Another Ditch the New Years Resolutions Day

Today is the day to ditch the New Year's resolutions which you made under duress, or from a sense of obligation to yourself or someone else.  Today is the official day to rid yourself of these unnecessary burdens.  Get rid of the resolutions you have already broken. (Yes, I know.  It has been  2-3/7 weeks since the year began.)  Too, you should dump the ones you will break later on.  Do it now and save the aggravation of carrying them any longer. 

If you are one of those righteous souls whose efforts toward your avowed goal are intact and you are feeling mighty good about yourself, good for you.  Soldier on.  You are under no obligation to observe this day in the practice, so observe it in the breach. 

No one seems to know the origin or the originator of this holiday, but trust me, it is real. 

Have you made any resolutions which you are still keeping, and intend to keep?

 Happy the-rest-of-2019!

A Sermon at the Movies

Spoiler Alert!  This article discusses certain aspects of the movie "The Mule."  If you haven't seen it and plan to do you might want to bookmark this page for a later date.  You have been warned.

BBBH said, "Let's go to the show tonight.  Clint Eastwood usually plays the good guy, but I guess he is the bad guy in this film, and I would like to see it."

Naturally we braved the elements and took our seats in a crowded theater, bothering the aisle seat people, of course, who left the remaining pair of seats inside.  BBBH muttered "Sorry," as she passed through; I said, "I'm not sorry, but excuse us anyway."

The picture ran its course and the house lights came up.  As we exited the theater we met a couple, our friends, also on their way out.  We greeted each other and stood a few moments in the foyer.  "I didn't like the way the show ended," remarked the gentleman.

"Oh?  Why not"

"Well, he should have taken the money and sailed off to the Caribbean in his new yacht."

"No," I replied.  "He got better than he deserved."

And there it is.  Perspective shaped by the forces that make each of us who he or she is.  In a sense my friend was rooting for the bad guy.  Go figure.  Perhaps his analysis suggested to him that the old man was caught up in a web from which he could not extricate himself.  And that is very likely the case, but still he made the choice to pursue the nefarious activities.  Actions have consequences.

My take on it was this.  The old man elicited our sympathies in many ways, yet he was knowingly engaged in poisoning his fellow-citizens with illicit drugs.  On his last run he was carrying 307 kilos of cocaine and that is not to mention the eleven previous runs.  He deserved punishment.

Yet he got better than he deserved, for in a sense "The Mule" is a story of redemption.  We see the man mending fences he tore down over this lifetime; we see reconciliation with his family, and he is 90 years old.  Of course we want a "happy ending."  And I think we got it.  Earl goes to prison, but even there he lives with the knowledge that his family has readmitted him into their lives.  He continues to pursue his work with his beloved day lilies on the prison grounds.

Earl confessed his sins in open court.  If we confess our sins in the open court of God's judgment God is "faithful and just to forgive us our sins."  Our consciences are clear.  We are redeemed.  But.here is a point that I think many people overlook.  Redemption does not erase the consequences of wrong behaviors.  Actions have consequences.

God forgives and we can  forgive ourselves.  But the price in the natural realm will be paid.

Calling You Out

To our Nation's Leadership:

While I stay out of the political fray on social media, I can no longer sit by and make no comments on our current situation in your bailiwick.

We elected you to serve our interests, to protect our rights, and to defend our Constitution.  My questions to you are these:  How can you in good conscience look yourselves in the mirror in the morning? How can you face us day after day in pretense of serving our interests above your own?

You are holding the American people hostage to trivial political differences, and I repeat for emphasis, they are trivial.  No matter where we stand on the political spectrum I think it is safe to say that we are all disturbed by the cavalier way in which you manipulate us as though we are mere pawns on some giant cosmic chessboard.

I, for one, and I think I am in the company of millions of others, I am tired, tired to sickness with the unrepresentative cruel way in which you treat us.

Stop it.

Sincerely,

vanilla
  .

Remembering Elvis

Copied directly from post on STSTT ten years ago today.  Thus today would be the 84th anniversary of Mr. Presley's birth.

Love Me Tender

January 8, 1935

The birth date of Elvis Aron Presley, of course. There is nothing I can say in tribute to his contribution that his fans don't already know better than I; and there is nothing I can say to persuade the naysayers of the error of their ways. So we would wish the King a happy 74th birthday had he not departed this life so prematurely.

Posted by vanilla at 6:07 AM

Epiphany

(The star) led them on until it hovered over the place of the child. They could hardly contain themselves: They were in the right place! They had arrived at the right time!

They entered the house and saw the child in the arms of Mary, his mother. Overcome, they knelt and worshiped him. Then they opened their luggage and presented gifts: gold, frankincense, myrrh.

Matthew 2:10,11 (The Message)

Sunday Devotional

For this Sunday's thoughts on prayer and provision read this piece which was written three years ago.  Be sure to read the comments, for the conversation may be more powerful than the article. --vanilla

God's Mercy

Progress in Perfect

This is the  view from our kitchen window on Christmas

Day, on Christmas Day in the morning.

A commercial well drilling company is moving in, 

is moving in to our neighborhood.

A closer look at the goings on 

the goings on, a closer look

at t he goings on in our neighborhood.

Here we are looking back at our house, 

back at our house from the other side of

the construction site.  

The big trees are ours.

 Across the road Verizon has blessed us with 

a honking big tower, a great big tower.

On the parcel next to the tower we are building a jail, 

we are building a big new jail.

(The community may or may not be growing, but

evidently the criminal element is, 

for it will have eighty beds, eighty beds,

thrice the number we have now.)

(To the tune and lilt of "Lazy Mary Will You Get Up."  

See if that get stuck in your head.) 

Jigsawyers at it Again

This picture was taken on the --st birthday of BBBH

and sweet Erin had it made into a puzzle and presented it to us.

Lest you assume that the picture chopped into bits and pieces, as it was, was entirely too easy to assemble, I hereby attest that it was more difficult than it looks.  Witness that when down to the last eight pieces there was no way it would go together, hence, BBBH , persevering to the end, disassembled a portion of it and did it over.  Success!

Thank you, Erin!