October 22, 2023
What If?
Yesterday was one of those days where you seem to be on an elevator, going up and down, while situted on a merry-go-round that goes rouud and round. You know the kind, where you are elated and then frustrated, all while going around in circles. What do you mean you don’t know? Do you not venture outside? Do you move off the couch or all your meals delivered? Potty breaks do not count as moveent other than as necessary body waste movement.
If you do venture outside, and more than the five feet to pick up the newspaper on your doorstep, (I’ll bet some of you have no idea of what I am referring to), and you talk with more than the neighbor hanging out the window to get some air because they have no air conditioning, (once again, I’ll bet there are some who are clueless about that description), and the world does spin in the opposite direction for at least two minutes, we pay big bucks for guest writers to share their secrets. Please send your secret to our mailbox and we will copyright it and publish it on the paid site we will build.
I discovered I am a dreamer of good things to come in my life. I had amassed a fortune by the time Joshua and I reached about 100′ down Lower Axusa Road. Joshua turned to the right on Lower Azusa Road this morning and we haven’t gone that way for quite a while, maybe not even this year. I took him up there when I opened the church for Thursday night but I am speaking about his morning jaunts.
I had spent most of my fortune I amassed just a few minutes earlier by the time Joshua and I reached the church and that was when the realization hit me that I was a dreamer and it was only me who was keeping that dream from becoming a reality. Then, as I am putting all this down, I realize it was at the church when I came back to the real world and I had not given one penny of my fortune to the Lord or any ministry that needs our support! I
My tithing is not what I would say is by the Book, but it is not blasphemous either. I do not take the tithe right off the top and maybe will sometimes get a little behind. Then I work on catching up, start patting myself on the back as I pay the tithe on a regular basis and then wake up and realize I am behind again. Unfortunately, that cycle has haunted me since day one of beginning to acknowledge where all my blessing come from by reading Scripture and hearing Mal. 3:10 preached many times, “‘Would anyone rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the entire nation of you! Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and put Me to the test now in this,” says the Lord of armies, “if I do not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows”. NASB Oh, excuse me, I included the part about robbing God, i.e., Mal 3:8-10.
“What if games” are dangerous to play and certainly even more dangerous when God is the one who your game is throwing into the mix. But here goes, what if God treated me in the same manner as I treat the tithe? He would leave me alone for a couple of days, or longer, and then come back into my life and give me two blessings or one and half, maybe even one and an eighth, instead of just one. And maybe the blessings are off the bottom of the deck instead of off the top. I know, even the bottom of the barrel has to be pretty good when we are speaking about God’s blessings.
I will have to start my “off the top” next week. I have already spent all of this weeks check and I lost my fortune this morning in front of the church. I wonder what God has in store for me at the bottom of the barrel whenever He gets around to sharing it with me?
October 23, 2023 – [10:00 p.m.]
Better Late Than Never
I was thinking about reading and studying on the book of Lamentations. Other than the name of the book showing up on a number of pages, the word “lamentations” is only in the NASB one time, 2 Chron. 35:25, “Then Jeremiah chanted a song of mourning for Josiah. And all the male and female singers speak about Josiah in their songs of mourning to this day. And they made them an ordinance in Israel; behold, they are also written in the Lamentations.”
Lamentations is described as: noun(functioning as singular) 1. a book of the Old Testament, traditionally ascribed to the prophet Jeremiah, lamenting the destruction of Jerusalem; 2. a musical setting of these poems, and comes from the word, lament: verb (used with object) 1. to feel or express sorrow or regret for: to lament his absence; 2. to mourn for or over; verb (used without object) 1. to feel, show, or express grief, sorrow, or regret; 2. to mourn deeply; noun – 1. an expression of grief or sorrow; 2. a formal expression of sorrow or mourning, especially in verse or song; an elegy or dirge.
If you work through all those meanings, it is apparent to me why we do not spend a lot of time in the book of Lamentations. Interestingly enough, there is a game around the lamenters, which had me going until I realized it has a setting in the 39th millenium. It even has a curse of the lamenters and you always seem to be sorrowful. I think I know some people who are actually living that game and not playing it on the computer.
