Various meanderings of the mind

Okay, so it has been a long while since I posted here.  I probably don't even have any more followers!  (Or they have found someone else to read who is more active.)  So this post will have a few thoughts on some of my "labels".

• Politics- It looks like a lot of Democrats are getting out of Congress.  This is good news and bad.  Good, because it will mean fresh blood.  Bad because the ones dropping out are ones a good Republican (or third party candidate) could defeat, while the Democrats nominated in their places have a better chance of winning.  That means the Republicans will not gain as many seats.
• Pondering- While the future looks bleak from a human standpoint, it is good to know God is in control.
• Peeve- The politicians and the lapdog media that do not want us to see that America is slowly becoming a second rate nation. 
• Praises- God is in control!!!
• Pastimes- Baseball season began last weekend.  I just don't get as excited as I used to.  Not having a son at home who listened to every Cardinals' game may have something to do with that.
• Provoking mirth- April Fool's day came and went without anyone really pulling a major prank on me.  But then, I think the current administration believes us all to be fools. 
• Poetry- 

It's Spring again as all can see.

A long winter past, from snow we're free.

The grass is green, the sky blue;

My heart yearns for fresh air true.

But summer draws near humid and hot.

Soon I'll look for a shady cool spot.

Then autumn will arrive and the trees turn red,

Then winter again, and all will seem dead.

So, on life goes, the years pass by.

And then some day, so will I die.

In that day, when in heaven I wander

No bad weather will be there to ponder.

Oh well, I guess poetry will have to do without my efforts.  Perhaps that should be under "Provoking mirth"!

The weather outside is delightful...

It's March!  Another Spring is just around the corner.  It seems this winter has been longer than the previous winters.  I guess it is because we have had more snow than any time in the last 30 years, according to some locals.

Anyway, we are finally getting our January Thaw, though it is over a month late.  Wonderful global "warming", eh?  Oh, sorry.  It is "climate change" now.  The pseudo-scientists decided the earth was not warming like they thought, so now they changed the name.  And with all the snow this winter, they are trying to tell us the warmer atmosphere has more moisture in it than before, so we are getting so much more winter precipitation.  Yeah, right.  And the Ice Age ended because early humans discovered fire, which added carbon to the atmosphere and melted the ice.  (I made that last one up.)  Never mind all the carbon emitted whenever a volcano erupts.  Or all the methane from animals passing gas.  Or all the CO2 from all of us exhaling.  But aren't plants fed by carbon?  No problem, then.  Just keep emitting carbon and the planet will get greener.  And if it all warms up, then we can plan our tropical vacation in Alaska and the tundra will be the new bread basket.

Oh, nice to solve the world's problems.  You'll thank me later.  I guess I better get my acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize all written and memorized.  But what to do with the prize money?  Hmm.  I wonder if there is any beach front property for sale in Point Barrow.

Thoughts on the Olympics

Just a few ramblings related to the Winter Olympics:

• It’s great to see so many Americans doing well.
• It was saddening when the Georgian luger died in that accident.  I cannot imaging going 90mph on a small sled!
• Can “dancing” on ice be considered a sporting event?
• Can we ever watch the figure skaters (or other events) without the constant chatter of the announcers?  I want to choke Scott Hamill whenever he groans after a skater messes up.  Comment on the replay!
• How many times does the announcer need to remind us that “only the first two go on”? It seems like the guy calling the snowboard and ski cross (race between four people at one time) felt like we needed to hear that at least twice every heat.
• Why aren’t all the American competitors (except the figure skaters) wearing red, white and blue?  
• What happened to patriotism?  Too many of the Americans either forgot or never learned how to salute the flag during the national anthem.
• Seeing all that snow makes me cold.  But then, we are getting our heaviest snowfall of the year right now, so I don’t need to watch the Olympics to see a lot of snow!

A short Thank You

Mrs. L. and I would like to thank whomever it was that sent a gift to Heartcry Missionary Society.  At least, it was someone who read my post All I Want for Christmas.  And it has to be someone who knows us personally and our address, as the receipt we received in the mail today has Mrs. L's first name.

Anyway, you need not tell us who you are, just receive our Thank You!

More things I wish people would not say

So, you think I am being OCD about too many adverbs?  (See Seven sayings...)  You don't know the half.  The other day over at Worldmag Blog, some guy was complaining about the use of the noun “Democrat” being used as an adjective when mentioning the political party, as in “Democrat party”.  Several others went back and forth with the guy about how it is not a recent usage, and the Republicans have used it for decades. No, I am not going to defend that usage, as I agree with the guy.  But how many of us misuse adjectives and nouns and never even think about it?  And other misuses of cliches and parts of speech? 


