FASTING THE RIGHT WAY

I fasted on Tuesday. Now before you think I am so super spiritual, I fasted to clean myself out for my ten year colonoscopy. The prepaeration started out by me not eating, all day. Then at 4:00PM, I began drinking two gallons of some sort of prep mix that really did not taste that bad. Butit did not taste good either. I drank two gallons of this prep drink, eight ounces at a time until it was gone. Now unlike a bottle of Maker's Mark that suddenly goes empty without warning, or so I have heard, this two gallon jug stayed half full for what seemed like, well forever. But it was gone by 7:15.

Then the purging. That lasted until right before I went to the endoscopy place. That part was over in a matter of minutes. I was home in less than two hours.

As I was sitting there Tuesday evening, drinking the prep, purging, halucinating about food, I was thinking about those who actually fast for the right reasons. I was so busy thinking about the lousy tasting prep drink and how hungry I was, I did not take time to think about why I was doing all of this. The purpose was to check and see if I was healthy down, well, in there.

Could I fast if I really wanted to? I mean for the right reason? Would I be so worried about when I could eat again or how bad I felt or how long I had to go without food that I would not be taking the time to be really into prayer. I would not be thinking about God. I would not be listening for what He wanted to communicate to me. I would be worried about my comfort.

Do we do things out of duty and not for the right reasons? Are we reading our chapters in the 100-day challenge because it is our duty? Do we attend services because it is the thing to do? Do we serve because we are so good and we feel we are supposed to?

Serving, attending, worshipping, fasting and praying should be done for the right reasons. To honor God. To know His will. To better be His child. I hope when it comes times servin gHim, I am not doing it just because I am supposed to.

I

RICK PERRY DOESN'T LISTEN TO ME

Okay, first off, who noticed the picture is on the right? Funny, eh?

Okay, I guess Rick Perry was one of the few people who did not read Greg's Randomness yesterday. Well, the other republican candidates didn't either. I asked them not to mention their opponents and how bad the others are. I really didn't want them to tell me how great they are.

All I wanted was to hear what can fix American politics and what can reinvigorate this country back to being proud of itself and make it progress again. I didn't want politics. I didn't want to hear how bad the current President is. i didn't want to hear how bad their opponents are.

But they didn't listen to me. Just once, please Mr. Moderator, start your question by saying...... "Without mentioning your opponents name, please tell us YOUR plan for this particular issue."

But alas, no one listens to me.

"WITHOUT TELLING ME HOW BAD YOUR OPPONENT IS....."

Tonight there is another one of those get-to-gethers that they call a Debate. You know what they are, eight to ten people get together and tell any one listening how bad the others on the stage are. They begin by shaking hands. They then spend 90 minutes bashing each other. Then, at the end, they shake hands again.

Then, the talking heads tell whoever is listening who "won" the debate.

Here is what I dont want to see or hear during this campaign season, part Two......

I do not need to hear how bad anyone's opponent or opponents would run the country, or state, or city or country club.

HERE IS WHAT I DO WANT TO SEE HAPPEN THIS TIME AROUND

I would love to see the moderator start a question with, "Mr senator, without mentioning any of your opponents, would you tell anyone who is listening how you are going to handle a certain situation or what kind of plan do you have for a crisis or problem we face."

When the speaker mentions an opponent, his, or her, microphone gets turned off and the moderator says thank you and asks the next person a question, beginning with the same, Without mentioning an opponent....

I do hope someone reads this and I would like to know if any one agrees or thinks I am, again, all wet.

WHAT I DO NOT WANT TO SEE DURING THIS CAMPAIGN

This is the first in a series of thoughts on "What I don't want to see from politicians" during this next year of campaigning.

These thoughts are coming in no particualr order and will probably not be seen or commentedon by any one else. These are my thoughts and sometimes I like to see what I have to say.

With the announcement that Wil Cardon will not be using his own money to help finance his campaign, it made me think of one of my pet peeves about campaigns. This is more about the media, but I am sure candidates love to hear about how much they have raised.

I do want to know how much money a candidate has raised in the shortest amount of time. I know all the candidates have money. Some even want to spend the money on their campaigns. But my idea of a good servant is not how much, as a candidate, that the individual raised. I dont care.

Now if there was a story in the media bout a candidate spending some of their money by donating it to a charity or a church ministry or to help a family get out of debt, then I am all for it.

Raising lots of money to spend on a campaign is not my idea of good leadership. That person has already lost points with me.

By the way, the reason why Mr Cardon decided to back off his pledge to use his money is that he found out he wouldnt get as much money from his followers.

Genesis 11:1-9 I just Can't Stop Wondering If These Stories Tie In Somewhere Along The Line.

This was in an email sent to me today. It made me laugh and it made me think. I amnot a Biblical Scholar and I am not into the whole Prophecy thing, although I do see prphetic signs from scripture daily. But I was just wondring, do we ever take what God has given us and used it for unhealthy purposes?