Part of why I thought I wanted to spend some time in the Book of Lamentations is because the author of the test for the Thursday night lifegroup spoke about what the % of the Psalms are lamentations, other passages in Scripture are lamentations and the book of Job is filled with lamentations. Without spending a lot of time on my reasons, I know lamentations is not my general make up and spending a lot of time on lamenting would be counter-productive for me.
For me, I believe we need to have periods of lamenting, but not extended periods. We can find verses, share with people, have a good cry in out beer, and move on to the enjoying and growing path of life. I see many people who stay in the lamenting lane for many years. I read about one of the Queens who slept with a picture of her passed away king on the pillow next to her, held a pair of his pajamas in her arms as she went to sleep each night, and had his clothes laid out each morning, ready to be worn for that day. Now, I don’t necessarily think she has to find a new king, but this is living too much in the past and with the past for me.
I am lamenting how this administration, with the aid and assistance of the fake media, are destroying the United States. And how the feckless Republicans are aiding and abetting them. I see one of the Republican candidates for speaker is a congressman who likes and supports Ilian Omar more than Trump. Whether you like Trump or not, (in fairness to him, he is an avid Anti-Trumper), Omar should not come out ahead of Trump in any voting and support contest, nor should Talib. Of course, he is free to choose his poison, but he should be honest and align himself with the sick radical element found in the United States rather than try to fly a banner claiming he is in the Republican camp.
I did claim I was going to have to rearrange my day after getting back on the bus ride to work. I started this morning and then had to leave to catch the bus. That was an adventure as the bus was arriving while I was on the West side of Peck and had to cross the street against the light. There is a man who sits at the bus stop named Yisrael, who has been around for years. I have befreinded him and he was holding the bus for me. The driver was hollering at him about not being able to wait but he didn’t care and I made it onto the bus because of Yisrael. Then the driver wanted to chew me out because I wasn’t there on time, even though he was a little early and about 20 minutes late Friday. I asked if this is the regular time so I could be there on time tomorrow and he said maybe but the times were changing next week and when I asked what the new times were going to be, he said to look it up, he didn’t know. What a guy!
The gentleman who owns the car will be back tomorrow and says he can get a new fob. I know I should be returning the car but who wants to deal with these cranky bus drivers? What a group to choose from. What can I add into the mix?
We have moved a long ways from the idea of lamenting. Well, maybe not so far. I am lamenting I need to go to work evrey day so I have to either ride the bus or keep the car. I know, I could leave really early and run over there every day. Always something complicating the solution I figure out as now I have to run home also.
October 24, 2023
The Democrat Apocryphal Books
Seems like I just finished yesterday’s grist and here I am back in the chair furiously typing away. I asked myself a question the other day about how long I was going to meet up with the computer and furiously try and make sense out of what was floating around the room that morning. I answered myself by saying I would keep doing this until it became a chore. Of course, I now had to ask myself how would I know when it was a chore because it could become one of those love/hate relationships with the morning keyboard. I was aware I had stumped myself and told myself so. It was about that time I heard the key turn in the lock, the door opened, my restraints were loosened, (loosened, not removed), and I was taken out for my five minutes in the sun, which is my highlight of the day, even when it is raining.
How many of you have heard of “the apocryphal Gospel of Thomas”? Or maybe you have heard of the Book of Enoch? The definition of “apocryphal” is, “(of a story or statement) of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true:” Church history and how God inspired men in the days of putting the Bible together is fascinating. I am sure a woke progressive communist/socialist would have lots of difficulty and wind up writing their own bible, partly because the description of who they are is enough to drive one to a form of Schizophrenia, [a chronic brain disorder that affects less than one percent of the U.S. population. When schizophrenia is active, symptoms can include delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, trouble with thinking and lack of motivation.], which includes everything except the lack of motivation and is definitely more than 1% of the U.S. population, as that Congo line of morons, reprobates and miscreants have a lot of motivation, none of which is beneficial to conservatives or the U.S.
