chest was being scooped out. Breathing was never a problem, but I concentrated on what was happening, this time.

Pains radiated from the tops of my shoulders, with a little trickle to the elbows. Pain radiated from my shoulder-blades, too. But nothing going up and down my left arm. No shortness of breath, and no cold sweat until it was almost through. But this time I couldn't tell myself it was just some kind of muscle thing.

When the pains subsided I did the thing I guess I shoulda done that morning - I showered (sweaty, 'member?), got dressed in my cleanest work shorts and clean shirt, and drove to the hospital. Smart, huh? *eyes rolling*

Well, once I mentioned pains in my chest to the receptionist, I barely had time to put my name on the clip-boarded paper I'd been handed. Out of a door came a charge nurse - she was indeed charging! - and said, "You come in here. Now." And so I did!

Up on an exam bed I went. She stuck a Nitro pill in my mouth, under the tongue, told me it might give me a headache, and started putting electrodes on my chest.

*sigh* Blood pressure, pulse, blood samples, and hooking up some li'l machine connected to my chest hairs. A suddenly busy room at midnight. A doctor entered, looked at the strip of paper from the li'l machine, and said, "I'm not sure but I think you've had an incident."

Ahhh, an incident! Okay. Huh?

Well, they did their blood tests and found indicators that, yep, I'd had a heart attack or two. So I was stuck. My folks expected me for supper on Thursday - Olive Garden! :D - and I was not going to make it. So I had to call and cancel, which means that now *they* knew. I managed to get them to stay home until the next day, but you are *never* going to keep your Mom from coming to see you in the hospital. No way. The urge to go through whatever this was, on the "QT", was over before it had begun.

At this point things get a trifle jumbled. I know I was in a room, and I had a Russian-sounding nurse. I know one evening I got three phone calls - my brother, then Joni, then Bob - and my cell phone was running down. But somehow, after the drugs used in surgery, my memories were partially wiped. I can now recall the fun of going down to a frigid room for the heart catheterization procedure. That's come back to me. The nurse marking my right foot with an "X" to signify the correct leg to use, the huge X-Ray machine moving around above me - I was slightly sedated for that, thank goodness - the removal of the catheter, and the docs telling me that they couldn't even get through one blockage. I remember the shakes overtaking me - "The contrast will be very cold." - and me unable to stop violent shivering. I've never felt that cold! Oy!

But so much is gone, at least for now. What I do remember is my attempts to escape. After surgery. The complaints of the nurses that my right foot would not stay in the bed. I never revealed to them that I was trying to inch out of the bed, to get away. Whatever they had used on me in surgery had left me a huge dose of paranoia! As well as some sort of time dilation. Talk about a confusing time!

Up to now my memories of what I did before surgery are fragmented. I know I was on my feet for some things - an odd chest x-ray where I stood facing a marked board - where the tech slid in an x-ray thingie. Is it a cartridge? I dunno. I 'member following him into a small room and watching the x-ray come up on his 'pooter. I remember having a sonogram-type thing in my bed, seeing my heart beating, my lungs expanding, contracting. But the rest seems to be missing.

I have no memory of pre-op, or being rolled down to Surgery, nor of being sedated, recovery, anything! I woke to a world that I did not recognize, and in which my voice sounded like that of an old man. All was threatening and scary. The nurses asking me where I was, what my nam was, and so on, took on a smarmy, taunting quality. When the nurses had to slide me back up in the bed - I was escaping, 'member? - it always felt as though they were practically tossing me up to the head. They were rough, and short-tempered. They did everything fast, and I was being treated horridly. I didn't dare tell my Folks that, when they visited. After all they knew nothing! They chatted with the nurses and doctors as if nothing was amiss! I had to escape!

Which, of course, began by sliding ly right foot out from under the sheets, and off the bed. Which I know drove the nurses batty. LOL

I was moved to different rooms at least twice, but didn't understand why, except perhaps they were on to my escape plans. My hallucinations had me thinking I was in a small hotel in Atlantic City, an old, small motel in a beach town in Florida, on the road, followed by a villainous male nurse, and a bevy of police cars. I spoke to a dead man I never remember meeting, and met all sorts of wonderful people on the road. And this may have lent me some ideas for writing. But at the time I was a hunted man, in my mind, and could not understand why It was so.

Once I was aware enough to not sound weird they allowed me food. Or somethings whipped and soft that they claimed was food! :D And that took a doctor having me tested for swallowing prowess. Which involved that stinking time dilation thing again. Honestly, did the tech have to shove that spoon into my mouth? The applesauce was heaven. But did she then have to shove that piece of graham cracker into my mouth? I chewed slowly, as I was ordered to, and swallowed. Yep, no inhalation, but an honest-to-goodness swallow. So I was allowed food. Of sorts. food that was soft. *sigh* Well, I guess a steak would've been beyond me, at that point.

The last toorm I was ensconced in is where I would start to walk with a walker. Not easy, but I realized this meant I would be released! So I tried it, assisted and kept from falling by an Indian doctor. And me being me, and still under the effects of drugs, made a terribly humorous comment about how dark he was. Well ... he *was* very dark! And exceedingly pleasant. And he did *not* let me fall on my face in the hallway. So maybe he's heard drugged jokes before? But I got used to the walker, and now it would be up to the doctors.

The last two nights I was in that slammer my odd auditory and visual senses remained in force. I had no way of knowing that no children would be brought into the hospital by the charge nurse, and allowed to run around. But that's what I heard! My dreams again were filled with weirdness. And then it was that final day. I had breakfast, and then lunch. Then my Folks were there, with some new shorts for me - Mom threw out my tattered, soft, clean work shorts! *gasp!* - and some undies, socks, and a new T-shirt. I dressed as fast as I could (took maybe a half-an-hour), and then it was time to wait. But eventually the last nurse read me the rules for leaving, handed me a pile of papers on the Care and Feeding Of a Paroled Patient, and I walkered out of the room, into the elevator, and down to the lobby.

Even here, the remnants of insanity kept me from saying anything egregious. No way would I give them a reason to lock me back up! But once in the Folks' car, I could relax. We were heading to my Folks' home, and there I stay to recover. And here I am. And most of the drug effects seem to have passed away. But my memory remains jumbled. And I guess it always will.

So that's the bones of my tale, Friends. Again ... THANKS! I appreciate all of you. :D

God Is Not Replacing Anybody!

Have you heard of something called ‘Replacement Theology’? This posits that the Jews, or more specifically Israel, has been replaced in God’s affections by Christians, or more specifically The Church. The basic idea is that the Jews rejected Christ, the Son of God, and therefore were in turn rejected by God. So they are no longer God’s Chosen People. We in the Church were adopted by God, and have taken the place of Israel, or we are now the ‘true’ Israel, replacing the Israel of the Jews. 

This is what anyone familiar with the Old and New Testaments would call Heresy. Though it may have a certain appeal to folks whose knowledge of Scripture is patchy, it is in direct conflict with the Scriptures. When a Doctrine is espoused which runs contrary to Scripture it is a Heresy. 

In this case the Heresy is a particularly nasty one, one which has been around for a very long time, and has been costly in lives, history, and blood. Not to mention, I believe, Souls. 

If your church or congregation hews to this doctrine, you are in a heretical place, my friends. You need to abandon it, post haste!

Are you familiar with the parable of the Prodigal Son? Read it! Though the Son has lost his birthright, through his rebelliousness, he does not lose his ‘son-ship’. The father embraces him on his return, rejoicing greatly! Perhaps in human terms this is unfair, you may think. But God does not think in human terms. He never has; He never will! The son is not replaced and abandoned by the Father. He is forgiven, brought back into the family, and the father rejoices at his return. Christ taught this parable for a reason. Actually more than one. But one reason is to illuminate the tremendous forgiveness and love that God has for His own. The Jews, Israel, are His own. The Father loves them. He has not replaced them with the Church!

