Christmas Spirit Stops the War

British–German truce

The truce began on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1914, when German troops began decorating the area around their trenches in the region of Ypres, Belgium, for Christmas. They began by placing candles on trees, then continued the celebration by singing Christmas carols, most notably Stille Nacht (Silent Night). The Scottish troops in the trenches across from them responded by singing English carols.
The two sides continued by shouting Christmas greetings to each other. Soon thereafter, there were calls for visits across the "No Man's Land" where small gifts were exchanged — whisky, jam, cigars, chocolate, and the like. The soldiers exchanged gifts, sometimes addresses, and drank together. The artillery in the region fell silent that night. The truce also allowed a breathing spell where recently-fallen soldiers could be brought back behind their lines by burial parties. Proper burials took place as soldiers from both sides mourned the dead together and paid their respects. At one funeral in No Man's Land, soldiers from both sides gathered and read a passage from the 23rd Psalm:
The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.
The truce spread to other areas of the lines, and there are many stories of football matches between the opposing forces.
In many sectors, the truce lasted through Christmas night, but in some areas, it continued until New Year's Day.
The truce occurred in spite of opposition at higher levels of the military. Earlier in the autumn, a call by Pope Benedict XV for an official truce between the warring governments had been ignored.
British commanders Sir John French and Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien vowed that no such truce would be allowed again, although both had left command before Christmas 1915. In all of the following years of the war, artillery bombardments were ordered on Christmas Eve to ensure that there were no further lulls in the combat. Troops were also rotated through various sectors of the front to prevent them from becoming overly familiar with the enemy. Despite those measures, there were a few friendly encounters between enemy soldiers, but on a much smaller scale than in 1914.

Dead Squirrel

I have decided to give in to the pressure of my family and at least trim my facial hair. I have been growing a beard (gotee) for about two months and it is getting into the fringe of being socially unacceptable. My wife has been saying it looks like I have a dead squirrel on my face and of course my kids thinks that is the funniest saying anyone could possible say about someones face.

So, under great pressure and with sadness, I will at least trim my gotee and be again accepted by society or at least my family.

Now my wife will have to find some other minor item about me that she feels needs fixing and make that her new life's goal.

It is with great regret that I say good by to my DEAD SQUIRREL.

The Best Wrestle Match Ever.

Once upon a time there was a little girl
and her two little brothers.
They both love her father dearly.
They would wrestle all day and night.
One day dad said ‘lets stop I am tired’.
So they stopped and the children said thanks for wrestling.
They all lived happily ever after.
By the way the kids won.

Author - 9 year old daughter

The Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. I have Holy Spirit power. The die has been cast. I’ve stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.
I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure.
I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded.
I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, live by prayer, and labor by power.
My face is set, my fait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear.
I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed.
I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up, or slow up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, paid up, stored up, and stayed up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops.

And when He comes to get His own, He’ll have no problems recognizing me.
My colors will be clear!"
Author Unknown

Uncle Jerry

My uncle Jerry died this past week and he was my last living uncle. I was sad from his death, but not due to usual reasons, but from thinking that he wasted his life. He died a drunk alone with no family members at his side. I know that he did not have a realtionship with his only son and that he was divorced from his last wife. My only memories of Uncle Jerry was of him drinking and or being drunk. He was a small man and always had a large beer gut. Just like my other uncle, who died in a gutter drunk, they both seemed to try and drink their lives away. I guess they both finally succeeded.


My brother told me that he thinks Uncle Jerry went to church some before he died, so I take some peace in thinking that he accepted Jesus Christ as his lord and savior and is in heaven. I know that any place in Heaven is better than the best place here on Earth, so that gives me comfort.


Alcohol has stolen too much from my extended family, I pray that the vicious cycle is broken and the curse is removed.

Security is a kind of death

Security is a kind of death – Tennessee Williams

I believe we all block God’s direction for our lives due to our secure lives and fear of change. I believe that most of us, myself included, do not change due to our lives as we are living them are secure, comfortable, and manageable. I also believe that God wants more for each of us and because of our free will we refuse to follow his path. We fear cahnge more than a wasted life. That due to our secure existence we keep doing the same thing everyday and don’t even question the hamster wheel we are running on. We keep going through the motions of surviving the best we know how and don't even know why. Like a hamster on a wheel a lot of effort, but that effort doesn't get us anywhere. We wake up one day and we are old and realize that our lives are over and question what we did with the most precious gift God has given us - our life.

I’m not criticizing anyone, I just feel that in my heart God has a plan for me, it could be small or it could be large, but God does have a plan. I feel that it is my responsibility to open my heart up to God’s plan and live my destiny. To move confidently in God's directed story of my life.

But before I go further I also believe that it is my responsibility to care for those who God has entrusted in my care, my wife and my children. Following God’s plan doesn’t give me the right to quit my job and not care for my family. It doesn’t give me the right not to pay my bills and or disobey the laws of our government.

I believe that if you follow God’s plan for you life, you and your loved ones will be cared for along that wonderful journey of a live well lived.

How can I find out what God’s plan is for my life? I believe the following things must be done in order to know what direction we must travel in our lives to live God’s destiny for his children.

1) Believe that God has a plan and that God loves his children
2) Pray, read the bible, meditate, and listen for God’s direction

If we have faith and make the first step for God, I believe like doing anything in life with practice comes proficiency. I also believe that God can speak to us through many different ways;

1) Chance meeting
2) Television shows
3) Church sermon
4) Individuals in our lives
5) Articles we read
6) Gut feelings
7) Ideas

All of the signs are probable around us all the time, but we have not opened our hearts to hear and receive God’s direction. I plan on moving out of my comfort zone and pray for faith and direction in my life. Once my heart knows God’s plan, I will pray that my head listens to my heart, and finally that my feet move in that direction.