I may have stumbled on a hidden cache of Democrat apocryphal books on one of my trips to Mount Wilson. They were probably confusing it with Mount Sinai and left copies of some of their apocryphal books there. Kind of hard to digest but I will share some of the verses they had in their books which they have been circulating as true. You may have seen copies of these books sitting on your neighbor’s coffee table on top of the Bible. Since you knew better than to open them and go blind, I will quote a few of the verses so you can understand why your neighbor wants open borders, thinks Biden is doing a great job, and hates America.
Here you go:
Book of Democrats 1:1, “you shall have no gods before me and my chosen ones designated to lead you”
Book of Obama 1:1, “I tell you the truth and you must adore and follow me”
Book of Pelosi 2:1, [Chapter one is about the installation as chief officer and leader] “As I watched the hand of Obama placed on the purple book, I saw a helicopter come down and a bull horn shout, listen to this man, he is one of your gods.”
Biden 3:1-22, Obama, while he was chief god of the United States, promised to use me, in spite of my shortcomings and said my character would be a bumbling dementia filled man, who would be supported and protected by a fake media as I continued his mission to change America and take away their hope. I asked what story I should use to tell where I came from and was advised truth does not escape from out lips so I was given free rein to tell as many whoppers as I wanted. I was given orders from on high to tear anything apart that the man who was to come after Obama had instituted which might be good for America, which will be overrun with illegal aliens by my wonderful policies I will enact. I am to finish exterminating the middle class and join the elites at the table of corruption, with my seat to be at the head of the table for my life built on lies and corruption, wearing my rusty halo for all to see.
Levine 1:2, “All persons shall be subject to those whose inability to reason have made them stand out as the stupidest of the stupidest, with their preferred pronouns being mandatory to use when addressing them.”
The most disturbing one was Talib 1;1, “Hamas would never lie and is an organization seeking peace with everyone, just as I do”
Good thing I have to go and take a shower and get ready for work so I can cleanse my self from reading all that junk again. As for you, your mission is go next door to that neighbor and share the Gospel with them and pray for their salvation and that they take those apocryphal books off the top of the Bible and throw them away. If not, then Luke 9:5 is your only move, “And as for all who do not receive you, when you leave that city, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” NASB
If that move is made, at least you won’t have to loan them your vacuum to clean their dusty home, although I know you would gladly buy them a vacuum rather than loan them one if they receive the Lord
October 25, 2023
Setting A Limit or Setting A Goal
If you know who Laz is, then you are into ultra running. One of the bucket list items for an ultra runner is the Barkley Marathon, where only 17 runners had completed the 100 mile run since it began in 1986, until this year, when 3 finishers were awarded the coveted buckle. Look it up and watch the video and see why no one finished the race for the last five years.
This weekend is the Backyard Ultra World Championships, run at Laz’ place in Tennessee. A backyard ultra is basically a last man standing race, or last man finishing race. This championship started on 10/21/23 at 7:00 a.m., Central time, and every hour the runners line up to do 4.16667 miles. They started with 70 runners and when I checked last night for the 9:00 starting time, there were still 9 runners left and they were on lap 88, having finished 366.66 miles. The last two ladies went out at lap 57 and 60, so only men are left on loop 88. There are runners from all over the globe, it truly is an international event and I believe it truly qualifies as a World Chanpionship.
Our book for Thursday night has a section on setting our limits. I have a little struggle with that concept overall. I certainly do recognize I have limits but I don’t want to set my limits as that works counter productive to going further than we thought we could. In fairness to chapter five, the limits are being set because of age, disability, etc, except other things are listed, which are where the problem for me lies. I really want to do an ultra before I have to basically walk the whole half marathon, which is a few miles short of an ultra I watched one runner come in just as the whistle blew to start the next round. He was able to sit down for about 10 seconds and then up he went and back out on loop 90. Mile 400 is a long way past a half marathon!
It is now 6:00 am and I watched the 8 runners still on the trail come in and start lap 98. Did you get that, lap 98 and there are still 8 of these super humans going around the 4.1666 loop! For all you who struggle with multiplication, they have completed 404.16 miles and been going for over 98 hours. One man finished lap 97 with about 2 minutes left before lap 98 started, They helped him to a chair, gave him some kind of a roll, helped him up and he went back out for lap 98. He looks like he has reached his limit a few hours ago but he is still going.