As Chuck Missler notes: Myth No. 1: Replacement Theology
There is a commonly held view that...
A) Israel rejected her messiah; therefore she forfeited the promises to her.
B) The Church, thus, replaces Israel, becoming spiritual Israel, etc.
However:
1) The promises God made to Israel were unconditional; (she couldn’t forfeit these);

2) Paul, in his definitive statement of Christian doctrine called The Book of Romans, spends three chapters (9, 10, and 11) stressing that God is not finished with Israel - they have a very definite prophetic destiny;  

3) The Seventy Week prophecy of Daniel 9 outlines the prophetic role of Israel after the interval of the Church period. [The Church is not present in the 69 weeks, nor is it on the earth in the 70th; the interval between the 69th and 70th week (Dan 9:26) is the period of the Church on the earth.]  

4) Jesus has yet to fulfill the promise given to Mary to take David’s Throne, etc.
Israel appears 75 times in the New Testament. Each time, it refers to national Israel, including the solitary ostensible exception in Gal 6:16 thekai grammatically sets apart the Israel of God from the church and prevents synonymity. [Lindsey, p.268-9; Johnson; Fruchtenbaum.] 

From Augustine to Auschwitz 

Even after the adoption of Christianity by the secular leadership after Constantine, the notion that Jesus was to literally return to rule the earth to free it from Satan’s evil world system was not popular with the administration in power; it was not politically correct. Origen’s system of allegorical interpretation led to Augustine’s amillennial eschatology, which became a tradition that would dominate the church for over a thousand years. The contention that the church was the inheritor of Israel’s promises, and therefore must take ultimate authority over the political powers of this world, became the preoccupation of the Medieval Church. Even the Reformation, despite its effective focus on salvation by faith alone, failed to re-examine and return to a literal, pre-millennial eschatology. One of the tragedies of this replacement or reconstruction view is that it led to the anti-semitism that resulted in the Holocaust. These views led to the tragedies of the Crusades, the blood-libel hoax, the scapegoats for the Black Death, and other tragic misconceptions. The real root cause of anti-Semitism is, of course, the Red Dragon of Revelation 12, Satan. (There are a number of apparent motivations, not the least of these being the possible attempt to thwart the Second Coming by wiping out the Remnant before they can repent as required by Hosea 5:15, et al.) It is important to distinguish the origin and destiny of Israel from the origin and destiny of the Church: they are clearly distinguished in the Scripture.

As you can see the notes are meant to be part of a study. You can listen to Chuck here: "The Prodigal Heirs" and enjoy the seminar. Well worth your time and consideration!

From http://www.contender.org/why-replacement-theology-is-wrong/: “Replacement theology may have an appeal to gentile racial or ethnic pride but it is not one that is based upon the higher gracious nature given to believers by Christ. We are saved by believing in God’s unmerited favor extended to us through faith in Christ based upon His unconditional promises, but replacement theology refuses to grant this same principle when dealing with God’s earthly people Israel, and the unconditional promise of future national salvation (see Romans 11:26) and their return to the land (see Ezekiel 36:24,25).”

Also: “We believe replacement theology is the epitome of the arrogance that the Holy Spirit warned the Church of through the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 11 verses 17 and 18: ‘But if some of the branches [Israel] were broken off, and you (all gentile believers), being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them [Israel] of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.’”

God the Father has generously adopted us into His family. He has not thrust out the rest of His family. Some quibble that Jews today are ‘watered down’ after millennia of inter-marriage with Gentiles. Utter nonsense! Read your Scriptures! Find the laws regarding adoption! 

Further: “Some who hold to replacement theology like to say that Israel today bears no genetic link to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They like to point out the differences between Ashkenazi Jews from Europe and Sephardic Jews whose ancestors never left the Middle East. It is funny that in the name of Christian theology they are willing to forget the genetic intermingling that occurred in our own dear Savior’s genealogy. Ruth was a gentile Moabitess and Rahab was one from Jericho! We don’t know what non-Jewish traits they may or may not have had.”

For me that family line is evidence of salvation to everybody! We are all eligible for adoption! But we do not replace the Jews. We join with them in the Family of God! Read your Scriptures!

At one time, when the Roman Catholic Church decided that the Bible could only be written in Latin, it can be understood that most people would have no way to know what the Scriptures actually said. But once that barrier was breached no Christian who could read had any excuse. None save an inherited hatred, or mistrust of Jews. And that is from the Devil. 

You can certainly find plenty of information regarding Replacement Theology, or Dispensationalism on the Net. Not sure about it? Go look. Don’t just take my word for it.

Replacement Theology is Heresy! Inspired of Satan himself! Don’t allow yourself to be a part of it!

Well-bred?

By now you’ve probably heard that California Chrome has won the Preakness Stakes. Having won the Kentucky Derby this means that the horse is now a possible Triple Crown winner, should he take the Belmont Stakes on June 7. The last horse to win this elusive prize was Affirmed, in 1978, the eleventh horse to ever do so.

Right now, as I look at my calendar, I have no work scheduled that day, so I’ll be able to watch the race! For the most part the only horse races I follow are those Triple Crown races: the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. I missed the Derby this year. Yep, I had to work! ;)

Though horse races can be exciting, they can also be frightening, if not heart-breaking to watch. And I don’t mean because of the betting, or the winning/losing of the races. For me, the placing of a bet makes the event less enjoyable. For me. I end up worrying about the money rather than enjoying the race itself. No, it’s seeing these thoroughbreds doing exactly what they were bred to do that is awe-inspiring.

 But that very breeding, which can produce such beautiful, swift animals, can also produce dangerous flaws in the physical bodies of the animal.

 The horse, designed by God to run, is beautiful, fast, awesome. As Man has tinkered with them, they have grown a bit larger, much faster, but infinitely more delicate than the original design. To see a thoroughbred break down in a race is heart-breaking. For the horse it’s the running that comes naturally to them. They have no idea that their very bodies may be flawed, fragile, awaiting just the right circumstance to betray them.
And yet, that breeding can also produce an animal such as Secretariat! Big Red, as he was called, was a big horse! As I noted in an old post - http://benningswritingpad.blogspot.com/2008/05/134th-kentucky-derby-where-legends.html - size alone is not enough. And Secretariat may have been the very apex of horse-breeding. There seemed to be nothing delicate or fragile about him. In the Kentucky Derby he was actually accelerating as he crossed the finish line! Speed, plus amazing power. He set records in each of the Triple Crown races. Winning the Belmont by 31 lengths is simply unimaginable! Power! Speed! Size! That size alone would enable Secretariat to outrun the ‘average’ thoroughbred, just as a tall human runner would have the advantage in a race with shorter opponents.

 But, of course, there are those thoroughbreds which are quite fragile; where the breeding has created an animal that is beyond the limits of its design. When that happens the results can be devastating, and sad. Eight Belles collapsing, with two broken legs, had managed to come in second. Great heart! But she died on the track. A beautiful, but flawed horse.

Barbaro, who won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, and was a fan favorite, shattered a leg in the start of the Preakness Stakes, just two weeks later. As Wiki says: “Barbaro broke his right hind leg in more than 20 places:[4] a broken cannon bone above the pastern, a broken sesamoid bone behind the fetlock and a broken long pastern bone below the fetlock. The fetlock joint was dislocated, and his foot was left dangling loosely. Veteran jockey Edgar Prado immediately pulled Barbaro up, and brought him to a gentle stop. He dismounted and leaned his shoulder into the horse's shoulder to support Barbaro until track attendants could arrive.” I watched that race, and saw the replays of this. The poor jockey. Struggling to help his mount! The owner would perform heroic measures to save Barbaro, but ultimately he could not be saved, as his body failed, bit by bit, over the next few months, unable to survive the succeeding problems.

What will be the fate of California Chrome? His breeding, or pedigree, is a decent one, it seems. Inbreeding would seem to be less than that of other thoroughbreds. So he may have the strength of body that more inbred horses lack. I hope so! He is a fun horse to watch, though not as magical as Secretariat. Will he win the Belmont Stakes? Will he become the first Triple Crown winner since 1978?

Only time will tell. It would be a heckuva win for the owners, and for the fans of horse racing. It had been 25 years without a Triple Crown winner, when Secretariat won. Only five had passed when Affirmed won it. And now it’s been 36 years since Affirmed.

I can recall some smartie-pants whining in ‘73 that the thing was just too hard! Maybe the timing of the races should be changed, the rules changed. Hah! Typical. And you can hear the same stupid thing now, and have since Affirmed. Seems if something is difficult, there are always those who want to change the rules. And, yeah, that’s a perfect way to improve things, isn’t it? Yeesh!

