CONSCIENCE

"We're thirsty for a clean conscience. We crave a clean slate. We yearn for a fresh start. We pray for a hand which will enter the dark cavern of our world & do for us the one thing we can't do for ourselves--make us right again." Max Lucado, Men's Devotional Bible

CHASTITY

"Chastity is not sexual abstinence. It is not an unnatural suppression of God-given desires. Chastity is not a virtue limited to young people or the unmarried. Chastity is not a vestige of a bygone era. Chastity is not suppression of sexuality. Chastity is the practice of rightly embracing the fullness of one's bodily self in a way that honors God & cares for the neighbor. In other words, chastity is thinking about & using one's body, particularly the sexual aspect of that body, in a way that lives out the will of God for our sexuality & personhood.

"Implicit in this understanding is the appreciation of the integral part that one's sexuality plays in personal identity. We are individually the people God creates us to be, each one defined by the peculiar characteristics of personality intelligence, physical traits, proclivities & assorted talents, all of which work with our environment & upbringing to shape us into the particular person we are. And preeminent in that array of factors is the fundamental & defining reality of one's sex. God created man in His image as male & female. Sex is not incidental but essential to individual human identity . . . 

"Sex matters a lot! Sex binds a man & a woman in the profound relationship of marriage that not only serves those two, but provides the foundation for all of society & extends the right working of God's creation through space & time.

"Chastity, then, acknowledges the sacred importance of sex & the wonder of the physical, in-the-flesh reality of our individual identity. It celebrates the joy of being God's creature integrally fitted into His creation for that creation's flourishing. Chastity is not an invasive infringement on individual personhood. it is not some prudish curtailment of happiness & personal fulfillment. It is the opposite. Chastity is the celebration of God's gift of vibrant life & confidently trusts in His promise to bring all of His creation, including one of us, to the complete fullness of His eternal design for the universe. To live chastely is to live celebrating God's creation." Joel Biermann The Lutheran Witness, Jan. 2021

A HYMN OF STEWARDSHIP

Some of you know that I write, primarily devotions, for Orphan Grain Train, a world-wide relief agency that is headquartered in Norfolk, NE. We ship relief supplies--food, clothing, medical supplies, school supplies, hygiene kits, & more--to a host of international & domestic locations. As I was doing my daily quiet time this afternoon, I happened upon this hymn:  "Lord of Glory, You Have Bought Us," LW #402. As I read it, I thought it would make a good anthem not just for Orphan Grain Train but for all Christians. 

St. 1:  Lord of glory, You have bought us, With Your lifeblood as the price. Never grudging for the lost ones That tremendous sacrifice; And with that have freely given Blessings countless as the sand To th' unthankful & the evil With Your own unsparing hand.

St. 2:  Grant us hearts, dear Lord, to give You Gladly, freely of Your own. With the sunshine of Your goodness Melt our thankless hearts of stone Till our cold & selfish natures, Warmed by You, at length believe That more happy & more blessed 'Tis to give than to receive.

St. 3:  Wondrous honor You have given To our humblest charity In Your own mysterious sentence, "You have done it all to Me." Can it be, O gracious Masters, That You deign for alms to sue, Saying by Your poor & needy, "Give as I have giv'n to you"?

St. 4:  Yes, the sorrow & the suff'rings Which on ev'ry hand we view Channels are for gifts & off'rings Due by solemn right to You; Right of which we may not rob You, Debt we may not choose but pay Lest that face of love & pity Turn from us another day.

St. 5:  Lord of glory, You have bought us With Your lifeblood as the price, Never grudging for the lost ones That tremendous sacrifice. Give us faith to trust You boldly, Hope, to stay our souls on You; But, oh, best of all Your graces, With Your love our love renew. 

FAMILY REUNION UPDATE

Well, technically we're not having a family reunion, since the Worley's aren't with us, but we're enjoying time with Nathan, Laura, Calvin, Claire, & the Broders. Yesterday the kids went to the Norfolk Public Library & checked out a plethora of clever & informative books. This morning I read a book about giraffes to Calvin. Did you know that giraffes only have 7 bones in their necks? Neither did I. That's the same number of bones we have in our necks, but a giraffe's neck bones are 1' long. Did you know that a giraffe's tongue is 18" long? Neither did I. That puts Gene Simmons tongue to shame, but I digress. The kids also went to the movies yesterday. They watched "Peter Rabbit 2." Today they're going to the water park. Last night Nathan grilled hamburgers. Tonight we're grilling brats. Just thought you'd like to know. 

CHURCH

"Millions skipped church during pandemic. Will they return?" Drudge Report

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE CALIFORNIA

"CA wildfire grows to 13,000 acres, threatens pot farms."  Drudge

TRENDING NEWS *

* Compliments of The Babylon Bee, my most trusted news source.

