So here I am
standing outside
watching the lady
park before we ride
with each passing minute
getting more old
standing outside in the cold
The temperature's twenty
the wind is eighteen
hopping up and down
like a jumping bean
there'd be days like this
or so I've been told
standing outside in the cold
There are miles per hour
leagues per day
even feet per second
and that's OK
but inches per minute
is not too bold
standing outside in the cold
I think I might be crazy
and I'd be right
can't wait to be finished
and call it a night
hey! just found my pencil
hiding in a fold
standing outside in the cold
Shiver shiver shiver
brr brr brr
move that dang car
lady or sir
hop hop hop
c c cannt f f feeel m m my t t towd
standing outside in the cold
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Friday, December 5, 2014
Marijuana Entrepreneur
Today I was blessed to do a driving test for a guy named Eddie Wilson V. He took the test 12 years ago when he was 16 and failed so he finally screwed up his courage and decided to try again. When I came up to him I told him; "Eddie, you're my 1st 5th. Tell me a little about the original Eddie Wilson. When did he live and what did he do?"
Eddie knew absolutely nothing about the other Eddies. Not Eddie Sr., not Eddie Jr. Not Eddie the III. I asked him; "Weren't you even a little curious about your other ancestors with the same name?" and he responds; "I guess not. I never even asked my dad about them. But one thing for sure. The name stops with me. I got teased at school. They all called me Eddie Murphy and so I named my son Jamal. Jamal Junior I call him.
Eddie named his son Jamal Jr. That was my first clue.
I asked Eddie what he did for work and he tells me that he is a pro grower. "What the heck is a pro grower?" I ask. It turns out that "pro grower" is another name for people who grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. All of a sudden my ears perk up and I start asking about how all of this works.
Just across the parking lot from where we start our tests is a gas station that has several shops connected to it. There is a Subway, an ice cream stand that in season has according to Jackie the worlds best chili dogs, a head shop called Purple Haze which I think sells medical marijuana over the counter and who knows what under the counter, and then just around the corner from the head shop is a doctor's office that specializes in only one thing. A guy stops in every now and then to write prescriptions for medical marijuana.
Since the wacky weed is now legal to sell in Michigan for medical purposes growing the stuff has become an opportunity for eager entrepreneurs like our Mr. Eddie (Jamal) Wilson V. There was a time before it became legal when growing the stuff was fairly easy and inexpensive as long as one didn't get caught. I have a sister-in-law who once found her attic filled with healthy green plants that had been carefully tended by her two boys.
But now that the State of Michigan is involved it is possible but costly to produce a healthy crop. Michigan has a lot of regulations (or regulatories as Eddie phrased it) about the process of growing that weed. You need to keep records, The state has random but surprise inspections and the state will take 15% of any profits made. The required license cost $350 every two years. If you live in the inner city like Eddie the plants need to be grown indoors in a special room that is locked, as Eddie put it, to keep children and other interested parties away. So Eddie needed to build a special room in his basement.
A pro grower is allowed to have up to 5 "patients" and may grow up to 12 plants per patient. Eddie has 1 patient and when I asked him why only 1 he told me that he wants to get everything producing right before he adds more.
One can order the seeds from a catalog but because the plants are indoors there needs to be special high powered sodium lights, humidity controls, and two other types of growing lights just to produce a healthy plant. Eddie had some problems on his first 3 batches and now half way on his 4th he thinks he has the process down.
All this has been a little expensive for Eddie. His girl friend "gave" him her tax refund check for $3700 to get started and they bought all the stuff and made the special room and found a patient. Then after the first 3 crops did not pan out as well as expected and they added the other two lights they received a monthly electric bill for $600.
After getting the bill Eddie calls his lone patient and asks him if he needs to up his consumption but apparently the guy wasn't feeling too much pain at that moment and he declined. Frantic at this point they called their utility company who thoughtfully suggested that they get on a budget payment plan that will average out the rest of the year's bills with the $600 dollar month. Eddie proudly tells me that now his utility bills are only $200 a month!
I guess the silver lining in all of this for Eddie is that it will be some time before he has to cough up his 15% tax on profits to the State of Michigan and if his head starts to hurt after a few more months of cheap utility bills catch up with him he knows where to go to alleviate the pain.
Eddie knew absolutely nothing about the other Eddies. Not Eddie Sr., not Eddie Jr. Not Eddie the III. I asked him; "Weren't you even a little curious about your other ancestors with the same name?" and he responds; "I guess not. I never even asked my dad about them. But one thing for sure. The name stops with me. I got teased at school. They all called me Eddie Murphy and so I named my son Jamal. Jamal Junior I call him.
Eddie named his son Jamal Jr. That was my first clue.
I asked Eddie what he did for work and he tells me that he is a pro grower. "What the heck is a pro grower?" I ask. It turns out that "pro grower" is another name for people who grow marijuana for medicinal purposes. All of a sudden my ears perk up and I start asking about how all of this works.
Just across the parking lot from where we start our tests is a gas station that has several shops connected to it. There is a Subway, an ice cream stand that in season has according to Jackie the worlds best chili dogs, a head shop called Purple Haze which I think sells medical marijuana over the counter and who knows what under the counter, and then just around the corner from the head shop is a doctor's office that specializes in only one thing. A guy stops in every now and then to write prescriptions for medical marijuana.
