November 28, 2008

Wolf In Sheep's Clothing


"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Matthew 7:15-18 RSV


Wolves are used in many analogies, most of which have some kind of negative connotation, such as the wolf being at the door to denote dire financial straits, etc., and a wolf in sheep's clothing provokes an image of a dangerous, conniving, scheming, foe sneaking up on its unsuspecting prey, ready to devour it.

Presently, I think they could be seen as fraudulent politicians who usurp high government office through fraud, and then mesmerize and manipulate their adoring, trusting followers by endless lies and deception.

Hmm..I don't know about you, but when I saw this picture I was immediately reminded of a few wolves in sheep's clothing on the scene right now.

I'm not even going to name Names..I think you get the picture.

November 26, 2008

The Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving


It may be I am getting old and like too much to dwell
Upon the days of bygone years, the days I loved so well;
But thinking of them now I wish somehow that I could know
A simple old Thanksgiving Day, like those of long ago,
When all the family gathered round a table richly spread,
With little Jamie at the foot and grandpa at the head,
The youngest of us all to greet the oldest with a smile,
With mother running in and out and laughing all the while.

It may be I'm old-fashioned, but it seems to me to-day
We're too much bent on having fun to take the time to pray;
Each little family grows up with fashions of its own;
It lives within a world itself and wants to be alone.
It has its special pleasures, its circle, too, of friends;
There are no get-together days; each one his journey wends,
Pursuing what he likes the best in his particular way,
Letting the others do the same upon Thanksgiving Day.

I like the olden way the best, when relatives were glad
To meet the way they used to do when I was but a lad;
The old home was a rendezvous for all our kith and kin,
And whether living far or near they all came trooping in
With shouts of "Hello, Daddy!" as they fairly stormed the place
And made a rush for Mother, who would stop to wipe her face
Upon her gingham apron before she kissed them all,
Hugging them proudly to her breast, the grownups and the small.

Then laughter rang throughout the home, and, Oh, the jokes they told;
From Boston, Frank brought new ones, but Father sprang the old;
All afternoon we chatted, telling what we hoped to do,
The struggles we were making and the hardships we'd gone through;
We gathered round the fireside. How fast the hours would fly--
It seemed before we'd settled down 'twas time to say good-bye.
Those were the glad Thanksgivings, the old-time families knew
When relatives could still be friends and every heart was true.

~Edgar Albert Guest
1881-1959

Peace

Peace, as defined by the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary can mean many things, but the one I'm pursuing at this moment is "freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions."

It isn't easy to obtain at the moment. As I watch, day by day, the unfolding events in the political world, fear, apprehension, and uncertainty become nagging, little undercurrents, in the process of my thinking, to the point where they become oppressive.

It is not easy to be at peace when one has no confidence in the newly elected leader of our nation. Never have I felt, nor sensed in others, such a sense of foreboding.

I know that no man can offer the peace that passes understanding, so I go to the One Who is able to do that.

Here are some words that offer, to me, a sense of peace. I hope they will mean something to you, too.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. (Isaiah 32:17)

I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. (Psalms 4:8)

For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy on thee. (Isaiah 54:10)

November 21, 2008

If


If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

~Rudyard Kipling

November 18, 2008

Think On These Things


I'll bet you're wondering what in the world this post is going to be about, right?

Well, it's not about anything, really. It's just that I am giving myself a break from thinking about the outcome of the election, and the protests against people who exercised their rights (by voting no against gay marriages,) with intimidation, threats, and pure hatred. I am mentally fatigued and emotionally drained by all the hatred that I am seeing manifested, in one way or another, against innocent people wanting nothing more than moral decency, and to be at peace with their fellow man.

The reason I posted this photo, is because I like it. It is a part of my kitchen, and it is whimsical with roosters, chickens, a painting with a country woman feeding her chickens, and a planter that looks like an old shoe, with a bird's nest full of baby birds, being fed by their Mama.

There's a bookcase with some of my very old, favorite cookbooks, and you can see the casserole dish which looks like a duck. It belonged to my Mama, and stirs some precious memories when I look at it.

Maybe, if you click on the picture you will be able to see the little Lincoln head bookends, steadying a picture of an old black couple saying grace over a meal, and a couple of small music boxes sculpted from copper.

There are a few other things there too, including a small plaque which says, "Lord, help me to remember that there is nothing that is going to happen to me today, that together you and I can't handle."

All these things bring comfort, and a sense of peace to me, so I will enjoy them, and not think about all the other stuff..at least, for now.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.~Philippians 4:8




November 15, 2008

Psalm 91



He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

November 14, 2008

Bill Ayres Talks About His Relationship With Obama




I think that I should start with the definition of "speaking with a forked tongue," according to Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms, Cambridge University Press 1998: "to make false promises or to speak in a way which is not honest."