Forthwith are a few more things I wish people would stop saying.  Mostly these are grammatical miscues.

• “I’m good” as a response “How are you?”  “Good” is an adjective that describes your character.  The question asks how you are feeling at the moment, not what kind of person you are.  The grammatical answer is “I’m well” or “Fine.”
• “Wall Street to Main Street”  This, along with a few variations, seem to be the latest political mantra.  I guess it is supposed to show the common people that the politician is one of them, and not some Washington bureaucrat or Wall Street fat cat.  Sorry, politicians, but when I hear that line, I want to jump into the TV and scream at you: “Enough with the clichés!”  I personally want Wall Street to do well, as my pension and IRA depend on a strong stock market.  And aren’t we a capitalistic economy?  If Wall Street fails, don’t the rest of us suffer?  Now I realize that the hatred is directed at the company managers who get huge bonuses whether the company does well or not.  Okay, go after the individual offenders, not the whole system! Besides, around here it is the big box stores hurting Main Street, not the stock market.
• “I could care less.”  So, care less if you are able.  The saying is “I couldn’t (notice the negative) care less,” indicating that the speaker has zero interest in the subject at hand.  To say one could care less, means that person has at least some interest.
• Using the past tense verb form instead of the past participle and vice-versa.  Here in the Midwest, people are prone to confuse verb forms.  They say, “I seen you at the store.”  Or else “I’ve went to St. Louis often.”  I used to correct it whenever I heard it (as Mrs. L. can testify), but now I repeat it to them correctly in a question: “You saw me at the store? Why didn’t you say ‘Hello’?”  “How often have you gone to St. Louis? Once a month or more?”  Like directly correct them, this approach doesn’t get them speaking the Queens English, but it makes me feel better. One of the worst offenders is someone I work with, i.e. another teacher!  He used to mock President Bush for his mispronunciation, yet he constantly mispronounces common words, like “supposably” in place of supposedly.

I guess that is enough conversational peeves I have.  Any others you care to share with the few, the proud, the brave readers of this blog?

Seven sayings...

Okay, I admit.  When I was young and immature I was a fan of George Carlin.  He was funny, but now I wonder why young people (and even older ones) find gutter humor funny.  (Don't get me wrong, Carlin was a genius, and had a few great skits, just too much crudeness for my older, wiser, Christian self.)  One his most famous skits was called “The Seven Words You Can Never Say On TV”, in which he proceeds to use the foulest language imaginable.  Sadly, many of those things are now used in conversation as if they were never thought of as bad words!  But I digress...

I thought I would herewith propose seven things I wish we would stop using in writing and speaking.  These are not bad, just overused.

1. Adding Adverbs to Adverbs-- Admittedly, adverbs are necessary, but repeating them or using more than one is aggravating.  I cringe when watching the news and a reporter says “very, very”.  I realize this happens during “off the cuff” moments, and not in scripted reporting.  But why not use that brain that got them through journalism school and come up with another adverb like “extremely”? Why don’t these paragons of intelligence (written tongue in cheek) open a thesaurus in their free time?
2. Arguably-- Speaking of adverbs, this one has got to go.  It’s become the buzzword of bloggers.  Whatever happened to the good old stand by words like “definitely” or “in fact”?
3. Simply-- I know, I am picking on adverbs here. But this word is so overused in advertising.  “Simply call 1-800...” is a line that makes me laugh.  Calling toll free numbers now-a-days is not a simple task, unless you know how to get around the voice prompts.  (I have found that pressing 0 three times usually gets you directly to the customer service line, and you get to talk to a real person!)  How many times have I had to enter a ten-digit account number , only to have to repeat it to the representative who finally gets my call?   Sometimes this word “simply” is added to instructions that are so convoluted that it takes an engineer to figure it out.
4. “Deja vu all over again.” Yes, Yogi Berra was a funny guy, and had many of these cute sayings. But it is getting tiresome to have every sports announcer on the planet saying this at least once in every broadcast.
5. God’s name in swearing-- This was not one of Carlin’s seven, but I remember when I worked in radio, we had to bleep it out if we heard it.  Live call in shows have to have a six-second delay in order to give the deejay time to push the bleep button.  I wish I could do so for written work before I have to read it.  It is terrible that in print “g--d---” is allowed, but the Anglo-Saxon versions of excrement or sexual intercourse are not.  No, I do not advocate allowing them, just blanking out God’s name when used in a profane manner.
6. Profanity-- Not only God’s name, but the f-bomb and other “vulgarities” have entered into the mainstream conversation.  I remember when “those words” were not said around women and children, but now it is the women and children using them!  Granted, such words are not evil in and of themselves, but in the 1000 or so years since the Normans conquered the Angles and Saxons, the words used by the latter have been frowned upon.  Yes, even children used those words in the dark ages before William the Conqueror and his hordes invaded and won the Battle of Hastings.   And since the Frenchification of the nobility in England, we do not use them in polite conversation.  I guess America is rebelling still against the British nobility by using language the nobles would not use.
7. Obama-- I had to find a seventh word to keep up with Carlin, so here it is.  I await 20 January 2013, the day when he is no  longer president.

