Birthday for a President

Happy 63rd birthday to our 43rd President, George W. Bush.

This should be his most relaxing birthday since who-knows-when.

Born July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut

The Truth About Gossip

"Gossip is the passing on of information to another person who is neither part of the situation, the problem or the solution to the problem."

Thus, Pastor Doug defined the subject of this morning's lesson. The scripture is from the Epistle of James, chapter three. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. Verses 6 - 8.

>Gossip says more about oneself than it does about the subject.
>One who will gossip with you will gossip about you.
WHY DO WE GOSSIP?
1) We believe information is power.
Reality: information brings responsibility.
2) To make ourselves feel better about ourselves.
Drag others down to build ourselves up?
SEVEN TRUTHS ABOUT GOSSIP
1) Hurts those affected by it. Proverbs 16:28 Gossip separates close friends.
2) The Bible says shun a gossip. Proverbs 20:19 Avoid a man who talks too much.
3) Gossip usually stirs up trouble. Proverbs 26:20 Without gossip a quarrel dies down. Jesus said, As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
4) Gossip is a basic depravity of man. Romans 1:29 lists indicators and behaviours which are indicative of man's depravity, and gossip is included in the list.
5) Gossip is a sign of idleness. 2 Thessalonians 3:11
6) Gossip corrupts the whole person. (v. 6)
7) A gossip needs to have his life transformed by the Holy Spirit. (v. 8) No man can tame the tongue.

This message, emphasized Pastor Doug, is not an encouragement to you to be better in the area of gossip, but rather an exhortation to you to allow the Holy Spirit to change you!

Happy Birthday--

--to me.


On this day in 1934 my brother and I were born in Hartman, Colorado. Dad said the termperature was 112. I have been in Hartman in the summer and I've no reason to question that statement. It was a day of joy for the new parents, for they were seeing the beginnings of a family; but,too, it was a day of sorrow, for my brother did not survive.

I am seventy-five years of age, living, as Dad used to say, "on borrowed time." I am a great-grandfather now. I have had both joy and sorrow in my life; and I have to say that God is Good. He allows me to celebrate in times of joy. He supports and comforts me in times of sorrow.

I am looking forward to many more years in which I can enjoy God's creation as I watch the next generations take their rightful places in the scheme of things. Yet no one is guaranteed another breath, and in that regard I am not different from anyone else. Thus it is imperative for me and for all of us to make the most of each moment we have, and to be ready when that final breath is taken.

Peace.

I'm simply too old to "frazzle."

Oh, the good years behind
The fizzle years ahead.
I can no longer frazzle
But at least I am not dead. --DWL

Independence Day + 233 Years

What better way to celebrate Independence Day? Lolling, a picnic, resting, and fireworks. Appreciate the freedom you have to do these things. Not everyone can. And someone paid for your rights and privilege to do them.

What would you be willing to give to keep us free?

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!

[And Happy Birthday to granddaughter Nikki!]

Open Letter to Auntie

Dear Aunt Nanny,

I am writing today to express my concern and deep sense of sorrow for my Uncle Sam's recent ill health. I know that your efforts in his interest are intense and consume all your waking moments.

Things certainly don't seem to be the same since my robust bachelor uncle married you. Very likely you had good reason to believe he needed to be "tamed". It seems to me, though, that perhaps you've gone too far in your efforts, thereby breaking his spirit and contributing to Uncle's present condition?

May I suggest that as you care for Uncle you might find it helpful to restrict your concern for the nieces and nephews, both for your own well-being and for theirs? Perhaps they are sufficiently strong and capable enough to care for themselves, at least for the most part. Some "alerts" to dangers in our pathway could be taken as sound advice, but is it really necessary to deprive us of choices outright, even if it be in the interest of "our own good"? And by the way, taxing things in order to "price" them out of our reach is such a transparent attempt to restrict our freedom and pick our pockets that I'm a little abashed that my Auntie would employ such tactics.

It is true that some of my cousins are irresponsible, but is it really fair for you to require me, repeatedly I might say, to bail them out of the messes they create for themselves?

I am praying daily for Uncle Sam's speedy recovery, notwithstanding the prognosis at the moment seems bleak.

Do convey our heartiest good wishes to Uncle Sam, for the restoration of his Constitution is the only hope we have for a bright future.

Your loving nephew,
David

Lucky Me

I seem to have a knack for seeing four-leaf clovers. As Cookie and I walk around the neighborhood, I frequently spot one of these minor anomalies at my feet. (I should look up as I walk, you say?) It isn't that I am looking for them so much as it is that I see them. So I pluck one and carry it home where the Beloved Beautiful Better Half always expresses amazement at my --ability? visual acuity? luck?

I am aware that I am not luckier than the next person. It is just that when I find such a clover, I walk home singing, "I'm looking over a four-leaf clover That I overlooked before. One leaf for sunshine--" You know.

[I did find a ten-dollar bill, folded in quarters and lying in the street as I rode my bike to town one day last week. Now that was lucky.]

Karl Malden

Karl Malden, born Mladen George Sekulovich March 22, 1912, died July 1, 2009.

You entertained us well.
RIP

Around the Yard Again

The hollyhocks are looking good.

Lily accents.

The catalpa should produce a profuse crop of "beans" if it is to match the bloom!


Hybrid daylily in the Secret Garden

And there will be BLTs in the near future!