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all – Helen Keller

Bobcat

I got to enjoy a fun filled weekend with my family camping. This was primitive tent camping. It was for my oldest son's tiger scout camping with pack 31. What a great time, there was an olympic style game for the scouts, great food, and socializing for all the other family members.

At the olypmic games my son's team did very well and ended up placing first and winning the gold medal. He was very excited and in some of the events, even thought he was the youngest member of the team, he actually had the high score for his team in certain events. This whole process really impressed me by how the kids in the cub scouts worked together and how some of the older members showed very good leadership and helped the younger kids.

Also, at this weekend camping trip, my son was awarded the Bobcat patch, it is the first ranking that a cub scout obtains. They had a ceremony with a real stuffed Bobcat and they also painted the boys face with two colors of paint. I believe the colors were blue and gold. The first stood for honesty and purity and the second stood for doing what is right. I don't know if that is exactly correct, but it is close.

My whole family has a greater appreciation for the cub scouts and we all look forward to many more memorial moments with my son in the cub scouts.

Moral Compass

In the 2008 election for presidency, I believe you should vote with your morals and not with your mind. I believe that our minds can be tricked by the latest brainwashing and or by the double talk of career politicians. But our moral compass is unchanging, it does not get blown around by the hot air coming from politicians mouths when they speak. It is your values that matter most, not the easy road, but the high road. Don't be deceived by false promises and comfortable lies that they candidiates repeatedly tell us during their sound bits.

McCain and Obama both will say and do about anything to get elected. Neither of them really taking a stand for what they truly believe, but both trying to get the middle of the pack votes and win. I think that both candidates are more alike then different and that the one item that matters to me the most is abortion.

Both candidates have week stances on abortion, but at least with McCain we have some chance of stopping this morally wrong act. I don't pretend to take the high road and I certainly don't pretend to have lived a righteous life. On the contrary I have lived a morally corrupt life, that is before I accepted Jesus Christ as my lord and savior.

Now I have the Holy Bible and the Holy Spirit to guide me in my life. They are unwavering compasses that will show anyone how to live, and how to travel through this journey we call life. So, I must vote for McCain because of the abortion issue along with other character issues associated with Obama. I believe that both will enlarge government and both will increase our taxes, but with McCain we have a chance of stopping abortion and I believe he has shown higher character over a longer period of time.

I will vote for McCain and I hope you pray and vote what your moral compass is telling you.

God Bless the USA

Dream Big

I have been worried lately that I have forgot how to dream big. How to look to the stars and decide I'm going to touch one, how to let my imagination run free and be unhindered by life's rules. To look towards the future with anticipation and eagerness that only hope and mystery of the future brings.

I have been praying on this lately and I feel that I lack faith. That I lack faith in Jesus Christ and his ability to do anything as long as I have faith as small as a mustard seed. This sounds easy, but to have faith one must be able to walk outside their comfort area without any guarantees and plod forward knowing God's will, will be done. To have the courage to step out of the boat and onto the crashing waves and walk to Jesus.

I shall pray and fill my heart with big God plans and then move forward through faith that His plan will be done. Move forward that a life of purpose and meaning is not only possible, but it is mandatory for all followers of Jesus Christ. I shall - Dream Big - Live Big - Love Big

Childrens Examples

I have had the privilege to watch my youngest daughter reading to her younger brothers. She was not asked to do this, she just did this kind act out of love for her brothers. The two younger brothers ages 4 and 6 sat quietly and listened as my 9 year old daughter sped read them several books. She is a very good reader and has a tendency of reading at a very fast pace. The picture of them reading and listening together was truly a gift from God.

Giving of yourself for others and not expecting anything in return is an act of love. To do a kind act just for the sake of helping others is true love. If only I can do more acts of kindness and do selfless things for others, then I will be showing love for my neighbors.

It's easy to love God, but it is not as easy to lose oneself for others. This reminds me of the following passage:

Matthew 18:3 NIV

" I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

I hope I do acts of love every day for others and learn to love like little children.

700 Billion

The government proposed bailout of 700 billion for Wall street institutions, just seems to smell to me. I do not understand why we must bail out corrupt institutions and save their companies when they made the mistakes that made their balance sheets loaded with bad debt. I know when an individual is loaded with bad debt, they have really only two choices, pay the debt or go into bankruptcy. I believe we should try and pay our debts when it is possible but sometimes the debt load is too large and bankruptcy is the only choice. These individuals experinece pain for their bad decisions no matter which option they choose. Not, have someone pay them for their bad debt and let them off the hook without any discomfort.

So, why is it that we must pay with our taxes the debt of rich men's corporations? They say if we don't that the whole economy will collapse. That every business will not be able to get credit and money. Will I disagree, 99% of all businesses in this country are small businesses and the majority of those small business are ran day by day with a line of credit already established and or cash that the Owner has saved through good business practices.

So, the only institutions that may go under are the large corrupt Wall street banks or the weak small businesses that will fail due to a bad business plan anyway. I'm sure there will be pain, but we must make a stand and finally do what is right. Not, borrow against future generations to pay off the mistakes of our government, but to let the chips fall were they may and then sweep up the broken pieces.

I believe if we need to we should take the 700 Billion and use it to help anyone who needs food to survive. Use 700 billion for unemployment insurance, for aid, for compassion to help the people of this great country who may need help during a downturn in this economy. I'm sure the pain will be felt at the bottom the most, it always is, but I also feel it will strengthen the resolve of the American citizen and we will finally have the fortitude to vote honest servants to the government to do the will of the people and not the will of special interest groups.

I'm sure congress and the president will vote some bailout for these corrupt companies and it may smooth things over for awhile, but this is just a sugar pill for the cause and unless we cure the disease of corruption and greed in government and big business; we will not cure the patient (Our Great Country).

