Renowned Christian Leader Dr Ben Carson Endorses Mr Donald Trump

Thank you, Dr Carson, for running for President, and for endorsing Mr Trump now that your own candidacy has ended. We are more grateful than you can know for your dedication to America and for your powerful leadership, especially in these recent years. Your courage at the National Prayer Breakfast in 2013 set a flag in the ground for Christian America's future as a Godly nation.

Dr Carson, you have been standing stalwart with that flag all this time. I look forward eagerly to your future work and endeavors. May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you and yours always.

Marriage in Sickness and in Health: By the Grace of God, My Husband is Alive, and Will Be Well

In mid-October, my husband's back went out on him. This is not unusual, he has bad disks and thus has occassional trouble with it. But this time was different: nothing improved it, and he could not lie down. After trying all his usual methods of healing it, he finally asked me to take him to the ER in the middle of the night. A routine blood test showed he was anemic. Anemic? A great ER doctor in our small hospital knew how odd this was, and ran a CT scan.

Paul had three iliac aneurysms, two of which were 10 cm and one of which had already ruptured*. Our hospital sent him by ambulance to Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene, where he had emergency surgery. God blessed us in every way, with top notch care all the way through, and a talented, experienced surgeon who was able to overcome some extreme challenges in the surgery - not least of which was that all were within the pelvic area, so simply accessing them was an ordeal. When his surgeon came out to speak with me after the surgery, the phrase he kept repeating was "it was so difficult".

After 13 days in the hospital and 19 days in nursing care, his Dr prescribed at-home physical therapy and home health nursing visits, so I was able to bring him home.

The trauma of the surgery injured the nerves in Paul's legs, and he has not been able to use them since. They WILL heal, and we see tiny improvements each day, but for now he is generally confined to bed. He cannot transfer, so I have a Hoyer Lift that I use to move him from bed to wheelchair. He can sit for about 45 minutes before he is hurting and needs to go back to bed. For doctor visits, we use the state-funded rural bus that has a lift so that he can be transported in his wheelchair. We have a great therapist who comes 3 times a week and there are several exercises we do throughout the day on our own.

Both of us are Christians, and we know that God has saved his life. Understanding that the only alternative would have been death (most people with this condition simply die - there are usually no symptoms - and even with surgery after rupture, 50% do not survive the operation), our spirits have been buoyed all along with gratefullness for Paul's now-extended life.  We are also blessed with a loving family that have been unflagging in staying in touch and helping in what ways they can. Finally, our church members and friends have shown their care for us in so many ways. During the 32 days before Paul came home, not a single day went by without visits from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Two weeks of that was in a hospital 75 miles from here, but people drove it to visit for 10 minutes, just to encourage  us.

It is at times like this that one learns what one is really made of, and how strong a marriage can be. Because we are good friends, we are able to enjoy the 24/7 togetherness that we have right now. Paul can accept very personal care from me, and I can give it, because our relationship goes beyond our individual selves. Our time revolves around a vast number of new daily tasks and schedules. I've had to learn to do a lot of new things. Paul is having to cope with a kind of helplessness that we never imagined.  We both approach the day one hour at a time, and we don't think too far beyond that. And God has blessed both of us to be able to travel this road in good humor and hope.

I can say that when I try to count my blessings, I run out of numbers. Paul's life far outweighs any possible inconvenience or detour in our plans. The knowledge of that alone makes me wake up happy each day.

There will be much to write about our journey through this part of our lives, but that will come later. For now, I am happy to have a bit more creative energy available to resume blogging, and to start peeping over our own four walls again once in a while.



*There is a simple Ultrasound screening that your doctor can order for you to check for Iliac or Aortic aneurysms. There is a greater risk as people age, and if you have had heart trouble. Paul did not have any heart problems, and he is only 61.  I am guessing the ultrasound is painless, and it can relieve your mind if the results are negative!



[The art is Winslow Homer's "Moonlight", painted in 1874. Winslow Homer was the Norman Rockwell of the 19th Century. He chronicled American life and the Civil War with great realism and beauty. His images of the sea are magnificent. He also produced a fine body of work around the Caribbean islands.]

Saying "No" to The Affordable Care Act: A Real Alternative for Christians

For most of my life, I've been either been covered under my employer's health insurance plans or paid my own expenses out of pocket.  As a healthy person, the insurance companies made profit from the premiums they collected on me. During times when I paid for my treatments, I was able to do so even on a small income - but that was before the ridiculous inflation of the past 10 to 15 years that has made fees - not costs but charges - skyrocket.

