Going Green in my Email

This came in my email

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should  bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green  thing back in my day."
 The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes.
Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.

But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana .
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

 But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.

We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

 But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

Does God Exist?

I watched the Discovery Chanel last night dealing with the question “Does God exist” based on Professor Stephen Hawking’s  statement that God does not exist. Theoretical physicist, Professor Stephen W. Hawking has stated that based on his considerable knowledge of the laws of physics, time itself did not exist before the “Big Bang.” He then jumps from physics to theology and says that because time did not exist therefore God did not exist and could not have created the universe.

That show was followed by a show called “Curiosity” with other physicist debating the many sides of that question. Some disagreed with Hawking’s theory of time not existing. The question about the existence of God has been a long standing debate in the world of physicist. Was there are creation event caused by God or did it just happen?

Professor Hawking started with the assumption that there is no god and set out to prove it with science. Theologians start with the assumption that there is God and will accept no proof to the contrary. It is a debate between physical understanding that demands cause and effect testable proofs and the spiritual understanding that need no physical proof but relies on the relationship of our spirits with the holy spirit.

In case you haven’t guessed I do not agree with professor Hawking on this issue.  

How To Fix Congress

Congressional Reform Amendment

1.  Term Limits.
         12 years only, one of the possible options below:
           A. Two Six-year Senate terms
           B. Six Two-year House terms
           C. One Six-year Senate term and three Two-Year House terms
 
2.  No Tenure / No Pension.
         A Congressman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they are out of office. 
 
3.  Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security.
All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately.  All future funds flow into the Social Security system and Congress participates with the American people.

4. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan - just as all Americans do.

5. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise.  Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

6. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

7. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

I Love History

I can not remember a time when history was unimportant to me. I can remember in school that most of my class mates found this exciting subject boring to the nth degree. Remembering names and dates is not exciting to most people and it is not really all that exciting to me. What got me really hooked on History early on was the stories connected with those names and dates.

Behind each event in history is a fascinating tale if you look for it. I would read the short notation in my history textbook and head straight for the library to search for the rest of the story that I knew was there. When history is viewed in this way we are filled with the emotions of people being hurt, or having their hopes fulfilled. We feel the joy of their success and the crush of their failures.

The same holds true for studying the bible. A  list of dates is nothing but the stories are powerful. Reading the list of begats will bore you to tears but to ask, “Who were these people?” makes a big difference. Their legacy provides us with an example of how to life a godly life in relationship with God. We become part of God’s history.    

What to CUT in the Federal Budget

Salary of the US President ...................$400,000


Salary of retired US Presidents .............$180,000


Salary of House/Senate .......................$174,00​0


Salary of Speaker of the House ............$223,500


Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders ...... $193,400



I think we found where the first cuts should be made ! 

Thoughts on Marriage

Note how Ephesians chapter five verse twenty-one starts us off; “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.”  Be subject to one another is an important concept in the Christian Marriage. For the Apostle Paul to say this in a very male dominated world is astounding.  Yet through out this section on Christian marriage that theme predominates.

          The introduction of the wedding ceremony that I use states, “Marriage is a relationship of mutual trust and esteem, blessed by God for the security, enjoyment, and growth of a man and a woman.” When any couple chooses to be married in a church or by a Christian Minister their vows are made not only to each other but also to God. A vow made to God is a sacred promise to be taken carefully and fulfilled with all devotion.

          Far too many men feel that they have the right to beat their wives to keep them in line. Like the man who was hauled before the Judge for hitting and beating his wife.

The badly bruised wife was telling the judge her story: “Your honor, he gets up every morning and starts knocking me around the bedroom. He hits me in the head with his fist. Sometimes he uses a shoe. If I don’t fix his meals just the way he likes them, he throws the pots and pans at me. If I dare open my mouth, he hits me with a beer bottle.”

Looking at the husband, the judge asks, “What do you have to say about his?”

“You can’t believe a word that woman says, your Honor, she’s punch drunk.”

Men who bring harm to their wives violate their vows to God as well as to their wives and put their own souls in danger. It is therefore a double sin!

          No person has the right to beat another. A Christian husband, according to Paul, places himself between his wife and any harm even to the extent of giving his life for her. As Christ gave himself for the church, Paul says this is the example for the Christian husband. The partnership between husband and wife is ideally so complete that they are as one person before the Lord. 

A Blind Mind's Eye

A Blind Mind’s Eye

Growing up I never quite understood the term “Mind’s Eye” although I never really gave it much thought either.

Recently my wife read a report in a Discover magazine that spoke of a man having an operation and afterward his mind’s eye went blind. The report talked about his struggle to adapt to the difference in his ability to remember things. This reminded me of the day when I discovered that most people had a “Mind’s Eye” and it was something I never had.

I was taking a class in Cultural Anthropology at the University of Texas in Austin. The class was all about how ancient cultures developed. A lot of it was hands on, like how to knap flint into arrow heads and hand axes. That was the class that got me hooked on anthropology/archaeology and other earth studies.

During one class session the professor began teaching us about how different people perceived the world around them. During the class we learned that about five percent of people have a mind’s eye that sees in 3D in living color and they are part of the vision.  Forty-five percent have a mind’s eye that sees a color movie on a flat screen.  Another forty-five percent see the movie in black and white. The professor then told us that the last five percent listens to the radio in their head with no internal visual effects.

I was stunned when I realized that I was in that last group and I now knew the meaning of the Mind’s Eye. My dreams and day dreams are all like listening to an audio book. I close my eyes and it is dark inside. Now I am married to a woman who is in the first five percent and we have had many discussions about our different perceptions. I have trouble remembering people’s names and word association does not help. She can see their face along with a printed bio of their life and relationships in her head. She is so helpful when I say “Who is that?” and she has her vision.

So what percentage of mental vision are you in?