G. O. S. P. E. L.

I just watched this today after seeing it on Facebook. This is worth more than anything I could post here today. Please take 5 minutes of your time to watch it. It might be a life saver.

www.lifein6words.com/#sthash.LQP69q4B.dpbs

Sorry that I can't seem to make it clickable. Please copy and paste into your browser. You won't regret it.

LA DODGER FANS, LET ME COUNT THE WAYS.

I have been an SF Giants fan since they came to SF in 1958, and like all Giants fans, went through the  miseries of the 1962 World Series loss to the Yankees, the sweep by the A's in the 1989 World Series and most recently the comeback win by the Angels in 2002. My brother was a Dodger fan because the Giants weren't in SF when he married an LA girl, and he became an Angeleno, It is inbred in Giants and Dodger fans to “hate” each other. I don’t really hate anyone because that is a self-defeating point of view.

There are a couple of Dodger fans that are extremely difficult to not HATE. These two fans have over and over insulted me and my family, only because they are Dodger fans. I really don’t think most Dodger fans appreciate the kind of message board posting that these two engage in.

When Bryan Stow was so brutally and permanently injured at Dodger Stadium on opening day of the 2011 season, they expressed their delight at the injury and claimed that it was all Bryan’s fault. My grandson was one of the four that were attacked and injured to a much lesser degree. When he  died of anaphylactic shock just a few months later, they made indecent comments about him and have continued to do so every chance they get. I was accused of lying about his being my grandson. My grandson was accused of running away from the attack and not helping Bryan. All in all, these two are probably the most despicable persons I have ever known. 

Ironically, of the person I’m about to name has. in message board postings. claimed to be a devout Christian, among other things stating how terrible it is to malign other persons, no matter what the reason.

Who are these two? Well, I wish I could actually name them, but they post under the screen names of “billynono” and “RaytheDodger”. I have prayed many times for the strength to forgive them for their actions, and even if I haven’t forgiven them, I don’t “hate” them.

D Day June 6, 1944

Sixty-nine years ago, Allied troops invaded Normandy, France with 156000, American, British and Canadian troops. Thousands of our fathers and brothers lost their lives during this intense period of fighting. By late August 1944, all of northern France had been liberated, and by the following spring the Allies had defeated the Germans. The Normandy landings have been called the beginning of the end of war in Europe.

There have been many movie films devoted to the bravery and sacrifice of so many young people from all the free world, but mainly from the US. Why were they there? Well, they were drafted in those days, but they were eager and willing to fight the common enemy, both European and Japanese. They fought to preserve a free world where in the US, the Constitution was honored, where citizen's privacy was protected. There aren't many of these brave heroes still living, but I wonder what they think of this country today, the country for which they risked and in some cases gave their lives.

What do they think of:

1. $832,000 of taxpayers money going to teach African natives to wash their genitals? (Not a bad idea perhaps, but how much does it really cost to teach them?

 2. The New York Times saying, "The administration has now lost all credibility". ?

3. All your phone records taken from the phone companies ?

4. The IRS concentrating on tax matters of  political critics?

On and on it goes, and it hasn't reached the end yet, I'm sure. For the record, while the items listed above are of a single party affiliation, I would be just as critical no matter who was responsible. I was critical of the Patriot Act when it was passed under Bush. It was very popular then because of 9/11, but people didn't realize just how much of an infringement of privacy it would be.

Tuesday's TalesI

I was originally calling this Monday’s Musings, but it just didn’t get written on Monday. I think this is just going to be some random thoughts that I’ve had for the last few days.

 The last few weeks here in the desert have been plagued by windstorms, and the “blow sand” that results in having to clean up our houses, swimming pools, and all of our landscaping. I have been appropriately ticked off about it. The end of the windy season brings one sort of relief, but brings triple-digit temperature. Right now, at noon, the outside temperature is 95 degree, expected to exceed 100 by mid afternoon. We all agree that the higher temps are better than the wind.

On the other hand, we watch all the tornado happenings in the Midwest, such terrible devastation, loss of property and life……….how fortunate we are that our only complaint is the hot weather. Resolved: No more complains about the weather.

My main “muse” is that I have so much to be happy about starting, of course, with my adorable wife. In a recent post, I mentioned that some unfavorable things had happened to me over the last 4 years. Everyone of them have strengthened me in my faith, and I am so grateful to God for seeing me through the worst of them. I will in the near future tell you all about them.

Memorial Day 2013

What are we all doing on Memorial Day? I've been watching the Giants lose to the A's and reading a James Patterson novel. One of the characters was musing about his past and how after being injured in the British army and discharged, he had turned to the bottle trying to chase the demons away. How many of our homeless today are victims of PTSD or other disability and are not receiving appropriate treatment? I know this.....we have reduced the amount of money available for disabled veterans while we're sending gobs of money to other countries around the world. Why aren't we taking better care of our veterans?

