pride threw the first punch

There is truth in everything.
Our unwillingness to see that is an issue of pride.

we want to be right
more than we want peace.

(photo: "white picket fence" by ken)

fruitproof

"the fruit inspector...

9 fruits of the spirit:
love

joy

peace

patience

kindness

goodness

trustfulness

gentleness

self-control

(Ga 5:22-23)

... and the treekeeper"

the proof's in the fruit

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians%205:22-23;&version=65;

(photos by ken)

ben franklin's 13 virtues

1.TEMPERANCE.
Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

2. SILENCE.
Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

3. ORDER.
Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

4. RESOLUTION.
Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

5. FRUGALITY.
Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.

6. INDUSTRY.
Lose no time; be always employ'd in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

7. SINCERITY.
Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

8. JUSTICE.
Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

9. MODERATION.
Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

10.CLEANLINESS.
Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, cloaths, or habitation.

11.TRANQUILLITY.
Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

12. CHASTITY.
Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dulness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

13. HUMILITY.
Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

"Around 1730, while in his late 20s, Benjamin Franklin listed thirteen virtues that he felt were an important guide for living. Ben Franklin tried to lead his life, following these virtues. He placed each one of the virtues on a separate page in a small book that he kept with him for most of his life. He would evaluate his performance with regard to each of them on a daily basis. He would also select one of the virtues to focus on for full week. Franklin often emphasized these virtues in his Poor Richard's Almanack. Later, in a letter to his son William, he gave the list of virtues, recommending that William follow them too.

Although Franklin tried to follow them himself, he sometimes went astray from his good intentions. For example, in his Almanack, Poor Richard (Franklin) gave the advice: 'Be temperate in wine, in eating, girls, and cloth, or the Gout will seize you and plague you both.' Meanwhile, Franklin was known to relished his food, womanize and sometimes dress to impress people. His food and wine-drinking habits led him to be plagued with the gout for much of his life. But still, the positive intentions were there." -Ron Kurtus

Historical notes from: http://www.school-for-champions.com/character/franklin_virtues.htm)

The image of Franklin is borrowed from the American Philosophical Society, which Franklin founded in 1743.

the banquet

(This is my first response to all of the posts on a column by Lewis Sheckler entitled The Church Of Liberalism, America's Established Religion on NRVToday.com)

Aside from that Jim Ward stunner, and a couple of other ugly personal comments I don't care to revisit, I've been impressed with the writers of the posts on Mr. Sheckler's column.

I've heard all of you, (despite yourselves sometimes) and I have been working on putting together my own reflections on the many issues that have been brought forth. You are all informing me about new perspectives, and I am grateful for that.

I would suggest that we continue to rise above the tone (violence) and seek the truth within all of the posts here. Where there is no truth present, we can promptly move on.


Thank you Mr. Sheckler for your willingness to take the heat in order to open a dialogue. I admire your strength and perseverance.

Thanks to all of you who are willing to share your point of view and earnestly discuss these serious and deep issues. We can't get anywhere in a dialogue until we come to the table together, and I'm glad to see you're all making the effort.

I saw a Christian preacher recently talking about the "banquet" that God will host in the heavenly realm, in which we would be seated in the presence of our enemies. This preacher interpreted that as meaning we are all called to the banquet together, and our enemies are a witness to our honor because they are seated across from us at the table. He said that we are able to do it, to feast together, because it is a table of peace.

I guess in the earthly realm, NRVToday.com is turning out to be like a banquet host. It's up to us to make our table one of peace as well.













Love to all,
Amy

the forest and the tree

re: religiosity in the trucklight story... thoughts inspired by crc's audiopost entitled "road trip day 4" http://www.plastercity.com/blogs/ears.htm

It's a good thing to accept the creative expression of an artist's faith. It is part of inclusiveness.

There are many words describing the same thing. Truth comes to us from every corner of the universe. We can find it within every religion, every myth, every belief system, virtually every thing to which we are exposed.

We recognize the truth by its resonance within us, and then we give the rest - the illusions, the misunderstandings, the lies, and the like - very little of our energy.

(that reminds me of the pile of apple cores i chucked in the trash after i had extracted the delicious bits for my pie.)

look for the delicious bits in everything.
chuck the rest.

Through this lens, a religious expression can provide spiritual connection rather than religious disconnection. The invisible threads between us become visible.

Religious symbols and stories from all faiths

are like tiny lights in the night
that come to us when we need them.

"working m(om)"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aum

"there you are, staring at stars, breathing in awe, feeling at one with the universe, ...you know all this already, don't you?"