And then I will say that this man speaks with a forked tongue.

"Really, we knew each other in a professional way."
"I did know him in the context of being on a board together."

Is he still unrepentant about his underground terrorism? Yes, because he says that despicable acts were being carried out by this country..just as they are now, so he still feels that he didn't do enough then to stop them, just as not enough is being done now.

That doesn't sound like remorse to me.

One Man, One Woman

I really like this. I know my Jewish friends will enjoy it, too.

And yep..one man, and one woman, just the way it was intended to be.

November 13, 2008

Stand By The Roads..



Thus says the Lord: Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is;and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.
~Jeremiah 6:16

Seeing, and reading about what is transpiring in the wake of Prop 8, and the actions of those who are wreaking havoc against innocent church-goers, causes doubt to rise in the most optimistic soul.

It's all very confusing, because their hatred seems so misdirected. One wonders why they are not protesting outside the black churches, since a high per centage of those voting to stop gay marriages were black.

The hatred evidenced on many blogs is almost unbelievable, and it's directed at Christians, and conservatives in general. The hateful things that they continue to speak against Governor Palin is beyond despicable, and I think it is because she is a moral woman, with principles, and represents womanhood at it's finest--which really goes against the grain with them.

I don't know where it is leading, but I know that we have a genuine struggle on our hands, and it is not going to be easy to stand in the face of such evil. But stand we shall, because we do not want to lose sight of the ancient paths of goodness, where there is rest for our souls. There can be no compromise.

I have found that the greatest help in meeting any problem with decency and self-respect and whatever courage is demanded, is to know where you yourself stand. That is, to have in words what you believe and are acting from.

~William Faulkner (1897 - 1962)

November 11, 2008

Prop 8..And This Is The Reality Of It


"They also teach respect for all human life and the Biblical sanctity of marriage as an institution between one man and one woman."

I think it was this statement that affected them like the old proverbial Vampire, Dracula, being confronted with a clove of garlic, or a Cross. The big difference is that they are not going to retreat, like the Vampire in the movies..their actions will be more like the villagers who pound the stake into the heart to assure that the dreaded enemy will no longer be able to rise again.

Does that sound crazy? Well, it is crazy, but it seems that sanity has flown right out the window..quicker than that old bat in the movies.

Read about it here, and keep telling yourselves that we have nothing to fear, but fear itself.

If you really believe that...

Thank You, Veterans



You Can't Tell a Vet Just By Looking

He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carrier didn't run out of fuel.

He is the barroom loudmouth whose behavior is outweighed in the cosmic scales by four hours of unparalleled bravery near the 38th Parallel in Korea.

She is the nurse who fought against futility in Da Nang and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years.

He is the POW who left one person and came back another.

He is the drill instructor who has never been in combat, but has saved countless lives by turning no-accounts into Marines.

He is the parade-riding legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

He is the white-haired guy bagging groceries at the supermarket, aggravatingly slow, who helped liberate a Nazi death camp.

A vet is an ordinary and extraordinary human being — someone who offered his life's vital years in the service of his country.

He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known. We will never be able to repay the debt of gratitude we owe.


—Author Unknown—

I would like to add this:

And he is my uncle who was wounded during the Normandy Landing.

He is my father-in-law who was wounded at Iwo Jima.

He is another uncle who was stationed on board the USS Missouri and witnessed the formal signing of surrender by the Japanese.

He is my fellow blogger, Guyk, and Pat Houseworthy, and The Hermit, and many others that have become my friends through this blog.

And he is my husband, who served two tours in Viet Nam, and retired after twenty years of service to our country. (Thank you, Honey..I'm very much aware of the extreme sacrifice you made, and what you had to endure)

My heartfelt gratitude to each and everyone of you for your sacrifice that has helped to keep our nation free, and truly the home of the brave.

God bless you, and God bless the USA.

November 09, 2008

Be Happy, Don't Worry?



Oh, good grief..everytime I try to accept things the way they are, and just be happy, I come across something like this!

As I've said before, I don't profess to be a prophet, but awhile back, even before he mentioned a civilian security force, I said that if he became President, that it wouldn't be long until he would be requiring all citizens to participate in some kind of work-force. I guess I wasn't far from wrong.

Go read this, and see just how much happiness and peace of mind it brings you.

Just in case you're thinking you're too young, or even too old, rest assured that this really will be an equal opportunity endeavor.

Shades of past history..but I'm not even going to go there.

November 08, 2008

Don't Worry, Be Happy

We took our little Daschund, Precious, for a walk in the woods. She always loves it, and wanders around with not a care in the world. She sniffs out everything, unafraid of anything, and then just sits down for a little rest. She seems to blend in pretty well with her surroundings, too.

