Kaleidoscope

June 19, 2014

Financial Advise From Jed Clampett?

Well, here's an unlikely source of good financial advise--but good financial advise it is! 21st-century Americans would do well to be as content financially as ole Jed. This is one of my favorite scenes from the old show, The Beverly Hillbillys.

June 4, 2014

Running the Race

"Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it (1 Cor 9:24-25).

". . .let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, . . ." (Heb 12:1-3).

Here's a story that puts these verses in perspective.

The Future Forecasted in the Past

Some old pictures iconically point toward the future, and this is one of them. It's Winter, around 1971. I'm taking the picture (the shadow), and my 3 little brothers are working on our new "recreation room" (my grandfather and stepfather's do-it-yourself project). From the time we were very little, all 4 of us were ever surrounded by tools (ladders, hammers, and wheelbarrows), as well as construction projects. All 3 of my little brothers ended up making a living via construction, and I went on to tackle numerous DIY construction projects of my own--as well as being the family member who usually takes the family pictures.

March 12, 2014

Death and Dying and God

    In the last sixteen months, four members of my family died (a stepfather, two brothers, and an uncle). All of them were critical influences in my life, and each of their deaths was a blow that left me reeling. Death is daunting, especially when it comes rudely knocking on my household's door.
    While it may be stating the obvious, death is certain for everyone, a fact easily acknowledged but hard to face squarely. Moreover, none of us knows whether we have one day left in this life or many. So, like everyone else, I don't like the thought of facing the certainty of my death, nor facing the certain death of anyone I love. Nonetheless, a death-date awaits every single one of us, and how we live our lives between now and then matters. Every nanosecond matters. After all, everyone wants to live well, and everyone wants to die well too.
    Death and dying and God all give rise to a lot of opinions, religious and otherwise. And, many people in our relativistic culture believe God is whatever they imagine Him to be (or not to be), and what happens amid death and dying is considered the same, involving whatever chemistry of imagined "realities" a person conjures up.
    However, this is both illogical and irrational; all such "truths" simply can't all be true. Think about it. Does God just magically become what each individual person imagines? No. Do death and dying just magically transform into each individual's imagined perception of what they involve? No. Thus, such relativistic "truth" isn't really very comforting at all; its merely a coping mechanism that sadly reflects our depth of denial and distance from God. Upfront, relativism sounds good in theory, as a basis of civility and tolerance, but, in reality, it lacks serious answers to many of life's most pressing problems (e.g. death, dying, God, meaning, evil, and pain).
    Hence, truth about death and dying and God must be pursued outside ourselves, and only the Scriptures can adequately inform us in these matters. Don't drink the relativistic Kool-Aid, even if its vogue among the intelligentsia of our day. Such "experts" (religious or otherwise) will offer you no real answers to death and dying and God. Bottom line, you can't learn to live or die well from these sorry sources. True faith isn't a blind, relativistic leap in the dark, it's an informed, absolute leap in the light, the light of God's revealed will in the reliable Scriptures.

"Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades" (Rev 1:17-18).

July 3, 2013

Quite An Imagination

Today, Debbie and I watched our grandchildren, Quincy and Hudson. While Quincy was playing, I modified one of the animal toys, putting a pig's head on the body of a horse (picture below). Afterward, I put it among the other toys Quincy was playing with to see how she would react. When she discovered it, she was surprised and curious, asking me what it was and where it came from (her reaction was ridiculously cute). I told her it was a "porse," and her imagination ran away with it; we had a lot of fun in the making of her story about the porse (watch the video below).

The "Porse"

The Old Man, the Train, the Carriage & the Porse

April 2, 2013

Quite An Easter!

This past Easter Sunday was quite an experience.

The following pictures tell the unusual tale.

Easter eggs were hidden and hunted . . .

And, Easter eggs were found . . .

Papa gotta a sun burn . . .

And, Sam had an unusual spiritual epiphany . . .

Bryan prayed, and Karen lit up . . .

Karen seemed to be transfigured right in front of us!

January 10, 2013

Inspiring Flash Mob

Check out this classy Italian flash mob. It brightened my day.

September 10, 2012

Parent Rap

This is very creative. It is a must see for parents.

September 3, 2012

2012 Labor Day Tour de Tortoise

Today ole Debz and I took on quite a challenge, an 18 mile bike ride. I called it the "2012 Labor Day Tour de Tortoise." I was the tortoise and Debz was the hare, but, in the end, the tortoise won, because he didn't crash. We had a number of senior moments. Here are some highlights of our adventures on the Millcreek Streamway Park path.