If California Chrome is fast enough, strong enough, and better than his competition, he’ll win the thing. If not, he won’t. That’s how it works, in racing, as well as in life. In any event, I expect that horse will do his very best. And isn’t that all we can do?

PS: I found this bit fascinating, from Wiki: “At the time of Secretariat's death, the veterinarian who performed the necropsy, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, head pathologist at the University of Kentucky, did not weigh Secretariat's heart, but stated, "We just stood there in stunned silence. We couldn’t believe it. The heart was perfect. There were no problems with it. It was just this huge engine." Later, Swerczek also performed a necropsy on Sham, who died in 1993. Swerczek did weigh Sham's heart, and it was 18 pounds (8.2 kg). Based on Sham's measurement, and having necropsied both horses, he estimated Secretariat's heart probably weighed 22 pounds (10.0 kg), or about two-and-three-quarters times as large as that of the average horse.”

Yep! That was a big horse!

Hmmph!

I usually have the TV on, as a sort of companion, I suppose. Since I cannot afford cable, I'm limited to whatever is being broadcast. Not that big a deal, really, and I do have more important things to do. But the sound is, as I say, like a companion. So what is on? This morning I watched - a bit - Lucky Dog, which is interesting, and a Veterinarian show, with a Vet in Australia. Also interesting. Then comes Recipe Rehab. This show takes a tasty, unhealthy recipe that's some family's favorite, and remakes it in a healthy way. Okay, that's a good idea.

The problem? The recipes are now a lot more involved. And the worst part is the new ingredients. This morning's fare was a Shepherd's Pie recipe. I like Shepherd's Pie. And using, for instance, fresh potatoes, rather than boxed Instant Mashed Potatoes, is a very good switch. It's also much more labor intensive. Takes more time, too. What is the switch here?

 Well, use fresh taters, and cauliflower. Also a meat substitute. That's the one recipe. The other recipe? Replace ground beef with ground buffalo. Hmm. Now that's something you can find in every grocery store, huh?

And this is one of my gripes with this. Vegan meat substitute? Cauliflower? Ground Buffalo meat? Turnips? While these recipes seem much healthier, and probably are, who is going to go through the time, and expense, of shopping for these ingredients - check out some other recipes! - as well as the increased prep time? Your family is hungry and everything slows to a crawl so you can 'whip up' one of these?

Maybe. I can see a family giving it a try. But the next time they want Mom's Shepherd's Pie for supper? Will Mom or Dad go shopping for the turnips, buffalo meat, or goat cheese? I'm guessing they won't. ;)

And when I think of what is usually the increase in cost? It reminds me of the Extreme Home Makeover show.

Interesting, but the houses in question aren't 'made over' at all! They're torn down and a new house is erected in their place. Sure, we ALL can afford that, right?

*eyes rolling*

 Just something I was thinking about. :D

Adventures in Floor Care

Stripping floors, in a commercial setting, can be dangerous. The very act of applying stripper to a waxed floor means you have to take great care walking around. A stripper-covered floor is incredibly slick. More than once I’ve found myself smacking the floor as my feet have done a Wile E. Coyote dance in the air. No traction at all! But that’s the price of doing the job: you take your time, move with care, and pray you won’t take a wrong step. ;)

Last night that wrong step had not a danged thing to do with a slippery floor! Oy!

So Saturday we - myself, and two co-workers - had an Animal Hospital to strip. It’s been nearly three years since it was last stripped, which is way too long between strippings. I knew we were in for a tough job, but we would be careful, and we’d strip it twice, if need be. And that’s what I ended up doing on most of the floor.

Having stripped the surgery for a second time, the floor was no longer a greased Teflon surface, but I decided to wash down the coving - baseboards - with water to rinse off the stripper and push it away from the walls. This makes vacuuming the sludge much easier, as well as the later rinse.

So there I was, with my plastic pitcher of water, crouched over, doing a rinse of the coving, and moving well. And where was I looking? At the baseboards, of course. I completely forgot the X-Ray film viewer bolted to the wall. You know, the one with the very sharp corners? Well, trust me, that’s the one!

Next thing I knew something struck my head a tremendous blow! I thought it was one of those annoying over-head light fixtures that will not stay up! I slapped my hand to my head - dang! It hurt! - and looked over to see what I had actually hit. Yep! The Viewer cabinet bolted firmly to the wall. Pulling my hand down, I figured I might have some blood - it was a whale of a shot! - and sure enough there was blood. A lot of it!

I could feel the warm trickle running down the side of my face, and slapped my hand back on it, then ambled out of the surgery to a nearby sink.

“A little cold water might stop this,” I figured.

My co-workers were out there, and probably heard my loud imprecations at the offending cabinet and my own utter stupidity, because they were both staring at me. I splashed water on my head a few times, then clamped some paper towels onto the spot.

“Dayum!” I heard one of the guys say. “You better get to the hospital, man.”

I pulled off the paper towels and saw they were soaked red.

“Oh shit, man, you better go,” said the other one. He grabbed some gauze pads and handed them to me. I realized I could still feel a warm trickle down my face, even with a new set of paper towels, so I asked him to put the gauze over the damaged place. Yep! I was holding the towels just under the actual cut! LOL

We went out, hopped in his truck, and motored down to the local Emergency Room. It took maybe 30 minutes to get checked in (I sent my co-worker back to the Animal Hospital about midway through the wait.), called to an exam room, get all the vital stats done, then find my way into one of the treatment rooms. Another 10 for the Doctor to come in and begin torturing me. ;)

Actually every step of the way the folks at the Countryside Mease Hospital were friendly and helpful. My brains weren’t leaking, so it wasn’t like a life-threatening situation. :)

The Doc talked me through every thing he did, warning me when he was about to stick a needle in, to numb the area, and so on. We joked most of the time. He seemed unimpressed at my complaints over no longer having such an awesomely pretty visage.

I barely felt the needle, only sort of felt the stitches going in - I have a nice 90-degree cut, with a little bit of *me* missing - and when he left he had explained everything. The Nurse came in about 5 minutes later, to give me a tetanus shot. I didn’t feel that at all! I don’t know what they teach Doctors and Nurses these days, but giving a hypodermic seems to be perfected at Countryside Mease! :D

Signed my release, and went outside to call my co-worker to come back and get me. So I spent the rest of the night with my head bandaged like an Apache. This morning that wrap had pretty much come off. So I had my first look at the damage.

*meh!* Not so bad. But it’s very tender, and after a shower I’ve slathered it with an anti-biotic.

And that was yesterday’s Adventure in Floor Care. :) And how was your day?

PS: I said copious thanks to the Lord for knocking some sense into me, and for the help I received, too. The Lord is always very good to me, despite the fact I'm a grubby sinner. :D

F2K & A Repost

Our little Writing University has changed a bit in the last decade. We’ve had to move the site a few times - security concerns - and lost some folks in all the packing and un-packing. The original layout of the place has changed, too. Some changes for the better, some ... not so much. And along the way some of our members have passed on. Two of my good writing friends went on to the Great Publisher last year - Joan McNulty Pulver, and Margaret Carr. Their presence is missed by those who worked with them, and called them Friends.

One of the biggest changes is that WVU and F2K - the Free Basics of Fiction Writing Course - now have Social Walls, similar to Facebook. For some members that’s a nice thing. For others it’s not. And some hate it, thinking it’s just unprofessional. *shrug* The Social Walls are there. They are what we make of them.

In any event, we’ve weathered the storms, and remain. And F2K is about to start yet another session on January 25th. Registration closes on January 24th. So if you have dreams of becoming a writer, or merely want to hone your writing a bit, or need a kick-start to your writing, you might want to try F2K. The links are current, so take a look.

Below you’ll find a repost of an old post from January of 2006. It’s called “How I Became an F2K Mentor”. Have a great day!

F2K is a free writing course hosted by Writers' Village University. It's a really good writing course. So good, in fact, that I signed up for it three times! After the second session I joined WVU as a member. Been there ever since! I highly recommend it to any writers out there.

Anyway, back to F2K.

Very early during my first trip through, I found that staying in my own classroom was not quite my 'cup of tea'. I liked to peek in at the other classes, see who was in there, read what they were writing. And I'd give a little feedback, too. Hey! For me, that was fun. And I had the time, being single - hint! hint! Ladies! - and curious.