She never worries about where she is, or how she will get back home, nor if there will be anything to eat when she gets there. Why should she, when she doesn't realize she's just a dog, anyway? She's happy when she leaves home, and just as happy when she arrives home, again.

Maybe, we could all learn a lesson from Precious: Don't worry, be happy!

Precious is..well, just precious!

She just is.

November 05, 2008

Trusting That He Will Make All Things Right..

Sometimes, things happen that we don't understand, but it is said that all things happen for a reason. The outcome of this election is not what I would have wished for, and it is true that many are rejoicing, but there are many who believe that this is the beginning of a darkness unlike anything we have experienced before.

None of us know what tomorrow may bring. All that one can do now is to accept the things that we are unable to change, and to keep hoping that the things which can be changed, will be, and to pray that those in authority over our great nation will honor and respect that which is good and right, and act accordingly toward all.

May there be enough light to expell the darkness, that we may dwell together in peace and harmony.

I will not be blogging about this anymore.

I leave you with this, the Prayer of Serenity.

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

Enjoying one moment at a time;

Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;

Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will;

That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him forever in the next.
Amen.

This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.

Daniel 4:17 KJV

November 02, 2008

Lee Greenwood: God Bless The USA (Lyrics)

I weep as I watch, and listen to the words of this video.

Never in my entire life have I loved my country more, and never in my life have I realized how I have taken for granted all that we have here. I have never fully appreciated the freedoms that we have, until now, when we are so close to losing them. And we are very close to that, whether we want to admit it, or not.

There are men and women, right at this moment, risking life and limb, so that we may have these freedoms, while right at this moment, there are those, while in their quest for the most powerful position in the world, have tried to bring division, to cause dissatisfaction, and unrest, while making promises that cannot, possibly, be kept. There has been so much deception, and chicanery, that it is easy to see how so many could be so deluded, and it seems that delusion has covered the land.

In mere hours, really, we will vote for the next leader of our great nation. Never has it been this important that we be absolutely certain in our hearts, and minds, that we make the right choice--that we base our choice not on emotion, or hatred for a past administration, but on what is needed for our country to continue to exist as a free country with liberty, justice, and equality for all--not only for a select class, or a select race, but truly for all.

If we choose not to do that, then all will have been in vain--all the blood, sweat, and tears, which have been poured out in sacrifice, will have been in vain. I know that it is not perfect, but it can't be said enough that it is still the best country in the world.

No matter that some find it so horrible that they can't be proud to be an American..please God, please.. continue to bless the U.S.A