For a couple of years recently, until we could not afford it any longer, we paid for private insurance - a whopping $1200.00 a month for two people in excellent health.

I have not had health insurance for about 3 years now. If I need treatment for something, I will get it, and will find a way to pay for it. I have great genes and expect to continue to have excellent health, so this does not worry me much.

But the provisions of the "Affordable Care Act" aka "Obamacare" do concern me. The law and its implementation are gross violations of religious freedom for millions of Christians. And I cannot acquiesce to such a law.

Plus, in recent years, I've had a growing recognition that "insurance" is unhealthy for our economy and our society in many ways - I've blogged about this before.

I also have increasingly nagging questions about how heavily a Christian should rely on insurance within the framework of our faith. It is wise to invest for the future, to guard against want, but at the same time we must not let Insurance become an idol and a false god (which it seems increasingly to be in America).

So I was interested last night to discover,in an article on the Generation Cedar blog, something I had never heard of before: "Health Care Sharing" - a sort of charitable co-op for medical costs. (Do not confuse this long-existing word "co-op", which is short for cooperative aka cooperation, with the Democrats' co-option of the word to define yet another government-fundwasting program called "Consumer Operated and Oriented Plans" - no wonder we are headed toward Babel, when words are redefined to ridiculous extent. But I digress.)

The Atlantic's "A Christian Alternative to Health Insurance" gives a good overview of how they work. Of course, the article has a negative slant, but for realists who comprehend the nature and principles of cooperative organizations in general, the supposed "negatives" are not only acceptable but desireable. To put it another way: what co-op organic food store would allow members to bring in DDT-laden veggies or demand daily access to Kobe beef and foi gras?

Consumer Reports responded to a question last year about signing up for a "health care sharing ministry" with some informative detail, and links to the three largest such ministries:  Samaritan Ministries, Christian Care Ministry’s Medi-Share and Christian Healthcare Ministries.

Here's the exciting part: author Nancy Metcalf says in the article that "Membership in a health-care sharing ministry in operation since 1999 (i.e. any of the big three mentioned above) will exempt individuals from the law’s controversial mandate to purchase health insurance."

Since I haven't had much time to study the pros and cons of medical cost-sharing ministries, I'll just share a few more links. Other articles include:
The Christian Post "Christian Health Care Sharing Requires More Than Religion"
 Charisma News "Alternative Christian Health Insurance Skirts Obamacare"
 USA Today "Health care sharing ministries offer insurance alternative"
 Christian Personal Finance "Medi-Share Review: A Christian Health Insurance Alternative?"

Paul will be eligible for Medicare in April, but I am seriously thinking of looking into this for myself. I'd love to hear comments and testimonies if you have been or are a member of such a ministry! 

"God Uses Failures"

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11


A great place to visit today is "Bread upon the Waters", where Miss QR has posted The Sensational Nightingales singing "Standing on the Promises of God". I love the songs she picks each Sunday. Lifts me up and gets me singing merrily as I go!

If anyone thinks failure means they can no longer reach their dreams or be an amazing Christian leader, this sermon from Pastor Duane Sheriff will give you good cause to think again. God has lifted up some terrible sinners and brought mighty works to happen through them. It's time to put your failures to work for the cause of goodness in our world. Watch, and rejoice - then go out with Christ and conquer the world!


Pastor Duane Sheriff - God Uses Failures by urbanminingco

We began attending a Victory Life congregation last summer. I've been an active, involved Christian my whole life (although my relationship with denominations has been "stormy"!), and this ministry is from God in a down to earth way that is perfect for our times. More of Pastor Sheriff's sermons can be found at his website. If you don't have broadband for streaming, you can order cds for free - no charge at all. Have a blessing today!

Jesus Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!

May eternal joy be yours! Happy Easter with God's rich blessings to all!

Death Be Not Proud
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell;
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.
-- John Donne


Romans 5:9-11:
"By his blood we are now put right with God; how much more, then, will we be saved by him from God's anger!
"We were God's enemies, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. Now that we are God's friends, how much more will we be saved by Christ's life!
"But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's friends."


Art is "The Resurrection" by Peter Paul Rubens, 1611 AD (scroll down at the link to find the commentary on this painting).

A New Movie

October Baby - in theaters March 23rd.

Yes, you can heal. Life is good.  