Got to know quite a few writers - fellow students - and came to be known as a 'kibbitzer' around F2K. Truth is, I know I infected a few others who then became 'kibbitzers' as well. Hehehee!

There are always a few writers who, for some unknown reason, do not get many comments or feedback on their writing. Some just show up late, and they never catch on with the others. Some don't feel qualified to give feedback, so nobody gives feedback to them. And, yes, some write horrible stuff.

It's true.

So it feels good to add some feedback to an empty board. Know what I mean? Besides, I read some very nice things in my Kibbitzing travels.

Well, fast forward to my third trip through F2K in the Autumn of 2005. I may be a better writer now, but I still enjoy the 'kick in the pants' that F2K can provide to any writer. So there I am. Taking the lessons again, and doing my thing. My thing being ... remember the word? ... Kibbitzing!

Hehehee! Yep, Ol' benning was kibbitzing the different classrooms again, even ticking off one of the Mentors. Mentors are volunteers who guide the students, answer questions, and keep an eye on things. There's a Mentor for each classroom. So, for me, nothing had changed, really. Except ...

Well, seems they needed another Mentor or two. Seems they did notice that Ol' benning got around, met the students, gave advice or steered the students to the right people to ask, and just generally helped out. Did Ol' benning know that's what he was doing? Hardly. Ol' benning was having fun. Period.

So the Head Mentor, whom I call 'MA', emailed me and asked if I'd be interested in becoming an F2K Mentor. Sheesh! Me? But that's a responsibility, right? *sigh*

Well, 'MA' and the others are friends of mine, y'know. We're all members of WVU. If they ask, they must think I can do it. Right? That's what I figured. So, I said, "Sure, I'll do it."

Some procedural things followed, and then 'MA' wanted to know if I had a Name for the room I would have. See, all the classrooms bear the name of a writer. Some I've never heard of, so I know the Mentor named it for some obscure favorite. One room is named for a former F2K Mentor - Colin R. Onstad - who passed away. Well, I'd think about it, right? I'd want a good writer to grace the nameplate of my room, right? You betcha!

Emailed 'MA' a few minutes later. "Can I have the Robert A. Heinlein room?" If you never heard of him, look him up! Sheesh!

And that's the room I'm Mentoring in right now. LOL

So far, in this, my first run at Mentoring, it's been interesting. But it's still very early. We'll see if I can actually do what the veteran Mentors can. But I haven't scared any students away. Yet.

We'll see.

Hit those links at the top of this post, or over to the left there. Great places for writers. Trust me! I'm not a politician! :D

Selah!

"Selah"

Psalm 77:1-3 "[...] I cried out to God with my voice--To God with my voice; And He gave ear to me.

"In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; My hand was stretched out in the night without ceasing; My soul refused to be comforted.

"I remembered God, and was troubled; I complained, and my spirit was overwhelmed. Selah"

What does 'selah' mean? It shows up over 70 times in the King James version of the Bible. More in a Hebrew Bible, I'm informed. Three times it is found in the book of Habakkuk the prophet (in the third chapter [KJV]), the rest in the Psalms. What's the point of the word? Why is it there?

Psalm 3:1-4 "A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. LORD, how they have increased who trouble me! Many [are] they who rise up against me.

"Many [are] they who say of me, '[There is] no help for him in God.' Selah

"But You, O LORD, [are] a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

"I cried to the LORD with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah"

According to the experts it may have a few meanings, though nobody is certain of its meaning. Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah - says,

"Selah (Hebrew: סֶלָה‎, also transliterated as selāh) is a word used frequently in the Hebrew Bible, often in the Psalms, and is a difficult concept to translate. (It should not be confused with the Hebrew word sela' (Hebrew: סֶלַע‎) which means "rock.") It is probably either a liturgico-musical mark or an instruction on the reading of the text, something like "stop and listen". "Selah" can also be used to indicate that there is to be a musical interlude at that point in the Psalm. The Amplified Bible states Selah as "pause, and think of that"."

Is either correct?

Is it a musical direction? Why would we assume that? Granted, many Psalms are addressed to the Chief Musician. But the writers of the Psalms were not musicians themselves. Nor was Habakkuk. So why would, for instance David, give musical directions in his Psalms?

Habakkuk was writing a Prayer in the third book. Okay, perhaps his prayer was meant to be sung. But nowhere does that prayer says so. So why a musical direction? No, in my mind the idea that Selah is a musical direction, or notation, is way off. Nor does it make too much sense to propose that it might mean to add a musical interlude at that point. That, too, makes little sense.

So what's left? That notion of Selah being 'an instruction on the reading of the text, something like "stop and listen," may be closer, if not right on the money. As The Mountain Retreat - http://www.mountainretreatorg.net/faq/selah.html - puts it,

"With all of these "experts" making such contradictory statements, one tends to wonder, "can we even really know what Selah means?" The answer to this question I believe is yes. And the answer really shouldn't be subjective or left to conjecture. Because there is much we can learn about this word from the original Hebrew in which it is written, from allowing the Bible to be its own dictionary, and from comparing scripture with scripture and allowing God to be His own interpreter. All of these things can give us a solid illustration of this word's true meaning.

Selah, [celah], is from the primary Hebrew root word [calah] which literally means 'to hang,' and by implication to measure (weigh). This is readily understood because in Biblical history, money, food and other valuables were 'weighed' by hanging or suspending them on a type of balance (the equivalent of our measuring scale) to determine their value. We find an example of this word [calah] as it is literally translated 'valued,' in the book of Job, indicating that which is measured."

Maybe that's a little too 'literary' or 'scholarly' for us? But the base meaning is clear. It is an instruction within the text. But the instruction depends on the actual text. So we need to use context as our guide.

As Doctor Gene Scott used to say, you can simply translate it as, "Think of that!" or, "Imagine that!" And the context tells you if the word, Selah, is used in a positive or negative way. It can be mocking, too, you know. So the context might translate Selah into something like, "Can you imagine how silly that is?" In some contexts it's easy to translate Selah into, "Imagine how awesome that is!"

But it can always mean the simplest of things, as in that root of the word. So Selah could just mean, "Weigh that idea." Or even, "Look at the value of that thought."

In some places the King James translators used a bit of whimsy, as they translated the very same word. And it became, in Lamentations 1:15, for instance, "The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty men in the midst of me: he hath called an assembly against me to crush my young men: the Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, as in a winepress." Here, 'hath trodden under foot' is actually Selah, or the root Hebrew word 'celah'. The second instance of 'trodden' in this verse is, in fact, a different word, entirely, and means trodden.

(Yes, I know the King James translators did a wonderful job. But they did take liberties in places, and translated the exact same words and phrases, in different places, into different meanings. Thus, for example, you have the phrase in Genesis 1:2 'The earth was without form, and void;', yet the exact same Hebrew phrase can also be translated translated into, "And the earth became a waste and a desolation". Which gives an entirely different meaning to the phrase. And also goes a long way to explaining some of the phrases, and thoughts or ideas, found throughout the Old Testament. )

Again, from The Mountain Retreat,

"[...] Whenever we see this word in scripture, we should understand that the Lord is exhorting us to 'weigh' these things thoughtfully, and to reflect and consider in good sense judgment, what is 'really' being said.

And despite claims to the contrary, there is no substantive Biblical evidence that Selah is an interrupter to pause the music while voices continue, nor is there sound evidence that it is for the pausing of voices while the music continues. These ideas are based upon the conjecture and theories of it being a music stop. It is a presupposition rather than a well researched conclusion. But what we do know is that it is a word which means to weigh or measure. And in these contexts, to weigh the preceding words of God and wisely consider them. It is a signature exhortation from God for our thoughtful reflection and weighing of what we have just read."

Selah!

Timing

Timing is an important concept in a lot of our endeavors. In sports timing can be the difference between victory and defeat. In Art, Music, or literature timing can be important, as something may be an utter failure as Art, or Music, or Literature, simply because it is presented to the public before the public is ready for it. It's "ahead of its time," as the saying goes.