For me, I think we should set goals and then move the goalpost as we reach the end zone. There would be a difficulty if someone else was always moving the goalpost, essentiallly always keeping the end zone out of our reach. I think we have all known someone who qualifies, maybe like a boss who is never satisfied, e.g., Congresswoman, Shiela Jackson Lee. But if it is us moving the goalpost because we reached the end zone and want to go further, move it and keep going as the sky really is the limit.
I have tried the Goggins Challenge, which is 4 miles every 4 hours, for a total of 48 hours, and made it to about the 30th hour and had extreme cramps as I left the house and had to let it go. The only good thing at that time was the cramps happened close to the house as I would have used up all the hours left just getting back home if I was at mile 2 when they started. I will finish that challenge one day as Jim made it so I have to. This is a case where I am unwilling to “set” a limit, although according to the book, I should accept and set my limits. I watched Frank accept his limits on lap 98 in this World Championship Ultra. I am not sure how he ever started that lap but he did, only to have to stop about mile 2 and take the shortcut home. If I am stuggling at one of the four hour starting times, I will follow his example on my next try at the Groggins Challenge and get out there.
What do you imagine they think about for the hour it takes them to complete the 4+ miles? Do you think they recognize a stone they start using as a marker, or some other thing along the trail as this is really a single track trail. There is room for two to run side by side once in a while on that trail but it would take two skilled runners to do that. They have cameras set up at mile one, mile 3, and at the 3.7 mile marker. At what mile do you think they stop making faces for the camera?
This race is real and there are no drama queens in attendance. It is amazing to watch the crews take care of their runners. I think how this must be like when the angels ministered to the Lord, e.g., in Mark 1:3, “And He was in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels were serving Him.” Almost the same context as they are in the wilderness, they must be tempted to quit by now, and there has to be a wild animal someplace in the mountains of Tennessee. The crew feeds the runner, wipes his brow, places an ice pack on their neck, and ternderly caters to the runners comfort before returning to the starting line for the next loop. And at the starting line and along the rail, it sounds like the setting for the Tower of Babel in Scripture, as there are many languages being spoken since so many countries are represented.
If I was a person easily discouraged, I would lean in on the fact they are moving better and faster at mile 400 than I do at mile 1. But I am not easily discouraged so that thought never enters my mind. Groggins Challenge, here I come, ready or not.
October 26, 2023
Boss
Harvey Lewis. The % of you who will know who he is, is very small, if not infinitesimal. Mr. Lewis is the winner of the 2023 Backyard Ultra Championship. The number of you who guesses who he is, may be rather large if you looked at yesterday’s Grist. Mr. Lewis did 108 laps, which came out to be 450 miles in 94:16:36 hours amd is from Cincinnati, Ohio.
I hear a whole bunch of wows, and then a large number of oks, so what does that mean to me? Probably nothing! But I may say the same thing about something you waste numerous hours on, e.g., watching football. Well, maybe I won’t say it about football tv hours, but I do say missing church because “your” team plays early on Sunday is not the wisest choice to make. Ut then, I miss church on some Sundays, like Super Bowl Sunday because I run Surf City Marathon that morning and have since 2009.
I guess the bottom line is who gets to say what is right and what is wrong. Each of us wants to be that deciding person, eithre all the time, or sometimes, every other time, or at least once in a while. But there is only one source of being the decider of right and wrong every time and that is the God found in the Scriptures. But not everything is covered, I know. Why do you have an answer for everything? I know, you want to be in charge and decide what is right and wrong. Unknowingly or knowingly, you have removed the Lord from His rightful place. Shame on you. And you wonder why no one wants to stand in your shade. We all know the lightening will hurt us also if we are touching you when it strikes.