Is it because we've become inured to war itself? I guess WWII was the last popular war in which our freedoms and our country itself were in danger. The Korean "police action" was not for our personal benefit, nor was Vietnam, nor was Bosnia. The first Gulf was perhaps not so much about oil, but to try to stabilize the Middle East. The invasion of Iraq was arguably based on faulty intelligence. Afghanistan was supposedly to capture/kill Osama, which after 9 years or so, we finally did. We don't even seem to publically protest the recent wars as was done during Vietnam.

It is impossible for me to feel the same emotions of those who have been in boots on the ground combat. I saw plenty of the havoc of war during my Navy service during Korea, but not the kind that our troops have seeing in the jungles and in the desert. Not the kind of death and destruction that comes from such things as IED's.

I think what I'm feeling right now is a mixture of anger and sorrow, anger at war itself, and deep, deep sorrow for those who have died (needlessly ?) . Should we celebrate today as we do Independence Day, or should we be thanking God for those who have served and praying for their safety.

This is one of the last times I saw my #1 (first born) grandson alive. Matthew Lee (12/24/1984-7/31/2011. Matthew had attended Grossmont College in San Diego, choosing it among other reasons for it's reputation for it's baseball program.

Matt was a good baseball player throughout high school and had high hopes for a baseball career; however, he suffered a shoulder injury which prevented him from even being scouted. Nonetheless, he continued his education and was to enter Sacramento State for his senior year in September, 2011.

One of the few things I've had problems dealing with is my anger over how Matt died. He and his two brothers have had both peanut and tree nut allergies their entire lives and everyone knew it. Even so, he was served a salad containing some kind of nut oil, and immediately went into  analphylactic shock, a completely unnecessary death in the beginning of adulthood with a great life and career to look forward to. Matt had professed belief and trust in Jesus some years previously and so it is with hope that he and I will be reunited some day. 

Matt's funeral was attended by at least 200 persons, many of which were friends of his in high school, but also many came up from San Diego who had worked with him at Target. Matt was loved by everyone who knew him. 

Miss you #1, and always will.

Rather than going into the gory details of my hip injury now, (that means it will come later), I'll just say that I have come a long way physically from where I was 2 years ago. Although I still have pain and stiffness, it is so incredibly better than it was. I can walk but I need a cane if it's for some distance, I can do my "man chores" around the house and yard. I have stopped doing rehab type exercises, but just go about my life in as normal a way as possible. I have reached what I call the "new normal", and I'm grateful that I've come that far. If I continue to get mobility, that's just that much more to be thankful for.

Persons who know me well constantly comment on how cheerful I always seem to be. One of my pastors whom I regard as the ultimate pastor and who I respect more than any other man I've known, wrote me a note stating that I'd "been an inspiration" to him. I didn't know quite what to make of that, but my closest family assured me that it was because I wasn't pissin' and moanin' about my situation and blaming God and all that stuff. This from a man had had been and continues to be an inspiration to me. So there you are.

Does everyone have a "bucket list'"?  I sure did. It was to see the SF Giants win a World Series before I left this earth. I not only was able to scratch it off the list in November 2010, but did it again in November 2012. It's no longer on my bucket list, but I sure do hope they get another ring. After all, the 49ers have 5, and almost had a 6th one this past season.

How interesting that I came across this old endeavor of mine 4 years to the day  since my last post.. So much has happened in my life since then, so much that I feel compelled to write about them so that I can remember and revisualize both the good and the bad. The reader might wonder why I might want to remember the bad happenings, but as I think about them I also remember that Almighty God was in control, He knew my pain, and He helped me to cope with the negative and turn them into the positive. He comforted me, He healed me, He was always there to talk to me, and He blessed me throughout the entire 4 years.

The most memorable negative occurrences went from prostate cancer, a "mini" stroke, the loss of my beloved grandson, a broken hip, to a life threatening infection. There were new friends gained and old friends lost, relationships enriched, relationships weakened, financial resources gained, and financial resources VVVV, but again through all, I remembered that as God's child, He would never leave me or desert me.

More tomorrow, if I can see this in print and still want to do it. LOL

The History of Memorial Day Courtesy of History.Com

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation's Civil War dead by decorating their graves. It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that:
The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.
This 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil War. In fact, several Northern and Southern cities claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, including Columbus, Miss.; Macon, Ga.; Richmond, Va.; Boalsburg, Pa.; and Carbondale, Ill.
In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.
By the late 1800s, many communities across the country had begun to celebrate Memorial Day and, after World War I, observances also began to honor those who had died in all of America's wars. In 1971, Congress declared Memorial Day a national holiday to be celebrated the last Monday in May. (Veterans Day, a day set aside to honor all veterans, living and dead, is celebrated each year on November 11.)
Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.
Several Southern states continue to set aside a special day for honoring the Confederate dead, which is usually called Confederate Memorial Day.

