Never hurts to ask

It’s fun to joke around with total strangers waiting in line to pay for groceries or gas.  I’ve been doing it for years, starting with the little Vietnamese lady who ran the Stop & Rob store; might have had a different name but you get the idea.

Each time I’d visit the store to purchase a Big Gulp soda,  about 3 or 4 times a week, I’d say, “These are free on Tuesday; Right?”  She’d look at me and shake her head, “That will be eighty-nine cents”.   After about a year of playing this game I walked up to the register one afternoon, “These are free on Thursday, Right?”  

She looked at me and smiled, “Okay, this time only”. 

One time about a year ago while at the Stop & Rob, the one at the front of the neighborhood, a young black fellow was purchasing a week’s paycheck worth of lottery tickets, had to be at least two hundred dollars worth.  While he was paying I told the cashier to just add my lottery ticket to the young man’s bill, “He'll never notice the difference”.

Without batting an eye the kid told the cashier to go ahead, “It might bring me some luck”.   My lottery tickets came to three dollars and I was just kidding around.  I guess the kid figured I needed a pick me up or he was in a generous mood. 

This evening while on our Saturday Night Date Lucy and I stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up two small items.  While waiting in line behind a woman who’d topped off her shopping cart I mentioned to the cashier, “Just add my two items to the lady in front of us”, as Lucy picked up one of the scandal papers from the check out rack, “…make that three items”. 

I pushed our empty shopping cart around to the front of the store since we wouldn’t need it while Lucy went to pay for our items.  When I came back around Lucy had a surprised look as she explained, “That lady paid for our stuff, twelve dollars worth and she actually paid for our stuff.” 

Maybe the lady thought we were on our last nickel, living on Social Security or felt sorry for me hobbling along with my walking cane since my knee was hurting.  Maybe she thought we looked like her grandparents; not likely since she was black and; well, we aren’t.  All the same I said, “Thank you, Daughter”, as I smiled in her direction.  She was happy to return the smile.

It’s a humbling experience to have someone pay your way.  I mention that while preparing for Fast Sunday, a chance to donate the cost of two meals in order that someone who is down on their luck might have the necessities of life provided in their time of need. 

Beyond the small sacrifice mentioned; aren’t we all beggars while pretending to be self sufficient, going around thinking we’re so sharp?   When it comes down to it we’re all hoping the Lord will make up for our many short comings; try that on for size while preparing for Sunday Worship. 

The scriptures tell us, all we need to do is ask; it never hurts to ask…

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

 

Honor thy Father

Last weekend an opportunity to visit my folks presented itself with the help of some reasonable air fare.  Mom and Dad are getting up in age and I’m no spring chicken so it made sense to fly out there and spend time with them.  My father and I don’t talk much with his hearing being worse than mine; but we did fall asleep pretending to watch golf on his television together and it made us both happy.

Sunday morning we all went to dad’s Presbyterian Church where I was logged in as an official visitor.   It was a chance for me to once again show respect for my father and observe his rituals and traditions even though we don’t see eye to eye on matters of religion; my having become an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon) going on 36 years.

There’s no doubt that Presbyterians share, at least in part, a common belief in God, the Father, His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost as the congregation stood to recite the Apostle’s Creed.  There was a visual text of the Creed presented on a large screen which permitted folks to read along; my having avoided the recitation as it included, “I believe in … the holy Catholic Church…”   Out of respect for my father I stood quietly, dutifully if you will, until everyone was invited to sit back down.

The minister later talked about the old Presbyterian Hymnbook and the new one which replaced it; something which apparently caused quite a stir with some of the older members.  During his remarks he asked the membership to write down their favorite hymns and pass this information along so he’d have a better idea of what his congregation wanted to hear.

I looked down at my shoes, suppressing any audible laugh that might escape as a wide grin crept across my face.  An abstract thought came to me, “We Thank Thee Oh God for a Prophet”, or “High on the Mountain Top”…no; better to remain silent once more, they might not appreciate my warped sense of humor.

It was the 2^nd Sunday of the month and this congregation had a worthy tradition of taking up a special collection for those standing in need.  They were invited to empty the coins from their pockets as young children went from pew to pew with large tin cans, coins clinking as they hit the bottom.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we have a similar tradition, Fast and Testimony Sunday, usually the 1^st Sunday of each month.  We are asked to voluntarily give up two meals and donate the amount that would have been spent as a Fast Offering.  It has been suggested we be generous, making the value of the missed meals greater than would have been spent rather than smaller in order to bless more of those in need.

It was an honor to accompany my folks to church, to worship God and acknowledge our Savior’s gift to mankind.  Our differences in doctrine put aside; we worship the same God, the same Savior and the Holy Ghost in our own way.   May the message of the gospel remain the focus of our lives is my prayer this day, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.

Finding an old friend

Last Friday a friend of ours had a few folks over for dinner as they showed us their new house.  Upon entering my attention was drawn to a row of bookshelves handsomely filled with a life time’s collection of ‘favorites’.  He explained how painful it was deciding which books to keep and which to donate as the new house was considerably smaller and there simply wasn’t room for everything.

