"Politically motivated criticism and unfounded fear-mongering only serve the goals of al-Qaeda. Terrorists are not 100-feet tall. Nor do they deserve the abject fear they seek to instill"
February is Black History Month. Dr. Maya Angelou is one of my heros. Creativity in the human being is a reflection of the creative force of the Universe. A reflection of God.
I know - The Buddy is a no-Palin Zone but I couldn't resist using this picture for a comment on the recent event at which she spoke.
I read this on a blog. It puts the much hyped Tea Party Convention in perspective.
This rock the nation Tea Party Convention that has commanded extraordinary attention was attended by a piddling 1,100 delegates who were technically and officially representing no one other than themselves.
Miles likes to lay down to eat his supper. He is sort of like the old Romans. See how long he has gotten,
Here he sits patiently waiting to have me pay attention to him.
Please, please, please toss the toy.
If you look at the chair in the background you can see where Miles has chewed on the leg. These were Jon's great grandparent's chairs and Ginny refinished them. I am sure Jon can repair it and I watch Miles more closely now. But he really can't do much wrong in my book. I will miss him when Jon has a place where he can keep him.
Then it is outside to harass Bailey as he tries to find a place to do his "business." I am glad they are friends. Poor Bailey it is amazing what he has to put up with just to find a place to pee.
The snow (white s&*t ) is falling again. We are supposed to get another 8 to 10 inches on top of all we already have. But isn't it lovely. These are taken out the front door while I was waiting for the Black Market Pizza I had for supper.
I am not a football fan (or most other sports) I waste my time reading or blogging or going to meetings. Sitting and watching sports just does not appeal to me. I used to enjoy watching the ice skating but the networks ruined that by having commentators who had to make remarks about everything. I just enjoyed watching the beautiful skating and it did not matter to me what the move was called...or whether it was a double instead of a triple or if the skater could have done it just a little better...doesn't matter. y I just want to watch and enjoy
However one of the teams is from one of my favorite cities, New Orleans so I will have to say that I am for them. Besides the "saints" song above is one of my favorites. I had Myrna play it at the end of my mother's funeral and if I were having a funeral I would have it played at mine.
I have been to New Orleans twice. Both times to go to a National Education Association meeting. I drove down both times and loved every minute of it. The first time I drove down alone and stopped in Memphis on the way down and had to visit Graceland. (I am an Elvis Fan) and also Jackson, Mississippi to go to an art museum. After my meetings I flew my (i think) ten year old nephew down and he joined me for a couple of days in New Orleans and the trip home. About 8 years later we did it again but this time he was with me for the whole trip. He didn't have any interest in seeing Graceland so we came home another route.
New Orleans is a gracious, edgy, raucous city with personality plus. You can walk along the waterfront and be assailed by the closest Jazz or Blues band. The woman walking next to you may be a man and some of the kids had safety pins through their eyebrows. ( I guess to keep their eyeballs from falling out.) I won't mention the smells, although in places they are pleasant but the ones on Bourbon Street are not.
The flora is wonderful. Spanish Moss hangs from the trees and there are flowers all around and the food in the restaurants is to die for.
The Audubon Park Zoo, the trolley car and the Cafe Du Monde with chicory flavored coffee and Beignets. Absolutely perfect.
The music is the soul of the city and on our second visit we lied about Jon's age and went on a tour of the Jazz clubs. I think he got as big a kick out of being in an "adult" club as he did listening to the music.
On the way home on the first trip we went to Oak Alley plantation for a tour and the lady on the balcony was a man and she(he) told me the little lizard we saw was a gnu. I thought that he (she) said "I (ah) know" and was somewhat frustrated until being told how it was spelled. I asked Jon later if he knew that the lady was a man and he said "Of course." Now I knew because he (she) had an Adams apple but Jon said he could tell because of the voice. You could not tell because of the aroma. Youth Dew. My favorite to this day. I love the South. The laid back quality of life and the warmth and beautiful green. We had a lot of great trips to go to the meetings and saw a lot of the country. I miss having him to go with me on my trips but such is life. Things change. I will be watching something else tonight but secretly I will be rooting for the Saints. Go marching in, fellas.