O, friends, let us simply procure to be very, very careful in our speach, which is arguably one of the hardest things to do.

For unto us a child is born...

And her name shall be called Sarah Abigail.  (What? You were expecting a Christmas post?) 

Our first grandchild entered the world Wednesday night (Dec 23) at 23:10CST.  She is a 7#4oz, 20" bundle with lots of curly hair, like her mother had.  Mother and child are doing well. 

And here she is:

Why celebrate Christmas?

Got this in an email.  While I am not much for promoting "Christmas", I promote Christ crucified whenever I can.

Twelve Reasons for Christmas

1. "For this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth." (John 18:37)

2. "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil." (1 John 3:8; cf. Hebrews 2:14-15)

3. "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:17)

4. "The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10)

5. "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)

6. "God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." (Galatians 4:5)

7. "For God so loved the world that whoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16).

8. "God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." (1 John 4:9; cf. John 10:10).

9. "The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." (1 Timothy 1:15).

10. "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against . . . that the thoughts of many may be revealed" (Luke 2:34f).

11. "He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed." (Luke 4:18)

12. "Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy." (Romans 15:7-8; cf. John 12:27f).  [Taste and See, 2002, John Piper]

HT: Mark LaCour

Talking about the weather

When I Grumble about the Weather

"The Lord has heard all your grumblings against Him!" Exodus 16:8

Does God really hear every discontented word I ever speak? Does He hear when I grumble about the hard winter, about the late spring, about the dry summer, about the wet harvest?

Does He hear when I grumble about the frosts, about the drought, about the high winds, about the storms?

Does He hear when I grumble about my circumstances, about the hardness of my situation, about my losses and disappointments?

If we could get into our heart, and keep there continually, the consciousness that God hears every word we speak, would we murmur and complain as much as we do?

We are generally careful to not speak words which would give pain to the hearts of those we love. Are we as careful not to say anything that will grieve our Heavenly Father?

"I tell you this--that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak." Matthew 12:36

"He who complains of the weather is complaining of the God who ordains the weather!" -- William Law

-- J. R. Miller

 

HT- Mack Tomlinson

All I want for Christmas...

...is a 12 bedroom, 12 bath house on a hill overlooking the Caribean Sea in Puerto Rico.  And in the three car garage, a convertable, a mid-sized motorcycle and an extended cab pickup truck.



Seriously, with all the greed associated with the modern celebration, I do not think I want anything this year.  Every year I am asked (especially by the relative that draws my name) what I want.  Every year I cannot think of anything.  So I get some article of clothing or a CD I listen to three or four times.  So this year, I am asking for donations to one of the ministries or charities listed below.  So, if you are the relative who got my name this year, take your pick.  Make it anonymous- you don't even have to give in my name.


Heart Cry Missionary Society.  This organization finds native missionaries and supports them.  From the website:

Our greatest concern is that His Name be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun (Malachi 1:11), and that the Lamb who was slain might receive the full reward for His sufferings (Revelation 7:9-10). 

The Wounded Warrior Project, which desires “...to provide tangible support for the severely wounded and help them on the road to healing, both physically and mentally.”  They provide things like counseling services for servicemen wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and other things like backpacks with toiletries, etc, for their hospital stay.

The Salvation Army.   I know it is more of a social than spiritual ministry in modern times, but this organizatoin does more to help the poor than anything Washington does.


Your local food bank.  The economy has caused so many to loose their jobs that many former donors are current users.


There are several other worthy causes out there.  This year, instead of piling up more useless stuff, why don't we all give to those more needy than we are?