Call your Congressman, Senator, and or President and tell them what you think, for once maybe they will listen.

EMAIL YOUR CONGRESSPERSON NOW

God Bless America and God Bless our families.

Look above to see within

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will
find it.

Matthew 10:39 NIV

If your first concern is to look after yourself, you'll never find
yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you'll
find both yourself and me.

Matthew 10:39 MSG

I had a hard time with this passage for a long time, but then it came to me what this means;

Look first for God and through that journey of discovering God you will also discover yourself.

I shortened this thought even further to the following:

Look above to see within!

This passage has meant so much to me and has helped me let go of my old ways and embrace the new ways of this walk with Jesus Christ. I'm no longer losing something by letting go of the past ways of my life, but I'm gaining everything through Jesus Christ who strengthens and enlightens me. My joy now is greater than at anytime in my past life. My life is not easier, but my joy is greater.

Listen to Win

I have set through a lot of meetings and negotiations due to my work over the years. During all of these interactions with other individuals, I have slowly been realizing that as I listen I learn. As I learn I understand and as I understand I can usually resolve the interaction in a win-win solution.

What I mean is that every time I set in a meeting and or start a negotiation I have an agenda. This is not a written agenda, but a list of wants and or needs in my mind that I need to get accomplished. Usually this means getting something done for a certain price and or getting something done during a certain time frame for a specific project. Previously I ignored the other persons needs and or wants and tried through manipulation to get what I wanted. Lately, I have realized that if I can find out what the other persons motivations are I can usually work out a deal that all parties involved will walk away with a win or at least a compromise that is the best for all involved.

I have found out through years of meetings and discussions that if I can understand the other persons reasons, I can usually explain my reasons and together the compromise can be reached. I know this has been written in numerous books over the years and I'm sure I have read it many times before, but until the light goes off in your head it is just words on a page. To me they are no longer words on a page but a well ingrained lesson. I will always pray to God that I first try to understand and then try to solve and with God's blessing I will always reach a win-win for all involved.

Never Rush - Just Live

Life is a journey to be enjoyed and not rushed. Every moment cherished and taken in by every one of our five senses that our body possesses. Each day is truly a present and not to enjoy every moment of every day is a wasted life. This is the one thing I fear more than anything else in this world, A WASTED LIFE.

I wish I lived my life that way, but the truth is I get too bogged down by doing task as fast as possible until the day, week, month, year, and finally my life is over. I seem to be checking things off my to do list so quickly that I can not slow down to enjoy the moment. The few times my mind gets distracted by the beauty all around me and I take a moment to really live and enjoy what is happening at that point in time, I resist the gift and get right back to the mundane task at hand.

Enough is enough, I will slow down and enjoy the trip more than the destination. I will enjoy eating healthy and not worry about losing weight. I will enjoy exercising and not worry about if I'm in shape. I will enjoy saving money and not worry if I'm debt free. I will enjoy the moment and not worry about the future. I will enjoy my time at the moment and give the only thing I can not make more of, my time.

I will give my time to those I love, my family, my friends, and my neighbors. It is stated best in
Luke 6:38

Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

So, as I give more of my most precious asset to those I love, they will give that most precious asset back to me, their time.

Failure Leads to Success

I watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with my children and this song struck a cord with me, so I looked up the lyrics. So, if we fail try, try, and try again.

- The Roses of Success Lyrics from the Movie Chitty Chitty bang bang Every bursted bubble has a glory! Each abysmal failure makes a point! Every glowing path that goes astray, Shows you how to find a better way. So every time you stumble never grumble. Next time you'll bumble even less! For up from the ashes, up from the ashes, grow the roses of success! Grow the roses! Grow the roses! Grow the roses of success! Oh yes! Grow the roses! Those rosy roses! From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success! (spoken)Yes I know but he wants it to float. It will! For every big mistake you make be grateful! Here, here! That mistake you'll never make again! No sir! Every shiny dream that fades and dies, Generates the steam for two more tries! (Oh) There's magic in the wake of a fiasco! Correct! It gives you that chance to second guess! Oh yes! Then up from the ashes, up from the ashes grow the roses of success! Grow the roses! Grow the roses! Grow the roses of success! Grow the roses! Those rosy roses! From the ashes of disaster grow the roses of success! Disaster didn't stymie Louis Pasteur! No sir! Edison took years to see the light! Right! Alexander Graham knew failure well; he took a lot of knocks to ring that bell! So when it gets distressing it's a blessing! Onward and upward you must press! Yes, Yes! Till up from the ashes, up from the ashes grow the roses of success. Grow the ro Grow the ro Grow the roses! Grow the ro Grow the ro Grow the roses! Grow the roses of success! Grow the ro Grow the ro Grow the roses! Those rosy ro Those rosy ro Those rosy roses! From the ashes of disaster, grow the roses of success! Start the engines! Success! Batten the hatches! Success! Man the shrouds! Lift the anchor! Success!

Lighten up because you know you like this movie and this song.

Halftime

I feel like I'm at a point in my life where I have played the first half of football and I'm now in the locker room waiting for my coaches motivational speech to prepare me for the second half of my life. If I was to recap my play during the first half of the game it would go something like this:

I struggled mightily during the first half of the game and I'm still in it. I'm behind, but victory is well within reach. The first quarter I was overwhelmed and ill prepared for what the game was going to throw at me and I got knocked back on my heels, but survived by pure determination. The second quarter I was tired and a little more savvy to life and its game and instead of using pure determination, I used cunning and trickery to score points. Every play in the first half was a hell Mary play and I scored some, but most of the time the trickery didn't work.

But at halftime, I'm still behind in this game called life, I have taken a beating during some plays, but I have faith that the coach will give me a game plan to come out and finish the game as a victor.