If you mean whiskey, the devil’s brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pits of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fibre of my being.
However, if by whiskey you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the elixir of life, the ale that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life’s great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into Texas treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation, then, my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it.
This is my position, and as always, I refuse to be compromised on matters of principle. –Noah S. ‘Soggy’ Sweat, Jr. 1952
Word Verification is turned on for comments. Perhaps that will stop the plethora of SPAM comments. You may have to try more than once but do try as I value your comments.
And it does work. Since I turned it on I have not had to reject any comments.
Bailey
"So scientists cannot find God through microscope, telescope, spectroscope, or the like. Whoever said they would? The Bible, for example, tells people to look deeply into the cosmos and ask themselves what kind of being might be responsible for such a thing. Mystics are simply a people who, having answered that question to their own satisfaction, proceed to find evidence for their conclusion in all they see and feel around them. The universe answers the yearning soul--one way or another" (266).
--Tobias Churton, founder editor, Freemasonry Today, in The Invisible History of the Rosicrucians
"One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. ‘Which road do I take?’ she asked. ‘Where do you want to go?’ was his response. ‘I don’t know’, Alice answered. ‘Then’, said the cat, ‘it doesn’t matter.’
— Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Bastet
Cats were worshiped as Gods in Ancient Egypt - they have never forgotten that!
I experience God as the source of life, the source of love and the ground of being. I see the divinity of Jesus in the fullness of his humanity. I believe the way into God is to journey into, through and beyond the human. While the pathway might look different, the goal is quite the same.
– John Shelby Spong
I am the place where God shines through, For He and I are one, not two, He wants me where, and as I am, I need not fret, nor fear, nor plan. If I will be relaxed and free He'll manifest Himself through me.
Charles Edwin Markham (adapted)
What I Am Reading
American On Purpose by Craig Ferguson
Book Recommendations
From time to time people recommend books to me (Usually Don) I will list them here:
From Tom
This morning I would like to recommend a book to you.It is called Escape from Andersonville.Andersonville of course was a prisoner of war camp run by the Rebels in what they prefer to call The War of Northern Aggression.We of course call it the Civil War or War Between the States.
Actually it probably should be called the War Between Two Groups of States.It was co written by Gene Hackman and is very well done.The verbiage in it far surpasses any novel that that I have read in years. It is not written the Reader's Digest 5th grade reading level style...
From Wade I finished reading the "Mens House" by Joseph Fort Newton this weekend. Have you read this book? It is a collection of essays by Newton. I borrowed it from the G/L library. If you have not read it, you might enjoy reading it.
From Don The first book recommendation of 2010. I have had this book for quite a while, but didn’t start reading it until yesterday. And I finished it this morning. (It is only 153 pages long.)
The book is The God Theory by Bernard Haisch. Haisch is an astrophysicist, with a PhD and lots of credentials. Actually, this was a good follow-up for me to Karen Armstrong’s The Great Transformation. She described the development of many of the Axial Age theories of God and how to experience him. And Haisch postulates a God who spins off parts of himself to become the universe (and us) so that he could experience himself.
I know - The Buddy is a no-Palin Zone but I couldn't resist using this picture for a comment on the recent event at which she spoke.
Here he sits patiently waiting to have me pay attention to him.
Please, please, please toss the toy.
If you look at the chair in the background you can see where Miles has chewed on the leg. These were Jon's great grandparent's chairs and Ginny refinished them. I am sure Jon can repair it and I watch Miles more closely now. But he really can't do much wrong in my book. I will miss him when Jon has a place where he can keep him.
The snow (white s&*t ) is falling again. We are supposed to get another 8 to 10 inches on top of all we already have. But isn't it lovely. These are taken out the front door while I was waiting for the Black Market Pizza I had for supper.