When it comes to the plans of God, our understanding of things being timely are woefully inadequate. We expect- demand - God to do things on our timetable. Why doesn't God get that? We're suffering, or in difficulties, and God is taking His sweet time answering our prayers. Though it's danged hard for us to appreciate, God has His own view of Time, and His timing is not ours. His existence is both within Time, and without. God sees the entire span of Time in terms of millennia, at the very least, and His plans are intricately laid out, and working, even as we're demanding He just do something!

Well.

Do you remember the story of Joseph? Sold into bondage by his own brothers, winds up a slave in Egypt, and eventually becomes the most powerful man in Egypt. He is reconciled with his brothers. God could easily have put Joseph into Egypt, and in that position, with speed, and ease. No pain, no fear, no suffering. But He didn't, and the tale is a powerful one for Bible readers today. It is also a nice illustration of God's plan, working His will, on His own Timeline.

Genesis 37:1-30 gives you the buildup to the amazing life of Joseph, and shows how the oldest son of Jacob - Reuben - fitted into God's Plan, and Timeline, for Joseph. And, of course, by extension, all of the Children of Israel. For even Reuben, sinful, destined to lose his Birthright, was used by God to ensure that Joseph would be spared, and that the sons of Jacob would not become murderers.

We learn that Joseph was his father's favorite, spoiled and treated openly as better than all his brothers. Jacob (Israel) thus engendered in his own sons' hearts a hatred of their own brother.

Genesis 37:3 & 4 "Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he [was] the son of his old age. Also he made him a tunic of [many] colors.
"But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peaceably to him."

And if you read the chapter you will not be all that surprised. For Joseph is described in ways that make you wonder why he wasn't smacked around on a regular basis by his brothers. Joseph was very much a proud, boastful youngster. He had all the tact and diplomacy of a kick to the crotch. He seems to be quite proud to relate his dreams to his brothers, and his own father, in which Joseph is exalted over them all.

So picture this family, then, shepherds of sorts, who spread out over a vast territory. So vast, in fact, that it took days for them to go from one feeding area to another. Jacob was not a poor shepherd, but a rich man, for his times, and his favorite son, Joseph, was his most spoiled off-spring. And as this particular story begins, the brothers are off tending the flocks in Shechem, among other places.

Genesis 37:13,14 'And Israel said to Joseph, "Are not your brothers feeding [the flock] in Shechem? Come, I will send you to them." So he said to him, "Here I am." Then he said to him, "Please go and see if it is well with your brothers and well with the flocks, and bring back word to me." So he sent him out of the Valley of Hebron, and he went to Shechem.

Joseph may be a self-centered, self-important jerk, but he is also obedient to his father. And off he went. But by the time he reached Shechem the brothers had moved on, and Joseph had to go even farther, until he found them near Dothan. A rather long trek, and far from his father's home. And of course, he was wearing that many-colored coat, as he traveled. His brothers could see him coming from a good distance.

Genesis 37: 18-20 - 'Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! "Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams!"

And that would have been that, right? The brothers had blood in their eyes, so strong was their hatred of the young man. And Joseph was nowhere near home. Who would have known the difference? Certainly not Jacob.

But one brother, the oldest, the one Jewish commentators believe had the softest heart of them all, could not accept murder. Reuben - the man who would lose his birthright for an ugly sin - would stand between his brothers murderous designs, and his obnoxious younger brother, Joseph.

Genesis 37:21-24 'But Reuben heard [it], and he delivered him out of their hands, and said, "Let us not kill him." And Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood, [but] cast him into this pit which [is] in the wilderness, and do not lay a hand on him"--that he might deliver him out of their hands, and bring him back to his father. So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph [of] his tunic, the tunic of [many] colors that [was] on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit [was] empty; [there was] no water in it.

And at this point Reuben leaves. There are all sorts of reasons given, such as Reuben circling around to return and pull Joseph out of the pit, to take him home; going off to watch the flocks; having business to attend to, before he can return for Joseph. Whatever reason Reuben had for leaving, just then, he had to leave. God had His own plans for Joseph, and they did not include sending him home. Joseph was to be tempered by trial. And so God found something for Reuben to do to take him away from that pit. Timing.

So Joseph was in the bottom of a pit, Reuben was off - intending to return and save his brother a little later, perhaps after sunset - and the grumbling, murderous brothers remained. And timing rears its head, as God continues to act out His own plans.

Genesis 37:25-28 'And they sat down to eat a meal. Then they lifted their eyes and looked, and there was a company of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead with their camels, bearing spices, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry [them] down to Egypt.
So Judah said to his brothers, "What profit [is there] if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?
"Come and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he [is] our brother [and] our flesh." And his brothers listened.
Then Midianite traders passed by; so [the brothers] pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty [shekels] of silver. And they took Joseph to Egypt.'

And here, if you can't feel for the young man, you have a very hard heart. Oh, he was going be better off, eventually. But at that moment he knew only that his own brothers hated him so much that they would sell him into slavery to be rid of him. And what of Reuben? For Reuben had intended to return and pull Joseph from that pit, and get him home to his father.

Genesis 37:29,30 - Then Reuben returned to the pit, and indeed Joseph [was] not in the pit; and he tore his clothes. And he returned to his brothers and said, "The lad [is] no [more]; and I, where shall I go?"

And Reuben mourned for that spoiled brother of his. He had no idea that God was moving His own plans along, and that Joseph would be fine, by and by. Poor Reuben.

Timing. God's timing is all, and we can accept that, or rail against our fates. God worked the timing so that Jacob's flocks were far from home, indeed farther away than he thought. He sent the one man to them who the brothers hated to the point of murder. So far that the Midianite caravan would not be seen by Jacob, nor Joseph recognized as Jacob's son, by those Midianites. God placed Reuben close enough to overhear his brothers plotting Joseph's murder, and stop them, and then sent him on his way so that he could not keep his brothers from selling Joseph into slavery. Timing.

We have our own concept of the timely, and God has His own. And God's timing wins. No, we don't always understand, but we are the clay to God's Potter. We don't have the standing to complain. If God decides to intercede, in answer to our prayers, He does so because it fits, or does not alter, His plans, His timing.

His plans for Joseph required a lot of things to happen at the right place, and the right time, in the proper sequence. And eventually Joseph would go on to unimagined power, in Egypt. Reuben, and his brothers, and family, would eventually be reconciled with their brother. For God's plans included Egypt, not only for the wealth and bounty of that land, but also as He ingrafted Egyptian blood into the line of the Children of Israel.

And what did Joseph think of all this, so many years later, as he looked at his brothers standing before him? In Genesis 42:22,23 we read that the brothers, not recognizing Joseph, have been thrown into prison. Joseph has not revealed himself to them.

And Reuben answered them, saying, "Did I not speak to you, saying, 'Do not sin against the boy'; and you would not listen? Therefore behold, his blood is now required of us."
But they did not know that Joseph understood [them], for he spoke to them through an interpreter.

Reuben remembered, still, and still mourned, I believe. And Joseph heard every word. Read the rest, and see how they were finally shown who Joseph was, how they feared for their lives since Joseph could have had them all executed. And then read this, as God continues to work His own plans:

Genesis 50:18 - 21 - 'Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, "Behold, we [are] your servants." Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for [am] I in the place of God? But as for you, you meant evil against me; [but] God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as [it is] this day, to save many people alive. Now therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones." And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.'

"You meant evil against me; [but] God meant it for good," Joseph says. God had surely tempered the young man; the older man had become wise.

God's plans; God's timing. All of it He has worked out from the very Beginning, and He will see it accomplished.

God bless you! :D

Genesis: Strange Facts?

Genesis has, as you know, many strange facts. Part of the problem with understanding Genesis is the weakness of some areas of translation. For instance you have Enoch, the father of Methuselah. Enoch was taken to heaven without dying, according to the accepted understanding of the most popular translations, the common understanding of the verse (Genesis 5:24), "And Enoch walked with God; and he [was] not, for God took him." But if the translation was a bit off, to make sense to the translators, this could be in error. One translation I saw made it, not 'for God took him,' but 'for God carried him across [or 'over']'. And this adds to the strangeness. For where was this place? And what was Enoch doing for God in that place?

Josephus, [...] was a 1st Century Jewish scholar and historian who testified that, prior to the Great Flood, the Sethites built two great monuments to preserve their astronomical and spiritual knowledge for future generations. One was built of stone, and the other of brick. According to Josephus, these monuments could still be found in Mizraim (i.e. Egypt) during his lifetime in the 1st Century AD.