Well I don't have a coach and this isn't a game, it is my life. I do have a play book and a coach who wants the best for me. The play book is the Bible and my coach is God. The half time speech has worked and I'm ready for the second half of the game called life. The speech of course was me being saved and accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Master.

I went into the locker room beat up and dreading what lied ahead and came out rejuvenated and eagerly awaiting the second half journey. I now have the game plan (Bible) that I need and the power (God) to succeed and win the second half. Life just like football takes a great coach and a great game plan to succeed. I will take each day as outlined by God in my game plan and eagerly await the next play. I will execute the game plan by faith knowing that the path I'm directed to is the only way to live a life that matters.

I'm excited about the possibility of the second half of my life and I have hope and more importantly dreams of what a fully lived life will be like. Your either hurrying up to live or hurrying up to die, I plan on living.

Good Habits

This is the final blog about character. Search my blogs by topic - character - and you will see all of my posts concerning this trait.

Habits are not something we are born with, but they are developed through effort and repetition. I believe a couple of quotes below says how habits are created best:

Be careful of your thoughts, for they become words.
Be careful of your words, for they become actions.
Be careful of your actions, for they become HABITS.
Be careful of your habits, for they become your character.
Be careful of your character, for it becomes your destiny. Author Unknown

The second half of a man's life is made up of nothing but the habits he has
acquired during the first half. ~Feodor Dostoevski

Men's natures are alike; it is their habits that separate them.
~Confucius

Loyalty

Loyalty is faithfulness or a devotion to a person or cause as defined by Wikipedia.

I believe that loyalty should be held for many things, but those things definitely have a hierarchical level of importance. See below how I would rate my loyalty:

1. God
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Country
5. Job

By having in my heart what is most important and so on, it makes my quick decisions easier and avoids having confusion on where my loyalties should lie. I shall endeavor to never forget where my loyalties lie.

Honesty

Honesty is the human quality of communicating and acting truthfully related
to truth as a value. This includes listening, and any action in the human
repertoire — as well as speaking as defined by Wikipedia.

I have for many years given it no thought as to weather I was telling the truth and or a lie, the only thing I wanted was the easiest path. I no longer believe that and understand how important it is for someone to be completely honest. I strive in everything I do to tell the truth.
Where I think I come up short is not so much the spoken word as the unspoken words that I have. I will not tell someone everything I know in order to avoid conflict, hurt, etc. I have thought about this more and I will strive to be 100% honest in all my dealings. No white lies, no half truths, no easy paths, only the truth as I know it.


Being a man of character is the not the easy path, but it is the path I must travel.

If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything. ~Mark Twain

A half truth is a whole lie. ~Yiddish Proverb

Honesty is the first chapter of the book of wisdom. ~Thomas
Jefferson

The cruelest lies are often told in silence. ~Adlai Stevenson

Fortitude

It could be defined as: Strength of mind that allows one to endure pain or adversity with courage.

To have fortitude one must have no doubt as to what is important, one must have unwavering faith as to what is at the core of their belief. I believe that in order for someone to have unwavering faith deep to their core they must use the only book that can give us that belief. The only book that has all the answers and shows what the rewards will be of having that unwavering faith, the Bible.

Since, I have been reading and praying on the words of God written in the Bible, I have started to see what really matters. What at my core I should hold as important. The bible gives me those answers. Knowing that my beliefs are in line with God's words makes it easier to have fortitude, because it it is mot me, but God who strengthens me at all times.

The strength to keep on the straight line, the correct path that my accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Master has started me on.

Fortitude is the marshal of thought, the armor of the will, and the fort of reason.

Francis Bacon

Fortitude is the guard and support of the other virtues.

John Locke

Courage

Courage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity, and fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. "Physical courage" is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, or threat of death, while "moral courage" is the courage to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement as defined by Wikipedia.

So, to me courage is the ability to do what is right even if it means physical and or mental pain. It means telling a friend or loved one that they are wrong if their idea or comments differ from your moral compass. I know I have not always been courageous in telling other people that I disagree with their comments, etc. Usually, I do not give any encouraging comments and or that I agree with their comments. Most of the time I do not come right out and tell them that I disagree and that I feel they are wrong.

I must speak what I feel is right and not be silent. I will try to be courageous in my convictions and live a life that I know I'm suppose to live.

Courage is the ladder on which all the other virtues mount.

Clare Booth Luce

Conscience is the root of all true courage; if a man would be brave let him obey his conscience.

James Freeman Clarke

I believe our conscience is God talking to us through or inner voice.

Integrity

Integrity is the concept of basing of one's actions on an internally consistent framework of principles as defined by Wikipedia.

This is so much more profound to me now that I have a guide to help me with my principles. What I mean is that I wondered aimlessly for most of my life until I became a Christian and now I have the Bible as my guide. This has given me a strong foundation for all my decisions, it has firmly planted my feet on stable ground. This is the greatest reference book ever written and all decisions and or questions are contained withing its words. So, using the Bible as my framework, I try and base all my decision and actions on its words.


A "No" uttered from deepest conviction is better and greater than a "Yes" merely uttered to please, or what is worse, to avoid trouble. Mahatma Gandhi

A man, after he has brushed off the dust and chips of his life, will have left only the hard, clean question: Was it good or was it evil? Have I done well - or ill? John Steinbeck

Character

Wikipedia defines it as:

Moral character or character is an evaluation of an individuals moral qualities. The concept of character can imply a variety of attributes including the existence or lack of virtues such as integrity, courage, fortitude, honesty, and loyalty, or of good behaviors or habits.

