Troubles in Ukraian History

Ukraine has an interesting history and it's capitol Kiev was once the capital of Russia prior to 1240 AD when the Mongols invaded and the Kevin Russ moved to the area around what is now Moscow. Then Poland rulled from the 13th century through the 16th century. In 1596 the Ukrainian Orthodox church asked the Czar of Moscovy for protection from Poland and he took over Keiv and it became part of the Russian Empire.

After the 1918 revolution Ukraine declared independence and the fight was on with the Red Army victory Ukraine became one of the founding republics of the USSR. With the break up of the USSR Ukraine again became independent but is once again in a struggle with its eastern neighbor. There is a tension between western [Polish] descendants and eastern [Russian] descendants of Ukraine.

It seems clear that the new Czar of Moscow is trying to reclaim what was once the land of the Russ.

Our Library

We have an extensive library with books all over the house. I have two books on my reading table that are giving me pleasure. As I scan our shelves I see books that are old friends from different time periods in my life. It is like they have bookmarked the pages of my life and remind me of things that have happened in the past.

Several time we have attempted to scale back on the number of books we have but both of us must agree on giving away any given book. We set up a table and put the books we are willing to give away and the other can remove the ones we want to keep. With that process in place very few books get donated to the local book sale fund raiser. We have run out of available bookshelf space so our reaction is to purchase a new book shelf. That is on my list for this week.

Rereading my old friends gives me a lot of pleasure and is one of my favorite pastimes in retirement. My darling feels the same way as I do so I can foresee a future home with built in bookshelves wall to wall and floor to ceiling all over the house. The up side of that will be no walls to paint but the down side is we have to hang our pictures somewhere. I guess we will have to figure that out.

Two Gifts

When God created Adam and Eve, He said: I only have two gifts: One is the art of peeing standing ...

And then Adam stepped forward and shouted: ME!, ME!, ME!,

I would love it please ... Lord, please, please! Look, it will make my life substantially easier.

Eve nodded, and said those things did not matter to her. Then God gave Adam the gift and he began to shout for joy. He ran through the garden of Eden and used it to wet all the trees and bushes, ran down the beach making drawings with his pee in the sand ... Well, he would not stop showing off.

God and Eve watched the man crazy with happiness and Eve asked God: What is the other gift? '

God answered: Eve,..... a brain ... and it is for you ...!

Daylight Savings Time RANT

It is time for my annual rant! Yes Tomorrow very early we spring our clocks forward an hour for Day Light Savings Time. This changing back and forth has never made any sense to me as we do not really save anything. There are the same 24 hours in a day and all they do is shift our clocks to loose us an hours sleep on Sunday. There are the same number of daylight hours to deal with which changes with the seasons anyway.

I recognize that I am more aggravated than others about this since as a preacher it has meant that my main working day Sunday is messed up twice a year. If you have to do it why not on Saturday? Then to make matters worse every so often some politician decides to put forth a bill to start DLST earlier and end it later. Sunday it will still be dark at 7 AM and light at 8 PM as summer approaches the sun sets around 10 PM.

I know that my little rant will not change any thing but I feel better for doing it. SO how do you feel about this madness? You may post your opinions here. Change your clocks any way!

From Out of the Blue

Sometimes trouble hits us from out of the blue when we least expect it. It could be be any number of things like our only car suddenly dies and the repair cost more than the car is worth. It could also be more drastic like the sudden death of someone we love very much. Our world can be turned upside down in a failed relationship and divorce or separation. Our heart aches with a pain that is deeper than words can express. We can feel that there is not a person on earth that knows what we are going though and we are so alone in our grief and pain.

That of course is not true on many levels. There are many people all over the world who are going through the same thing every day. If we allow ourselves to reach out to others we will find people who can empathize with us because they know how we feel. We are not truly alone in our pain. We also know that God is with us if we allow our spirits to reach out to the Holy Spirit in prayer and as Jesus taught us we will be comforted.

There was a time when a woman I loved very much broke off our relationship and left me devastated. I did not think that I could love like that again and I prayed for relief from my hearts pain. To my relief and joy the great love of my life and the truly perfect person for me reached out from a great distance to heal my pain. What joy has filled my life ever since.

Thank you Lord for sending her my way with more love than I have ever known.

Living With My Enemy

Yesterday I wrote about Sugar as my worst enemy now I am thinking about how I have had to learn to live with my enemy sugar. It is scary what too much sugar does to the human body and it starts early. To begin with even in children it rots the teeth. If you do not use it in exercise it adds fat to the body and clogs blood vessels. Over all it upsets the balance in the body.

Because of all the hidden sugars even in the most unexpected places I have to test my blood sugar levels every day and if they are high three times a day. This involves pricking my finger for a drop of blood and using a meter to collect it and test it. I got use to the prick but it still hurts. If I get high readings I have to go back and check on what I ate and see where the sugar came from. Then that item goes on my “Do Not Eat” list.

I have also had to up my exercise levels to use up excess sugar and sometimes that is not possible so I have to use creative efforts to do it. Lot of up and down the basement stairs. To day there is cold, snow and ice so I am not getting out for my usual walks and swimming. Living with my enemy is something I have to be aware of every day and I miss the good old days when I didn't think about it but should have.

People the enemy is all around us and is trying to kill us slowly. Be aware be very aware.

My Worst Enemy

I became addicted at a very early age, most likely inutero as my mother was also addicted before I was born. Everyone thought that my now enemy was a good friend that was helpful but it was killing us all very slowly. Ads on radio and television touted its benefits and encourage more and more use of it.

If you think I am talking about smoking you are wrong. My worst enemy is SUGAR! Do you remember the cereal ads for sugar corn pops and sugar frosted flakes? The cereals are still there but they dropped sugar from the label. Now they do not brag about the sugar in our food, they try to hide its presence in ever greater amounts.

I grew up in a house that always had cokes and other soda pops in six ounce bottles containing two cups of sugar. Now you get two liter bottles and big gulp cups. Today there are several kinds of added sugars in almost everything. Check the labels and find them but you often have to know the technical words for sugar like dextrose and fructose to find them. To purchase food with sugar left out you have to pay more money. Imagine that they leave out an ingredient and charge you more.

Ten years ago I found out that I have diabetes and now most of the foods I loved are like poison to me because they contain so much sugar. I haven’t had a coke or big red in a very long time. We have switched to cooking using raw natural foods and no sugar. Still it is a hard battle against my worst enemy.