Since the wacky weed is now legal to sell in Michigan for medical purposes growing the stuff has become an opportunity for eager entrepreneurs like our Mr. Eddie (Jamal) Wilson V. There was a time before it became legal when growing the stuff was fairly easy and inexpensive as long as one didn't get caught. I have a sister-in-law who once found her attic filled with healthy green plants that had been carefully tended by her two boys.
But now that the State of Michigan is involved it is possible but costly to produce a healthy crop. Michigan has a lot of regulations (or regulatories as Eddie phrased it) about the process of growing that weed. You need to keep records, The state has random but surprise inspections and the state will take 15% of any profits made. The required license cost $350 every two years. If you live in the inner city like Eddie the plants need to be grown indoors in a special room that is locked, as Eddie put it, to keep children and other interested parties away. So Eddie needed to build a special room in his basement.
A pro grower is allowed to have up to 5 "patients" and may grow up to 12 plants per patient. Eddie has 1 patient and when I asked him why only 1 he told me that he wants to get everything producing right before he adds more.
One can order the seeds from a catalog but because the plants are indoors there needs to be special high powered sodium lights, humidity controls, and two other types of growing lights just to produce a healthy plant. Eddie had some problems on his first 3 batches and now half way on his 4th he thinks he has the process down.
All this has been a little expensive for Eddie. His girl friend "gave" him her tax refund check for $3700 to get started and they bought all the stuff and made the special room and found a patient. Then after the first 3 crops did not pan out as well as expected and they added the other two lights they received a monthly electric bill for $600.
After getting the bill Eddie calls his lone patient and asks him if he needs to up his consumption but apparently the guy wasn't feeling too much pain at that moment and he declined. Frantic at this point they called their utility company who thoughtfully suggested that they get on a budget payment plan that will average out the rest of the year's bills with the $600 dollar month. Eddie proudly tells me that now his utility bills are only $200 a month!
I guess the silver lining in all of this for Eddie is that it will be some time before he has to cough up his 15% tax on profits to the State of Michigan and if his head starts to hurt after a few more months of cheap utility bills catch up with him he knows where to go to alleviate the pain.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
November Dream
It was a nice fall day and I was with a group of people standing outside a building, a church I think, and I sensed that a person of some importance was coming out. As the man, dressed in garments I've seen a Catholic priest wearing for a regular mass, green vestment with a lot of gold color, walks past me I recognize him as my father. My dad has been dead for 10 years after struggling with a slow progression of Alzheimer's on his body and mind but here he is quite vital physically and mentally.
When he gets about 5 yards past me I call out his first name, My father stops in his tracks, turns around, sees me, smiles and then calls out my first and last name. I come over to him and we hug. I now sense that this is going to be a final goodbye and that in the least I will never see him alive again or at most I will not see him well. Wondering what to say I simply tell my father to take care.
There is a very large lawn or field that stretches from where we are to a road off some distance where there awaits for my father another group of people. Behind the road the trees are at their Autumn finest and the sky is clear and blue and I think as my father is walking away that the color in his vestments are a perfect compliment to the beauty of the scene that God has painted.
As my father goes on I am overcome by emotion and first I fall to my knees and then face down on the ground. Then embarrassed because I remember there are people behind me I get up, turn back to the right with my head down so not to make eye contact with them and join the crowd.
It is a morning dream in late November and as I lay now awake very comfortably between my flannel sheets I wonder if this is a dream that has come from God and if so then what would be the symbolism and meaning for me.
My first thought is perhaps my father wearing those vestments represents the priesthood of the believer and that the time for the Church is running out. Is the crowd that I am with the current Church and the group waiting by the beautiful trees and sky those who have gone before? I was not really sure of any of it.
Later that morning we go to church and because this is Thanksgiving week the service devotes a period of time where people can come up to the microphone and give thanks for what God has been doing in their lives. A certain gentleman, a bit older than me whom I had met a couple of times previously, came over during the earlier greet your neighbor portion to say hi. Later he was one of the people who gave their sharing.
He told about seeing a friend get older and losing his mind and later a relative going through Alzheimer's and then 10 years ago after a doctor's exam he was told that he too had Alzheimer's. The guy didn't say it but I knew that was a crushing pronouncement. He and his wife decided they would do something about it and they knelt down and prayed and so far, praise God, he has not had any symptoms.
That evening I opened my Bible to the section for my daily reading which now is in Psalms and noticed that it says in the fourth Psalm, verses 3-5:
But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him.
Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your hearts upon your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the Lord.
The meaning for the images from my dream now came a little clearer for me. It seems that my father represents the overall Church. I know that there are congregations today that are spiritually really alive and others that are spiritually dead with the majority in between. They might even be considered as "lukewarm".
The Lord is present in the overall Church because He lives in the hearts of those who are believers but there is a problem. For the most part today's Church is in the process of losing it's mind! Once strong and vibrant it will as a body become weak and feeble, remembering fragments of who it was but not knowing who it is or where it is going.
The man who spoke at the service this morning gave the solution to the problem. There is something we can do and the first step is to get down on our knees with love ones and pray.
The verses from Psalm 4 complete both the prophetic warning and prophetic advice from the Lord. Know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself. God has a plan for each of our lives. He knows us and indeed loves us and because this is true the Lord hears when I call to Him.