Some Ancients called the Great Pyramid the "Pillar of Enoch". So it is not a far stretch to think that Enoch was 'carried over' to build the prophetic monuments for God. It also allows for a job for those "Watchers".

And I believe I've read, in passing, of evidence of salt water found inside the Great Pyramid. Pre-Flood? Why not?

You have Genesis 1:1 where the Hebrew does not say 'God', but 'Gods'. Which presupposes the existence of more than one Spiritual being, including The Word. :D

When you move to Genesis 1:2 you have a translation that is correct, but can also be translated differently, as the same phrase is in Jeremiah. So ... "The earth was without form, and void; [...]" can also be translated as "The earth became a waste and a desolation; [...]" This opens up many avenues of thought, and explains a lot of small things in the Old testament that were baffling. Like Jeremiah's vision of Eden before Adam, and the earth, as well. :D

From Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 1:2 there may well lie an immense gulf of time, within which are the destruction of the earth, and the fall of Satan.

Thanks to Donna Sundblad for reminding me of the topic! :D

From JoshuaNet:

Methuselah comes from Muth, a root that means "death"; and from shalak, which means "to bring." The name Methuselah means, "his death shall bring." [1]

Methuselah's father [Enoch] was given a prophecy of the coming Great Flood, and was apparently told that as long as his son was alive, the judgement of the flood would be withheld. (Can you imagine raising a kid like that? Every time the boy caught a cold, they must have panicked!) The year that Methuselah died, the flood came. It is interesting that Methuselah's life, in effect, was a symbol of God's grace in forestalling the coming judgement of the flood. It is, therefore, fitting that his lifetime is the oldest in the Bible, speaking of the extensiveness of God's grace.

by Dr. Chuck Missler

Jeremiah 32:20 ~ "You have set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, to this day, and in Israel and among [other] men; and You have made Yourself a name, as it is this day."

... Continuing a Theme ...

When Dogs Fly Helicopters

Checking my email I noticed that the last two emails are from 2023! I am being messaged from the future! Cool! Sadly they are both spam messages, so ... *sigh*

Anyway ...

From yesterday's post:

If you're paying attention to the Pundits, Taking Heads, and so on ... stop! There is NO PERFECT CANDIDATE! Not one of them will align with every one of your beliefs. So stop looking for that candidate. There ain't none. Every single on of the candidates has votes, statements, actions in their past that don't look good, or go against what you, or I consider a positive thing. Remember: "The Perfect is the enemy of the Good." Look for the best out there.

Of the ones I can support, right now, it's Santorum, and Perry. If the GOP nominee ends up being Romney I will support him. I don't think I could support Ron Paul. Ever. Come November, barring a Dr. Paul miracle, it has to be ABO! Anybody But Obama.

And now is the time to rededicate yourself to electing those candidates at the local and state levels who will support, or rein in, the President. That's where Conservatives can make the biggest difference!

Seriously. What Conservative candidate will not get the Chicago treatment? The smears, lies, and distortions will come fast and furious. It's time for you to relax, and know that most of what the MSM tells you about the candidates is just so much Gollum droppings.

Do you really want to elect a champion debater? Or do you want someone whose ideas hew closest to the US Constitution? Every one of the declared candidates has a history that you can find, read about, and think over. Just because some NY Slimes reporter can take a quote, or vote, out of context to make a candidate (or all of them!) look bad, does not mean that reporter is correct. Or even honest. You know they have an agenda, and it isn't a conservative one.

If the Obama campaign thinks it was a funny, winning shot to ask Romney for his tax records, well ... we still haven't seen any of Mr. Obama's school records, have we? Heck, we have never seen Senator Kerry's military records, and that campaign was over 8 years ago! Senator Kerry told us he'd release them ... during the campaign. Still waiting! No word from the NY Slimes on that.

So pay no attention to the media agenda-driven attacks, Folks. Use your head, do your own research, and decide for yourself. This year's election is more important than any we've had in a long, long time. Don't let the Progressive Leftists do the thinking for you!

Got it? Good! :D

By the way, if you want another good reason why this administration really needs to be gone ... try this on for size! Report: Obama Agreed To Release High-Ranking Taliban Leaders From Gitmo In Exchange For Taliban Opening Office In Qatar…

A Few Of My Favorite Things ...

M&Ms!

Okay, so there's a lot on the news, and in the world, this morning. But rather than curmudgeon my way through that ... I think I'll do a list. "A list," you ask? Yeah, why not?

My Favorite Poet (Dead): James Whitcomb Riley
     I'm not much of a poetry-lover, but Riley is one I remember from childhood, with "The Raggedy Man", and I liked it!

My Favorite Poet (Alive!): Joni Zipp
     'Course it helps that she's a writing friend of a number of years. But I can read her 'stuff' and 'see' it. And appreciate it, too. :) Her Sunday Poem blog posts are worth reading!  

My Favorite Fiction Writer (Dead): Robert A. Heinlein
     Heinlein's writing isn't always smooth, or elegant, but he can tell a very good story - mostly Science Fiction - and some of his characters are very memorable! As for those critics who whine that Heinlein was just a fascist/militarist, etc. well, that's what you can expect from Leftist custard-brained Commies. ;) "You live and learn. Or you don't live long." - Lazarus Long  

My Favorite Fiction Writer (Alive): I guess it depends on who I'm reading at the moment.
     I'm very partial to Jonathan Kellerman, and Faye Kellerman. But so many others are right there, too! And don't miss F. Paul Wilson either!  

My Favorite Color: Blue!
     Yeah, I guess that's a 'guy thing', but I do like blue. And being a Philadelphia Eagles fan my favorite shade of blue, at least during the NFL season, is Midnight Green! And Wikipedia says the Midnight Green is, well, go read it, okay? ;)

My Favorite Candy: M&Ms!
     Well, duh! That much all of you ought to know! M&Ms have a very long history in the U.S. Lots of colors, too! Hah! :)

All right, I think that’s enough for now, don’t you? Maybe I’ll add more tomorrow. ‘Course if you check my old posts you’ll see other things I’m very partial to.  

Note: The results are in and Mitt Romney seems to have won the Iowa Caucus. Congrats, Governor Romney. My own thoughts on that ... with all the money he has, and has spent, and considering he’s been running for President since 2006, I have to think this ain’t much of a victory for him. Rick Santorum was in single digits, in the polls, just two weeks ago. An 8-point win over Santorum seems more like a Santorum ‘win’ to me. Just my opinion, Folks.

Post Note Note:If you're paying attention to the Pundits, Taking Heads, and so on ... stop! There is NO PERFECT CANDIDATE! Not one of them will align with every one of your beliefs. So stop looking for that candidate. There ain't none. Every single on of the candidates has votes, statements, actions in their past that don't look good, or go against what you, or I consider a positive thing. Remember: "The Perfect is the enemy of the Good." Look for the best out there.

Of the ones I can support, right now, it's Santorum, and Perry. If the GOP nominee ends up being Romney I will support him. I don't think I could support Ron Paul. Ever.Come November, barring a Dr. Paul miracle, it has to be ABO! Anybody But Obama.

And now is the time to rededicate yourself to electing those candidates at the local and state levels who will support, or rein in, the President. That's where Conservatives can make the biggest difference! 

Why?

Why am I called a racist if I disagree with the President? President Obama is a Democrat, I am a Republican. The policies he endorses for this nation are those of the more radical wing of the Democratic Party. How does my disagreeing with those policies make me a racist?

If dissent is Patriotic - it must be, since Hillary Clinton declared it so while George W. Bush was President - why does my dissent become labeled Racist? Is it because dissent is only Patriotic if the President is a Republican?

Why does the Democratic Party label me a ‘terrorist’ because I want the Constitution followed? Since the Constitution is the legal foundation for the United States of America, why does demanding adherence to it, by our Constitutionally elected officials, make me a ‘terrorist’, or a Racist?

Why would someone who knows me call me Hateful, or Racist, if I point out the hypocrisy of some people who call for support of Labor Unions, while hiring only non-Union workers (Michael Moore,you listenin’?)?