I will admit, I am not immune to taking over the throne at times. I have learned the seat has a lot of heat to it and I don’t stay on it as long as I used to. It goes something like I feel the heat, jump up so I am standing on the throne because I really like being the final arbitrator, and then when it feels like the hot coals have burned through the soles of my shoes and I can no longer keep hoping on each foot, I try to find a soft place to land, tell God I am sorry and it won’t happen again, ask forgiveness and leap off with flames licking at my feet. I land in the arms of the Lord, He instantly heals my charred feet, gently sets me down, and off I go to try and be the bondslave to the Lord as long as possible before the lust of the eye takes over again. It does seem like the times on the throne have become fewer and fewer over the years and I have not had to buy shoes by the boxcar any longer.
I know all of you have no idea what I am talking about or describing or have ever come close to experiencing any of the above.
One thing I have discovered is the choices in life are much easier to make when I am not demanding a seat on the bosses throne. Is it agasist the rules to call God the boss? Here we go. Who says I can or can’t call God, “boss”? Did you notice I didn’t even get out of the fiest paragraph and I am having problems with the invisible one who wants to tell me what to do. Of course, what if it is the Holy Spirit telling me I am out of line? That is a different story!
Since the only rumbling I have in my stomach is from the pizzs and brownies I ate all night, I now have to go into my prayer closet and seek out the answer to whether or not calling God, “boss”, is ok or not. Maybe it would just be easier to sit on the throne and make the decision myself? I think I will so I can move through this day as it is getting away from me. Pretty soon the bus will be here and I will still be trying to figure out if God is ever referred to as boss in Scripture. Why do I have to be the only one who has these kind of problems? Can’t we share the wealth and I toss a few of them your way? There has to be an easier way to follow the Lord and stay off the hot seat. I am going to go ask the boss if I can have a few days off and find a solution.
October 27, 2023
Unfinished
How much time have you spent thinking about what happens after death? I believe that the more time you spend dwelling on that subject, the further you get from God. I must admit a person can spend more time at my age and especially when the news keeps sharing how all those your age are now on the other side of the ground.
If one starts trying to think about life, death and all the inbetween stuff in a logical manner, it is difficult to make sense of it. We are born, have to be taken care of, live a few years, and wind up having to be taken care of again. I had to drive the boss, the one in human form, (read yesterday’s diatribe), and he was complaining about getting old and how it hurts. He is unable to walk more than a few steps and then only by holding onto something, It tales a herculean effort to just get from the wheelchair into the car.
There was a discussion about Grollnek, who is 82 and he is still walking around, standing upright and sometimes has interesting things to say. Then there is that John Williams, who is still doing marathons at 83 and I can’t keep up with him, He admist he remembers my face but not my name when we meet up at a marathon. He says names are not important any longer and he may be onto something there.
But if we start wondering about what is going to happen when out body is laid to rest and our spirit goes somewhere, a person could start thinking there really is nothing after we leave this body laying somewhere, and since it is not recycleable, returns to dust. I thinl I read something about that idea of returning to dust somewhere in Scripture.
But the turning of the mind concerning what happens in the future becomes more worrisome the longer you dwell on it. I know plenty of individuals who talk a great game about going to be with the Lord and how great it will be but dwelling on it moves the glory as you start adding 3 and 3 and see it is 6, rather than any number you want it to be. The idea is that as we think about what we know and have experienced, what is described does not sound like anything we can really visualize. Think about it, streets of gold, a perfect body, a mansion, evreything done for you, and all that is forever.
I can see how if one stays for long periods thinking about his or her eternal future, it can become frustrating. Or even worse, how about thinking thre is no God, no eternity and we can live for today because there is no tomorrow.
TO BE CONTINUED – THE UNFLAPPABLE BECAME FLAPPABLE!.
October 28, 2023
Lesson Learned
I have to admit yesterday was somewhat of a disaster. I slowly but surely had all my patience and good nature sanded down to a nub so there was nothing left but the raw open wound, seeping and oozing out sharp barbs, with a hostile voice and lots of energy, along with more impatience than all three of Job’s friends put together. If my name was Abraham in Genesis, I would have had Ismail at least 12 years before the time of the real Abraham visiting the tent of Hagar, maybe even 13 years earlier.
