Over the Hump Day

We had a Meet and Greet at the Scottish Rite tonight. There was an officer's meeting and I take the notes for that so I was not at the M&G the entire time. There was a nice sized group there. There are practices going on for degrees for the Reunion which will be held later this month. I am not in any degrees but have sort of promised to learn a part as a back-up. Not sure how I feel about that. I always liked back-stage work. I used to do props for The Odd Couple in Cedar Rapids. It was a lot of fun messing up the set after Oscar moved in. I had some of the lines memorized. The play opens with the line "Tell me Mr. Maverick, is this your first time on the riverboat?" - I was also in the play in Ames in a bit part - it was more fun being back stage. To be honest I got into Masonry in part because Masonry is a play which doesn't close. I used to hate it when the play was over and we all had to go our separate ways. The thing I don't like about Masonry so much is that people don't treat it like a play with drama. Some of them only worry about saying all the words and not putting meaning into them. I guess I am just not easy to satisfy.
The Scottish Rite has a new clock. A lady donated this beautiful clock (which works) to the Scottish Rite. It is in the 33rd Degree Room. I am not sure of the details as to who made it or how old it is. Just that it is beautiful and the Masonic Face is very nice with a lot of symbols on it.
I would imagine that you can see it better if you click on the picture to embiggen it.

Jon had Miles at his house tonight and Miles asked to go out by scratching at the door. He seems to be trained. He knows that going outside is the place to go. There have been no accidents in the house for four days. Miles tore a hole in the screen door on the porch. Jon let him out and the next thing we knew he was scratching to get in on the garage door. Jon went out to look at it. It would not be a problem except that the cat goes out on the porch and she escapes. Jon will have to fix it. Right now they are roughhousing. More fun to watch than TV.

I understand that the Breeder has become a regular reader of the Blog. She e-mailed Jon that she checks for pictures of Miles. I will try to put some more up. In the meantime, thanks for stopping by. ARTYAL. Hugs. j

Miles and Bailey

Bailey is an older dog. He is little.He is feisty. And his nose is out of joint. Who is this interloper who has moved into the house. Max was nice - even though he was bigger he did what Bailey wanted. They ate the same food out of the same bowl. Slept in the same room when Jay was out of the house and generally got along well together.

But this thing called a "puppy" or Miles is something else. He likes to rough house and follows Bailey around. Bailey has to hide under dad's chair or under the sofa so he can't bother him. Up until about a week ago he could follow him under the sofa but now he has gotten too large. Bailey is glad for that. (But I still have to crawl under a long way, Dad or he grabs my foot and he tries to eat my food.) ((Well, you try to eat mine!))

Bailey uses the back yard for "business" - Miles has learned to do that also and has not had any "accidents" in the house for three days (Yeah, well how long will that last?)

So here is a little movie of Miles (who just wants to play) hassling Bailey (who wants to do his business) - Poor Bailey -

Miles hassles Bailey from Jay Simser on Vimeo.

Mr. Innocence

So today I got my hairscut. *Not a typo - I got all of them cut* and went out to lunch with Lee, one of my principals from when I was productively employed. We had a nice visit. It has been a long time. Lee has a Jack Russell Terrier. Then I got my reports done for Grand Lodge. Every month I have to send in a report to Grand Lodge about the activity of the Lodge. I had to clean off the desk in order to do it. With all of the activity of the last week I had been putting it off. They e-mailed me about the August report which I had sent but they had not gotten it. So I resent it and so now that is done. Now there is just one more piece of business that I need to take care of. (I only have this job for Arcadia for 2 and 1/2 more months)
So Mr. Cutie was all "tuckered out" after he chased Bailey around. He likes to go outside and will wander around attacking the plants and leaves. Bailey is an out and in type of guy but Miles likes to explore. Then when he is done he just comes and sits by the door and waits to be let in. Bailey will bark..Miles is much more patient. I wonder how he will be when it gets cold outside.
I went out to Battle's Bar B Q for supper tonight. I had food for lunch so I was hungry at supper time. I also thought about a place where I might get something I have been looking for. I went in the store and - Have you got any Templeton Rye? I asked..... I was able to score three bottles. I am on a waiting list at the other place and there are 20 ahead of me. So I feel lucky to have been able to get it. So things are good right now and Jon just got here so I will close this and let Bailey out (again). Thanks for stopping by. ARTYAL - Hugs, j

Prayer.