Tremble and do not sin. This is the charge for each one of us. God loves us but all of us are weak and subject to both failure and rebellion. Failure God can understand and He works with His Holy Spirit to bring us back to a relationship with Him. But rebellion builds a barrier that limits what God can do. We should tremble because God is a Holy God whose ways are not our ways and yet they are what's best for us. And how do we know those ways? Mediate in your hearts upon your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. In this day and age it is too easy to live a life compromised to the standards of the day. This is a huge problem for the Church which wants to be accepted by the society we live in, a society that now accepts almost any type of sexual behavior, worships at the altar of celebrity, excess, violence and many and varied types of occult themes and images, and denies the truth of scripture.
God is not looking for our donations and good works, fine and necessary as they are. He much prefers the sacrifice it takes to live a life holy to Him. The story of the world from start to finish is this. How is that possible? And the answer has been proven over and over. Trust in the Lord.
How much time do we have here? As I've said many times before, I think the time is short but who really knows? Will there be revival in the Church that will change it and seriously affect the society we live in? Many respected prophets have said that that time will come. I know that there are great revivals happening throughout the world today in China and Africa and South America but here in America I only see the steady progression of spiritual decay. I pray for revival here but, like in my dream, I see my father walking across the field and I fear that I will never see him well again.
But it is not mine to know, it is mine to pray. On my knees. On my face. Mediating in my heart upon my bed. Being still before my Lord. Offering the sacrifices of righteousness. Trusting in the Lord.
When he gets about 5 yards past me I call out his first name, My father stops in his tracks, turns around, sees me, smiles and then calls out my first and last name. I come over to him and we hug. I now sense that this is going to be a final goodbye and that in the least I will never see him alive again or at most I will not see him well. Wondering what to say I simply tell my father to take care.
There is a very large lawn or field that stretches from where we are to a road off some distance where there awaits for my father another group of people. Behind the road the trees are at their Autumn finest and the sky is clear and blue and I think as my father is walking away that the color in his vestments are a perfect compliment to the beauty of the scene that God has painted.
As my father goes on I am overcome by emotion and first I fall to my knees and then face down on the ground. Then embarrassed because I remember there are people behind me I get up, turn back to the right with my head down so not to make eye contact with them and join the crowd.
It is a morning dream in late November and as I lay now awake very comfortably between my flannel sheets I wonder if this is a dream that has come from God and if so then what would be the symbolism and meaning for me.
My first thought is perhaps my father wearing those vestments represents the priesthood of the believer and that the time for the Church is running out. Is the crowd that I am with the current Church and the group waiting by the beautiful trees and sky those who have gone before? I was not really sure of any of it.
Later that morning we go to church and because this is Thanksgiving week the service devotes a period of time where people can come up to the microphone and give thanks for what God has been doing in their lives. A certain gentleman, a bit older than me whom I had met a couple of times previously, came over during the earlier greet your neighbor portion to say hi. Later he was one of the people who gave their sharing.
He told about seeing a friend get older and losing his mind and later a relative going through Alzheimer's and then 10 years ago after a doctor's exam he was told that he too had Alzheimer's. The guy didn't say it but I knew that was a crushing pronouncement. He and his wife decided they would do something about it and they knelt down and prayed and so far, praise God, he has not had any symptoms.
That evening I opened my Bible to the section for my daily reading which now is in Psalms and noticed that it says in the fourth Psalm, verses 3-5:
But know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself; The Lord hears when I call to Him.
Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in your hearts upon your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the Lord.
The meaning for the images from my dream now came a little clearer for me. It seems that my father represents the overall Church. I know that there are congregations today that are spiritually really alive and others that are spiritually dead with the majority in between. They might even be considered as "lukewarm".
The Lord is present in the overall Church because He lives in the hearts of those who are believers but there is a problem. For the most part today's Church is in the process of losing it's mind! Once strong and vibrant it will as a body become weak and feeble, remembering fragments of who it was but not knowing who it is or where it is going.
The man who spoke at the service this morning gave the solution to the problem. There is something we can do and the first step is to get down on our knees with love ones and pray.
The verses from Psalm 4 complete both the prophetic warning and prophetic advice from the Lord. Know that the Lord has set apart the godly man for Himself. God has a plan for each of our lives. He knows us and indeed loves us and because this is true the Lord hears when I call to Him.
Tremble and do not sin. This is the charge for each one of us. God loves us but all of us are weak and subject to both failure and rebellion. Failure God can understand and He works with His Holy Spirit to bring us back to a relationship with Him. But rebellion builds a barrier that limits what God can do. We should tremble because God is a Holy God whose ways are not our ways and yet they are what's best for us. And how do we know those ways? Mediate in your hearts upon your bed, and be still.
Offer the sacrifices of righteousness. In this day and age it is too easy to live a life compromised to the standards of the day. This is a huge problem for the Church which wants to be accepted by the society we live in, a society that now accepts almost any type of sexual behavior, worships at the altar of celebrity, excess, violence and many and varied types of occult themes and images, and denies the truth of scripture.
God is not looking for our donations and good works, fine and necessary as they are. He much prefers the sacrifice it takes to live a life holy to Him. The story of the world from start to finish is this. How is that possible? And the answer has been proven over and over. Trust in the Lord.