"You will never be forgotten"

“To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, 
And a name better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off.”
Isaiah 56:5 (American Standard Version)

On The Christian Woman blog, Gwenn McKone has written a beautiful meditation on the verse above, titled "Restoring what others have taken":

"To me, this is one of the tenderest passages in all of scripture. God is saying, “I know what has happened to you and my heart grieves for you. Your life is your work because it is all you have, but if you will do what pleases me, and keep my sabbath, I will give you something better that no one can ever take away from you.”


Her article is a blessing - click here to read it all.

In this Old Testament passage, Isaiah 56:1-8 (Good News Version), God also reminds of His promise to Israel to bring others to join them in their redemption: that His mercy is open to all who follow him, that His people will come from all nations. He lovingly foretells the salvation that Jesus will bring to the world.

Our Father God can, and will, heal us of all things, and will make us - and our circumstances - even better, more perfect, than we would have been, and that perfection will be everlasting.

On Prayer: Two New Helps

I subscribe to daily emailed devotionals from David Wilkerson Today, and also link to the ministry from my sidebar. Pastor Wilkerson died following a car accident earlier this year, but his messages continue to inspire through ongoing ministry in his footsteps.  The one for today tells us about the "spirit of prayer". Here's a portion:

 "God is showing me that even the desire and inclination to pray must come from the Holy Spirit. Now my dilemma is this: God has promised to pour out a Spirit of supplication on His church, and I want to be a part of the genuine move of God. So, how can I make sure I receive this outpouring?


The answer is in Zechariah 10:1: “Ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, grass in the field for everyone” (Zechariah 10:1).


We must ask the Lord for this Spirit of supplication! The flashing clouds in this verse speak of "lightning, thunderstorms." God has promised to give us showers! He is telling us in Zechariah, "Ask and I will give you this burden from heaven. But you must seek it from Me!" It is time we started asking the Lord, "O God, pour your Holy Spirit on me that I may learn to pray! Open up the fountain. Let me be a part of Your final harvest!"


Once His Spirit of supplication showers down upon you, you will find yourself praying for holiness, godliness, purity. You will intercede for your lost loved ones and weep over this dying world. But you have to ask the Holy Spirit to do it in you—and then trust Him!"

Also, Pastor Duane Sheriff of Duane Sheriff Ministries is preaching an excellent new series on prayer, with instruction that may be helpful to learn more about kinds of prayer and methods. To find it, go to the home page (also linked from my sidebar) and scroll down to links to Audio, MP4 Video, and Text Notes versions. Here are the audio links:

Lord Teach Us To Pray II - 1, "Different Kinds of Prayer"
Lord Teach Us To Pray II - 2, "Prayer of Faith"
Lord Teach Us to Pray II - 3, "Prayer of Dedication"

It will eventually be a 6-part series.

For those who struggle with talking to our Father, this kind of practical material can help us find our own voice for crying Holy to our Lord.

Dear Veterans, Your Country Needs You Now

Bumping this post up from a longer version last year.... More than ever after these budget "deal" fiascoes, we need people who can remember the objective is to drain the swamp, and who won't try to appease the alligators:

Dear Young (and Older) Veterans,

When you come home, and have completed your military service and are a civilian again for good, please run for public office. Right away.

Because, gentlemen and ladies, we still need you. We need candidates for office who are tried and true neighbors of the ordinary American. We need representatives who put the welfare of the USA and its people before political expediency and personal gain.

From our first president, George Washington, to our local governors and mayors, America has always relied on her Brave to guide her safely through the calms as well as the storms.

We need people who will read bills themselves instead of taking the word of the lobbyists who wrote them. Who will debate bills honestly on the floor of Congress instead of rubber stamping the trade-off deals their aides made in the back rooms. Who will insist that voting on bills happen in Congress and not be polled in advance.

We need people who still have the capacity to notice and say out loud "That's not right!" when they get to Congress and discover the hidden suppuration and game playing and elitism and favoritism.

We need you.

Throw your hat in the ring for State Representative, or for Congress. Run for school board, or county commission or city council. Your political party has local offices that need strong leadership and integrity in one local party will empower others and spread throughout the state.




Run for office while you are still be able to hear the confident voice of your soul that sent you into battle prepared to defend the Most Exceptional Country that has ever been or ever will be.

Run for office and make use of the strength of will that brought you out conditioned to captain your part of the Most Exceptional Country that ever was, and prepared to guarantee it always will be.

