Monday, October 5, 2009

One down, four to go.


In finishing this meme from Rosezilla, I will err on the side of brevity.

Sunshine - It’s a scientific fact that light, traveling at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, takes a little over eight minutes to cover the 93,000,000 miles between the sun and the earth. After that fascinating tidbit of astronomical information, I can’t improve on John Denver: “Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy; sunshine in my eyes can make me cry; sunshine on the water looks so lovely; sunshine almost always makes me high.” But this morning was foggy, and that was nice too.

Admire - Back to the dictionary. One word never means another exactly, but to admire means to regard with wonder, pleasure, or approval; to take pleasure in; to like or desire; to esteem, revere, or venerate. When it comes to celebrities in sports and show business, people don’t admire them so much as envy them, and that’s a whole different emotion. I say don’t admire Derek Jeter or Peyton Manning or Britney Spears or Celine Dion or Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie or Elvis Presley or the latest crop of finalists on American Idol. If you do, you run the risk of degenerating into celebrity worship, which starts with envy and ends in, dare I say it, reverence and veneration. Admire the real heroes instead. Admire people in our armed forces who put their lives on the line every day in places like Iraq and Afghanistan to stop international terrorism in its tracks. Admire firemen who go into burning buildings to rescue other people. Admire policemen who stop those who prey on children, the weak, the elderly, the vulnerable. Admire nurses who work long hours at low pay to restore people to health. Admire teachers who pass up opportunities to make a lot more money in the corporate world and choose instead to influence the next generation in a positive way. Sure, there may be bad apples in every barrel, but those are the kinds of people I admire.

Pickles - My dad used to make them in a crock churn using the cucumbers from our garden. My favorites to this day are sweet gherkins, bread-and-butter pickles, and Kosher dills. I also especially like pickled watermelon rind, but perhaps I am getting off the subject. All together now: “My ma gave me a nickel to buy a pickle; I didn’t buy a pickle, I bought some chewin’ gum. Chew, chew, chew, chew, chew, chewin’ gum, how I love chewin’ gum,....” The first person who knows the rest of the lyrics to this song will receive immunity in next week’s challenge and cannot be eliminated.

Faith - This could be a bunch of platitudes, but I don’t want it to be. The question is, faith in what? The following is not original with me; I read it in a little devotional booklet a couple of days ago:

“As Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life” (John 3:14-15 NLT). What is that all about? This: Fiery serpents had bitten many of the people of Israel, and many had died. The survivors pleaded with Moses to ask God for mercy. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent of bronze, and set it on a pole; and...everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live’” (Numbers 21:8 NKJV). The Israelites who had been bitten by snakes found healing by looking at the pole -- and sinners find salvation by looking to Christ. Look and live! The simplicity of it troubles us. We expect a more complicated cure. Moses and his followers might have expected more as well: manufacture an ointment, treat one another, or at least fight back. We say, “God helps those who help themselves.” But Jesus says, “Only believe.” You believe the chair will hold your weight, so you sit on it. You trust the work of the light switch, so you flip it. You regularly trust power you cannot see to do a work you cannot accomplish. Today, God asks you to do the same.” (from The Word For You Today, © 2009)

All of us can think of ways we would have done it differently. The lesson here, in my opinion, is that it is always right to ask God for His mercy, and it is always better to take advantage of the provision He has made than to try to create a way of our own that will not work.

End of sermon. End of meme.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled program, already in progress.

10 comments:

  1. i can not understand why the sun so many miles away is so effective and why did he not make it closer and less hot and still be able to do the same job??/??/////???//this one was not about me

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  2. so do you ADMIRE me??????...oh dear that WAS ABOUT ME

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  3. oh dear, you don't understand either of brother packer's stories, oh that is so funny....i don't either, but i had to tell them anyway....they are just funny...no point to them, a boy almost being killed and father sayin, now be careful roy and the girl who prayed took matters in her own hands and solved the prblem herself, but bob wit doesn't understand the stories....good thing you aren't a mormon, huh??????????

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  4. Another thing I don't understand, and never will, is the habit certain bloggers have (you know who you are) of leaving comments relevant to one blog on another blog altogether, thereby confusing thoroughly all the readers of the second blog. This practice is more widespread than you might imagine, and most lamentable.

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  5. Great explanations or essays. Your ending to su8nshine was nice.
    How anyone can admire people who roll around in the mud for a million a season I don't know. Your right better to admire the people who care for us.
    I only like sweet pickles though my dad liked pickled pigs feet.
    As good an essay on faith as we will see.

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  6. i'm sorry, i think it is my insecurity .........that what is said on my blog, post, paraagraph, sentence, comment will never ever get read, but that posted on your blog will be read by you since you are so superior in every way.... i am sure i am wron and emily post and mrs. rymhes with i hope will forgive me and all those who will be bothered by my insensitvity....i am not kidding....very serious...i'm srry, by the way my son tony once sid it was rude to leave comments on your own blog after you have posted...go figure

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  7. Thanks, Dr. John, for the compliments. They mean a lot coming from you.

    Putz, not to worry. You pay me a fine compliment as well by thinking that lots of people read my blog. I suppose many do, but not so many leave comments, and that adds to my own insecurity. I don't think you are insensitive and there's nothing to forgive. I just got on my high horse there for a minute or two. I've never heard what Tony said about commenting on one's own blog. I know this, though: an awful lot of people do it. Most of us, I think, enjoy returning to read the comments and responses, and it does keep down any confusion. We will take you any way you want to present your thoughts, Putz. You are wrong about one thing though. I am definitely not superior in every way.

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  8. Rhymes, I aspire to be you. Need more time to write!

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  9. I mean to comment here more often, sometimes I struggle just to keep up my own blog. Anyway, Mr. Brague, I enjoy following your thoughts here, and I do like that John Denver song. Someone told me that God is constant, and we are changing, hopefully moving toward Him. Here's a riddle for you. This one was asked by my six year old at 6 a.m. this morning:
    "If a man and a half could dig a hole and a half, how long would it take a fly to knock a bump off a pickle?"
    I suspect that my son got the question from his grandfather (my dad).

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  10. Very nicely done. Thank you for participating. I used to love sunshine. Actually I still do, but I mean I used to love being in it, and now because of some meds, I have trouble. But we get plenty of it here at least. I would take chocolate over pickles any day. My sister would always take the pickles. I can't say I have much admiration for most celebrities - or envy, either. And "Faith is the Victory that overcomes the world."

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<b>My new favorite poem</b>

...is the following one, purportedly by Billy Collins: Another Reason Why I Don't Keep A Gun In The House The neighbors'...