A Bottle of Water, A Rocking Chair and a Good Book

   What is better on a Sunny Day in September?

   Spring Water, A Good Solid Rocker, A Good Book, down by the Ocean, in a Park full of..

   Wildlife

   People of All Kinds

   Red Shirts Marching to Lunch under the Oaks

   The Flag Waving

   Look at Those

   Look at That

   The Lady in the Rocker would prefer The View from up Here..

   Supper in the Nets

   All the while being Watched Over

Really does not get much better than this, and...

We are Blessed

I Watched, I Listened, and frankly I am Scared...

   Like millions of others, I watched the debate on Monday evening, but it was not entirely what I saw, or heard, but what was absent and not heard.

   I had just read, a few days before, an article that referenced James Madison, 4th President of the US, a founding father of the nation, in fact, called the Father of the Constitution.

   "After sitting under John Witherspoon, Madison came to think that the state, when governed not merely by the will of the majority but by the higher authorities of Natural and Divine Law, may support the life of virtue."

   Increasingly over the past few years, I have thought that the two doctrines of Democracy, defined as the will of the majority, and Christianity, defined as by Biblical authority, may not long be able to exist side by side in America.

   And that thought scares me. Not only for the generation that lives now, but for those who will follow and not be subject to the disciplines that these doctrines impose on a society.

   And how does all of this fit into what I heard and saw Monday night?

   I did not hear one word of reference, by these two candidates, to any kind of religious thought or idea. I may have missed this, but it seemed to me to be a religion of "I" or "me" all the way through.

   Candidates in the past seemed to at least tip their hat to the idea that God was around, and that they wanted his help, at least to win.

   I think ahead to the inauguration of the next president and the oath that he  or she will take, with a hand on the Bible, which concludes with "so help me God".

   Will that just be an empty phrase? Will we have to remove even those 4 words from our lexicon and the oath?

   Can we even pretend to sing "God Bless America" when we have relegated the Divine to the graveyard?

   Catastrophe aside, we will elect one of these two to the highest office in the land. The will of the people prevails, but where will that lead us?

   I'm Scared

      Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee. (John Donne)

Is This The Time?

   I have been thinking for some time about the current political situation in our country. How can you not if you even turn on the TV news?

   I've become, in turn, disgusted, confused, angry and concerned about the political discourse and the shouting, name calling, and lack of substantive conversation that comes to me in the guise of news.

   It is not about me, it is about any of us who love this land, and who feel trapped, trapped in a world of choices, none of which seems right or prudent.

   We are being given a choice of voting or not.

   We have a choice of voting for someone we don't even like, or feeling guilty for throwing our vote to one who has no chance to win. Or we might stay home..

   If we realize that there are only two candidates who have a logical path to the presidency, and we do not feel that either might be qualified or morally strong, what do we do?

   If not this time to think about it all, then when? It is only a month and a few days till we get in the voting booth, and then what?

   I do not like or trust either major candidate. I see egotism, self proclamation, dishonesty and political greed. I may be wrong, and sincerely hope that I am, but I do not want to just hold my nose and vote.

   Which one, if they become president for 4 years, will give us the best chance to survive to fight another day? Which is the least worst?

   I don't seem to hear as much discussion on the men and women who are making the races for the House and Senate, but it seems to me that they are the ones who may hold the key to survival. They can serve as a check and balance to an "out of control" executive, no matter which party.

   I'll watch the debate on Monday. I may even learn something that will alleviate my fears, but I will also be glad that I'm not the one in ultimate control of the outcome. Yes, I will do my duty and vote come November, but I will also pray for His wisdom in doing so.

   My Bible indicates that God is in control, and I'll trust Him.

   "Thy Will Be Done"

Just One Man's Dilemma..

   Just one man:

      Concerned over what is right and wrong..

      Concerned over what is true and false..

      Concerned over making making the right choice..

      Concerned over what is moral and what is immoral..

   For the past several mornings I have sat in the early silence wondering if I really have anything of value to say. I wonder if my thoughts have any validity on any subject, especially those that capture my attention. Things such as:

      The current election cycle..