So don't hesitate. Be yourself. Bring your bravery to bear on the government of these United States, our towns and schools.

Bring your clear-eyed humility to face down the scandalmongers without being deterred or delayed in your objective.

Bring your respect for the traditions and memories earned by those who went ahead, and your commitment to preserve "these truths" for those who will follow after.

Bring your understanding that sometimes failure is essential because capitulation is far far worse. And that falling down is just a signal to get up again. And again. And again.

Bring your confidence in a bright future for all hard-working Americans.

Bring your capacity for decisive action, your willingness to accept risk for the greater good, your visceral comprehension of what real discipline and honor are and how they are lived.

You are another Greatest Generation, and America needs you still.

Start now while you know what it is all worth.

Bring your true self.

How awesome would that be? A government of Americans who are all tried and true, who stayed true.

All it takes to make that happen is you.

(Originally posted here May 30, 2010 as "One More Request Of The Brave: Veterans, Please Run For Office")


April 17 UPDATE: Thanks to Pat @SIGIS for the link!

Remembering Our Fallen Warriors: Sgt Christian B Williams, the Polk County Florida Fallen, and the Traveling Tribute Wall

My Marine, Ethan Arguello (now a civilian again), asked me to share this post he wrote, to reach out to all Marines and Veterans with ties to Polk County (Winter Haven) Florida, especially those who served with Sgt Chris Williams in one of his several deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq, with an invitation to join Chris's family and friends in a Day of Honor and Remembrance July 23rd. Details further below.

Sgt Ethan D. Arguello:
"One Iraq memory of My Friend and also my Brother in Arms, Sgt Christian B Williams: About 2 months into my second deployment, outside of Fallujah (Kharma) about 7pm(dusk), with little winds and peaceful clear skies, we were eating, talking and bedding down for the night in a field(like a cotton field), relaxed and comfortable, when... loud automatic gunfire rings out. Everybody instinctively takes cover and begins to return fire. Sgt Williams runs across an open field, completely exposed to hostile enemy fire, to get with his team. Through the 'dust, smoke and debris on the battlefield' we heard a voice throughout: "Let's go let’s get em, let's f****n go, let's go get em!" It was Sgt Christian Williams. It's that dedication to his Brothers safety and tenacious fighting spirit that I remember and love him for.

"Below is a Message I just got from Sgt Christian Williams' mother. He was an awesome man and Marine! If you can make it, please do. If not, invite whoever you think could be there. Everyone is invited, that’s the way Christian would want it and that’s the type of man he was, liked by everyone and he had a warm welcome for everybody. This is their letter to me, if you’re interested, please let me know and I will get you set up for success.
Ethan Arguello"

Jack & Marie Williams:

"Hi there. I just want you to know that we are putting together a Memorial for this year. Jack & I decided that instead of in honor of Sgt Christian B Williams, we feel that Chris would like it better if we memorialize the Fallen of Polk County with the 3rd LAR. So we are inviting you to an event on Saturday at 12 noon, the 23 of July we will conduct a ceremony " A Day of Honor and remembrance " for the fallen service members of Polk County Winter Haven Fl with the 3rd LAR Delta Co Fallen.

We will also be hosting The “Moving Tribute Memorial Wall" Some Gave All Inc from Friday July 22 to Sunday July 24,2011. The public is invited. Following the ceremony, we will also provide a cookout. We are affiliated with the VFW Post 4289; in fact the event is already in their website. Your presence will be a great honor to us. There will be Marines that will attend, in fact Richard Reed already committed himself and a Paris Island DI to join us. Let us know if you will be able to come if it will be conflict on your schedule we can understand. Keep in touch and take the very best of care.
Love in Christ,
Jack & Marie Williams "

There is contact information for reservations on the VFW Website, and the Williams family have a memorial page that is a good place to leave memories and communicate with them: Sgt Christian B. Williams Guestbook at Legacy.com.

To learn more about Chris's story, here are links to the series of posts about the 3rd LAR's 2006 Iraq deployment, and the men who gave their lives for us there:
Part I Introduction
Part II Body Armor Saves Lives
Part III Greater Love Has No Man: 4 killed by Bomb
Part IV The Whole Universe: 3 killed by IED, 1 killed by IED
Part V Apprendix: Links to articles about these men & the 2nd Platoon


Photo: Sgt Christian B Williams on "turret Watch", a dangerous job he often took on voluntarily to give his comrades relief from the task.