Oh My, The Weeping and Wailing & Gnashing of Teeth

So....at least 2 of you will miss me. Donna says that AOL won't let her become a "Follower", and I say to her, Donna, just give me a comment once in awhile. How does one do that? Let me show you. Scroll down below the post to where it says, 0 comments. Click on that and make your comment. You can make it as (your name) as Giants Princess did, or even choose Anonymous. I will comment on my own post.

Last Post ?

This may be my last post, at least for awhile. It is increasingly difficult to develop material which readers might find interesting. I live a very mundane life, actually, and is it weren't for my spiritual life, it would be pretty boring.The number of daily "hits" on this site have continually gone down and there have been only a couple of comments left. So, I may come back from time to time if something REALLY interesting and significant occurs in my life.

In the meanwhile, I leave you with this:


Clay Balls
A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.
He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock . Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!
Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.
Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!
It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel.. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.
We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.
There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.
May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them. .

EXPLAIN GOD

I don't know if Danny really wrote this but in a 12 year old's mind, this is how he explains God.


Explain God
It was written by an 8 year old, Danny Dutton of Chula Vista, CA, for his third grade homework assignment. The assignment was to explain God. Wonder if any of us could do as well?

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die, so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth.He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times beside bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything, there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off.God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your Mom and Dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church.Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind, like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said O.K.His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore. He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary, only more important.You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to help you because they've got it worked out so that one of them is on duty all the time.You should always go to church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong. And besides the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids.But...you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.
And...that's why I believe in God.

Happy Mother's Day 2009

I wish everyone a very blessed day where we honor and celebrate our mothers whether they are still with us or not.

My mother has been deceased for more than 40 years, but I can see her face and and hear her voice as if she was here alongside me. The voice could speak some pretty harsh words to me, but only when I deserved it. My sister, the eldest of 3, was a kind of second mother to me because of our age difference (13 years) and because of my mother's poor health starting in her middle age. My mother was 43 when I was born but I developed without any physical handicaps which are fairly common when the mother is over 40. Many of my friends think I have some mental challenges, but what do they know?

My brother, 6 years older than me, was pretty much my mom's favorite as she anticipated that he would follow in our father's footsteps in church ministry. He did, if fact,, become a pastor when he was about 25.

Both my sister and brother were little angels, while I was a devil from as long as I can remember. Thankfully, I did finally adopt behavior and character more appropriate for my upbringing. But that's what moms are for, right.

Anyway, Mom, I love you and I'm sorry for all the grief I gave you while growing up.

Blessings, Desert Dave

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)Godly mothers not only bring you up, they bring you to God.

I Promise Not To Heckle My Dodger Friends

Well, maybe a little. After all, I put up with years of some pretty bad heckling about Barry Bonds. Dodger fans still like to make the comparison that Bonds was a terrible person even without the ALLEGED steroid useage and of course Manny is this great person who simply just made an mistake. Tell that to the Red Sox.

The fact is that Bonds was the face of the Giants franchise for 15 years, and arguably the best pure hitter ever in Major League Baseball. We had reason to not throw him under the bus because of all he did for the team. Manny, on the other hand has been a Dodger for less than a full season, and held a gun to the owners heads before he would sign for 2009. But the Dodger fans I hear can't wait to get him back.

There's a great deal of hypocrisy when it comes to who we like and who we don't like. I'm as guilty as the next person and I'll admit it. On one occasion at a social event, I was harshly taken to task for even suggesting that Eric Gagne had "juiced". When the news came out awhile back about him and Lo Duca, I could have gone to this individual and been really nasty to him. I didn't. Why not?

And so comes the reason for this posting. If I am to live for Christ, I must live my life in the same fashion as did He. Would it please Him if I went to this individual and reminded him of his prior actions toward me? And what real purpose would it serve. Would it make me feel good to embarass him? You bet it would. Would it be right to do so? I don''t think so, and so I don't do it.

As a lifelong Giants fan, I "hate" the Dodgers, as I'm sure they "hate" the Giants. When I see or hear Giants fans acting badly toward Dodger fans, I dislike it as much as I do the other way around.

Blessings, Desert Dave

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)God is the master of turning burdens into blessings.

