The Rule of Contrast

Been reading about this issue of God's plan to give us contrast as part of the good news. The only way to judge good is in the presence of evil, and healing in the presence of pain, and mercy in the presence of judgment. God created the adversary and human history as the opportunity to struggle against evil, to be tested in order to rule,and to be hardened in order to have faith of gold. Its a powerful idea.

Packed Theatre Applauds Movie

I saw "Lincoln" yesterday and once again Spielberg and company have achieved a marvel in historical recreation.

The struggles with racial inequality looked and felt so real, as did the ways in which the political struggle to pass the 13th amendment involved raw semi legal wrangling.

No one really knows how Lincoln looked and sounded but this is how one would hope he looked and sounded, with his homespun education and inate wisdom and kindness. It was an award winning performance.

The Whitehouse as it was without power, full of candles with one or two early lightbulbs, and the press room being dominated by Morse Code, the visceral reality of the war scenes, stunning.

Most of all the dialogue and the drama of a gut wrenching time in our history was brought to life as powerfully as I could have hoped. I am so thankful to be living in a time when this kind of film can be made with such realism.

Thankfulness is a discipline that sets us free

My parents were married on Thanksgiving and he left wife and child to fight in the war, and everything about the way we take a day to celebrate our unique past and national history is good. We live in a time when many have reminded us that not everything is perfect in the story of our development as a nation.

The Indians welcomed the Pilgrims but the end of the story is not so pleasant.

The farmers cultivated the land on the sweat and tears of people they believed were less than human.

We fought about that.

You see where I am going with the place we find ourselves in this unmasked view of history.

But this next week, can simply be about my family, and our connection to our parents, and how their struggles to live and work put us in places where we lived, and learned and experiences the joys and sorrows of life. We came to believe in God and faith and love, and we saw that this flawed
country is still a great country, a free country, a diverse country, a blessed country.

The Mayan Calendar

A Couple used this popular wedding spot for a sunset wedding last saturday, during a very windy and cold evening as a front was passing through....felt sorry for them, and for me and Ben who were playing pitch and putt nearby with too little warm clothing, we lasted three holes and headed home for cocoa.

So a king in this dead culture wanted to assure his people that his reign would last long past the present so he placed himself way into the future, Dec. of 2012, long past the actual survival of his own race.

And wacky doomsdayers picked up on it and made it legend.

The hatred between Israel and the muslim nations, now that is something that we all need to be concerned about and work on solving if humanly possible. This mutually assured destruction will spread way beyond those disputed borders.

And, sadly, and hopefully, we may want to examine whether the "land" promises in the scripture really extend into the new covenant???????

My Sleep Number is 40

Busy day, Bible Study, Choir, Missions meeting, and a wonderful round of golf at the Foothills at Auwatukee, a new course for me and one of the collection that my discount card honors.

This evening we got two larges boxes UPS, which contained a brand new foundation and cover for our 10 year old sleep number bed. It has been a great part of our life and the original cover was really in need of replacement. We think it will function more like new, as my side had begun to sag with the weight of me truly.

Politically, things are hoppin in the news, both international and financial and scandal.....an interesting time to be alive. I am praying and hoping.

The joys of E reading

I consider myself a lifelong student, a lifelong learner. I read when I get moments free from other duties, I read early and late, I read when sitting with Laura and watching something she likes and I am OK with on TV but not that interested in.

I have collected books my whole life, and it was big last month to let almost half my library go on to others. Ran out of shelf space, and needed to let those books that would not be consulted again go on to other hands.

In the near 2 years since I bought the Kindle I have purchased and read 70 or so titles, and have several bible translations available as well. Its just too quick and easy to switch between books.

When my Kindle died of pixel failure I just replaced it with the paperwhite Kindle, and now the backlit screen adds to my reading pleasure since it came a few days ago. It is lighter, and easier to bring along than the tablet computer, and the touch screen makes navigation a breeze. To have all 70 titles in the Amazon Cloud means I can be selective to what is and is no longer loaded. Amazon prime has a large lending library. It's all good, and I hope intellectual property will find a way to make E books profitable for the writers as well.

Busy Monday

Laura had the day off and told me not to bug her, so I stayed out till coffee time.

Prepared bag lunches for the Phoenix Rescue Mission this morning, met for lunch with the team returning from Casa de More mercy ministry in Mesa, got Laura's car serviced.

Stopped at Zia records to purchase some used CDs, my favorite way to collect music.
Got three Yanni's to add to my new age sleeping music. Yanni is always beautiful but sometimes a bit too upbeat to lull me to lullaby land. Still love it.

I now own two Albums by Ladysmith Black Mombaza, I am so entranced by South African vocalizing and these men are wonderful. These add to the songs on the Paul Simon CDs. 40 years together and still being led by the original director.


Charlotte Churches adult album was fine, and a Barbara Streisand Christmas Album for Laura who loves her. I don't care if she is Jewish, she will one day bow the knee joyfully to Jesus when she sees Him as He is. Nice collection.