Ethan Duncan Arguello
Sgt Ethan D. Arguello

Progressive Despair vs Judeo-Christian Hope and a Future: Confession as Freedom

Gagdad Bob, of the blog One Cosmos, discusses Vanderleun's musings on the enshrinement of the seven deadly sins by the progressive left, and continues a series in which he expands on the ways in which each infect our world - and our souls - today. There's a common element in the activities, plans and machinations of progressives around the world: the inability to see a future. (Bob also approaches this topic here.)

My own thoughts:

We live in a time of incredible portent. The technological revolution has made commonplace the restoration of sight to the blind, the acquisition of knowledge at rates exceeding the reach of the most brilliant minds, and the expansion of economic wealth for ordinary people beyond the dreams of ancient kings. My little blog receives visitors from every continent. Each day, a new frontier is breached. How can we not look toward a future even brighter than that we've already lived?

And yet the progressive search for doom has trapped itself in an unrelenting "opposite day", turning its back to the sun and declaring shadows as substance. Destroying even the fundamental hope of pregnancy and childbearing, they can no longer really speak of the future, or even, of Now.

Where did it go wrong? The farther these elements of society wander from the Judeo-Christian point of view, the more intently they scrutinize the past for those curiously desperate accusations to make against... anyone, really, of integrity, of personal wholeness, of true good. In the parlance of the Charismatics, they become "the accuser of the brethren".

It's vengeance, of course, the stuff of unending feuds, but so strangely expressed in contorted histories of disjointed embroidered moments. Much of what is labeled "justice" is simply revenge, and revenge is insatiable. There is no hope in that, no future, just an endless turning of the millstones of the past.

But the future does, indeed, exist, it is hopeful, it is attainable.

The future belongs to the ordinary, the conservative, the traditional: the people who accept the past will inherit the future.

Christianity, and Judaism from which Jesus was born, understand the past as real, concrete proof of God's work in the world and our role within it. Christians understand that God sees all of our actions, that in the end of time, we will each be called to give an accounting, and face the Judgment of God for every error and evil we have done or thought, including - and perhaps especially - the most secret.

Christians also know we need not fear this, because Jesus Christ Himself faced that judgment on our behalf, is our advocate, and put Himself in our place.

Having this understanding that there are no secrets, that all secrets eventually come to light, colors our approach to the world. It develops the conscience, and the capacity for courage, it protects personal innocence and integrity.

We are taught to try to live so that we don't have anything to hide, and just as important: to admit out loud to other people when we do miss the mark. To confess our sins - not in defense when faced with accusers, never in attempt to save ourselves from the mob - but in advance, to make them known by our own volition, when those sins are still hidden and unknown, to someone we respect so that we can admit the shame.

All Christian denominations practice some form of confession, whether spontaneously to the gathered congregation at an evening altar call, privately to one's minister, or to a priest through sacramental Confession.

One does not have to be a Christian for confession of wrongdoing or wrongthinking to restore the health of the spirit and the power over the mob. The same principle is a key element of Alcoholics Anonymous 12 Steps, which shares with Christianity the insistence on assuming real personal responsibility for wrongdoing and the need for support from a Power greater than ourselves to live in harmony with ourselves and our fellow men.

By confessing to someone else even before anyone knows, we grow immediately stronger. We become confident and remove the fear and regret that guilty secrets cause. We know ourselves better and have more courage and more honesty. We walk in good faith - in Good Faith - in the sunshine again.

Suddenly, we are invulnerable, back in God's light, because we control our own destiny - and we know it. No one can blackmail us or harm us by gossip or rumor for we have no hidden guilt. We can accept the worldly consequences knowing God has forgiven us. Neither crowds nor mobs can intimidate us. Those who try will be confounded. We are freed to do our best work, enjoy our best life.

Thus it is not unusual to see men and women stand before a congregation and give their testimony: sharing their shame and their redemption, that others might share their courage as well, and take part in the Great Forgiveness that makes life - and a genuine future - possible.

And what of Judgment Day?
Our Lord said "Now is the judgment of this world."
and we are in the Now, for He has come,
and comes always.
A choice must be made. Now.
And yet,
and yet, it is not and never too late to turn
and beg a brighting glance from The Son
Who shields the searing rapture
and offers a place near the Fire:
a safe place,
a warm place,
wherein the dark can't hide,
wherein all quiet bides,
and all find Peace.