I wasn’t the only one taking a cursory observation of the books.  My friend Don was quietly remarking, “I’ve read these, and these…and most of these as well”.   He paused momentarily as one book caught his attention; reaching to touch it and then carefully extract it from the others as he opened the cover and smiled.

“I see you’ve found an old friend”, I remarked as he temporarily found another dimension in time and space, closing his eyes to savor the moment.

“You have no idea”, he responded in hushed tones as he placed the book carefully, almost lovingly, to the space it had occupied, “I helped this fellow write at one time”.  He truly had found an ‘old friend’ among the printed works.

I was visiting with my folks over the weekend and found myself perusing their book shelves.  In their ‘Florida Room’ there’s a set of Compton’s Encyclopedias printed in 1936.   These books were considered ‘ancient’, but useful all the same, when used to help with school assignments.  They trapped history in place, a time period captured in black and white which recorded the events of our world up to that moment and no further. 

Unlike the Internet, Google or other search engines which we take for granted in our day, encyclopedias in their printed form freeze time so that it can be examined without editing by future generations.   

When I was a young boy I was fascinated with airplanes and often found myself day dreaming as the pictures presented in the encyclopedia whisked me off into the wild blue yonder.   We lived a short distance from the Grumman facilities and thrilled to hear them testing jet engines, the future of flying machines close enough to make the hair on our backs stand on end.

But there were no jet planes as yet, at least no passenger jets taking off on the half hour every day.  The airplanes of that time were small propeller driven aircraft considered by many to be a novelty more than a means of transportation for the masses.  The only jets at the time were being developed as fighter jets for the Korean War.   I remember looking up to see a formation of Flying Boxcars, marveling as they slowly marched across the sky to complete some military purpose.

I snapped a couple of digital pictures with my cell phone while enjoying these old books, uploaded them to my Dropbox account; the Cloud which magically stores all the zeros and ones perfectly somewhere in the heavens until you want to use them later.  Once resized with a photo editing program these images were inserted into this article so that anyone with a computer connection can view them; all this we take for granted.  

With a little imagination you might see a young boy staring into the pages of that old encyclopedia, the image of an airplane before him as he prepares his mind for all that is to come.  That’s what it’s like to find an old friend among all the other books on the shelves, a chance to savor the past while at the same time considering the blessings given over the years.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”. 

Is This America’s Future?

The caption attached to this image was, “A picture IS worth a thousand words”.   What exactly are we to glean from the information presented by this exemplary citizen?  Without being too uncomplimentary, we’re to assume this is a woman and that she doesn’t believe in paying for abortions; the tattoos must have been obtained at the local welfare office while waiting for other free stuff.

“Free Abortions On Demand Without Apology”, a slogan we can all get behind. 

The National Organization for Women (NOW) must have a place for this lost soul.  For all I know she’s on their board of directors.  If there was any doubt about what the feminist movement was all about, “the time has come to confront, with concrete action, the conditions that now prevent women from enjoying the equality of opportunity and freedom of choice which is their right, as individual Americans, and as human beings.”

Getting back to the poster’s demands for free abortions…do these folks actually believe that medical procedures are free? 

The doctors who attended college and medical school invested their time, money and efforts so they could perform public service abortions on demand for free; yea, that’s it.  These same doctors applied for permission to use expensive clinics to have safe places for women demanding abortions along with disposable products associated with medical procedures; oh, and let’s not forget the anesthesiologists and nurses who also have volunteered their time, money and efforts to become competent in their respective duties in order that these women can demand abortions at no cost to themselves.

Who gets to pay for all these entitlements?   Clearly there is a mental disorder involved at some level of implementation because there’s no such thing as a free ride. 

I hate to break it to you; but the Tooth Fairy looked a lot like my dad, at least in my house.   Santa’s voice was remarkably similar as well.  In time even a four year old is able to figure out that money doesn’t grow on trees.  The allowance paid them by loving parents; a handful of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters is recompense for chores performed around the house. 

Let’s wear clothing that makes it look like we’re bleeding and block traffic so that everyone gets to see what a bunch of mad cows we really are; yea, that should turn public sentiment. 

It’s just a guess; but all the Entitlement Programs, Food Stamps, Section 8 Housing, Obamacare subsidies for low income individuals….all that Free Stuff only appears to be free to those on the receiving end;…  somebody is paying for your Free Ride.  I wonder who it is that IS paying for all that free stuff?

I think these folks may have been standing in the sun too long and need medical attention, as long as it’s free medical attention.

Free abortions on demand; your arrogance is equaled only by your lack of gratitude to those who provide.  You’re demanding others work at their various jobs and professions only to have the government confiscate a large portion of their income to provide the entitlements.   I can see how this is all so confusing to low information individuals so I’ll say it one more time.

There’s no such thing as a free ride.

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal, a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.