      The sexual revolution..

      The increasing conflict between democracy and Biblical Christianity..

   All of these I have thought about, read about, listened to voices about, and want to understand how they come together in my life at this time.

      So I just sit, Bible in my lap, unopened, thinking and praying for guidance, knowing in my heart that there is a right way, there is God's way, and that He is not silent.

   And I do again, what I've done so many times before, I open my Bible, believing that this is the Book that is capable of answering questions and giving life, and I read.

   And I put down on electronic paper my indecisions and my concerns.

   Perhaps this is a start...

The Fragility of a Plan...

   Today was to be a somewhat rainy day. True, we had a lot of that wet stuff yesterday, but the forecasters told us to look for more of the same today.

   So I planned...

   Catching up on some emails that needed to be sent out, taking care of necessary chores, working on some pictures from our short trip last week, reading (both aloud to my wife and also on my own), etc.

   No earth shattering plans, just a wish list of getting some things out of the way and relaxing in the presence of a lazy day. .

    All of this I planned for the hours after breakfast and before supper. Of course I wanted to take my usual early morning walk, my quiet time with Scripture, prayer and perhaps some writing.

   But something happened in the time before breakfast, way before, say around 1:30AM when the fire alarm went off in the condo. Now this is not a "sleep on through" quiet ring, but a somewhat blaring alarm that is designed to not only wake you up from a sound sleep, but a "get yourself up and check it out" vibrating noise.

   So we did.

   After walking out the front door and moving down to the telecom room where the fire alarm controls are located, I pressed the alarm silence button, and quiet reigned again.. I did not change the message on the screen, just quieted the system.

   After discussing a proper procedure with my neighbor who had come down to also silence the alarm, we decided to leave everything like it was, so that the firemen, or whoever came to check on why the alarm had gone off in the first place, might be able to troubleshoot the problem.

   We found no evidence of any fire or smoke or anything else wrong, but I wanted to be sure to alert the fire people to what we had done. Not knowing whether or not the alarm system had an automatic phone alert to the fire dept., I waited up a few minutes to see if anyone responded to the alarm.

   30 minutes and no response, so I went back to bed and eventually to sleep.

   But all of the early morning going ons, caused me to sleep past (way past) my normal rising time, and it was 7:30 before I woke up, just in time to get the coffee on and think about breakfast. No time for reflection and exercise.

   But there is still time after breakfast, right?

   Supposedly, but then comes a call. We knew the elevator was shut down when the fire alarm activated, but did not know how to get it operational. Anna called from our condo management company around 8:30 and said she was downstairs and would call the elevator servicing company so we might find the solution to getting it going again.

   Anna called and we were told where to find the reactivation panel, and what the key to fit it looked like. After looking in several places, we finally discovered a key with a label that fit what we needed, as did the key in the proper slot.

   The red light went out and the elevator door closed and was operational. It had only taken an hour to get all that done, so by 9:30 it was back to breakfast.

   Eating, dressing, laundry and clean up and a short walk and then, is there time for some planned things?

   Not to bore anyone with details, but it is obvious that plans must be flexible. I missed my quiet time, breakfast was very late, the morning sped by, and then it was lunch. Before we knew it, the day was over, and my best hope for getting some of my wish list done was to plan again for tomorrow.

   It is now 9:30PM, and I finally have a moment to put some thoughts down.

   Hold your plans loosely, you may not have as much control as you think.

   Plan and be Flexible

   Hard and fast plans are extremely fragile..

Who Is Bill Rogers?

   One of our primary reasons for taking this trip was to be at the dedication of the new track at Dwayne's school, Woodlawn School in Davidson, NC.

   The Balloons were out in the school colors..

   The stage was set, a beautiful day, a great setting..

   The student body got out of class to attend..

   As Mayre and I watched (proudly, I might add), the thought came to me. There were about 300 or so people in attendance, and I wondered how many had even heard of the main speaker for the occasion.

   Bill Rogers, an icon in the running boom in the US and around the world, now 68 years old, was famous in his time, but, alas, his time was before most of the people in attendance were even born.