He has Called me, and I came
from out of the darkness,
a creature of the shade:
blinking, fearful, shy.
He wrapped me in a washed-soft quilt
and cuddled like a child, I drowse,
breathing to His Whisper.



Poem by Tina Howard

In Equal Sacrifice

On this day. July 29. in 2006, Sgt. Christian Williams, Cpl. Phillip Baucus, Lance Cpl. Tony Butterfield and Lance Cpl. Jason Hansen of the 3rd LAR Marines were killed in action in an insurgent attack. They gave their lives for America, and for liberty for the Iraqi people. Part of their stories can be found here and here.

These two poems by Robert Frost are from his great work "A Boy's Will", written in 1915. They seem appropriate for today. The first "In Equal Sacrifice", of an ancient Scottish Hero, tells of honor and right. The second, "The Tuft of Flowers" leads toward faith, and perhaps healing. To those who love these men, we honor your unfathomable sacrifice as well, and pray for your recovered joy.

Because their most precious reason for service was to protect and preserve a joyful and happy life for their mothers, their brothers and sisters, their wives, their families and the friends they loved so deeply. May God bless you with healing, in their golden memory.


In Equal Sacrifice

THUS of old the Douglas did:
He left his land as he was bid
With the royal heart of Robert the Bruce
In a golden case with a golden lid,
To carry the same to the Holy Land;	5
By which we see and understand
That that was the place to carry a heart
At loyalty and love’s command,
And that was the case to carry it in.
The Douglas had not far to win	10
Before he came to the land of Spain,
Where long a holy war had been
Against the too-victorious Moor;
And there his courage could not endure
Not to strike a blow for God	15
Before he made his errand sure.
And ever it was intended so,
That a man for God should strike a blow,
No matter the heart he has in charge
For the Holy Land where hearts should go.	20
But when in battle the foe were met,
The Douglas found him sore beset,
With only strength of the fighting arm
For one more battle passage yet—
And that as vain to save the day	25
As bring his body safe away—
Only a signal deed to do
And a last sounding word to say.
The heart he wore in a golden chain
He swung and flung forth into the plain,	30
And followed it crying ‘Heart or death!’
And fighting over it perished fain.
So may another do of right,
Give a heart to the hopeless fight,
The more of right the more he loves;	35
So may another redouble might
For a few swift gleams of the angry brand,
Scorning greatly not to demand
In equal sacrifice with his
The heart he bore to the Holy Land.	40

The Tuft of Flowers

I WENT to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.
The dew was gone that made his blade so keen
Before I came to view the leveled scene.
I looked for him behind an isle of trees;	5
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.
But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been,—alone,
‘As all must be,’ I said within my heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.’	10
But as I said it, swift there passed me by
On noiseless wing a ’wildered butterfly,
Seeking with memories grown dim o’er night
Some resting flower of yesterday’s delight.
And once I marked his flight go round and round,	15
As where some flower lay withering on the ground.
And then he flew as far as eye could see,
And then on tremulous wing came back to me.
I thought of questions that have no reply,
And would have turned to toss the grass to dry;	20
But he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,
A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.
I left my place to know them by their name,	25
Finding them butterfly weed when I came.
The mower in the dew had loved them thus,
By leaving them to flourish, not for us,
Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him.
But from sheer morning gladness at the brim.	30
The butterfly and I had lit upon,
Nevertheless, a message from the dawn,
That made me hear the wakening birds around,
And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground,
And feel a spirit kindred to my own;	35
So that henceforth I worked no more alone;
But glad with him, I worked as with his aid,
And weary, sought at noon with him the shade;
And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech
With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach.	40
‘Men work together,’ I told him from the heart,
‘Whether they work together or apart.'

`
Semper Fi and God Bless you, Christian, Phillip, Tony and Jason, and all the 3rd LAR.

The Kids and the Future President of the United States

Some years ago, when George W Bush was Governor of Texas, we lived in a neighborhood in Midland near Laura's family. It is an ordinary middle-class neighborhood, a few blocks from where the elder Bush's lived when George was a child. When George and Laura came to visit their family, he sometimes took walks, alone, around the quiet streets. Back then, he didn't need the Secret Service to shadow him.

Ethan came home one day very excited. He and his friends had met the Governor during one of these walks. With the gregariousness of youth, they had introduced themselves to him and asked him to wait while one ran home to get a camera. Mr. Bush agreed, and chatted with the boys. They treated him to a lively discussion about their bikes, their pets, school, sports. Nick drove past while they waited and Ethan pointed him out. Mr Bush said "Your brother has a cool car!" Eventually, the photo was taken and they waved goodbye.