November 01, 2008

The Audacity Of Deception

The Audacity of Deception
By Mark Alexander
If you are perplexed, even bewildered, by the number of Americans who normally make logical and rational decisions but now support Barack Obama, I refer you to a lucid explanation for this phenomenon in the opening pages of the candidate’s political autobiography, The Audacity of Hope. He writes, “I am new enough on the national political scene that I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views... I am bound to disappoint some... of them.”
Beyond the projection and deception, however, elections have consequences. Some of Obama’s supporters, the formerly logical and rational, will be first in the soup line of deceived disappointees expressing buyer’s remorse. They will awaken from the stupor of all the good feelings that attracted them to Obama and face the hard realities of the Socialist agenda they enabled.
In this, the final week of the ‘08 presidential campaign, Obama bought 30 minutes of prime time on several networks to air an infomercial in which he endeavored to pass as something other than the ideological Socialist he is. Feigning the fiscal conservatism of Ronald Reagan, Obama claimed he would review the budget, line by line, and cut waste. He even made taxing and spending, a.k.a. “the collectivist redistribution of wealth,” sound like a noble democratic gesture.
At one point he said, “Just because I want to spread the wealth around, they call me a socialist. The next thing you know, they will call me a communist because I shared my peanut butter sandwich in kindergarten!”
Cute. Of course, Barack Obama isn’t proposing to “share” his sandwich. Instead, he’s proposing to take your sandwich and share it with someone else. He’s assuming that you aren’t charitable enough to share it yourself.
Truth is, it is unlikely Obama ever shared a sandwich with anyone. With an average annual income of more than $500,000 between 2000 and 2006, Barack and Michelle only gave two percent—two percent—of their income to charity. Obama’s running mate is even more miserly. The Bidens’ income averaged $260,000 over the last 10 years, but they averaged just $650 a year in charitable giving.
So much for “spreading the wealth around.”
Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain centered his soapbox message on Obama’s penchant to redistribute wealth, even uttering the word “socialist” in several interviews—and not a minute too soon.
Of course, Socialist policies are now the centerpiece of the once great Democratic Party, packaged under the aegis of “fairness and equality” or “investments in our infrastructure and people.”
Obama uses code words such as “political and economic justice” and “coalition of powers through which you bring about redistributive change.” In the last two months, however, given the crisis of confidence in our economy, Obama’s Socialist rhetoric has become bolder. Perhaps he’s heeding the counsel of his mentors’ mentor, Karl Marx, who wrote, “A new revolution is possible only in consequence of a new crisis.”
The fingerprints of Obama’s radical Socialist mentors are all over his “vision for America” —from his early childhood tutor, Communist Party USA member Frank Marshall Davis, to his black radical spiritual advisor, Jeremiah Wright, to the benefactors who launched his political career, radical terrorists William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
These are the Leftists who fed Obama’s unmitigated narcissism and shaped his warped worldview, which he now seeks to inflict upon the entire nation. Even his campaign icon implies “Obama over America.”
Of course, when asked about his relationship with these radicals, Obama responds, “[These people] are not advisors or donors to my campaign,” at which point an adoring press corps dutifully moves on to the next question.
Despite having spent 20 years as a disciple of Wright, the man who officiated at Obama’s marriage and baptized his children, the man whom Obama describes as “a father figure,” he claims he never inhaled any of his spiritual mentor’s racial hatred—never even heard any of it.
Obama claims that Bill Ayers was “just a guy in my neighborhood,” and “I was just eight years old when he was a terrorist.” However, Obama was 34 when Ayers used his radical celebrity to launch Obama’s political career, and he was 40 when this unrepentant terrorist was featured in a New York Times article (on the morning of September 11, 2001) and quoted in the opening paragraph proclaiming, “I don’t regret setting bombs. I feel we didn’t do enough.”
Ayers added, “America makes me want to puke.” Obama was working on his second major “philanthropic” project with Ayers at that time.
In addition, there are Obama’s ties to the Socialist New Party, the ACORN crowd, Father Michael Pfleger, Khalid al-Mansour, Kwame Kilpatrick, Louis Farrakhan, Tony Rezko, Rashid Khalidi, Raila Odinga and other haters, hard Leftists and convicted felons.
George Bernard Shaw once wrote, “A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.” All committed Socialists understand this principle.
For example, when Obama asserts, “We’ll ensure that economic justice is served—that’s what this election is about... I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody,” that is tantamount to buying votes.
Michelle Obama echoes her husband’s redistributionist philosophy: “The truth is, in order to get things like universal healthcare and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.”
In 1916, a minister and outspoken advocate for liberty, William J. H. Boetcker, published a pamphlet entitled The Ten Cannots . “You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away man’s initiative and independence. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.”
A century later, Democrats are utterly ignorant of these principles. In fact, Barack Obama’s campaign is built around their antithesis—“The Ten Cans.”
I was speaking with a friend recently, a man who lived most of his life under the Communist regime in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. He has spent several years and continues to incur many legal expenses in his endeavor to become a U.S. citizen, but he has since lost his enthusiasm.
“The prospect of an Obama presidency is like dèja vu for me,” he explained. “The socialist goal back home was that everyone had equal wealth. They met that goal—eventually no one had anything. Any attempt to work harder to achieve a better standard of living for your family was considered contrary to the welfare of the state, and dutifully discouraged. Socialism is a big hole, easy to fall into and hard to climb out of.”
He lamented, “The American dream is not something I want to wake up from—but too many Americans have no idea what they have, and are about to lose it. Socialism seems an appealing ideal, collective ownership, equal society, ‘sharing the wealth,’ et cetera. But it has a downside: It doesn’t work.”
Indeed it doesn’t work. It creates wards of the state—slaves, if you will.
In the 1980s, I spent enough time in Socialist countries, including the old USSR, to know that we want to avoid, at all costs, a USSA. If we could gather up all Americans who, knowingly or unknowingly, support collectivist policies like those espoused by Barack Obama and transport them to the old USSR for a week, they could see the terminus of such policies—the walking dead—and the wisest among them would rethink their support for statist concepts such as “sharing the wealth.”
It is no small irony that as the younger generations of former Communist countries around the world are moving rapidly toward liberty and free enterprise, our nation is moving rapidly toward Socialism and a tyranny of the few.
Barack Obama recently said, “I don’t find myself particularly scary or particularly risky.” It was a weak attempt at self-effacing humor, but make no mistake: Barack Hussein Obama’s Socialist policies are both scary and risky.
“Hope” and “change” may be pleasant catchall bromides, but as Benjamin Franklin wrote in Poor Richard’s Almanac, “He that lives upon Hope will die fasting.”
On change, John Adams wrote, “A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.”
To that end, in 1787, the year our Constitution was adopted, Thomas Jefferson, wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”
Let’s not go there—yet.