"Supreme Court says students who identify as teachers must be allowed to use teacher's lounge." 

"Doctors no longer recommending antidepressants for white males since they're supposed to feel bad." 

"Frustrated women demand trans women in public restrooms stop leaving the toilet seat up." 

RULES

"Rules for being the age you are . . . First & foremost, be kind. Mean is easy; kind is hard. Once we reached 8th grade, many of us got the idea that the nasty put-down, the superior smile, & the clever one-liner are the signs of intelligence & great personal strength. But this kind of wit is, to borrow from the writer John Scalzi, 'playing the game on easy mode.' Making yourself feel bigger by making someone else feel small takes so little skill that 12-year-olds can do it." Reader's Digest, March 2021

CRIMINAL MINDS

"Frustrated cops in Liberty, MO, who were looking for a fugitive near an undisclosed house, caught a break after a natural gas explosion. How natural? Very. The suspect had broken wind loudly enough to give his location away. The Clay County sheriff's office later posted on Facebook, 'We've gotta give props to the Liberty PD for using their senses to sniff him out!'" Reader's Digest, March 2021

REUNION POST-MORTEM

I can't tell you how much I appreciate time spent with family. Lois & I recently celebrated our 2021 in Omaha, sharing a rented house with the Broders, the Worley's, Nathan & Laura & their brood. Highlights:

> Family pictures at Zorinsky Lake on SAT. The rain held off & the kids cooperated wonderfully. Our last set of family pictures was for our 40-yr wedding anniversary--we just celebrated our 46th--which didn't include Calvin & Claire, so these latest pictures were overdue.

> Nebraska rib-eye steaks & hamburgers, expertly grilled by my son-in-law Craig.

> A visit to the Henry Doorly Zoo on SUN--the best zoo in the U.S. & possibly the world.

There are a lot more highlights, but I'll just leave you with these few.

A CONTINUED CONVERSATION

I recently shared an exchange of comments on Facebook with Archibald Campbell. I had commented re:  the NYT "Journalism & the NYT . . . Isn't that an oxymoron?" Mr. Campbell replied, "I know a celebrity billionaire politician told you to hate any media that didn't give a pro-trump, authoritarian line, but it is not the job of a free press to do that." He continued by saying, "I doubt you have a valid opinion on any of this, since you just believe what celebrity billionaire politicians tell you to believe." I know that I was risking a violation of one of my 2021 resolutions--not engage in useless conversations on Facebook--but I couldn't take this egregious assault on my character lying down, so I continued the conversation by commenting, "So do you just believe what the NYT tells you to believe?"

Mr. Campbell couldn't leave well enough alone. He replied, "Wait, why do you believe everything a celebrity a celebrity billionaire politician believes & you don't even question it? We are talking about you because you are the one who believes false narratives about repealing the 1st Amendment, so we want to know why we should change our minds by someone who had blind faith in a celebrity billionaire politician . . . How come you can't answer that? Why are you so afraid to explain yourself & your blind obedience in a celebrity billionaire politician.

COMMENT:  Mr. Campbell seems to have fallen in love with the phrase "celebrity billionaire politicians." Anyway, I should know better, but I replied:

I'll explain my "blind obedience" to "billionaire elitist celebrity politicians" when you explain why you blindly believe everything the NYT prints. [Perhaps I should also mention that in a subsequent post re:  the NYT & an offer of paying only $1 per week for a subscription, I posted, "$1/week? Isn't that $52/year? That seems like a lot to pay for newspapers to potty-train a dog.

CRIMINAL MINDS

"Iowa man allegedly threatens to blow up McDonald's over lack of sauces. An IA man was arrested over the weekend for threatening to blow up a McDonald's after the restaurant allegedly failed to include dipping sauces with his order . . . Robert Golmitzer, Jr., 42, called up his local McDonald's in Ankeny after finding he had no sauces for his Chicken McNuggets. He allegedly threatened to blow up the restaurant & punch an employee over the offense." Fox News, 6/29

SCHOOLS & COVID

"In districts that prioritize teachers over students, student outcomes are significantly worse. Prior to the pandemic, elementary students in teacher-favoring districts tested at a level that that was over a year behind their counterparts at student-favoring schools in math and reading. Teacher-favoring districts also had 26 percent more students failing to graduate from high school. These achievement gaps are only somewhat smaller when we control for geographic and demographic characteristics of school districts." Michael Strain, National Review Online

MORE NEWS ABOUT COVID

"POLL:  Pandemic over, say 57% of Republicans . . . Only 4% of Democrats agree." Drudge Report

TRENDING

"Athlete so oppressed by America that she's representing America in Olympics." Babylon Bee

DEPT. OF SHAMELESS JOKE-STEALING * 

Courtesy of Reader's Digest, March 2021

"Super unprofessional when ventriloquists argue with their puppets over which one is the dummy. Figure that out backstage."