How much time do we have here? As I've said many times before, I think the time is short but who really knows? Will there be revival in the Church that will change it and seriously affect the society we live in? Many respected prophets have said that that time will come. I know that there are great revivals happening throughout the world today in China and Africa and South America but here in America I only see the steady progression of spiritual decay. I pray for revival here but, like in my dream, I see my father walking across the field and I fear that I will never see him well again.
But it is not mine to know, it is mine to pray. On my knees. On my face. Mediating in my heart upon my bed. Being still before my Lord. Offering the sacrifices of righteousness. Trusting in the Lord.
Wednesday, November 26, 2014
We Shall Overcome
In the midst of my anxieties over events in our country this last week I am reminded of the verse in the old civil rights hymn, We Shall Overcome, which declares that like a tree standing by the water, we shall not be moved. Finding the reference in the opening Psalm I would now like to share it with you. But first:
This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the word of God,
which comforts me when this world I live in seems to go crazy,
which assures me that truth and justice will ultimately prevail,
which leads me to keep putting my trust in the Lord Who "knows the way of the righteous".
Psalm 1
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in this law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in what ever he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
This Thanksgiving I am thankful for the word of God,
which comforts me when this world I live in seems to go crazy,
which assures me that truth and justice will ultimately prevail,
which leads me to keep putting my trust in the Lord Who "knows the way of the righteous".
Psalm 1
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in this law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in what ever he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord knows the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
Sunday, November 23, 2014
When Angels Come For You
When Angels Come For You
There will come a day
your heart will stop
your eyes will close
your head will drop
no more excuses
on that day
when angels
come for
you
Brothers, sisters
sweet aunt mary sue
the clock is ticking
just for you
I hear the tocks
I know what's true
when angels
come for
you
How many years
you've walked right by
creation painted
in the sky
and known what's right
but still you try
when angels
come for
you
His heart is broken
because of sin
which blinds the man
and enters in
then spends a life
not knowing Him
when angels
come for
you
There's still a chance
to be set free
it only takes
humility
you must let go
of all you see
when angels
come for
you
The tombstone said
there wasn't strife
you helped your neighbor
loved your wife
but is your name written
in the book of life
when angels
come for
you
One last word
I must add here
you would do well
to live in fear
if you don't know
what's very near
when angels
come for
you
There will come a day
your heart will stop
your eyes will close
your head will drop
no more excuses
on that day
when angels
come for
you
Brothers, sisters
sweet aunt mary sue
the clock is ticking
just for you
I hear the tocks
I know what's true
when angels
come for
you
How many years
you've walked right by
creation painted
in the sky
and known what's right
but still you try
when angels
come for
you
His heart is broken
because of sin
which blinds the man
and enters in
then spends a life
not knowing Him
when angels
come for
you
There's still a chance
to be set free
it only takes
humility
you must let go
of all you see
when angels
come for
you
The tombstone said
there wasn't strife
you helped your neighbor
loved your wife
but is your name written
in the book of life
when angels
come for
you
One last word
I must add here
you would do well
to live in fear
if you don't know
what's very near
when angels
come for
you
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Star Wars Rosary
I left the Roman Catholic Church the day it finally dawned on me that no one, not even a Spirit filled pope, would be able to change anything of substance in Catholic doctrine. I was convinced that the pagan thoughts and practices that were interwoven with Christian belief beginning even in the early centuries of the faith could not be extracted without either schism (the majority wanting to retain the old beliefs) or the death of Roman Catholicism as a religion. Of the three legged stool - Church tradition, the teaching magisterial of the Church and sacred scripture, tradition and church teaching substituted for the Holy Spirit, over road scripture, and would be defended to the death by the bishops and bureaucracy of the Roman Catholic Church.
So having left that church as one that still knows and loves so many still in it, a number of whom are true believers in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I do from time to time like to point out the contradictions of church teaching and tradition with the Holy Word. These are all so obvious if one does not have to think that father knows best but instead believes that sacred scripture is indeed inspired and can be understood by even a simpleton with the help of the Holy Spirit.
My inspiration today was a statement tweeted by Pope Francis earlier this fall;
"The Christian who does not feel that the Virgin Mary is his or her mother is an orphan."
As have been all the popes in my lifetime Pope Francis (the hope of modern day liberals) has a deep devotion to Mary. This pope even has a special devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, which he picked up in Austria and then introduced to his flock when he was the Archbishop of Buenos Airas. This is a prayer to Mary that because of the immense mercy that exists in her heart one should surrender into her hands the ribbon of their lives (all their worries and pain and problems). The prayer declares the trust that Mary will undo those knots.
The University of Dayton, which has a large Marian studies center, publishes a list of Marian statements made by Pope Francis. In October this year Francis is quoted 18 different times invoking and referencing Mary in his addresses to various groups. I will only share the following two;
October 25: Pope's remarks to The Schoenstaff movement.
"Mary is Mother, and one cannot conceive of any other title of Mary that is not 'Mother'. She is Mother because she brings us Jesus and she helps us with the strength of the Holy Spirit, so that Jesus will be born and grow in us. She constantly gives us life. She is Mother of the Church. She is maternity. We do not have the right, and if we think we do we are mistaken, to have a psychology of orphans. A Christian does not have the right to be an orphan. He has a Mother! We have a Mother!"
