| Look to the right on the Gun Totin Chaplain Amazon.com Detail page(link above) and sign up for the Alert Me email on the right of the page to let you know when the book will be available.
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| Look to the right on the Gun Totin Chaplain Amazon.com Detail page(link above) and sign up for the Alert Me email on the right of the page to let you know when the book will be available.
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Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights is celebrated this year from sundown on December 15 through sundown on December 23. Hannukah, among many things, is about the spirit of mankind and miracles.
Don't believe in miracles, depend on them.
Laurence J. Peter (1919-1990) .
We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen. Every day, God gives us the sun-and also one moment in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy.
Paulo Coelho
When the song of the angel is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flock,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost--To heal the broken--To feed the hungry--
To release the prisoner--To rebuild the nations--
To bring peace among brothers and sisters--
To make music in the heart.
-Howard Thurman
Were it not for the shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of stargazers, there would have been no gifts.
Max Lucado (God Came Near)
Article for Friday, December 22, 2006 :
Commentary on Doonesbury
Article for Thursday, December 21, 2006 :
DVD: The Proposition
Article for Wednesday, December 20, 2006 :
DVD: Bonhoeffer
Article for Tuesday, December 19, 2006 :
Nobody Wants To Talk About Death
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| Nobody Wants To Talk About Death
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http://brpas.org/gallery/Peoples/d_ag
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The PBS show Frontline recently had a segment on the process of getting older (my interpretation).
Over sixty percent of the aging population end up in nursing homes and almost 90% of those who go in temporarily, stay. Watching it all was simply astounding and very sobering which is the best word I can put on it. Then the segment discussed the "good" death.
The show was a catalyst for thinking about my own death. What I want to do is to make sure that somebody does me in when it is time. And, I am willing to let them decide. The difficulty is finding someone to do it.
A buddy of mine in Alaska has said he would and I would for him, but we haven't worked out the details. I think I'm going to look for a backup plan. Although this is said somewhat as tongue in cheek, the idea of lingering, when I hardly know I'm in this world, leaves much to be desired.
What is equally as interesting to me is that I wanted to discuss this with at least two groups of which I'm associated. In both, it was the "nobody is home look." Is it denial, what?
I did finally get an email message from a friend that said this:
I'd never (I believe and hope) ask another to bear the responsibility before God of relieving me of my misery and pain. Timing is in His hand and I believe He has a plan!
Public opinion has no affect on God's plan, love, mercy, and grace. I believe that mercy-murder is more than that; it is also the audacious estimating of the quality of my will, wisdom, and capability for mercy to be above God's.
Because God's standards are not subject to opinion polls and since taking a life as opposed to leaving the matter in the hands of the Master Timekeeper, even for mercy's sake, has not been blessed by God to my knowledge...
Said another way, no one loves me more the God, and I certainly can't love another more than He loves him/her. So how can I assume that I have more mercy to give?
How could I assume to be capable of coming up with a plan-out of my perspective fears and dread-that is wiser, more loving, and more merciful than the plan my Father and Christ has for me and/or some party that I ask to share the eternal responsibilities of my decisions and persuasions?
No, I hope I could never be miserable enough to ask another to put so much on the line for me...
My Response:
Thanks for your comments. Certainly well thought out and in general pretty much what most think, probably not articulated by most as well as yours. There is something amazing about people wanting to live and, of course, subscribing the ending of life in any way to God, divine providence or whatever. I personally think it is a kind of linear thinking that may have lots to do with our own personalities. Those of us who even embrace that "this world is not my home" spend inordinate amounts of money not to leave it. I am always flummoxed (a word I love).
My view is really a philosophical difference. Somehow the most merciless thing is to warehouse folks in nursing homes. Many don't know they are in this world; and, if they do, have an extremely poor quality of life. Often, we treat our animals better than our loved ones. The philosophical differences lie in the world of decisions. And, I, at least believe, each individual must make their own end of life decisions. Amen jda.
Frontline Story
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Detrich Bonhoffer has always been a favorite theologian of mine.
His book, The Cost of Discipleship , is a classic and exactly what it implies. And, when you think of the sacrifices of someone like Bonhoffer, those sacrifices make us realize how little we've done with our lives.
Bonhoeffer
is a poignant documentary tracing the life of this singular dedicated and committed man. He was the first of the church in Germany, a Lutheran, to speak out against Hitler. Eventually, he joined the resistance to assassinate Hitler, was imprisoned, and then hanged at the age of thirty-nine.
Bonhoeffer organized the Confessing Church, those who were in the same camp as himself. What was amazing about Boehoffer, among many things, had to do with an unusual courage in the face of overwhelming opposition even from the Church, those who should have supported him.
A real plus of this early documentary is actual archival footage of early Germany into the late thirties-the first where you can hear Hitler, for instance, speaking in his own voice.
Two parachutes. JHL
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The Proposition is no lonesome dove, but interesting.
The movie takes place in the Austrialian outback, late 19th century. Itreminds me of Tom Sellick's Australian movie, Quigley Down Under, with even a couple of the same characters. But this epic is slightly slow even if you don't notice it, but, quite frankly, captivates you with its raw violence.
The basic theme of the movie is Outlaw brothers who somehow have this overwhelming concept of family with only one brother rooted to reality.
The story line profiles the no nonsense lawman, the Captain, of this untamed territory attempting to bring the brothers to justice.
The Proposition: the only sane brother, with a touch of conscience, is offered the chance to redeem his younger brother if he takes on the task to kill the older and psycho brother. The Captain has a genteel wife who somehow doesn't fit in this wild and crazy country. Two parachutes.
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Universal Press Syndicate via AP
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Wouldn't you love to get inside the head of Garry Trudeau(Creator of political comic strip, Doonesbury)?
Honestly, I always smile, especially when he fillets the obvious. He's had two cartoon strips recently that jangled my chimes.
One was some Vietnam vet sitting in a VA group probably. He tells his story: night sweats, can't hang onto relationships, scared of the dark (these are all my problems). The leader of the group goes around the room and says to this one guy, "OK, what do you want to talk about today?" He says, "I just want to say I'm thankful that I am not like him"-meaning the Vietnam vet. I guess you would have had to be there but to a vet, it is funny, really funny. As my Dad use to say, might as well laugh as cry.
The other cartoon panel had to do with Iraq.
The General says "The military might be broken."
The interviewer, Trudeau's character, says something like, "Well, maybe we ought to think about the draft?" Then a resounding "NO"(like Bremer said when he was screwing up Iraq, "don't mention Vietnam to me.")
"NO, no, the characters says, look at what the draft did to our generation." Then he says, "Who is here that served back in the day? (The draft)." No one says anything and then, we are assuming the Prez says, "Well, you guys were lucky. I was stuck in the National Guard for five years."
Another voice says, "Four." (Dick Cheney?)
And then the last panel, "Oh, thank you Dick. At least I didn't have "other priorities."
Dick, (Cheney) we assume says,
"I had to think about the next war. So we would get it right. That's why we're winning."
You have to smile. GOD BLESS AMERICA. KT (dialogue paraphrased)
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New Book: VietVet Memoir 
Commentary
