Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Walk This Way




When the Lord speaks something to you His very words have power.   Have you ever had one of those mornings when you get out of bed just full of anxiety about your day ahead?  This morning was like that for me -because I had several work matters on my mind that I feared would go wrong.  I actually felt all the symptoms of fear even though I knew my problems couldn't possibly compare to the more serious problems people can have.  I went ahead anyway with my 'Quiet Time' which presently consists of reading the book of Matthew. While reading it the following words literally jumped off the page at me. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew14:27) Jesus spoke these words while he was walking on water towards his disciples -who feared he was a ghost. Yet somehow, Jesus also spoke those same words to me while I was sitting at home. 

Sometimes when fear strikes me I'll pray to God to take it away; but often my fear remains sticking to me like glue. This time while reading, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid,” my fear and all anxiety were immediately lifted from me.  It was such a powerful change that all traces of fear -even the vapor trails- were suddenly and completely gone. Instead I was left with feelings of amazement, joy and thankfulness. There are many layers to this scripture but for the first time, I simply focused on the reasons why Jesus was walking on water. He did it to be with his friends. And he did it to be with us too.  My day after my encounter with Jesus walking on water was a blessed day. I was fearless, joyful and full of hope.








Sunday, March 9, 2014

A Brain Washing of the Spears

It started out with the telegraph then the telephone and we all became wired up then un-wired. Then an unknown Eople (see my earlier blog post -The washing of the Spears); came up with the infamous Beeper or Pager a wireless thing that you could walk around with. You know of it, the little box that clips to your belt that will beep loudly and display the phone number of the person that called you. You could silence it and instead of beeping it would make an obscene buzzing noise and if it was on a table it would vibrate itself right onto the floor. Unfortunately they rarely broke when they hit the floor. It wasn't the first wireless device -long before beepers there were handheld two way radios called Walky Talkies, what a stupid name.  But mostly those were used for military purposes to say, call in an airstrike but very few civilians had a Walky Talky. The beeper of course, was used mainly by doctors on call and by business men -yeah right, drug dealers did a lot of business using a beeper. I must admit that I got a beeper myself since I have clan responsibilities but no one hardly ever beeped me. Also pay phones had to be widely available for a beeper to be of practical use and pay phones have by and large disappeared.  Then came the Cell Phone, the devil’s own tool. In the early days only a few Eoples had a cell phone. I guess the first words ever uttered over a cell phone were not ‘Watson come here, I need you.’  More likely it was, 'Fred where the hell are you, come home now!’ You see Cell Phones will intrude on you wherever you are, whatever you're doing and whenever you wish to be left alone. And if you don't answer it? Someone will leave you a message, sometimes multiple messages -oh what a pain.

I still prefer to write of course.  I am writing this letter to an Eople right now. I take pleasure in writing with an ink quill pen on wood fiber paper. I am not the only one.  The other day I received a letter in the mail from right across the street from a fellow low brow. His letter had a Chinese post mark on it and it took a glorious eight months to reach me. But I digress, the reason I got a Beeper was because I lead a clan of the old ones, Neo Neanderthals or low brows. I am compelled to write this letter now as a warning that concerns the Smart Phones that you Eoples now use.  It’s bad enough that you text while driving and Twitter your little heads off and take unwanted  photographs that blatantly invade the privacy of others; but now you want to surf the web and do online banking right from your hand held Smart Phones.  But I know what your real aims are.  You have placed chips inside of these so called Smart Phones that will identify us as Neanderthals! You are keeping track of us, spying on us and plotting against us. 

Right now, I am shaking in fury and my coarse hair is standing on end -GODS OF THUNDER, GODS OF OUR FOREFATHERS, THE EOPLES HAVE GONE TOO FAR!!!!  I your clan leader once again declare WAR on the evil Eoples. CALL TO ARMS!!!!!!!!!!  Meet me tonight at Pride Rock and bring plenty of spears along and our new secret weapon -the Owls. We will call in our owls  -as our own airstrike, to swoop down on unsuspecting tweeters and snatch their cell phones right out of their soft itchy fingers. We will work ourselves up into a blood frenzy -that won't stop until we hunt every Eople down. And since they -with their big fat brain pans, think they're so smart; we'll aim our spears directly for their fat heads. That’s right, their brains will ooze out like wine which we will drink in as a cold revenge offering.  Then once we emerge victorious from the hunt, we will gather together at dawn to wash our spears. Oh yes, we will have a boisterously good time whacking our spears together and swapping spit. And then our spears will receive a good brain washing -until the next time they will be needed.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

The Protégé

The Protégé


In college I took a Hatha Yoga class and became spiritual -or so I thought- and began meditating. By the time I graduated from college I added some reincarnation beliefs to my Yoga Kundalini experience. This then led me to believe that I was being  taken care of -as a reward for some great thing I’d done in a past life.

