President Ford's Funeral

Here's a link to some pictures of the life of President Ford from the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum:

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/link.asp?L=174467

Here's a link to a story about the National Media converging on Grand Rapids:

http://www.woodtv.com/global/story.asp?s=5876441

War -- Anywhere

I know this is simplistic, and probably sacrilegious in seven languages, but why don't we just let the gods duke it out themselves in heaven, and we could all go home and hug our kids, cook some dinner, maybe start our spring cleaning?

What makes the United States American?

 

A fellow in the UK whose blog I like to read, recently asked his readers to comment what makes Great Britain British. He was hoping each comment would list about 3 things, although he allowed fewer or more.

 

This morning, I was thinking about what, in my opinion, makes the United States American. Here's my quick answers. Let me know what you think.

 

1. Yankee Ingenuity
2. A Nation of Immigrants
3. A great Constitution/Bill of Rights
4. And let's not forget the "Watchdog Press"

Waxing Eloquent re: "System Restore"

"System Restore is a component of Windows XP Home Edition that you can use to restore your computer to a previous state, if a problem occurs, without losing your personal data files (such as Microsoft Word documents, browsing history, drawings, favorites, or e-mail). System Restore monitors changes to the system and some application files, and it automatically creates easily identified restore points. These restore points allow you to revert the system to a previous time. They are created daily and at the time of significant system events (such as when an application or driver is installed). You can also create and name your own restore points at any time. " -- definition copied from the Help file on my computer.

Sometimes Life gets a little bit crazy. Maybe our thought lives get challenged by adding too many new "programs" in too short a time. Maybe we forgot to "reboot" after installing a component. Maybe we got infected by a thought virus sent our way by someone who just thought it would be fun to wreak a little havoc. If Life gets crazy, try System Restore.

Send your thought life back to when things did make sense. Remember who you are. Remember who and what matters. Remember what has worked, and what has not. Look things over. Then, no matter how you FEEL, if you find that your body is still alive, then DUDE, TRY AGAIN, MAN!

BTW, anyone that's human is allowed to pray. And allowed to "repent" and try again.

Happy Hour in Michigan

Dang! It's winter. I do not personally enjoy drinking beer OR playing cards ... but I still think this picture is hilarious! (I received it by round-robin e-mail several years ago so sorry, I don't know who made the picture.)

Byron

excerpt from "The Prisoner of Chillon" by Byron:

My brothers -- both had ceased to breathe
I took that hand which lay so still,
Alas! my own was full as chill;
I had not strength to stir or strive,
But felt that I was still alive,
-- A frantic feeling when we know
That what we love shall ne'er be so.

I know not why
I could not die,
I had no earthly hope -- but faith,
And that forbade a selfish death.

Justice and Forgiveness

This link is to an essay I read today, entitled "Justice and Forgiveness," by Professor Morton Winston, Department of Philosophy and Religion, The College of New Jersey:

http://www.tcnj.edu/~gened/atny/ethics-mw-s03.htm

Choices

Current mood: determined

"Heaven leads us down the path we choose."

-- Jewish Proverb

Remember

Remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee ... Deut. 8:2

 

I'd rather be a doorkeeper
in the city of my God
than to dwell in tents of wickedness.

Bean Soup

 

Soak 1 lb. great northern beans overnight.

Drain the soaked beans the next day, and then add fresh water.

Cut up: 6-8 slices of turkeybacon, a few carrots, some onion.

Boil together with beans; add: salt, accent, and celery seed to taste; also a little garlic powder or fresh minced garlic.

Simmer, stirring from time to time and adding water as needed. It takes several hours until the beans break apart, which thickens the broth.

Debate

"He was naturally more eloquent, had a ready plenty of words, and sometimes, as I thought, bore me down more by his fluency than by the strength of his reasons."

-- Benjamin Franklin

Fools Never Learn

Wise people learn from their mistakes.

Wiser people learn from the mistakes of others.

Wisest of all are they who learn from what God revealed to Israel.

(There are, of course, other words of wisdom on earth, but I have found that what is written in the Old Testament can be trusted completely to perform as advertised.)

The best advice I ever got in my youth was to take the book of Proverbs from the Bible and read one chapter every day. There are 31 chapters. This works out to one chapter for each day of the month on many months. That way it is easy to know which chapter to read on which day. On any months with less than 30 days, just read extra chapters on the last day of the month. The chapters are not that long.

The wisdom in the book of Proverbs takes some deep thought sometimes to catch onto. But you can avoid having to make a lot of mistakes in life if you learn what it says there and pay attention to the good advice!

If you want to start doing this today, just begin at the chapter of Proverbs with the same number as today's date. Then do the same tomorrow, and the next day, and so on. Keep going. Keep it up for months, even years.

The well of wisdom is very deep! And yet, even the water at the top of the well is pure and delicious. So whether you taste just a little, or decide to drink deeply, you will find it to be delightful.