COURAGE

"Now, courage lies in authenticity. Authenticity has not been, until recently, conflated with courage. In fact, authenticity very often acts directly against the virtue of courage. After all, walllowing in the solipsistic generally involves ignoring the demands of a higher noble goal. But now, our higher virtue isn't in upholding & defending some standard for civilization at risk to ourselves. Higher virtue lies in finding our personal truths, & then demanding applause from the rest of the world. Heroism lies in forcing the world to bow before our subjective ideas of truth & decency. Of perhaps there's another possibility. Perhaps the new definition of bravery does serve some higher goal:  the goal of tearing down the old definition of the good. True courage lies in personally rejecting old systems of thought & objective truth & in joining with others to demand that all systems of power be brought low . . . When called upon to face true enemies of freedom, civilization requires men willing to charge beaches on behalf of higher truths, not men focused on finding their 'inner truths,' many of which bear no resemblance to reality. To use the same terminology to describe both phenomena is a betrayal of true courage." Ben Shapiro, Norfolk Daily News, 6/19  In case you're wondering, yes, I know what "solipsistic" means:  "Of or characterized by solipsism, or the theory that only the self exists, or can be proved to exist."

ROAD TRIPS

Our return from CA last MON was uneventful. We resisted the urge to play the slots during our layover in Las Vegas. Today we head to Omaha for a family reunion with our kids & grandkids. I'll probably do some REUNION ODYSSEY posts.

MENTAL HEALTH FRIDAY

"Embrace the upside of feeling down. First, realize that negative emotions aren't inherently bad--they can be useful. 'That ping of anxiety gets my attention & says, 'Hey, you need to focus on this,' says psychologist Ethan Kross, author of Chatter:  The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, & How to Harness It. If you need to deal with an immediate problem--say, reining in overspending--that call to focus is helpful. But negativity spirals into something harmful when a particular thought circuit just won't shut off. If you can't sleep because of it, feel physically stressed all the time, or keep rehashing the same situation, those are signs you need to employ tools to break the cycle . . . " Reader's Digest, March 2021

A CONVERSATION

One of my New Year's resolutions was to avoid useless arguments on Facebook. I may have broken that resolution. Recently I saw a post on Facebook that extolled the NYT for its journalism. My comment? "Journalism & NYT . . . Isn't that an oxymoron?" Archibald Campbell [Who in the world is that?] replied, "No. I know a celebrity billionaire politician told you to hate any media that didn't give a pro-trump, authoritarian line, but it is not the job of a free press to do that. So, I doubt you have a valid opinion on any of this, since you just believe what celebrity billionaire politicians tell you to believe." I took that personally, so I replied, "So do you believe everything the NYT tells you to believe?" I will try my best to ignore any subsequent comment by my good friend Archibald.

WHAT WE'RE WATCHING

We are totally caught up on our CBS shows, since we saw all the season finales, which included the series finale of NCIS New Orleans. We're still watching "Blacklist," which is pretty dark & intensive, so we started watching "Deep Space 9" on Netflix.

WHAT I'M READING

I finished reading "140 Days to Hiroshima," by David Dean Barrett, & learned a lot about the closing days of W.W. II that I didn't know. Then I finished reading "Isaac's Storm:  A Man, A Time, & the Deadliest Hurricane in History," by Erik Larson, one of my favorite authors. It details the 1900 hurricane that struck Galveston, taking the lives of more than 6,000. Since that piqued my curiosity about natural disasters, I'm now reading "The Big Ones:  How Natural Disasters Have Shaped Us (& What We Can Do About Them)," by Dr. Lucy Jones. 

DEPT. OF SHAMELESS JOKE-STEALING *

* Courtesy of Reader's Digest, March 2021

"Thanks to working from home together, some couples have learned quite a bit about each other:  Hearing my wife in meetings & it dawns on me that she uses personnel management techniques on me all the time."