Hope anyone who reads this gets, at least, a kick out it:

When I bought my Blackberry, I thought about the 30-year business I ran with 1800 employees, all without a cell phone that plays music, takes videos, pictures and communicates with Facebook and Twitter. I signed up under duress for Twitter and Facebook, so my seven kids, their spouses, 13 grandkids and 2 great grand kids could communicate with me in the modern way. I figured I could handle something as simple as Twitter with only 140 characters of space.


That was before one of my grandkids hooked me up for Tweeter, Tweetree, Twhirl, Twitterfon, Tweetie and Twittererific Tweetdeck, Twitpix and something that sends every message to my cell phone and every other program within the texting world.


My phone was beeping every three minutes with the details of everything except the bowel movements of the entire next generation. I am not ready to live like this. I keep my cell phone in the garage in my golf bag.


The kids bought me a GPS for my last birthday because they say I get lost every now and then going over to the grocery store or library. I keep that in a box under my tool bench with the Blue tooth [it's red] phone I am supposed to use when I drive. I wore it once and was standing in line at Barnes and Noble talking to my wife and everyone in the nearest 50 yards was glaring at me. I had to take my hearing aid out to use it, and I got a little loud.


I mean the GPS looked pretty smart on my dash board, but the lady inside that gadget was the most annoying, rudest person I had run into in a long time. Every 10 minutes, she would sarcastically say, "Re-calc-u-lating." You would think that she could be nicer. It was like she could barely tolerate me. She would let go with a deep sigh and then tell me to make a U-turn at the next light. Then if I made a right turn instead. Well, it was not a good relationship.


When I get really lost now, I call my wife and tell her the name of the cross streets and while she is starting to develop the same tone as Gypsy, the GPS lady, at least she loves me.


To be perfectly frank, I am still trying to learn how to use the cordless phones in our house. We have had them for 4 years, but I still haven't figured out how I can lose three phones all at once and have run around digging under chair cushions and checking bathrooms and the dirty laundry baskets when the phone rings.


The world is just getting too complex for me. They even mess me up every time I go to the grocery store. You would think they could settle on something themselves but this sudden "Paper or Plastic?" every time I check out just knocks me for a loop. I bought some of those cloth reusable bags to avoid looking confused, but I never remember to take them in with me.


Now I toss it back to them. When they ask me, "Paper or Plastic?" I just say, "Doesn't matter to me. I am bi-sacksual." Then it's their turn to stare at me with a blank look. I was recently asked if I tweet. I answered, No, but I do toot a lot."


P.S. I know some of you are not over 60. I sent it to you to allow you to forward it to those who are. Us senior citizens don't need anymore gadgets. The tv remote and the garage door remote are about all we can handle.

IF A BLOG ISPOSTED, AND NO ONE READS IT, IS IT STILL A BLOG?

This is a picture of pretty toilet paper covers. You see, they go over an extra roll to be put on a shelf or a sink or a counter top in the bathroom.


Remember the old question about the tree falling in the forest and if no one hears it, does it still make noise? I know there is another question about the forest, something about where a bear relieves himself. The Charmin people seem to think that bears use their product exclusively for their bathroom needs.

That led me to think about this blog. Or any blog. or any comment I may add to any blog. I ask myself this question....... If I post on this blog and no body reads it, is this still a blog? Partially out of ego and partially out of going back to the beginning of this blog, my answer to the question is, Yes, it is still a blog.

There is no duty by anyone to read someone else's blog. There is no law that says anyone needs to respond to a posting on a blog. And there is no reason for anyone to think they need to care about any one's blog.

From the beginning, I had the idea that this was mainly for me. Most would not agree with much of what I would have to say anyway. Anytime I have tried journally, I have had in the back of my mind that I will write in this journal things I know others will read. So I need to write what others want me to say. Not so with a blog. I can write what I feel I want to say and not have the fear of anyone reading it and being offended. So maybe I should treat my blog as a journal. Write what I think, feel, believe, etc and not worry about offending any one.

Bears dont worry about where they relieve themselves, maybe I should not worry about what I put out in this blog either.

GOOD BYE COYOTE

Sometimes it is time to break ties with an old friend because what they are doing is just not healthy. Staying with them would cause persoanl, physical or spiritual harm. You will miss the times you spent with them but the decisions they have made in their life just can not mesh with the direction you have chosen for yourself.

Today I had to do something I never thought I would do. Somehow, I thought we would be together forever. We would both grow old together, enjoying each other's company and love our time together. This morning, I started my car and the radio was dialed into 95.5. Aw, KYOT, the coyote, how we have enjoyed the years. I have been concerned by the subtle changes you have gone through. My concerns have played out we have not been able to be as close as we had been in the past 16 or 17 years.

Today, I removed 95.5 from my car radio pre-sets. Don't ask me what I replaced it with. For this is not about me, it is about my dear friend, the coyote. It has turned into, are you ready for this, because we all know we need a new hip hop station, "the new sound" which is the old school sound. Will Smith was rapping, followed by Peaches and Herb, not even the original Peach either.

Nick Francis, I have two words, run away. As much as I appreciate listening to Quiet Music on Sunday mornings on my way to church, I feel so bad that you are associated with this awful turn of events. But, you already knew about this company.

So I say, good bye coyote, we did have some good times.