Chicken Casserole

4 cups cooked chicken
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup sour cream
1 cup frozen peas
top with buttered Ritz cracker crumbs

Notes: You can use leftover cooked chicken, or even canned chicken, but I usually make this with fresh chicken: I put boneless, skinless chicken into a glass baking dish, sprinkle with garlic powder and crushed rosemary, cover loosely with wax paper, and microwave until the juices run clear -- about 12 minutes in my microwave. (No need to add any liquid when cooking the chicken in the microwave.) Then I cut the cooked chicken into chunks and combine the chicken and the juices with the soup, sour cream, and peas, and top with the cracker crumbs.

For the cracker crumbs, I seal 1/2 tube of Ritz crackers in a ziploc bag to crush them, then add 1 tablespoon of melted butter and reseal and shake the bag.

You can bake this casserole in the oven or in the microwave. It also works well to prepare a day ahead and refrigerate and then heat the casserole the next day.

I fixed this for dinner today. This time I cooked it as soon as it was prepared by putting the assembled casserole in the microwave for 10 minutes, and then into a 350 degree oven for 5 minutes to brown the cracker crumb topping. If you prepare after refrigerating it takes longer than this to heat through.

Author Unknown

This is a poem I came across a few years ago, and I do not know who wrote it.  I was told it was found in an anonymous WWII scrapbook that had been picked up at a White Elephant Sale.  If anyone knows who wrote the poem, or if it is copyrighted, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

The poem is written from a maternal point-of-view, which point-of-view resonates with my soul. 

Okay then, here's the poem:

While I am rocking you, my son

And singing lullabies;

Someone is planning stouter planes

For Death to ride the skies.

While I am dressing you, my son,

In little boyish suits,

Someone is making uniforms

And sturdy soldier boots.

While you are chasing butterflies,

Amid the tangled grass,

Someone is testing chemicals

To make a deadlier gas.

And while you eat your simple fare,

Perhaps the war lords sit,

To start again the bugle notes

That only call the fit.

While I would build a splendid man

So fine and strong, my son,

Someone, in secret, tries to make

A farther-reaching gun --

A gun that on some distant day,

When drums of battle roll,

May leave me with a golden star

And iron in my soul.

-- Author Unknown

If any of you who read this are on the "Wage Peace" bandwagon, please do not write to ask me to jump on board that wagon. War is a horrible thing, but I am not necessarily opposed to all military action.  I do not know what to think about this war, I never have known what to think about this war, I don't know if I have ever heard the truth about this war.  I'll wait and let my grandkids tell me what was really going on.

Doing Good

"There is gold, and an abundance of jewels;

But the lips of knowledge are a more precious thing."

-- Proverbs 20:15 NASB

I got a holiday card just after New Years Day from a dear friend.  Her gift to me, to her family, and to her other friends this year was that she donated a cow to Heifer International.  From the back of her holiday card, I quote:

"The mission of Heifer International is to work with communities to end hunger and poverty and care for the earth.  Since 1944, Heifer has helped more than 7 million families in more than 125 countries move toward greater self-reliance through the gift of livestock and training in environmentally sound agriculture.  The impact of each initial gift is multiplied as recipients agree to 'pass on the gift' by giving one or more of their animal's offspring, or the equivalent, to another in need."

Heifer International's web address is: www.heifer.org

I can only imagine what a difference this gift might make on earth. I am so honored to have such a friend. 

Friends, if you have the power in your hand to do some good somewhere today ... just do it.

Dutch Tuna Melts

Tuna Melts

 

1 pkg. Rusk
2 cans tuna
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 c. onion, diced
1/4 t. celery seed
sliced swiss cheese
sliced fresh tomatoes

 

Combine tuna with soup, onion, and celery seed. Place on Rusk. Top with tomato slice, and slice of swiss cheese. Bake 350 till cheese melts (approx 8 min).

Time

"So humanity goes on, bundling up anew the things it has found precious." -- Christopher Morley

Desiderata

I had this hanging on the wall of my dorm room in college, and it still inspires me:

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be careful. Strive to be happy.

Gerald R. Ford

Everybody in Grand Rapids has a Jerry Ford story. This is mine.

When I was in high school, Jerry Ford had been congressman forever. (He was first elected to congress before I was even born.)

I had a research paper to write ... can't remember now what the topic was ... but somebody told me to get the info I needed from Congressman Jerry Ford. So I wrote to him, and he wrote me back. He sent me everything I needed for my research, and wrote me a personal letter, which I kept.

A few years later, when I was in college, I was sorting through my childhood stuff. I remember picking up the letter from Jerry Ford, looking at it, and saying to myself, "Oh, just throw it away, he's just Jerry Ford, he'll never amount to anything."

This was not because I didn't respect him, but rather because I thought America was only run by people far more sophisticated and powerful than this man of simple integrity.

So I threw away the letter. And time taught me a great lesson: Never despise the day of small things ... and never doubt the difference a simple, decent person can make on God's earth.

Eccl 9:13-18:

13 This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me:

14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:

15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.

16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.

17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools.

18 Wisdom is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.
KJV

Eccl 5:7-8:

7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.

8 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regardeth; and there be higher than they.
KJV

Gerald R. Ford, 1913-2006

"The memory of the righteous shall be for a blessing;" -- Proverbs 10:7

Friendship

"Of what help is anyone who can only be approached with the right words?" -- Elizabeth Bibesco

"If the first law of friendship is that it has to be cultivated, the second law is to be indulgent when the first law has been neglected." -- Voltaire