My feelings of well being continued on for awhile after I became married. But four years later when children, bills, responsibilities and hanging out with bad companions took hold, my feelings of well being quickly evaporated. I became a person who was, “drifting on a sea of forgotten teardrops,” as Jimi Hendrix once sang and I became very weak spiritually. Eventually I also became "Depressed and downhearted and I turned to Cloud Nine," as the Temptations once said in a song. 

But what I didn't know was that all along; I was closer to the truth than I ever knew. No meditation while staring at a candle ever gave me the answers I was seeking.  And there never really were any rewards from a past life well lived. The truth became obvious once I became a Protégé of Jesus Christ. A Protégé according to the dictionary is an understudy or person being influenced greatly by another person. A person who is guided and supported by an older, more experienced or influential person. Synonyms: disciple, student, pupil, trainee, apprentice. I am very fortunate that Jesus desires to bless as many as will come to Him.  You too can magnify your spiritual journey, improve your conscious contact with God and discover the truth. Just seek Him with all of your heart, begin to follow Him and learn from Him.

Friday, February 14, 2014

God's Valentine's Day Roses




It’s Valentines’ Day again so I stopped by the flower Tent Sale outside the grocery store early this morning. As I walked up to it, I noticed a guy unloading a stack of boxes filled with fresh new bundles of red roses. What luck, I was able to grab a dozen of their freshest and prettiest roses.    After that, I rushed back home to be in time for my morning prayer with my wife.  I felt good about the fresh new roses and while on the way home I got the strange idea to add a Valentine’s Day twist to our morning prayer.  The prayer I said with my wife a short time later went like this:

   “Lord, I want to thank you for this beautiful new day and for these beautiful new roses. And Lord, my wife thinks that these roses are for her, but actually I got them for you! However, I will give her your roses –to take care of just like you once gave us a Garden to take care of.  And Lord,  our prayer is also for all the lonely people in the world. May we all be reminded about your great love for us and be reminded to love you with all our hearts.  Amen.”


Should anyone thinks that my prayer was irreverent
I would disagree with them.  You see, my personal belief is that Jesus has a great sense of humor.   In fact, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if he were rolling his eyes while I was praying –if not laughing out loud. And don’t worry; my wife is also receiving a card, candy and dinner to go along with God’s Valentine’s Day Roses that she is taking care of.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Not Worth Dying For (repeat after me)


Misused, ripped off and abused by drugs?  What a terrible blow, what can you do, where can you go to find some peace of mind? I suggest that you seek out the nearest AA or NA recovery group to find some sanity and maybe find God. In those rooms, you will recover.  If you don’t try you’re going to die. Or be locked up in darkness.


Misused, ripped off and abused by drugs?  What a terrible blow, what can you do, where can you go to find some peace of mind? I suggest that you seek out the nearest AA or NA recovery group to find some sanity and maybe find God. In those rooms, you will recover. If you don’t try you’re going to die. Or be locked up in darkness. 

Cleanup On Aisle 3




What, again? I just made a mess of my inner thought life by letting bad thoughts creep in and sit for awhile. I'd better hurry and call for a "Cleanup on Aisle 3." The bad thoughts I'm talking about are resentments, self-seeking and fear.  These thoughts always put me in a state of discontentment and make me a harder person to live with. If I allow bad thoughts to continue unchecked, then even worse problems will happen.

Fortunately I have been given the spiritual power to clean up my thoughts by the exercise of will power. But first, I have to recognize that my thinking is trash! Then I must change my bad thoughts and quickly; before anyone else slips in my mess.  

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Welcome To Somewhere



Welcome, bienvenue, bienvenido,  έkâbo to a good place, a bad place, to bondage or to freedom and to the rest of your life! 
That's what the sign should have said but it just said, “Welcome to Houston!” I never left again except for short visits and vacations elsewhere. I was twenty four years old on arrival but now my age has more than doubled. I have now been married  for over half of my life and have been blessed with two children who are themselves now married. But what did it all mean? The character in 'Saving Private Ryan,' put it this way: "Have I been a good man?" It's truly been  a mixed bag experience but I can now say confidently that all the bad things I've done have been forgiven. At least by God. He's given me a lasting grace even through today and in this I find great peace. I've always wished for this kind of peace and now I have it.

Maybe now it’s your turn to go somewhere where a welcome sign will greet you. If it's here you've come, then Welcome to Houston!