It was only later that evening that the boy with the camera discovered there wasn't any film in it (yes, digital cameras are that recent). They had no photo of them with the Governor. They were disappointed as only 12 year old boys can be.

Fast forward to a year later. Fate twinkled. Once again, Mr Bush, still Governor, was walking in the neighborhood. Once again the same group of boys encountered him. Without hesitation, they hailed him down again, explained the previous lack of film and asked him to wait once more while they obtained a camera (being sure to check for film).

Mr. Bush again waited, friendly and patient, and finally the boys got their photo.

No one could have blamed the man if he had just wanted some peace and quiet on his walk. No one would have faulted him if he'd politely said he "needed to get back" and couldn't spare the time to hang out with an excited and unruly bunch of boys.

Life has taught me that how people act "when no one is looking" is the best way to judge their character. Like it or not, we all have public personas we adopt in our never-ceasing attempt to be all things to all people or further whatever agenda we have.

Most of us spend our lives trying to reconcile our real selves with our public selves. Trying to be as good and kind in reality as we would seem to be.

If we are lucky, the person we are when no one is looking is the better of the two.

When no one was looking, Mr. Bush was kind to a group of boys when it didn't matter to anyone but them.

~

2010 addition: The above was written and originally posted in 2006. Many now know that this is a significant trait in Mr Bush's character, and he not only frequently, but regularly, shows kindness where the media can't see it, where the public may never know. The presidency couldn't take that away from him because it's part of who he is. Of all the events and actions of Mr Bush's service in office, this seems to me the most important, and the most worthy of emulation.

Regular readers of my blog know that Ethan is now a Marine Drill Instructor who served two tours in Iraq. While Ethan returned home safely, several of his brothers in arms gave their lives and others gave the health of their bodies to secure liberty for the Iraqi people, and to preserve American security and liberty. Mr. Bush spoke about Cpl Adam Galvez when he addressed the American Legion in Salt Lake City shortly after Adam, along with Lance Cpl Randy Newman and Seaman Chadwick Kenyon, were killed in action in 2006. And, just as important, is that Mr Bush also visited, and later followed up with, at least one of the Marines who were injured in that same IED explosion. Such quiet, private visits are habitual for Mr Bush, and well known to the troops and their families who see these signs of the respect Mr Bush has for them.

If George Washington was the President who could not tell a lie, and Abraham Lincoln was the President who taught himself Law by candlelight, George W. Bush was the President who did the right thing even when nobody was looking.


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Marines DI Sgt Ethan Duncan Arguello

A WWII Veteran's Perspective on Winning Hopeless Wars: Victory in Europe Day (VE DAY)

On May 8th, 1945, the armies of the Third Reich in Germany surrendered to the Allied Command, marking the beginning of the end of World War II. Japan would not surrender until August 14.

Other European, Middle Eastern, and African countries who had joined forces with the 3 main Axis Powers (Germany, Japan, Italy) had by this time either already surrendered to the Allies or had been taken over by Germany.

Audie Murphy and Edward N. Klein were two of those who made that war end on the side of the Good. I'm working on a post about Murphy, but for now, here's what Mr. Klein had to say about him, and about World War II, and about remembering our veterans:



Audie Murphy Did A Lot More Than 'Win A Bunch Of Medals'
By Edward N. Klein

"As a member of the Third Infantry Division on its campaigns from North Africa through Sicily, Salerno, Anzio, Southern France, and into Germany, I served for three years with Audie Murphy in helping to win the war.

"I never won any medals like Murphy -- nor do I consider myself a hero. I was just another soldier doing what I could to carry out my assignments and [come] back home in one piece. We all lived with death around us at all times. Home seemed a far distant and almost impossible dream. Few today realize that in 1942 the Germans had conquered most of Europe, Africa and the Mid-East with the help of their Italian Allies, and that the Japanese had taken control of the Pacific. Democracy seemed doomed.

"The thought of victory was only a dream. Hitler and Mussolini today in old newsreels look like comic characters, not the killers of millions of innocent people.

"Their armies were professionals, well trained and supplied, and ours was made up of civilians hastily gathered together with minor training and sent off to win a war.

"As we sailed across the ocean, the enormity of our mission engulfed many of us with a hopelessness that we would never be able to go home again. It was inconceivable that a bunch of amateurs could take on the best armies in the world and actually win.