 

(Bill Rogers with our grandson, Sawyer)

   Bill Rogers won the Boston Marathon 4 times, won the NY Marathon the same number of times and was an Olympic runner in the 1976 games. He was also the favorite for the gold in the 1980 before the US boycotted the games in Moscow that year (ironically enough because of the Russian invasion of Afghanistan).

   When I began my jogging career back in the late 70s, Bill was the one I read about, the one who wore the same running shoes. Here he was talking with me about marathons; his many and my one.

   But most of his listeners did not even know him or about him. What did that have to say about lasting fame and the permanence of earthly glory?

   I thought of a quote attributed to Gen. George Patten:

“For over a thousand years Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of triumph, a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeteers, musicians and strange animals from conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conquerors rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children robed in white stood with him in the chariot or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror holding a golden crown and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.”

   "The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of God lasts forever"

   Bill Rogers seemed to enjoy his day at Woodlawn, but it was more about what he was seeing and participating in that claimed his attention. He was much more focused on the present than his past.

   And that was a good thing..

Hermine Comes to Call..

  We are not subject to a lot of storms where we live, but when a hurricane comes out of the Gulf of Mexico and moves northeast toward the Atlantic, we tend to be in its path.

   Such was true with Hermine.

   This was not a huge storm, probably only a tropical one as it came close to our area, but we did know it was nearby.

   There were cases of downed trees, about 4 inches of rainfall (which we needed this year), and some power outages. Our power was affected for about 18 hours, but it was only a partial outage with about half of our condo power still on and the rest off. We had our fridge, freezer, tv, internet, and some wall outlets that were in operation, and then the oven, microwave, overhead lights in the main area were inoperable. In one room we had full power and right next door, none.

   Through a fish eye, this is what Hermine looked like.

   Wind, rain, and, at least in our area of the Island, a lot of tree debris down on roads and grassy areas.

   The main deal yesterday was the wind, reported to be 30mph sustained and up to 50mph in gusts.

   By noon yesterday the rain was over, and by 6 PM the winds had quieted to calm.

   Except for the debris you would not have know the storm passed through.

   I'm sure some had it worse, and we were glad to have been spared that.

   Sure man can watch the storms, can even track them and predict a future path, but there is no control available.

   The power of storms is in God's control, and we can only hunker down and watch.

Family Time-An Undercurrent of Feelings

 
( I wrote these words back on 8/4 when Dwayne and Karen and Donna, Noel, Archer and Cady Gray were here with us on our Island. I did not think it was appropriate to publish it then, but now, for some reason, it seems like the right time. The feelings are like "an elephant in the room". They loom over everything that goes on in this home. The background becomes the focal point. We celebrate the good times, the ones we were used to all along, but there is that feeling of sadness, also, that sense of a loss, one that we want to make right, but can't seem to.)


   Don't get me wrong, whenever our family gets together we laugh and play and have a good time together.

   These past few days were not exception...

   We used the pool which made the heat more bearable..

   We used the beach time well at the end of the day when the people were gone, and the hot sun was low in the western sky..

   Competition at the game table was a notable feature, as the laughter of game playing continued to ring through the condo..

   But there was an undercurrent of sadness that we all felt, even as we tried to hide it from ourselves.

   The one lady who loved to be with her family, who loved the games, the cooking for others, the chance to share with her kids and grand kids, just was not able to do those things. Though she tried to be upbeat, you could see her frustration and sadness.

   I woke up one morning early to a vision of the family sitting around the table, laughing at some incident in a new card game, with a figure sitting quietly in the background, taking it all in, but not feeling comfortable enough to participate.

   The next day, I tried to recreate, in a photograph, what I had seen in my mind and, even though it turned out all grainy, the essence of the shot was evident.

   The quality of the shot was sad, but it only represented that feeling that I had experienced. I was sad for all of us who missed the vitality that we remembered.

   We had a good time together, but we missed what we used to have.

   I have hesitated for a couple of days to actually hit the Publish button. Should I or shouldn't I? The feelings are powerful, and they hurt, but they are real.

   I often feel inadequate for the task, and I know that God knows that.

   My prayer this morning and every morning is "Help"