"feed my sheep"

from mia farrow's trip to darfur www.people.com/darfur

www.unicefusa.org

www.savedarfur.org

the grateful dead

Mr. Sheckler, a writer in our hometown online paper www.NRVToday.com, reminds me of my granddaddy. I just loved my granddaddy so much, but he would infuriate me with his beliefs. He would insist he was right, and I, of course, knew I was right, and so I would waste hours debating issues with him. I finally gave up trying to convince him of anything, and just let him be.

Despite this peace treaty of sorts, he would occasionally lecture and/or tease me about various points of contention. He was a funny old man with a contagious giggle. It was hard to stay mad at him. I'd just shake my head and say "oh Granddaddy!" I did get him to finally stop saying the (hateful, violent) "n" word around me. Getting that old southern man to stop using that word was probably the best thing I did for him in that way. The best thing he did for me was to help me see that I can think very differently from someone and still love them with all my heart.

He's been gone awhile now, and I still miss him. He called me up in a dream once during our fourth major hurricane in Orlando. I said,"Hey Granddaddy! I wanted to ask you now that you've crossed over, what, besides the teeth thing, would you have done differently?"

He used to always tell me his only regret in life was not taking better care of his teeth. He loved to eat. As far back as I can recall he had a big fat set of fake choppers. As a kid I just thought they were his own teeth. I had no clue. I remember being quite alarmed on the rare occasion that he would show up without them. Having no teeth really profoundly changes the way people talk, you know. That can be scary for a clueless kid. Truth be told, those gums a 'flappin are pretty distracting as well.

Anyway, if he had to do it all over again, he would have taken much better care of his teeth. Every time I remember that I floss for a few days. I've flossed once already today in memory of him. I'm sure I'll do it again. (The old lady in me who just loves golden delicious apples and salty, buttery corn-on-the-cob thanks you generously, granddaddy).

So I’m on the phone with him in a dream during the hurricane and I ask him if there was anything else he would do differently, and he said as clear as day,"I would be more grateful ... for everything."

"Oh yeah?" I said, curious about the pause and emphasis. He responded,"Yes, for everything." Again, with emphasis, as if to tell me that there may be some things I'm not appreciating.

It's true that after three hurricanes and multiple power outages in the first trimester of pregnancy in florida in August (you add it up) I was really worn out. Downright ill in fact. Appreciative thoughts weren't on the top of my agenda, so this dream couldn't have come at a better moment.

When I woke up there was this nice cool breeze blowing my homemade curtain toward me and I thought oh, thank you God for that nice breeze. Thank you for fresh drinking water. Thank you for the toilet, and that soft toilet paper. Thank you for the batteries for our little radio. Thank you for our helpful neighbors. Thank you for Ken. Thank you thank you thank you for my little baby.

Thank you for everything.

Just then I realized that it was my air conditioning that was blowing the curtain. YAY! THANK YOU FOR RESTORING OUR POWER! WOO HOO! (always, always a reason to celebrate).

It's funny but I thought the very same thing today. This morning is my morning off from mommy duty. I was looking forward to some serious computer time. But when I woke up we had no power. I found it humorous that we somehow sailed though all these ginormous storms in the past couple of days without losing our power only to lose it today, while the sun shines down on pretty much my only morning off. Then I remembered my granddaddy again, calling me from the other side, offering me the cure for what ails me.

So I kept my mind full of thankful thoughts, and the power was restored in an hour or so. I greeted it's return with the usual THANK YOU LORD shuffle, and then I quickly resumed my pre-conceived notions for the day. I powered up "Eleven," (I don't just name trees, I name computers too) checked the morning headlines on NRVToday, and then saw that some anonymous person who sounded kind of reasonable to me had commented on one of Mr. Sheckler's posts. This new post gave me hope that I wasn't the only one who gets that we aren't discussing anything real on this message board. We're all just labeling and blaming and attacking each other.

I pondered what I'd say in response, and I thought, well, why not start out by asking questions? Let's not assume we already have all the answers. And then, in my minds eye, I saw Mr. Sheckler and his big ole' grin, and then I saw my granddaddy and his big ole grin, and then I smiled. As I reached for the floss I thought, thank you God for helping me learn how to love my neighbor.


















photos: "dreamcatcher" by amy; " green swirl" by ken

happy smoky explosion day

It's the time of year again when families and friends will picnic and play and lay under the stars on blankets awaiting the smoky explosion show.

We really are living in a blessed country when a vast majority of the explosions we hear are celebratory ones.

Thank you God for peace in my neighborhood today.

Thank you God for our freedom.

Thank you for our many many many blessings.

Thank you for the beauty all around us.

Thank you for all the opportunities.

Thank you for giving us a compassionate heart.

Thank you for allowing us to live in a land full of possibilities.

Thank you for access to this brilliant technology, and all of it's possibilities.

Thank you for giving us all strong voices here.

And thank you for giving us the courage to use them.

We are truly grateful.