Why do they say I’m a Racist when I point to physical assaults by Union thugs against peaceful protestors? If I complain about a Justice Department ignoring such activities, why does that make me a Racist?

If I do not refer to the President in racial terms, nor in a hateful manner, but in sharp disagreement with his stated policy directions and aims, why is that Racism on my part?

Why?

Just some things I’m still wondering. Nothing to be alarmed about. Go on with your regularly scheduled programming. :)

Very New Year: A Fresh Start ...

Okay, so it's the first "real" day of this brand new year - a Monday! - and perhaps time to do some rededicating to the blog, and to a lot of other things, too. I've finally cleaned up the blogrolls, down at the bottom of the page. When blogrolling closed down, I just left things as they were, After all, the links were still there, weren't they? Well ... now they're gone. So I've started rebuilding those links. If you ain't there, but you wanna be, let me know.

And while playing with that, and all the vicious html that goes along with it, I rediscovered Timothy Fish's blog. Yeah, his blog is now under the Writing Pad Blogroll, so there's that. ;) His blog post for today includes this:

"The sad thing is that people are more willing to put their faith in Mayans who are dead than they are in people who are living. They are more willing to put their faith in a piece of ceramic with no evidence to support it than they are in the Bible, which has a preponderance of evidence to show that it is true. Why would you believe a calendar that has no proven claims over a book that has hundreds of proven claims and no disproven claims? That doesn’t make sense to me."

Well, I agree. It doesn't make sense to me, either. But I've listened to UFO Believers who insist that they have seen, or read, all the necessary evidence they need to prove the existence of Aliens.

Of course at the same time they look down their noses at those of us have Faith in the Word. Funny thing, that. The Biblical record can be buttressed with archaeological evidence (and is), among other things, but is dismissed by UFO-logists, and others as "unproven". And naturally the extinct Mayan culture must be correct! Why? Well ... because! Shut up!

This year I will continue to read the Scriptures, and I'll also continue to delve into Apologetics - the Defense of the Faith - which has helped my understanding greatly. Do I have all the answers? No. Of course not! But I do know which questions are serious, and which are the same old 'gotcha-style' nonsense questions. And I know that the ones asking the nonsense questions aren't seriously seeking enlightenment, or answers. So often the only answer available is, "I really don't know." Which go well with the one I have in my head: "And which scientist has all the answers, if you please?"

If you're reading this, and can spare a few dollars, I'll repeat the call for help that I posted below ... twice! My friend is in need of dental care. Right now she's fighting infections that, of course, are causing problems in her body, not just with her mouth. And she has no money. So please begin the year with some charity. Okay? Just head to her blog post, read it, and if you can, donate! Like I said before ... why waste your money on cash-happy political parties? Send a donation to someone who badly needs the help! Thanks! :D

Well, that's it for now. Maybe I'll be able to blog more, through 2012, and maybe I'll lose interest again. Only time will tell!

Happy 2012!

Update! Joni has today blog post up, so go check it out! Goals for the New Year

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 

It's now 2012. A brand new year on the calendar, and a new start, if you want it.


The best of everything to you, and yours! May God richly bless you all the year! 

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PS: We've not gone totally Luddite, yet: NASA spacecraft enters moon’s orbit

Read & Vote! Please!

Reader's Digest is having a contest - "Your Life" - entries closed on November 1 - and the first prize is $25,000! Two of my very good writing friends have entries. These are very short stories, easy to read, and inspirational. Please hit the links, below, read the stories, and click the "Vote" button beneath. You can vote for both of them. And you can vote each day, too!


So please go! Read 'em, and Vote for 'em! :D


This contest ends on November 15, so hurry! :D And no, you don't have to be a Facebook member, either. ;)


Donna Sundblad's: "True Thankfulness"


Joni Zipp's: "To See Again"

Palm Sunday Repost

This being Palm Sunday I looked for an appropriate image to grace my Facebook page. And found this one by Harry Anderson:

"Triumphal Entry" which depicts Jesus entering Jerusalem - the basis of our own Palm Sunday remembrance. This begins what many Christians call "Holy Week." In the spirit of the art, let me, then repost something from 2006. About Harry Anderson, and his art. Enjoy!

And have a blessed Palm Sunday! :D

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Harry Anderson - A Different Sort Of Magic

Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. said, at BPIB,

"Harry Anderson's story is as unique as his ability. Born in 1906 in Chicago, he was going to be a mathematician. He started college at the University of Illinois in 1925. He took an art course as an easy counterpoint to the math classes and discovered both a talent and a love for drawing. From such simple choices our lives are made."

As Kent Steine says at The American Art Archive,

"Conception, composition, value, draughtsmanship, and painting dexterity," Harry Anderson once said, "must all work together. And they are important in just that order. But the parts all become automatic in time." No picture, according to him, would be deemed acceptable with any of these elements neglected. As one of the top illustrators from the 1930s to the 1980s, Harry spoke with quiet authority on the subject of making pictures.

His work graced the pages of all of the nation's high-profile magazines, as well as the most visible advertising campaigns. Quite often, authors would write to Anderson, informing him that he did a better job telling their story with his picture than they had done.

Just a note: Most of the images here can be enlarged by clicking on them! Worth the time, trust me!

Again, from Jim at BPIB,

He married Ruth around 1940. She worked in the same building as Harry and posed for him on one occasion. The following year he left the agency and joined the studio of Haddon Sundblom - famous for his Coca-Cola Santa Claus paintings. He was too old for military service but he did contribute one poster to the war effort. The purchase of a home during this period led to a second fork in his career path.

He and Ruth joined the Seventh Day Adventist church and in 1944 Harry was asked if he would contribute to their publishing efforts. Harry generously said yes and the next year his most famous image was crafted. "What Happened to Your Hand?" [at left] was done for a children's book in 1945 and immediately touched the hearts of that audience. The adults in charge of the publishing program were less enthusiastic; some even considering it near-blasphemous to show Christ in the present day. Cooler heads prevailed and Anderson spent the rest of his active career splitting his efforts between commercial assignments at his premium wages and religious ones done for love and for scale.

His art director at Review and Herald Publishing was T.K. Martin and it was his vision of Christ as a tangible presence in modern times that was shared and executed over and over again by Anderson. The inner peace that allowed Anderson to make his choice to contribute his time and effort at virtually minimum wage was evident in his paintings and in his depiction of Jesus.

Actually, that's unfair to Harry. That dedication and calm is present in all of his work. As an important and popular illustrator, he's almost unique in the gentleness of his images. Quite capable of depicting nearly anything, his choice of assignments and his approach to them was always in line with the dictates of his heart. Not many people can live their lives the way they want to. It seems that Anderson did. He enjoyed the same quiet, focused strength in his private life that's evident in his art.

From advertisement art

to illustrations for stories of every kind,


Harry Anderson's skill, and story-telling ability, was evident. And still is. For instance, take a look at "A Way With Boys" from 1948. Click on the image for a bigger version. Do you see the little mouse in the little box? Can you imagine the story here? Don't you want to know it? Look at her hand holding the box. Take a good long look. Is that an amazing work of art?



As Harry moved deeper into his religious life and his involvement with the Seventh Day Adventists, his work became more Christ-centered. But it also remained very White. Now, don't get me wrong. Harry was a product of his time, and he painted what he saw, whether in his own life or in his mind's eye. A white Christ is not wrong. But in this day and age it is a tad jarring. And a reminder of a time when the PC Jihadists were not yet in power. Harry could paint what moved his heart and not worry about the Leftist Inquisition.

Harry was free to paint a white Messiah, in a white Israel, without the slightest qualm. Yep! McCarthyism was just rearing its ugly head, but here was an artist painting what he wished. Funny how free we actually were back then, eh?

Indeed, imagine a painting such as "The Consultation", which shows Christ at the bedside of a patient, being hung in a public building today. Yet it hangs in the lobby of a hospital today. Why? Because it came before the Fools of PC arrived to try to shut GOD up. And before even religious institutions were fearful of the reactions of non-believers.



There are so many paintings and illustrations available, and so many I would love to post right here. But, as with my other Artist Posts, they are just too numerous. Let me suggest to you, if you have any interest in the works of Harry Anderson, that you visit the web-site of Jim Pinkoski, whose Harry Anderson page remembers the fine artist and recounts Jim's visit with Harry near the end of Harry's life. It is fascinating and quite revealing. And it's chock full of photos of the visit. Jim was very nice to email me some fine quality images that I could use here.