So, Good Character in a person can be defined as a person having the following traits:

• Integrity
• Courage
• Fortitude
• Honesty
• Loyalty
• Good Behaviors and or Habits

I believe that character is what defines a person. I believe that these are more than just words, these are the traits that we should strive to live by. I believe that a person of high moral character is a person to be admired. I believe we should live a great life and achieve great things, but we should do it while upholding our high moral character. We should do it by taking the road less traveled, by taking the high road.

I will be talking about each trait listed above in greater detail in future blogs. I will end this blog with a quote from the United States Air Force Academy

We define character as the sum of those qualities of moral excellence that stimulates a person to do the right thing, which is manifested through right and proper actions despite internal or external pressures to the contrary.

Man in The Mirror

When you get what you want in your struggle for pelf,
And the world makes you King for a day,
Then go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that guy has to say.

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

He's the feller to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end,
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend.

You may be like Jack Horner and "chisel" a plum,
And think you're a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum
If you can't look him straight in the eye.

You can fool the whole world down the pathway of years,
And get pats on the back as you pass,
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you've cheated the guy in the glass.

Dale Wimbrow 1895-1954

Brother and Sisters

I have been blessed in my life to be the youngest child in a family of six. Throughout my life they have all played an influential part at different stages of my journey. They each seemed to help me with their God given gifts at the right time and when I needed it the most.

During different times of my life and during different struggles my brothers and sisters each seemed to take a role in helping me along with my life issues. As a young boy and into my teenage years my Oldest sister gave me a glance of a better life and it opened my eyes to the world outside of my small town. I had never been on a family vacation that I could remember and at age 14 she took me to Hilton Head, South Carolina. I swam in the ocean for the first time and stayed in a hotel and condo. This was a small act of kindness, but a major life event to a young teenage boy. As I became old enough to drive, my oldest brother became influential in my life by helping me get my first car. He taught me how to work on cars, but more importantly he taught me that I could do anything that I wanted to do. All I had to do was just start doing it and I could figure it out as I go. This has been an extremely important life lesson that I have been able to use over and over in my life. During a lonely time in my life my sister (youngest sister) helped me in two critical times of my life. In my first year of college I was having a hard time with keeping my grades up and completing the requirements. I was 21 years of age and had went into the service out of high school and then went on to college. I felt that I was not going to be able to do it and that I was too old to finish my education. She talked me into staying and completing the 5 year degree. She did that by telling me that I was going to be 26 no matter what and that I might as well have a degree at 26 then be 26 without a degree. It seems like a little thing, but It was the motivation I needed to finish that freshman year and finish my degree. A short time after graduation I was going through another very tough time in my life and that same sister gave me motivational cassette tapes. It was a small gesture but a large influence in my life. It set me on a path working towards bettering myself both mentally and physically that continues on even to this day. My middle sister played an almost immeasurable part of my life by just loving me unconditionally and never judging me. No matter what had happened in my life and or what I needed she always showed that she truly cared and loved her little brother. I didn't know how it was a truly helpful thing until later in my life. Finally, my oldest brother becoming a Christian and showing me through his faith that it is okay to be a Christian man helped me immensely when I felt Jesus pulling at my heart strings and I accepted Jesus Christ as my savior.

My brothers and sisters have helped their baby brother in more ways then they could have ever have known. I have grown to appreciate them more in my older age than I ever did when they I was young and they have influenced my life in so many positive ways.

I hope when they think about their youngest brother they realize that their love and acts if kindness has helped create the person I'm today.

The Buzzard, the Bat, and the Bumblebee

THE BUZZARD:
If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit, it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner for life in a small jail with no top.
THE BAT:
The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully, until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like a flash.
THE BUMBLEBEE:
A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys itself.
PEOPLE:
In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look up!Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.

Today is God's gift, that's why we call it the present.

Anonymous Email

Stop and Smell the Roses

Someone I work with today told me that their son-in-law died Sunday of a blood clot. This was a sudden and unexpected death. Other than thinking about the anguish and sorrow that his family will feel for the lost loved one, I found my thoughts thinking about slowing down and appreciating my own life. What I mean is that we all need to "Stop and Smell the Roses", we need to treat each day as if it is our last. Because only the good Lord knows how many days we have left in this life. We seem to get concerned about so many petty things that in the scheme of the big picture just do not matter. The only thing that really matters is to:

Mark 12:30 NIV

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. 'The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these."

That is really all that matters, not what are we wearing, not if I will get my work completed, not if I can pay my bills this month, all that matters is to love one another and love God.

Who are we to worry, we do not even know if we will be alive tomorrow, so kiss your loved ones often and enjoy the day that the good Lord has made.

Yard Work

I have never enjoyed yard work, mostly because I'm always busy and yard work is way down my list of important items. But I have avoided the mundane task long enough and it is time to get my yard back into some shape of decency. I must:

• Fix the hole at the bottom of the fence, the dogs are escaping from the yard
• Fill in the holes the dogs have dug in the middle of teh yard, some are so deep they are front row seats to the Beijing Olympics
• Move and stack some lumber

As I was doing the yard work, I decided that instead of looking at it like it is a hated task to be despised, I would treat it as a good time to exercise and enjoy the outdoors. With this new mind set I began my chores. I was completely covered in sweat from the hot and humid deep South day and I felt good about my work. Instead of having grumblings inside about having to do something I don't like I enjoyed it and treated it as a chance to get a physical workout outside.

It is amazing how something is perceived and how we feel about it all depending on our mindset. I know I wont be able to do only things I enjoy in life, but I will try and make the best of it and give thanks to God for the day I'm living.

