Thursday, September 28, 2017

Outraged

Everyone these days seems to be "outraged" about something or other.  I have been searching for something to be outraged about, that I might be a part of our societal fabric appearing to be "normal" in some respect.

I have found it.  Nordstom offered Barracuda predirtied jeans at $425.  But they are sold out.  Do you see the outrage building?

Not to worry, though, they have other filthy-appearing models as low as $148.49, though they do lack some of the panache of the sold-out item.

I labored for a good many years in the construction trades prior to my late-starting career in education.  I am proud to have been a working man.  One goes home at night, dog-tired, jeans encaked in cement dust already beginning to turn into concrete from the activation of the day's sweat, shirt and pants perhaps riddled with metal burns if welding was part of the days work, the whole thing reeking of gasoline fumes from the forklift operating in tight spaces.

Upon entering the mudroom the clothes are shed and one staggers from exhaustion to the shower and relief from the dirt and pressure and tiredness of body, then to stagger to bed and sleep the sleep of the righteous in preparation for another shift on the job.

So someone who spends his days in a boardroom or corner office buys the above named product to emulate a real working man and why?  Because he has more money than he knows what to do with.  It is insulting to every person who builds the sewer tile and the sewers down which his crap flows; to every person who strikes an arc or lights a cutting torch; to every person who climbs a utility pole so he won't have to sweat on the job; to every person who swings a paint sprayer that his much-too-costly Beamer or Benz will look really good parked in front of his 6000 square foot McMansion.

Are you sensing the outrage yet?

Yes, it makes me mad even though I have not gone home caked in cement in several decades.  Show some respect for the people who make your lifestyle possible, Bozo.

Monday, September 25, 2017

Snowball


Stop rolling downhill like a snowball headed for hell
Stand up for the flag and let's all ring the liberty bell  --Merle Haggard, 1981

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Historical Insignificance

What I considered entertaining four years ago, and 44 years ago: http://vanilla-ststt.blogspot.com/2013/09/10-s-n-e-1.html

Friday, September 15, 2017

Salamonie September




The shores of Salamonie with trails and trees and tents
Beckoned warmly to us so off we went
We took our RV, though, we don't do tent anymore
'Cause we'd never get our butts up off the floor.
(without a derrick)
Four wonderful days in God's great outdoors
Then we had to come on home, more's
The pity.  Doctor app't, that's kinda funny
We're not sick, Doc needs the money.
(true that)
That car is pretty as cars used to be
And most the people in our group, you see
Are older than this vehicle
And this thought has to tickle--
(better preserved, too!)
Kent and Ricky joined us, too 
As they often are wont to do.
They hiked, I sat
Walking? not much of that.
(good times!)
This photo by Kent Harrison.
Image may contain: plant and food

Thursday, September 7, 2017

Disaster of the Heart

Received an email from son Carl a few minutes ago.  He labeled the picture "And the band played on-- or, What? Me worry?"

I see this photo as a perfect metaphor for the American view of life, 21st century.

My heart hurts.  There seems to be little concern for anything outside-- even steps outside-- the realm of personal gratification.  Even the news coverage of the multitude of disasters that are upon the country seems little more than entertainment-- reality shows designed by an anonymous producer for our amusement.  We have been entertained to the point of numbness, stupor, uncaring.

I hope I am wrong.


Sunday, September 3, 2017

Five Metaphors

The Book of Jude, short but powerful, admonishes the Church to beware of false teachers, using these metaphors found in verses thirteen and fourteen to characterize these charlatans and pretenders.

These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

1.  "These are spots in your feasts."  False teachers are blemishes, partaking to themselves but contributing nothing.

2. They are "clouds without water, carried about of winds."  False teachers drift like clouds above a semiarid land, holding out the promise of rain, but containing no water.  They are blown about by capricious winds, providing nothing.

3. They are "trees whose fruit withers."  A tree that bears no fruit is useless, dead; and these are twice-dead, for they have been uprooted from truth.

4.  They are "raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame."  Picture the wind-blown waves dashing against the walls of stone along the shore, the spray flying every which way, accomplishing only the erosion of the rocks.  Such is the effect of false teachers on the body of believers.

5, False teachers are "wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever."  Travelers in the desert or on the seas may use a fixed star, e.g., the Pole Star for guidance.  But to rely on a heavenly body whose position varies with the motions of the celestial realm is to be misled, lost.  To rely on such teachers is to be lost. Note, too, the fate of such "stars."
 It is imperative that we check any teaching within the Church against  the navigational chart given us by God, that is The Holy Bible.  All teachings must be supported by scripture, else we will be led astray.