October 31; Pope's address to Fraternity of Charismatic Convention.
"I was told about prayer groups in Charismatic Renewal in which the Rosary is recited together. The prayer to our Lady must never be lacking, never!"
I was always taught that Catholics don't worship Mary when they pray to her, they only "venerate" or honor her. Yet here it is pretty clear that not only are Catholics encouraged to pray to her she is also given attributes that belong to God alone. What the Father desires, what the Son has done and the outworking of the power of the Holy Spirit, in Catholic teaching are all routed through Mary. She is the dispenser of graces, she is the co-redemtrix with Jesus for the salvation of our souls, she is the queen of heaven, she is mediator between us and God, she is the one who loves us because she is mother, she is the one we should trust.
Contrast that to what Romans 8: 14-17 teaches, especially about our status as orphans;
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry out, "Abba, Father". The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
The following comes from a post I did in 2007 called - Star Wars Rosary.
One of the forms of adoration to Mary is the rosary. The roots of the practice began in the 10th and 11th centuries. In certain monasteries monks would pray the psalms every day. There are 150 psalms and these were divided in 3 groups of 50. Later on the common people wanted to adopt this practice but because most were illiterate they would substitute memorized prayers such as the early forms of the Hail Mary in place of the psalms.
Catholic legend says that Mary appeared to St. Dominic (founder of the Dominicans) in 1214 and give him the first rosary. The rosary is a set of beads, 50 of which are for the Hail Mary prayer. There are other beads for the Our Father and Glory Be prayers, the Apostles Creed and places to contemplate events in the life of Jesus or Mary called The Mysteries. For example, one of the glorious mysteries is called; "Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth".
In 1858 Mary appears to Bernadette at Lourdes and the apparition is wearing a rosary. In 1917 Mary appears to 3 children at Fatima and tells them that for the conversion of the world everyone must do penance and pray the rosary daily. Pope John Paul II was very devoted to Mary and especially to the apparition of Mary at Fatima.
There are actually quite a number of other Marian apparitions. The most famous recent one began when Mary appeared to some children in the Croatian village of Medjugory in 1981. Ever since she has given a least one of them a monthly message (all are available at the Medjugory website) which usually includes a request to do penance and to pray the rosary daily. The fact that tens of millions of people go to these places should remind us that Mary veneration is not just a blast from the past.
I have a personal story about saying the rosary. My mother grew up in the Reformed tradition but because my father was Catholic that meant that his children must be raised Catholic. About the time I was in 5th grade my mother had a crisis of faith which led to her becoming Catholic. Of course I was pleased when my mother became Catholic but the down side came when initially she wanted to be a very devout Catholic.
For awhile during the summer before my 6th grade mom would gather her innocent little children into our hallway, in front of the crucifix hanging on the wall with palm branches stuck behind it, and ignoring the sounds of other children outside, happily enjoying the forbidden pleasures of freedom, she would lead her tiny clan in saying the rosary, using the same boring tones as the ladies from the rosary guild who would sometimes lead the school children in the saying of the rosary before the mass that began each academic day, a monotone "halemaryfullofgracethelordiswiththeeblessedartthoughamoungwomenandblessedisthefruitofthywombjesus", over and over.
My mother really didn't understand anything about my asking Jesus into my life when I was 22. In her mind I had become "religious" and a little overboard at that. After a couple of years, although still Catholic, I immersed myself in scripture and read many books written by non Catholic authors. It had already become obvious to me that scripture contradicted many Catholic practices.
One day my mother stopped by to visit Jackie and me at our little place in Kalamazoo. She and my dad had just come back from Europe and she said that she brought back a present for me. Our of her purse came an ordinary little rosary. She proudly gave it to me and said; "The Pope blessed it." Now I must tell you in my mind I pictured the Pope walking through a warehouse somewhere in Rome full of holy cards, rosaries and other religious objects while waving his hand in one great swoop and saying in Latin; "Bless this stuff."
I realized that my mother was trying to express a spiritual connection in terms that she understood but I soon became really distraught at the thought that maybe my parents were actually missing a saving relationship with Jesus. A day or two later I was kneeling by my bed, pouring out my heart with as much emotion as I ever had, praying for the salvation of my parents. In the midst of that the Spirit of the Lord settled upon me and unspoken gave me the assurance that they were right with God. Even though we couldn't talk the same talk, and even though our theologies were quite different, God had given me a life long peace about them.
Jackie and I sent our oldest 3 children to a Catholic school for a few years. When Ben was in 2nd grade he came home with a black plastic rosary that the school gave each of the kids. Jackie went into his room, decorated with sports and Star Wars items and noticed his new rosary hanging from his top bunk. Curious she asked Ben why he had it hanging like that. Now the rosary has a medallion which usually has a picture of Mary on it but in Ben's 2nd grade mind the image of Our Lady of Fatima on the black plastic medallion looked just like Darth Vadar from the Star Wars movie. And so he proudly displayed it. We thought it was quite humorous and were actually relieved at the limits of Catholic school indoctrination.
Prayer beads have been around for thousands of years. Jesus could have been addressing those types of prayers in Matthew 6 when He said;
And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the gentiles do; for they suppose they will be heard for their many words.