Precious Time

I have been wasting the most precious thing God can give one of his children - Time! I have been going through the motions of life and not really living each day to its fullest. It isn't something that is noticeable to the casual bystander. But, through slow creep I have been using my time as Americans use oil, like there is no end. I have wasted so many of my days and nights either doing something I despise or sitting in front of the TV like a mindless zombie trying to be stimulated. Assuming that watching someone else live on TV is the same as living. I have for the last 20 months once a week had to drive 3 1/2 hours to a project for work. Once there work from 6 - 8 hours and then drive back 3 1/2 hours for a 13 - 15 hour day. This day is grueling, the drive is long and the work is predictable and boring. The whole ordeal drains me for the rest of the night and usually into the next day. I dread the day when I have to go and I try not to think about it. When I do get home I'm usually exhausted and in a bad mood so I'm short with my family. This causes me to feel remorseful for being short with my family and it causes them to be hurt and confused because they do not know why I'm irritable and short with them.

Is it worth it to spend 15 hours a week for 20 months doing something you despise. I mean is it worth (20 months x 4.33 weeks per month x 15 hours per week = 1300 hours) 1300 hours of my life doing this one thing a week that I truly despise. If you think about it, doing a job that is not fulfilling is spending one year wasting 2250 hours of your life. In a normal year you only have (18 hours day x 365 days a year = 6570 waking hours) 6570 waking hours and almost a third of it is at work. How do we go through life squandering the one thing we can never get more of - Time. We can always get more stuff, more money, more whatever, but nobody can get more time. Once our time on Earth is over it is over, why do we waste it?

I can not go on wasting my life, I do not know the plan yet, but through prayer, study, and hard work I will make my plan. Once I have the plan, I will work my plan and create a life that I'm compassionate about living. I know I will succeed because God desires this for his children.

I will not keep doing the same thing and expect different results. I will break my insanity and create a life worth living.

What Really Matters In Life?

I have been thinking about what really matters in life? Is it your job? Is it your family? Is it your religion? Is it your stuff? Is it your health? I guess to a lot of people they may not think that materialistic and or frivolous things are the most important thing to them but it is. What I mean is that I hope most people would say that the following list in descending order is their list of important items:

1. God



2. Health



3. Family



4. Friends



5. Work

We say these things listed above are our most important, but our actions says otherwise. We work long hours at the expense of our family, health, friends, and God. We put friends in front of family and or neglect our health for anything and everything. We rush around all day staying busy and not doing what we is really important. No one has ever said they wished they had spent more time at work and less time with their family, friends, etc. You can love your work, but it should never be greater in your life than God, health, family, and friends.

I feel that we should put God in the forefront of everything we do. Being mind full of our blessing and constantly thinking of and thanking God for the day we are living. We should take care of our health by eating and exercising and resting properly because without our health nothing further down the list matters. We should put our family above all other items except God and fitness, but we don't, we let our family suffer the most when time is tight. We should care about our friends and build meaningful relationships instead we neglect them because of time constraints with work and or other things.

I'm not saying that I prioritize my time to reflect my priority list, more times than not something down the list like work and or even something as wasteful as TV watching takes precedent over time praying, exercising, and even time with my family.

I think I will try to be mindful of what really matters and keep that list of importance in my heart and mind when making my decisions. I will not let an item farther down the list interfere with a item further up the list. I will not let 80 % of the stuff I do interfere with the 20% of the stuff that really matters. (80% - 20% Rule)

Good luck with your time, because all of our days are numbered and only God knows when the curtain will be pulled.

Live everyday to the fullest, but make sure it is lived doing what really matters.

Olympics make me Patriotic

Patriotism - Love of country; devotion to the welfare of one's country; the virtues and actions of a patriot; the passion which inspires one to serve one's country.
Concern for the common good of one's political community.



I can't help but cheer when American athlete's in the 2008 Summer Olympic games do well. I feel good to be an American again (Presidential Race and our energy policy are wearing on my Nerves).

Everyone in my family is yelling and clapping and cheering for the American athletes during the different events. My youngest child always ask which color uniform are the Americans wearing so he can be excited with the rest of the family. We get to watch Michael Phelps, which may be the greatest swimmer of all time, break record after record in his quest to win the most gold medals in a single Olympic game.

What a great time for the world, a small time in history where we all compete against each other in athletic endeavors for bragging rights and not on the battle field or in the courts. When it truly feels like all the different countries and nationality's could live together in this tiny fish bowl we call mother earth.

I know this is a rambling post, but I just wanted to express my Patriotic feeling during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

Go USA!!!

Goals - It is a Marathon not a Sprint

I have been thinking about Goals lately and how exciting it is to make them and how easy it is in the short term to keep working towards those new goals. You feel good about yourself knowing that in due time you will be; thin, in shape, debt free, bilingual, and or anything else that you may seem worthy to achieve.

Than something breaks the new pattern of training, reading, saving or whatever it is that is required to obtain that wanted goal. Business, family, friends, or some other seemingly important thing encroaches on your time and or resources and you quit training, dieting, etc.. Sometimes you get back on track towards the goals but most times the goals fall to the wayside and we revert to our old patterns of living. Time passes and soon another year is gone and we are no closer to achieving our wanted goals than we were at the same time a year ago when we made the goals.

I have some goals that I have been wanting to achieve for some time:

• Lose 20 lbs


• Run a 10k race


• Become Debt Free


• Learn a Second Language

A few are easier than others, but they all share the same characteristic, it takes time to achieve these goals. I didn't get out of shape and gain weight in a day and I won't loose weight and or get back in shape in a day. So, we go out and go hog wild at working towards our goals, we push ourselves, we over exert ourselves and we end up feeling miserable and dreading the next meal and or the next work-out. Than through those unbearable pain glasses we are wearing we start looking at how long it will take and we feel discouraged and quit altogether.

I believe it is all a frame of reference we have in our minds, that if we think about training, dieting, saving, etc., for a whole year we become overwhelmed and think what is the point. I will never be able to do those things and suffer for a whole year and we give up.