It wasn’t one thing, but a series of events. I believe it may have started back when the fob disappeared and I wasn’t even aware of it. I started riding the bus and that made it difficult to do my thing with the Grist, cover some streets, and have somewhat of a regular schedule without giving 2 hours a day away for free. Then, one day I was chewed out by the bus driver for not being there a few minutes early because he was early, and the next day he says nothing when he is 20 minutes late. He is probably a Democrat anyway so I can’t explain his logic but I do understand where he is coming from.
Then, on Thursday, I miss the 2:00 homeward bound bus by 1 minute as it came up Magnolia, turned right and kept going, even though I was about 75″ from the corner and the bus stop, so I had to wait for the homeward bound 3:00 bus. Then on Friday, the flappable day, I have to catch the homeward bound 4:00 bus. Do you see the progression here?
The check I receive each week is not always accepted on the mobile deposit. The bank numbers on the bottom are too close to the bottom and the reader gives an errot message about the front of the check is in error and it appears that check has already been cashed. So I would take it over to the check cashing place ½ block from the office and they tell me about the number being too low and why doesn’t he change it and then cash it, charging me $4.50. I have learned to cut the check a little below where you tear off the bottom part and they have to tell me not to do that because they need a straight cut. Of course this Friday, I have to go there after attempting the mobile deposit and through the whole spiel we go. I have to catch the bus, time is rolling by and I DON’T want to wait for the 5:00 bus. Then I tell them they know I tried to make a mobile deposit, I don’t have time for the usual dog and pony show, please, just cash the check. Of course now the husband, (it is a husband and wife team who own the service), says, “wait a miniute, I just had someone try a mobile deposit, it didn’t work and I cashed his check and then it turns out it had been cashed and they took the money back from our account.”
That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I started hollering that if you aren’t going to cash the check, give it back. This was not the first time I had been in there but it was definitely going to be the last! The wife had the money counted out and it was laying there in front of me, and only the plexiglass stopped me from grabbing it and running out the door to the bus stop, as the bus was going to be there any minute, everyone knew what was going on, and what is this world coming to?
I shouted all the way to the bus stop about every injustice I perceived that had taken place in the last five minutes at least 100 times. A mom was walking along the sidewalk with her daughter, (the daughter was maybe 2), and she crossed the street against the traffic, horns blowing and people shouting as loud as me or maybe even louder. I did not have kind words for the writer of the check, for all the people who made me miss the 2:00 bus and all the people who made me miss the 3:00 bus, including people who had no idea they were guilty of making me miss a bus. They will know better next time!
I managed to make it home in one piece without charging into the gang of ruffians who got on the bus and were laughig at me for how crazy I was acting. They knew better than to deal with a crazy person, They had a kindreid spirit and gave me the high sing asked who my mentor was. Anyway, I tried to finsish my daily mishmash of words, (and no one better say it is a “word salad because I have not stoelen any material from K. Harris), but U ciykd see I was way oiff track and couldn’t follow what I was saying and I was the one pujting the words on the paper.
I must have mentioned something about when I started writing during the exenteded flu season where the lying shrimp took control and still hasn’t relinquished the reins, I had to get the email out by 7:30 or earlier. I tried that the next time and was so beat up from that schedule that I stopped writing. Kind of dumb because I am the one who gets to set the rules in this game, I am the boss, literally “the Legend In My Living Room, (the title of an Annie Lennox song).
Least you think a simple ride on the bus at a time later than my normal time is enough to bring out the hidden Roy, who is always waiting to pounce like a cat on the slightest movement that is out of line, there were at least 500 and maybe even 1,000 other things going on, of which any one could cause the pot to bubble over. Job was on a picnic compared to my journey to the Salt Flats to record a new record for fiery darts sticking out from locations all over my body.
I am back in my nornal place, sitting here clothed and in my right mind, Mark 5:15 and Luke 8:35, thanks to the Lord and His peace that passes all understanding. Life is good again. And I learned I can’t write the Grist when I am not clothed and in my right mind. Maybe clothed but certainly not when I am not in my right mind. And most importantly, I learned never to leave home without Ephesians 6 being draped all over me. Today I learned I need to have Ephesians 6 draped all over me, even when at home. That is a story for another day. My question for this day is. “Why does the unflappable have to become flappable to learn a lesson?”