Jesus then provides a pattern for prayer which is now called the Our Father. Well guess what? Repeating the pattern as a prayer with endless repetitions was exactly what Jesus was telling us not to do. And saying 10 Hail Mary's to each Our Father is not exactly addressing our prayers to the Father as Jesus taught.
Our heavenly Father wants to change our lives and draw us closer to Him. He speaks to us through His Holy Spirit in many ways. It is the Holy Spirit, not Mary, that always works to reveal Jesus to us because we can go directly to the Father through Jesus. To hear God we need to have a heart that seeks Him and is willing to respond to what He says. When I cry out to God from the depths of my heart and worship Him with made up songs and unknown tongues and weep in response to a verse of scripture that I've reflected upon, moving me to repentance, that is better than ten thousand rote prayers.
The veil has been torn in two. Neither priest or minister or saint or Mary should be an intermediary between us and the Father.
So having left that church as one that still knows and loves so many still in it, a number of whom are true believers in Jesus as their Lord and Savior, I do from time to time like to point out the contradictions of church teaching and tradition with the Holy Word. These are all so obvious if one does not have to think that father knows best but instead believes that sacred scripture is indeed inspired and can be understood by even a simpleton with the help of the Holy Spirit.
My inspiration today was a statement tweeted by Pope Francis earlier this fall;
"The Christian who does not feel that the Virgin Mary is his or her mother is an orphan."
As have been all the popes in my lifetime Pope Francis (the hope of modern day liberals) has a deep devotion to Mary. This pope even has a special devotion to Our Lady, Undoer of Knots, which he picked up in Austria and then introduced to his flock when he was the Archbishop of Buenos Airas. This is a prayer to Mary that because of the immense mercy that exists in her heart one should surrender into her hands the ribbon of their lives (all their worries and pain and problems). The prayer declares the trust that Mary will undo those knots.
The University of Dayton, which has a large Marian studies center, publishes a list of Marian statements made by Pope Francis. In October this year Francis is quoted 18 different times invoking and referencing Mary in his addresses to various groups. I will only share the following two;
October 25: Pope's remarks to The Schoenstaff movement.
"Mary is Mother, and one cannot conceive of any other title of Mary that is not 'Mother'. She is Mother because she brings us Jesus and she helps us with the strength of the Holy Spirit, so that Jesus will be born and grow in us. She constantly gives us life. She is Mother of the Church. She is maternity. We do not have the right, and if we think we do we are mistaken, to have a psychology of orphans. A Christian does not have the right to be an orphan. He has a Mother! We have a Mother!"
October 31; Pope's address to Fraternity of Charismatic Convention.
"I was told about prayer groups in Charismatic Renewal in which the Rosary is recited together. The prayer to our Lady must never be lacking, never!"
I was always taught that Catholics don't worship Mary when they pray to her, they only "venerate" or honor her. Yet here it is pretty clear that not only are Catholics encouraged to pray to her she is also given attributes that belong to God alone. What the Father desires, what the Son has done and the outworking of the power of the Holy Spirit, in Catholic teaching are all routed through Mary. She is the dispenser of graces, she is the co-redemtrix with Jesus for the salvation of our souls, she is the queen of heaven, she is mediator between us and God, she is the one who loves us because she is mother, she is the one we should trust.
Contrast that to what Romans 8: 14-17 teaches, especially about our status as orphans;
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by which we cry out, "Abba, Father". The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."
The following comes from a post I did in 2007 called - Star Wars Rosary.
One of the forms of adoration to Mary is the rosary. The roots of the practice began in the 10th and 11th centuries. In certain monasteries monks would pray the psalms every day. There are 150 psalms and these were divided in 3 groups of 50. Later on the common people wanted to adopt this practice but because most were illiterate they would substitute memorized prayers such as the early forms of the Hail Mary in place of the psalms.
Catholic legend says that Mary appeared to St. Dominic (founder of the Dominicans) in 1214 and give him the first rosary. The rosary is a set of beads, 50 of which are for the Hail Mary prayer. There are other beads for the Our Father and Glory Be prayers, the Apostles Creed and places to contemplate events in the life of Jesus or Mary called The Mysteries. For example, one of the glorious mysteries is called; "Coronation of Mary as Queen of Heaven and Earth".
In 1858 Mary appears to Bernadette at Lourdes and the apparition is wearing a rosary. In 1917 Mary appears to 3 children at Fatima and tells them that for the conversion of the world everyone must do penance and pray the rosary daily. Pope John Paul II was very devoted to Mary and especially to the apparition of Mary at Fatima.
There are actually quite a number of other Marian apparitions. The most famous recent one began when Mary appeared to some children in the Croatian village of Medjugory in 1981. Ever since she has given a least one of them a monthly message (all are available at the Medjugory website) which usually includes a request to do penance and to pray the rosary daily. The fact that tens of millions of people go to these places should remind us that Mary veneration is not just a blast from the past.
I have a personal story about saying the rosary. My mother grew up in the Reformed tradition but because my father was Catholic that meant that his children must be raised Catholic. About the time I was in 5th grade my mother had a crisis of faith which led to her becoming Catholic. Of course I was pleased when my mother became Catholic but the down side came when initially she wanted to be a very devout Catholic.