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

"Real-life Tarzan lived 41 years not knowing women existed, ate rat heads." Drudge Report

TRENDING

"Life expectancy falls by more than year."  Ditto

"Trans runner ruled ineligible for Olympics." Ditto

"Lobster diver caught in whale's mouth. A commercial lobster diver who got caught in the mouth of a humpback whale off the coast of Cape Cod on FRI morning said he thought he was going to die."  Norfolk Daily News, 6/21

COVID

"Study finds anyone still wearing a mask at this point is probably just ugly." Babylon Bee

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE FLORIDA

"Starbucks customer pulls gun over no cream cheese. An angry FL man pulled a gun on a drive-thru worker because they forgot the cream cheese with his bagel . . . "  Las Vegas Review Journal, 6/21

"Town accidentally sells water tower. A small town in (Brooksville) FL accidentally sold its water tower in a blundering real estate transaction."  Norfolk Daily New 6/21

TREATMENT FOR DEPRESSION EFFECTIVE

"Depression is a huge topic. There are many types of depression, & the effects of depression on a person depend in large part on age, sex, pregnancy status & many other unique characteristics of a person. Depression is one of the most important conditions that doctors diagnose & treat. Major depression is the second leading cause of disability among all diseases & injuries. Nonetheless, many people are embarrassed to talk about it, tell their doctors about it or get treatment. Short screening tests for depression are available, & people at risk for depression can use a longer instrument, the PHQ-9, widely available to help diagnose & monitor treatment for depression.

"Treatment for depression is pretty effective.Initial treatment of people with mild to moderate depression is effective (resulting in response or remission) in about 60% of people affected. Most primary care doctors, including family doctors & internists, are comfortable treating their patients with mild or moderate depression. Some people will need additional treatment, & those with severe depression or who do not respond to initial therapies will benefit from seeing an expert, such as a psychiatrist. Treatment is more effective when begun promptly after symptoms begin. However, some people have difficulty recognizing their symptoms as being due to depression, in additional to the barriers I mentioned above.

"The official diagnosis of depression requires five of these nine symptoms, as obtained during a medical history by an expert:

> Feeling depressed:  "sad," "hopeless" & "down" are some common terms.

> Loss of interest or pleasure in activities the person used to enjoy.

> Significant change in appetite or weight.

> Change in sleeping habits:  Too much or too little."

> Physical restlessness, or its opposite, slowing of physical movement.

> Fatigue or less or energy.

> Feelings of worthlessness or guilt.

> Poor ability to think or concentrate.

> Recurrent thoughts of death, which may or may not include a plan to hurt oneself.

SOURCE:  Dr. Keith Roach, Norfolk Daily News, 6/4/21

I was diagnosed with clinical depression quite a few years ago. I have suffered off & on from at least five of the symptoms listed above. Eventually, my depression seriously hampered my ability to adequately fulfill my responsibilities as head administrator of Lutheran High Northeast in Norfolk, Nebraska, & I left that position in 2014. Since then my depression has largely been controlled through medication & therapy. If you have any suspicion at all that you might suffer from depression, you owe it to yourself & to those you love to seek the advice of a medical professional.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

We got back from our trip to Iowa & Minnesota yesterday afternoon. Our visits with my brother Mark & his family, my niece Christal & her family, & my son Nathan & his family were unqualified successes. Now, after spending 10 of the last 17 nights on the road, we're off to California tomorrow for another 12 nights on the road. Our flight leaves from Omaha at 5:55a tomorrow morning, which necessitates leaving Norfolk by 2:30a. [I scoff at your pity.] We'll be visiting Lois' sister Wanda & our brother-in-law John in Kingsburg again. Lois & Wanda will be spending a week at a Joni & Friends Camp [GOOGLE "Joni & Friends."] John & I are going to spend some time at their estate next to Lake Tahoe.

THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE FLORIDA

"Vultures causing problems. Residents of a Florida neighborhood said they are beset by an invasion of turkey vultures that are damaging homes & causing major messes. Resident Judy Oliveri said her neighborhood in the Tampa suburb of Westchase is overrun with the large black birds, & they've been multiplying since they showed up 3 years ago."  NDN, 5/18

"Seven sharks circle beachgoers on rubber raft in Pensacola."  Drudge Report

"DeSantis decides to allow biological men to compete in women's sports as long as they wear high heels." Babylon Bee

. . . LIKE CALIFORNIA

"Gavin Newsom tries to woo Californians back by disguising state as TX." Babylon Bee

TRENDING

"Kamala Harris visits Tomb of Unknown Soldier to tell him to enjoy the long weekend." Babylon Fee

HERE'S TO YOUR HEALTH

"Having trouble sleeping? You're at a higher risk of dying."  Drudge

COVID

"More Democratic governors moving to FL to escape their own COVID policies." Babylon Bee

"Wuhan beginning to rethink newly installed sign reading 'Birthplace of COVID.'" Babylon Fee

ABORTION

"In a new poll commissioned by the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, a majority of American voters said they’d be more likely to support a pro-life political candidate than a candidate who backs abortion on demand."  Alexandra DeSantis, National Review Online