Adopt a Liberal
suggests you pick from the following list.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Congressman Barney Frank
Director John Holdren
Mr. Barry Lynn
Secretary Janet Napolitano
President Barack Obama
Senator Harry Reid
Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Senator Olympia Snowe
The "Unknown Liberal"

and that you:

"Pray earnestly and intensely for them! Pray that the Lord would move upon them and cause them to be the kind of leaders who will encourage others to lead "a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." We encourage you to seek the Lord's guidance on how to pray for your liberal(s), always allowing Him to temper your prayer with His love and mercy."

I think they are forgetting Jesus' admonition

"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly."

Matthew's rules for prayer beginning with 6:6.

1. Go into your room. (v. 6)
2. Shut the door. (v. 6)
3. Pray to your Father in secret. (v.6)
4. Do not heap up empty phrases. (Be brief, v. 7))
5. Follow the standard model. (Pray like this: . . . v. 9-13)
6. Forgive men their trespasses. (vs. 12, 14, 15)

I think that "public prayer" and admonitions like the "liberty" counsel are advocating are just wrong on so many levels. We do a lot of praying in our society. I really think there is a place for prayer but, with Jesus, I prefer it to be private. I prefer prayer to be like the Lord's prayer one of self improvement for me. One that puts me "right with God" and "grounds my being" - I do not believe that I can pray to God to ask him to give me "things' -

In the Church I attended for about 30 years the Lord's Prayer was important. There is a "spiritual interpretation" of it and I share it with you here:

Silent Prayer, followed by the Lord’s Prayer with its spiritual interpretation as given in the Christian Science Textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy.

Our Father which art in heaven,
Our Father-Mother God, all-harmonious,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Adorable One.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy kingdom is come; Thou art ever-present.
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Enable us to know – as in heaven, so on earth
God is omnipotent, supreme.
Give us this day our daily bread;
Give us grace for today; feed the famished affections;
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And Love is reflected in love;
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil;
And God leadeth us not into temptation, but delivereth us from sin, disease, and death.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
For God is infinite, all-power, all Life, Truth, Love, over all, and All.

This prayer, with or without the spiritual interpretation, is the most powerful prayer ever written. And it does not ask for anyone to change others but to recognize that God is in charge. That the Father-Mother of all is and has given us everything. It asks us to recognize this and to reflect God's Love in our love. To recognize that it is God's kingdom and to leave things in His hands. We need to bring ourselves into line with God, not tell God what to do or to pray to change liberals into conservatives. To me the arrogance of these people who think that they have the only "road to heaven" is just so wrong.

When you think of what Jesus taught and how he treated others and the way he lived he was probably much more liberal than the conservatives of today. One of the complaints the Liberty University Web site has against the "Liberals" is that they are for the separation of Church and State.

Remember this? "Render unto Caesar"

The Pharisees (Conservative of their day) were trying to trap Jesus into blaspheming, and asked if it was lawful for Jews to pay taxes to Rome. Jesus held up a coin and asked whose picture was on it, and the Pharisees replied that it was Caesar's picture. So, Jesus told them to give to Caesar (secular authority) that which was his (ie taxes) and give to God what belonged to Him (praise and worship).

I think that pretty much says that Jesus was advocating the separation of Church and State.

Now back to public prayer. I think it should serve one purpose. To remind us of our dependence on the Creator, to give thanks for all that has been given to us and to acknowledge that God is in charge and that is enough. As for what the Liberty Counsel is advocating they are just free to do what they want. But I really don't think that they will accomplish much. Thanks for stopping by. Hugs, j

Miles vs Jon

Enjoy the little movie. See how big he is getting. His legs are really getting longer.

Jon V Miles from Jay Simser on Vimeo.

New Blog

Kurt has a new Blog. Click on his picture to be taken to it.

Folder is empty

Today I sat around, fought with someone in India about my Cable TV DVR which stopped working.(It is fine now) - Watched some TV, let the dogs in and out (No messes in the house - for two days -- Yea Miles!) - Went to the Grocery store, Put my name on the list for some Templeton Rye (I may get some by Christmas) and played with Miles and petted the old man (Bailey) Stopped at BeBops and got a quart of Chili and a Tenderloin, stopped at Burger King and got some Cheezie Tots. (Darn you Shane for turning me on to those) and read the Soap Opera Digest -(Claudia is leaving General Hospital.)

Basically it was just a day to recover from a couple of very busy weeks and I needed to do it. Oh yes I also took a nap. Bright, clear, crisp, chilly day. Ain't life grand? Wish I had something profound to say but as the title of the post says. The folder is empty. Now I am going to read because Jon is here and he needs it quiet to study. Thanks for stopping by, Hugs, j