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.

Change is (not) Coming, or Politics as Usual

[Feel free to skip this]
Entertained ourselves much of this day by watching the fal-di-rol played out in the halls of the government's legislative branch. The only thing approaching the pomposity of the principals in the drama is the self-importance & self-aggandizement of the talking heads commenting upon the show. @3ll, I'M not so smart, either. But BBBH did comment that either of us would be a better congressperson than 99.4% of the clowns in the hall. Yet we'd doubtless come up 225 votes short, or shy one sec'y of state signature. And our names can't be found amongst the eastern elite.
Arithmetic: Suppose there are 300 million of us. What percentage of that number is 535? Oh, yeah. Representation.

Epiphany

Honor and Praise, gifts to the King of Kings. Give yourself to Him. He has given Himself for you.

The Eve of Epiphany #T

Tomorrow will conclude the "Twelve Days of Christmas." The church calendar calls it "Epiphany" and it is celebrated in honor of the arrival of the Magi, bearing gifts to the newborn King. As it has evolved in Christian tradition, it has also come to be celebrated in recognition of the life of the boy Jesus, the only events to which the Gospels bear witness are the visits to the temple at age eight days and again at age twelve years, and the flight into Egypt. So this is a post about the night before Old Christmas. My mother's people were from the mountains of Appalachia and my parents lived there for several months when I was an infant. The Scots/Irish settlers in these hills bore with them the traditions of their earlier lives; and they kept many of those traditions alive. Mama told me these tidbits about what I later came to know as Epiphany, a term not frequently used in the church milieu in which I was raised. She said that on the eve of Old Christmas, if one were able to sneak quietly to the barn or to the field in which the animals were, he would hear, precisely at the midnight hour, the beasts "praying," which is to say there would be a cacophony of animal voices, mooing, braying and baaing, and that the animals would in fact kneel in recognition of Christ's birth. Mama also told me that no matter how hard the ground might be frozen, the elder bushes would put forth new shoots on this night! Or so, she said, the people said.

How Old is God?

Pastor Doug started his January series entitled "Life after Death" this morning with his sermon focusing on the question "How old is God?" The scriptures are Psalm 93:2 :Thou art from everlasting;" Ecclesiastes 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end; and 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
Clearly, the sermon speaks to the question How Old is God, but also it really is about eternity and where we will be during that part of it that occurs after our physical death. Life is the :"dressing room" for eternity. Our decisions we make here determine our eternal destination. Life is fragile. There is no guarantee of the time we have on earth. There is more to life than the here and now. When we close our eyes in death, we will open them either in heaven or in hell.

I. God is eternal.
II. The human soul is eternal; a created beginning but with no end.
III. God's judgment is eternal.
They who live in Christ will hear "Well done, good and faithful servant." Those who put not their trust in Christ will hear "Depart from Me."
Christ has already suffered our death by taking our sins upon Himself.
Belief is a matter of the heart. With your mouth confess Jesus Christ as your savior and you shall have eternal life!

Second Sunday after Christmas

Whether you worship in a setting which refers to this day as "Second Sunday after Christmas" or as "Epiphany Sunday," it is right that we consider the day's scriptures.

The Old Testament reading is from the prophet Jeremiah 31:7-14.
The Psalm is 147:12-20.
Today's Epistle is Ephesians 1:3-14 and
The Gospel is John 1:10-18.
Hear the word of the LORD, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock. Jer 31:10

And the Word was made 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. John 1:14
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; Eph. 1:7

Worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Happy Birthday, Cookie!

This is Cookie. We are celebrating his seventeenth birthday today. The old boy is doing quite well. He has a few benign tumors, has lost a few teeth. He has some scars, badges of honor from his attempt to protect his mistress from a charging German shepherd. Nearly lost his butt over that one, in fact. He has also been rolled across the street by a car, guess the focus on the rabbit he was chasing clouded his wits. As usual. He can still give a rabbit a good run; and he still cannot catch it. He will dispatch such, though, that are stupid enough to get trapped inside the fence. Ditto ground squirrels. He has never caught a cat, but he has been chased by one. Only time I ever saw such a thing. Cookie was yelping, too, due to the claw scratch across the muzzle.

This dog is definitely a member of the family with all the perks that appertain thereto. If you enter our home wearing black or navy blue, be advised that you will leave with little white hairs attached to your attire. Notwithstanding the brushing, he shoots the little things around like a porcupine shooting quills. (Yes, I know they don't really do that, but you get the picture.)

Cookie's full name is Cookson the Third; and he's "Cookie" because "Tirdie" is totally inappropriate. Yes, it is.

He is a rat terrier and we are often asked if he's a Jack Russell (most folks don't know that that breed is now officially "Parson Russell"). The perkier ears and the somewhat longer legs distinguish him from the other breed, but otherwise they do look a lot alike. Cookie's eyebrows and cheeks used to be red but have now gone white. He has white eyelashes and a lot of white in the black on his head and muzzle. That is to say, he is showing his age.

I got the dog when I married BBBH, whose critter he is. When she first introduced me to him, I said, "Oh, you have a dogette." I had harbored goldens and large mutts for many years. But our little dog has as much spirit as any canine. He's a pet.

Happy New Year!

I've never been one much for New Year's resolutions. Why would one strive for self-improvement only at the beginning of the year? Why doesn't he try to do what's right year-round? Here. Walt Mason has said it quite well.

A New Year View

I don't go much on gilded vows, for I have made them in the past, and they are with the bow-wow-wows--they were too all-fired good to last. And so I'll make one vow today: I'll simply try to do my best; that vow should help me on my way, for it embraces all the rest. I'll take the middle of the road, and always do the best I can, and pack along my little load, and try to be a manly man. A man may end his journey hre too poor to buy a decent shroud, and planted be without a tear of mourning from the worldly crowd; but when he's in the judgment scale, he'll come triumphant from the test; no man has failed, no man can fail, who always, always does his best. And though my pathway be obscure, and void of honor and applause, and though the lean wolf of the moor to my cheap doorway nearer draws, I'll keep a stout heart in my breast, and follow up this simple plan: I'll always do my very best, and try to be a manly man.

Uncle Walt