I have decided to achieve the following goals in the next year:

• Lose 20lbs


• Run a 10k Race

I choose those two goals from the list above because I feel they are easily achievable in a calender year. I will try a different approach and that approach as Buddha would say is the middle path. (Avoiding the two extremes)

I'm going to change my habits little by little so that the pain is not so great that I quit. I will eat healthier and if I slip, so be it, but I will go back to eating healthy. I won't beat myself up that I had a brownie, but will tell myself that it is okay as long as I don't make it a habit. Same for running, I'm starting out very slow and I will tell myself repeatedly that over time I will be running like the wind.

We all start out too drastic with our goals and that creates too much pain and we end up reverting back to our old ways. I will try and change gradually with a manageable pain threshold and work consistently for the long haul for my goals. Slowly and easily pushing myself so that I enjoy the next year. It may take me twice as long to achieve these goals than if I killed myself, but isn't life as much about the journey as the destination. No matter what and with God's good grace I will be a year older, so as I might as will get there and have something to show for my time on earth.

Wish me luck and forge your own destiny - make and work towards some new goals.

Dream, Act, Work, Live

In my previous blogs concerning work:

Golden Handcuffs
Toil is Meaningless
Just Do What

I talked about how we feel trapped in our current situations and how God wants us to live a full life. How we should have an occupation that gives us pleasure, fulfilment, and joy. In this blog I will be discussing how we might find what that job should be so that we can live a life worth living.

The ideas above have been on my mind for weeks if not months, what to do? I wish I had a template for everyone to plug in some variables and the answer be available at the bottom of the spreadsheet, but I don't. I'm just like everyone else who has ever contemplated and or day dreamed about the perfect day of work.

I read a book called "No More Mondays" by Dan Miller, this really open my mind about possibilities for how to spend 40 - 50 hours a week of my time. (Work is about 40 -50- hours per week every week) In this book Dan talks about all the possibilities that exist in our world for providing an income. He more importantly talks about how we can get to that chosen field with out quiting the job we have now and become financially ruined. That we can break the bondage of the Golden Handcuffs if we believe and act on our dreams. In this book Dan refers to another book he wrote called "48 Days to the Work You Love" I have this book and in the next 48 days I will do the exercises and see where it leads me. I will not be blogging about my journey, unless I feel a certain part of that journey needs to made public.

I hope if you are wondering if there is more to life than the day to day toil you call work that you use these last few blogs as motivation and make the life you deserve.

Dream, Act, and Live!

2008 Olympics - Live Your Dream

Commitment, Passion, Discipline, Determination, Stamina, and Love - Some traits of an Olympic Athlete.

I have never gave myself wholly to any athletic endeavor nor committed my whole life to one pursuit. So, I can not understand the commitment, discipline, and love for something that the Olympic Athletes have for their sport. I'm going to watch the 2008 Olympics to see the triumphs and defeats and to know as I'm watching that all the athletes who are representing their countries are already winners. They have already accomplished more with their life and dreams than 99% of the world's population.

Let's watch and celebrate with the athletes in the 2008 Olympics and be inspired to dream and more importantly to act on our dreams.

LIVE LIFE TO THE FULLEST!

John Edwards - Virtue Sold for Ambition

Virtue is moral excellence of a person. A virtue is a trait valued as being good. The conceptual opposite of virtue is vice.

I know we all make mistakes in our lives and those mistakes can have devastating consequences. It can crush family and friends by the feeling of betrayal, hurt, and sadness. This blog is not about mistakes it is about character and doing the right thing.

John will not be president and or vice president this election year due to his mistakes. That in itself is a large price to pay for his mistake, but the deep wound he cut into his wife and kids hearts is the largest tab he will pay. Remember we reap what we sow:

Galatians 6:7-8 (MSG)

Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

I hope he makes amends with his wife and kids and I hope his wife has a full recovery from her cancer, I wish the best for them and their family.

During this election year, vote for what matters the most to you, and I hope that is a candidate that has VIRTUE.

Live a Virtuous life for yourself, for your family, for your friends, and most importantly for God.

Just Do What ?

Everyone knows about the successful slogan from Nike "Just Do It". The slogan that tells us to get off our rears and get out and do something. It is very catchy and makes a lot of sense, just go out and do something.

This blog is not about sports or leisure activities, but about what do we do for a paycheck. From my previous two blogs, Golden Handcuffs and Toil is Meaningless I talked about why we feel trapped and what God wants for his children. This blog is going to start discussing what that work could be and why it must be.

I believe that it is our God given gift to be satisfied in our work, anything less would be doubting God's greatness and kindness. So, it is a divine right to be satisfied in our work. Therefore, the question of weather we deserve to happy, fulfilled, and satisfied with or jobs is answered - YES!

The bigger question is what type of work and how do we get that job?

The next few blogs I will be exploring what type of work is right for you and why and how we might transition to that career.

Toil Is Meaningless - Find God's Gifts in your Chosen Job

There is a passage in Ecclesiastes that I feel summarizes what God wishes for our toil (work);

Ecclesiastes 2:24 (NIV)

A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God.

Ecclesiastes 2:24 (NLT)

So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God.


Ecclesiastes (NIRV)

A man can't do anything better than eat and drink and be satisfied with his work. I'm finally seeing that those things also come from the hand of God.

As you can see above from the different translations that God wishers for us to enjoy our work. That doesn't mean that we should quit our current jobs and not be a provider for ourselves and our family, but it means that we should find pleasure, fulfilment, and joy in our work.

As my early blog about Golden Handcuffs shows how we are trapped in our work situations, I feel that it is God's intent for us to free ourselves from the Golden Handcuffs and to live a satisfied life. The journey than is finding that work that makes our mind, body, and soul come alive and living the life God wants for all of us.