I also recommend Ken Steacy Publishing, where you can find a few nice pictures, as well as BPIB, my old standby, for biographical info, and the American Art Archives, another of my standbys, for the Kent Steine article on "Loose Realism" - Harry's painting style - and more biographical information.

I love the Internet! So much to discover, so much to learn! So go learn some things about Harry Anderson: he had a different kind of Magic!

Okay, one more. This one emailed to me by Jim Pinkoski, titled "Discovery".


As Jim said,

"This was a neat one that was a poster in the 1970s -- see the face of Jesus in the bushes? It's illustrating that we can look at the beauty of nature and see God's handiwork all around us!"

Date is Unimportant ...

Most of the dating of events, in the New Testament, save for those we now know from archaeology and concurrent events, are open to interpretation. Such, for instance, is the dating of the Birth of Jesus. Though we Christians tend to place the birth at the year Zero - which does not exist, really - the Christ could have been born as early as 4 B.C, according to our calendar. Placing the celebration of His birth in December, though, is incorrect. Christians who complain about non-believers equating the Mass of Christ (Christmas) with the pagan festival of the Saturnalia, are being disingenuous, or ignorant.


The fact is that nearly all Christian celebrations and festivals are ‘pasted’ on to pagan festival dates. The early Christian Church, being empowered in Rome, simply used the Roman tradition of subsuming older religious celebrations for their own. This does not change the nature or focus of the Christian observance. But it does tend to make it difficult for folks to nail down correct dates. Thus, if we depend on the old Roman Catholic Feast days for our dating of events, in the New testament, we can’t reliably date those events we celebrate at all.


For instance we know that, according to New Testament Scripture, John the Baptist - a cousin of Jesus - was born six months before the birth of Christ. The Roman Catholic Church sets aside June 24th as John’s feast day, the celebration of John’s birth. This was done to square his birth, according to Scripture, with that of his cousin’s six months later. Since the Catholic Church set the date of Christ’s birth on December 25th, John’s must have come around June 24th. Simple, right? Also wrong.


Why was December 25th chosen? Well, not because that was the correct date. Instead it was convenient as a way to pull in pagans, who celebrated the Saturnalia for the week before that date. The Romans found, during the days of Empire-building, that it was easier to subdue the conquered populace, not by importing Roman religious traditions into the conquered territory, but to simply adjust their own festivals - in essence to graft the celebrations of the conquered into their own. Saturnalia, too, was drawn from earlier pagan rituals predating the Roman Empire.
The Saturnalia was a week-long celebration of merriment, including gift-giving. Wikipedia describes the Saturnalia thus:

“1. Saturnalia was introduced around 217 BCE to raise citizen morale after a crushing military defeat at the hands of the Carthaginians. Originally celebrated for a day, on December 17, its popularity saw it grow until it became a week-long extravaganza, ending on the 23rd. Efforts to shorten the celebration were unsuccessful. Augustus tried to reduce it to three days, and Caligula to five. These attempts caused uproar and massive revolts among the Roman citizens.


2. Saturnalia involved the conventional sacrifices, a couch (lectisternium) set out in front of the temple of Saturn and the untying of the ropes that bound the statue of Saturn during the rest of the year. A Saturnalicius princeps was elected master of ceremonies for the proceedings. Besides the public rites there were a series of holidays and customs celebrated privately. The celebrations included a school holiday, the making and giving of small presents (saturnalia et sigillaricia) and a special market (sigillaria). Gambling was allowed for all, even slaves.


3. Saturnalia was a time to eat, drink, and be merry. The toga was not worn, but rather the synthesis, i.e. colorful, informal "dinner clothes"; and the pileus (freedman's hat) was worn by everyone. Slaves were exempt from punishment, and treated their masters with (a pretense of) disrespect. The slaves celebrated a banquet: before, with, or served by the masters. Yet the reversal of the social order was mostly superficial; the banquet, for example, would often be prepared by the slaves, and they would prepare their masters' dinner as well. It was license within careful boundaries; it reversed the social order without subverting it.”

Familiar, eh? This pagan feast was simply used by the early Roman Church. Much as the Romans had used other feasts and festivals. But it has nothing to do with the birth of Christ, so far as the actual date is concerned. It was as much a political decision as a religious one.


So when was Christ born (and I don’t mean the year)? Well, if we go back to the New Testament there is evidence that clearly points to a time of year that would fit the dating far better. And it points to the Feast of the Tabernacles.


In John’s Gospel, Chapter 1, verse 14, we read this:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

That word ‘dwelt’ is an English word that feels good to read, but is not what the original said. In the original it would have said ‘tabernacled’, which is to say, He set his tent among his kin-folk. Which has a far deeper meaning to us.


For one thing Christ was coming to live with his relatives. Not simply Mankind, but his own, actual blood-kin. Why is this important? Because according to the Law of Moses only a kinsman could redeem us. From Abide In Christ, we read:

“The "nearest kinsman" or "kinsman redeemer" is a Goel. The word means to redeem, receive or buy back.


Provision was made in the Law of Moses for the poor person who was forced to sell part of his property or himself into slavery. His nearest of kin could step in and "buy back" what his relative was forced to sell (Leviticus 25:48f). The kinsman redeemer was a rich benefactor, or person who frees the debtor by paying the ransom price. "If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold" (Leviticus 25:25; cf. Ruth 4:4, 6).


The nearest of kin had the responsibility of redeeming his kinsman's lost opportunities. If a person was forced into slavery, his redeemer purchased his freedom. When debt threatened to overwhelm him, the kinsman stepped in to redeem his homestead and let the family live. If a family member died without an heir the kinsman gave his name by marrying the widow and rearing a son to hand down his name (Deuteronomy 25:5; Genesis 38:8; Ruth 3-4). When death came at the hands of another man the redeemer acted as the avenger of blood and pursued the killer (Numbers 35:12-34; Deuteronomy 19:1-3)”

So Jehovah, abiding by His own Word, could only redeem humanity through a kinsman. Thus we find Mary chosen as the vessel to bring forth that kinsman.


So, our Kinsman Redeemer set His tent (in human flesh, which was required) among us. Christ Tabernacled with us. You can read about the Feast here, where it says, among other things:

“’Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the LORD seven days: on the first day shall be a sabbath, and on the eighth day shall be a sabbath. And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days. And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God’ (Lev. 23:29-43)

The Feast of Tabernacles, also called Booths, comes on the fifteenth of Tishri (September-October), the seventh month according to the Jewish (biblical) calendar. This was the third feast that required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship in the Temple and offer sacrifices and offering to the Lord.

‘Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD thy God which he hath given thee’ (Deut. 16:16-17).

This is Israel’s Thanksgiving feast in which they acknowledge the Fall harvest and God’s provision for them. It is happy celebration and a time of joy and rejoicing.
[...]”

A better dating for the birth of Christ, I think. This date also fits far better with the Scriptures describing the shepherds, too. No shepherds left their flocks outside in the Judean winter nights. Some Christmas Carols are beautiful in their imagery, but they are standing on Church Tradition rather than Scriptural tradition.


And what does that do to the dating of John the Baptist’s birth? His birth, if we follow the idea of God doing His thing according to His Word, may well have been on, or near, the Feast of First Fruits. This feast marked the end of Passover, but the beginning of the Harvest. And John the Baptist was certainly what you could call the first of the Harvesters for Christ.


The problem of nailing down the correct dates of these occurrences, after centuries of tradition, is not so very important. After all we are not celebrating the god Saturn, any more than we celebrate the goddess Ishtar at Easter. No, at traditional Christmas-time we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, Messiah, Savior. Where we choose to place that celebration, on our calendar, means little, as long as our focus is on that most wondrous gift ever given: the Son of God, to us, to redeem us from sin.


So don’t be chastened when unbelievers get mouthy about Christmas being celebrated on the Saturnalia. It’s true! Our Christmas celebration is based on the date of that pagan Roman celebration. And it doesn’t matter. Focus on God, Christ, and the reason for that celebration, and you’re on the right road.


Enjoy the Christmas season. There’s no reason not to. But remember why we celebrate in the first place! :D