Are You A Good Person?

http://upchucky.com/person.html


Almost everyone thinks that they are a good person... and will admit having a bad habit or two.... Have you ever wondered how you might look in God's eye? Have you ever wondered.... "Am I good enough to go to Heaven?" How can you know for sure? You can find out by testing your lifestyle to God's rules....... The Ten Commandments. Most people say, "Well, I've broken one or two, but nothing too serious, like murder, etc." So let's randomly go through God's Commandments and see how well you do...
Continue

I'm feeling kind of lazy, so the above is all I'm going to quote. Click the link and enjoy.


CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)To tune in to God's voice, we must tune out this world's noise.

Blessings, Desert Dave

OK, So I'm going to turn political a bit.

Watching Mike Huckabee tonight led me to go on his website which, in turn, led me to apply to have this blog linked to his site. Mike's attraction to me, first of all, is that he is a Christian, and secondly a conservative. I did not follow him that closely during the Republican primaries, so I'm not that familiar with all his political positions. Despite that, I endorse him 100%.

I don't know if the Huckabee producers will accept this blog as a link, but I'll let you know if it ends up there, but here's the link: http://www.huckpac.com/?Fuseaction=Blogs.Home.

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)

In God's eyes, true greatness is serving others.

Happy May Day Everyone

But what is May Day actually other than the date of May 1?

Well, for one thing, it's an international distress call whether from ship, shore, or air. If you check the following website, you'll find that it is more than one thing.

http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mayday.html

As an introduction to the above site, I quote the following:

"May 1st, often called May Day, just might have more holidays than any other day of the year. It's a celebration of Spring. It's a day of political protests. It's a neopagan festival, a saint's feast day, and a day for organized labor. In many countries, it is a national holiday."

There is much more info available on the site itself.

I kind of like the celebration of Spring myself. If my information is correct, it is hardly Spring in the SF Bay Area today, with heavy rains forecast. Sure hope it doesn't interfere with my Giants game tonight. Today is a typical May day here in the desert. 87 degrees F right now with slight overcast and just enough breeze to make the heat bearable.

So, whatever you're doing this day, have a great weekend and keep safe including staying away from piggies.= -;)

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)Like a compass, the Bible always points us in the right direction

How Private Is Your Business?

I have just finished a novel by Jeffery Deaver, one of my favorite authors. For those of you familiar with Deaver, it's a Lincoln Rhyme novel named Broken Window. I don't want to say too much here about the content for fear of spoiling it. That said, the "environment" of the novel is a world-wide information service company--the huge data miner Strategic Systems Datacorp. Their files contain everything about everyone, including you and me (?).

While the description of the extent of the contents of these files is likely to be premature, I believe it does portend what may come in the future. This information, if not used improperly is pretty benign, but who's to say it will always be used properly. See Aldous Huxley's Brave New World or George Orwell's 1984.

Do you know that every time you use your supermarket club card that the data of exactly what you purchased is transferred to a data bank? The drugs you buy at the pharmacy on your Visa card? Do you know that everything you buy at Costco is memorized forever? Your membership at the health club, the country club, Borders, the websites you visit.....they're all in a databank. Oh, don't forget the appliance warranty cards you fill out. They have lots of private information on them. Your warranty doesn't need submission of the form anyway.

Ok, so be careful out there. If you don't keep an eye on your identity, there are people out there who will.

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)Those who lay up treasures in heaven are the richest people on earth

PSA ?

No, that doesn't stand for Pacific Southwest Airlines. Remember them? If so, you're as old as I am. It was a great local airline which ended up with others as US Airways. Still a great local airline? Not so much.

PSA stands for Prostate Specific Antigen, which measures the amount of some sort of agent generated by the prostate gland and can, but not necessarily, the presence of cancer cells. There have been a number of medical reports recently issued which lead one to believe that the screening is a waste of time and money. The theory is that receiving a PSA reading over a certain number will cause too many men to go seek useless treatments because, "you'll die of something else before you will of prostate cancer", and you'll diminish your quality of life by seeking treatment especially that of radical surgery.

Let me tell you something. Screenings can save your life. Blaming cancer screening for doing more harm than good is targeting the wrong villain. It's not the screening process itself, it's the failure to identify which cancers are realtively bgenigh and which are aggresive and deadly. Doctors who fail sufficiently to explain the difference between dangerous and non-dangerous tumors are the problem.

So, go and do the right thing. If your'e 50 or more, make sure you get an anuual degital exam as well as the simple PSA blood test. My treatment, brachytherapy or radioactive seed implementation is brought my PS down from 6.3 to 3.5, to 2.6, and now down to 1.5 all in 9 months. I believe it will cotinue to go down for at least another 6 months or so. My treatment didn't affect my quality of life whatsoever.

CHRISTIAN THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
(Courtesy of Our Daily Bread)

As God adds years to your life, ask Him to add life to your years.

Blessings, Desert Dave

PSA ?