For awhile during the summer before my 6th grade mom would gather her innocent little children into our hallway, in front of the crucifix hanging on the wall with palm branches stuck behind it, and ignoring the sounds of other children outside, happily enjoying the forbidden pleasures of freedom, she would lead her tiny clan in saying the rosary, using the same boring tones as the ladies from the rosary guild who would sometimes lead the school children in the saying of the rosary before the mass that began each academic day, a monotone "halemaryfullofgracethelordiswiththeeblessedartthoughamoungwomenandblessedisthefruitofthywombjesus", over and over.
My mother really didn't understand anything about my asking Jesus into my life when I was 22. In her mind I had become "religious" and a little overboard at that. After a couple of years, although still Catholic, I immersed myself in scripture and read many books written by non Catholic authors. It had already become obvious to me that scripture contradicted many Catholic practices.
One day my mother stopped by to visit Jackie and me at our little place in Kalamazoo. She and my dad had just come back from Europe and she said that she brought back a present for me. Our of her purse came an ordinary little rosary. She proudly gave it to me and said; "The Pope blessed it." Now I must tell you in my mind I pictured the Pope walking through a warehouse somewhere in Rome full of holy cards, rosaries and other religious objects while waving his hand in one great swoop and saying in Latin; "Bless this stuff."
I realized that my mother was trying to express a spiritual connection in terms that she understood but I soon became really distraught at the thought that maybe my parents were actually missing a saving relationship with Jesus. A day or two later I was kneeling by my bed, pouring out my heart with as much emotion as I ever had, praying for the salvation of my parents. In the midst of that the Spirit of the Lord settled upon me and unspoken gave me the assurance that they were right with God. Even though we couldn't talk the same talk, and even though our theologies were quite different, God had given me a life long peace about them.
Jackie and I sent our oldest 3 children to a Catholic school for a few years. When Ben was in 2nd grade he came home with a black plastic rosary that the school gave each of the kids. Jackie went into his room, decorated with sports and Star Wars items and noticed his new rosary hanging from his top bunk. Curious she asked Ben why he had it hanging like that. Now the rosary has a medallion which usually has a picture of Mary on it but in Ben's 2nd grade mind the image of Our Lady of Fatima on the black plastic medallion looked just like Darth Vadar from the Star Wars movie. And so he proudly displayed it. We thought it was quite humorous and were actually relieved at the limits of Catholic school indoctrination.
Prayer beads have been around for thousands of years. Jesus could have been addressing those types of prayers in Matthew 6 when He said;
And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the gentiles do; for they suppose they will be heard for their many words.
Jesus then provides a pattern for prayer which is now called the Our Father. Well guess what? Repeating the pattern as a prayer with endless repetitions was exactly what Jesus was telling us not to do. And saying 10 Hail Mary's to each Our Father is not exactly addressing our prayers to the Father as Jesus taught.
Our heavenly Father wants to change our lives and draw us closer to Him. He speaks to us through His Holy Spirit in many ways. It is the Holy Spirit, not Mary, that always works to reveal Jesus to us because we can go directly to the Father through Jesus. To hear God we need to have a heart that seeks Him and is willing to respond to what He says. When I cry out to God from the depths of my heart and worship Him with made up songs and unknown tongues and weep in response to a verse of scripture that I've reflected upon, moving me to repentance, that is better than ten thousand rote prayers.
The veil has been torn in two. Neither priest or minister or saint or Mary should be an intermediary between us and the Father.
Monday, November 10, 2014
Someday When I Retire
Someday when I retire I will spend my idle time sorting through stacks and stacks of driver's permits and proof of insurance documents that I did not give back to my clients, even after they accused me of keeping those documents when they could not produce them themselves. I did this, not out of any spite or malice but solely for the purpose of having something really interesting to do after my useful labors are over.
Someday when I retire I will write a book called The Encyclopedia Of Stupid and regale you with stories of people slowly cruising past our auto test site, staring blankly at our large orange cones, yellow test lines and examiner standing there clipboard in hand. After the third time past I give up and wave the poor suckers in, then watch them drive 100 yards to the end of the parking lot, come back, lean out the car window and ask if this is where they do auto tests. "No" I say, "you must be confused. "This is a Keep Safe Michigan site where we offer coffee and donuts to tired drivers. Would you like a cup?"
Someday when I retire I will think about my test subjects from this morning. First up was 40 year old Kevin. When I asked him if he had a previous driver's license he said no, just thought it was time to start driving. When I asked 40 year old Kevin to sign his name on the form he asked; "Can I print my name or should I use cursive?" When I asked him to do the sight side parking which is akin to backing up an auto into a driveway or garage while looking out one's driver side window Kevin takes an S route, ending up 90 degrees the wrong direction. Try as he may from this position he cannot extract himself. If this were an actual garage it would now have two extra doors, one on each side.
That was followed by 20 year old Nedim who when turning right out of our parking lot onto Clyde Park Avenue at the beginning of the driving portion crossed over not only the first and second lanes but also the turning lane to get into the far left lane so we could head the wrong way down Clyde Park. Two minutes later after we got back home and Nedim realized that maybe there was something a little wrong with that maneuver he drives off Lord knows where or how all by himself.