"As we moved slowly and dangerously through Sicily and Italy, the courageous exploits of one of our own Third Division soldiers spread through the ranks of how Audie Murphy had helped turned the tide through his personal bravery. He gave little thought to his own life, and time after time was able to inspire others to fight in situations that appeared hopeless.

"His heroics brought him something he didn't really want: a battlefield promotion to Lieutenant, where he proved that in addition to personal heroism, he was capable of leading others in battle. Seeing him standing in a jeep as we trudged into battle, and hearing his rallying cry when we were ready to run, gave us the stamina we needed to continue.

"Young people today should relate to the fact that when Murphy won a grand total of 32 awards he was only 19 years old, with what many called a baby face. Today's youth will probably not be asked to make the sacrifices that Murphy did, but they should realize that without the young hero's willingness to make the supreme sacrifice, they might not be living in a free country today.

"Having witnessed the deaths of many young men in the prime of their lives in winning an almost hopeless war, I am sometimes dismayed today to see that their sacrifices go mostly unappreciated.

"On Veteran's Day last month there was little fanfare showing appreciation for those from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf. In fact, the newest veterans from the Persian Gulf conflict are still fighting their own government to prove their injuries and illnesses were related to the conflict. "

It is of note that Audie Murphy acknowledged that he suffered from Battle Fatigue, as Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome was then called, and lobbied Congress to provide better treatments for veterans.

There's a lot more on Audie Murphy, American Hero, at davidstuff.com's page. Please go visit, and pay your respects.

http://www.davidstuff.com/usa/murphy.htm

"A Prayer From The Living World"

The sun rises earlier, portending Spring. A portion of a post from Doctor Zero that needs to be read in full:

"...You may view suicide as your last chance to shake the pillars of a world that has turned its back on you. The world doesn’t need any more shaking. If you’ve been telling yourself that no one will miss you when you’re gone, you are wrong. Your suicide would tear a hole through the future, and nothing could ever fill the space where you used to be. You might think you’re alone, but you don’t have to walk more than a couple of miles from your house to see a building full of people who would be delighted to meet you. There are places like Suicide Hotlines, staffed by men and women who have spent their entire lives preparing to hear the sound of your voice, and greet every day hoping to learn your name.

"You may be afraid to face the years ahead. You’re not the only one, and if you extinguish the light of your faith and wisdom, you consign others to darkness. You might see death by your own hand as the end of unbearable pain… but I ask you to think about Walter Koenig, facing a wall of cameras with quiet grace in the hours after finding his son’s body, and understand that it’s only the beginning of agony.

"You might have decided your fellow men are rotten to the core, and you’re weary of their company. Listen to the music of Mozart, or look upon the work of Michelangelo, and consider the argument of those who profoundly disagree. Maybe part of your problem is that you’ve been listening to the wrong music, or looking at the wrong pictures. Dark waters are easy to drown in. The judgment of the human race will not lack witnesses for the defense, and they will make their case to you, if you give them a chance...." Copyright © John Hayward 2009

Please go and read the rest via Hot Air). It is a beautiful essay of hope and love.

It does not require expertise or education to help someone who needs a willing ear to listen. If you feel called to do so, consider volunteering with a crisis hotline. I did so for more than a year, and found that sometimes what people need most at the moment is a stranger they can speak openly to.

Beauty For Ashes

Well I thought I had done today's post, but Joel Osteen preached tonight on a verse that compells another post today.

Three years and 10 days ago, on January 21st, 2007, I smoked a cigarette in the car on the way to church one Sunday morning, and Pastor Erny McDonough preached on this verse:

Isaiah 61:3-4 “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

“And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.”

After church that day, I never smoked again.

God took away the addiction and made me a non-smoker, instantly. My husband still smokes but it never tempts me, and I don’t notice the smell of smoke.

I don’t know why God chose to do this for me, but He did.

Thank you, Lord.

Update January 21, 2014:  Paul quit smoking a couple of years ago. He used patches, and they worked great. Recently he was able to give up the patches too.  Tobacco still neither temps nor annoys me. When sharing this story some time back, my grandson overheard me saying that I didn't know why God had chosen to heal me of this, and he said "I prayed to God and asked Him for you to quit smoking."  So remember that the prayers of our friends and family play a powerful role in our lives. God listens when a believer prays, and He hears children as surely as adults.