That was followed by 18 yr. old James Brown. James drives right through the 4 way stop in the residential area near the beginning of the driving test. When we got back a few minutes later and I explained the error of his ways he did not feel good, da da da da da da da.
And that was followed by 20 year old Rohullah. His permit said "corrective lens" so I asked him if he brought his glasses with him. He tells me no, he only wore them one day and that he doesn't need to wear glasses. I tell Rohullah that unfortunately the day he decided to wear them was when he took the eye exam and that he could not legally drive with out said glasses. He didn't feel good either, da da da da da da da.
This morning is why I don't trust anybody out there on the roads.
Someday when I retire maybe I'll ride the bus. I was told last week however that in Grand Rapids you need to avoid bus number 1 that goes downtown. The roads there are really rough, the bus is designed to carry 40 but they always have about 60 passengers so people need to stand in the aisles, which may be a better option than sitting anyway because the homeless ride bus 1 all day to keep warm and some of them cannot hold themselves so they wet their pants and the regulars all feel the seats before using them.
Ah! So someday when I retire maybe I will sit by my window in the fall, watch the trees turn their brilliant reds and oranges and yellows and whenever 10 or 20 leaves hit the lawn I will be all over them. I thought of that the other day when after I mowed the grass and cleared off the leaves and wondered how long the yard would look so nice I got whacked in the head by an errant orange missile.
Someday when I retire I may help out 88 year old Hank who is in charge of the drop off area at the local Bibles for Mexico Thrift Shop. The last time I was there I saw him struggling with a large sofa and love seat that someone left out side in the rain the night before. If was now worthless but still Hank needed to move it to the appropriate dump site. Even though he clearly required assistance with this he insisted that he didn't. "That's OK" I say loudly so he can hear me. "I'll help you with this and then you can help me unload my computer keyboard and mouse."
Or, maybe someday when I retire I will spend my idle time sorting through stacks and stacks of ? ? ? ?. Wait. Did I just say that?
Someday when I retire I will write a book called The Encyclopedia Of Stupid and regale you with stories of people slowly cruising past our auto test site, staring blankly at our large orange cones, yellow test lines and examiner standing there clipboard in hand. After the third time past I give up and wave the poor suckers in, then watch them drive 100 yards to the end of the parking lot, come back, lean out the car window and ask if this is where they do auto tests. "No" I say, "you must be confused. "This is a Keep Safe Michigan site where we offer coffee and donuts to tired drivers. Would you like a cup?"
Someday when I retire I will think about my test subjects from this morning. First up was 40 year old Kevin. When I asked him if he had a previous driver's license he said no, just thought it was time to start driving. When I asked 40 year old Kevin to sign his name on the form he asked; "Can I print my name or should I use cursive?" When I asked him to do the sight side parking which is akin to backing up an auto into a driveway or garage while looking out one's driver side window Kevin takes an S route, ending up 90 degrees the wrong direction. Try as he may from this position he cannot extract himself. If this were an actual garage it would now have two extra doors, one on each side.
That was followed by 20 year old Nedim who when turning right out of our parking lot onto Clyde Park Avenue at the beginning of the driving portion crossed over not only the first and second lanes but also the turning lane to get into the far left lane so we could head the wrong way down Clyde Park. Two minutes later after we got back home and Nedim realized that maybe there was something a little wrong with that maneuver he drives off Lord knows where or how all by himself.
That was followed by 18 yr. old James Brown. James drives right through the 4 way stop in the residential area near the beginning of the driving test. When we got back a few minutes later and I explained the error of his ways he did not feel good, da da da da da da da.
And that was followed by 20 year old Rohullah. His permit said "corrective lens" so I asked him if he brought his glasses with him. He tells me no, he only wore them one day and that he doesn't need to wear glasses. I tell Rohullah that unfortunately the day he decided to wear them was when he took the eye exam and that he could not legally drive with out said glasses. He didn't feel good either, da da da da da da da.
This morning is why I don't trust anybody out there on the roads.
Someday when I retire maybe I'll ride the bus. I was told last week however that in Grand Rapids you need to avoid bus number 1 that goes downtown. The roads there are really rough, the bus is designed to carry 40 but they always have about 60 passengers so people need to stand in the aisles, which may be a better option than sitting anyway because the homeless ride bus 1 all day to keep warm and some of them cannot hold themselves so they wet their pants and the regulars all feel the seats before using them.
Ah! So someday when I retire maybe I will sit by my window in the fall, watch the trees turn their brilliant reds and oranges and yellows and whenever 10 or 20 leaves hit the lawn I will be all over them. I thought of that the other day when after I mowed the grass and cleared off the leaves and wondered how long the yard would look so nice I got whacked in the head by an errant orange missile.
Someday when I retire I may help out 88 year old Hank who is in charge of the drop off area at the local Bibles for Mexico Thrift Shop. The last time I was there I saw him struggling with a large sofa and love seat that someone left out side in the rain the night before. If was now worthless but still Hank needed to move it to the appropriate dump site. Even though he clearly required assistance with this he insisted that he didn't. "That's OK" I say loudly so he can hear me. "I'll help you with this and then you can help me unload my computer keyboard and mouse."
Or, maybe someday when I retire I will spend my idle time sorting through stacks and stacks of ? ? ? ?. Wait. Did I just say that?
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