Golden Handcuffs

Why is it that everyone is paralyzed at the thought of quiting their jobs and doing what they feel want and or dream about doing to earn a living. It seems that everyone does some type of work that they began doing by happenstance. They gave their life occupation no more thought then what can they do to earn the most money at that moment. Then they wake up and realize that they have spent 40 - 50 hours per week for 5 - 10 - 15- 20 or more years doing something they could care less about. They did the work just because the money was good or the job has good benefits. Then they find themselves at a point in their lives were they can't quit the job they hate because the money supports a lifestyle they and their family have become accustomed to living. This is how they end up in Golden Handcuffs with no apparent way out of this day to day routine until their life is over and they pray for the day of retirement.

Golden Handcuffs are when your current income level would be reduced by taking another occupation with entry level pay and you would have to drastically alter you current living conditions for this change.

You make enough money to support your current lifestyle and if you quit or changed occupations than the short term money loss would force your current living standards to change. This fear of change keeps you bound to your current job. So, you can't change jobs, start a new occupation, or new business due to sudden short term monetary factors. LOSS OR REDUCTION OF INCOME!


Where does the Golden Handcuffs get its strength to bind and paralyze the captive:

• Weekly Paycheck - High enough that change downward would be painful


• Home Mortgage - Must be paid every month or lose home


• Car loans - Must be paid every month or lose car


• Eating Out - Makes you feel special, being served


• Leisure Activities - Takes your mind off the dread of another long work week ahead


• Changes to Lifestyle - Fear Paralyzes

It could be any thing that your pay check supports. But, I would say that the strongest and most influencing part of the list above is just the fear of the unknown.

I'm sure when people think about changing jobs and or careers the Devil fills their minds with the following thoughts and fears:

• If it doesn't work out I'll lose everything, my house, my stuff in my house, etc.


• If it doesn't work out people will think I'm a failure


• We will have to move and my kids will have to be displaced from their friends


• Wife tells you to keep working and not fill your head with fanciful thoughts


• Your Mother, Father Brother, Sister, etc. tells you that the economy is too risky right now and it is better to have any job that pays steady and is stable

The reasons could be anything, the point is that everyone is scared to death of change. Change is the unknown, the untried, the area of our life where we have never been.

The only way people make changes in their lives is when the pain is greater than the fear of chnage. I would guess the pain never becomes greater than their fears and people don't change jobs and or career paths.

But I tell you that the risk involved with your job is greater than most people realize. Your job could change in a moment, see an partial list of possible items that could change your life:

• Fired


• Corporate Downsizing


• Company Buy-out


• Corporate Bankruptcy


• Lay offs

It could be any thing of which are not under your control, this to me is scary. The thought of my life changing in an instance due to other peoples decisions and actions and through no control of my own.

So, what do we do, stay where the we know what the pain is of our current occupation where we can tolerate the pain until we have a slow death. Or do we risk the known for the possibility of the unknown and make a change to see if the new life is the life of our dreams. That is the question and that is the key to unlocking the Golden Handcuffs.

"Everything a boy needs to know about becoming a man"

I watched a movie called Second Hand Lions literally a half dozen times by myself and with my kids. I watched this movie numerous times because I really felt compassionate about the message it was sending about living, really living. Another strong part of the movie that really struck a cord with me was the "Everything a boy needs to know about becoming a man" speech. Please see below:




" Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good. That honour, courage and virtue mean everything ; that power and money ... money and power mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil. And I want you to remember this.... that love....true love never dies ! Remember that boy ... remember that. Doesn't matter if it is true or not, a man should believe in those things , because those are the things worth believing in...... got that ? "

Honour, Courage, and Virtue mean everything, that is a life worth living.

Honour is deemed exactly what determines a person's character: whether or not the person reflects honesty, respect, integrity, or fairness.

Courage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity, and fortitude, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation.

Virtue is moral excellence of a person. A virtue is a trait valued as being good.

The more I thought about this the more it made sense that these things really do matter. Some people today may discount such traits in an individual as being useless, but I believe that these are the traits that make a man.

Nuclear Terrorism

See Article below I received in an email.


Thomas Sowell.

Thomas Sowell was born in Gastonia, North Carolina and grew up in Harlem . As with many others in his neighborhood, he left home early and did not finish high school. The next few years were difficult ones, but eventually he joined the Marine Corps and became a photographer in the Korean War. After leaving the service, Sowell entered Harvard University , worked a part-time job as a photographer and studied the science that would become his passion and profession: economics.

After graduating magna cum laude from Harvard University (1958), he went on to receive his master's in economics from Columbia University (1959) and a doctorate in economics from the University of Chicago (1968)

In the early '60s, Sowell held jobs as an economist with the Department of Labor and AT&T. But his real interest was in teaching and scholarship. In 1965, at Cornell University , he began the first of many professorships. His other teaching assignments include Rutgers University , Amherst University , Brandeis University and the University of California at Los Angeles , where he taught in the early '70s and also from 1984 to 1989.

Sowell has published a large volume of writing. His dozen books, as well as numerous articles and essays, cover a wide range of topics, from classic economic theory to judicial activism, from civil rights to choosing the right college. Moreover, much of his writing is considered ground-breaking -- work that will outlive the great majority of scholarship done today.

Though Sowell had been a regular contributor to newspapers in the late '70s and early '80s, he did not begin his career as a newspaper columnist until 1984. George F. Will's writing, says Sowell, proved to him that someone could say something of substance in so short a space (750 words). And besides, writing for the general public enables him to address the heart of issues without the smoke and mirrors that so often accompany academic writing.

In 1990, he won the prestigious Francis Boyer Award, presented by The American Enterprise Institute.

Currently Sowell is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institute in Stanford , Calif.

Obama and McCain
By Thomas Sowell
Thursday, June 05, 2008

Now that the two parties have finally selected their presidential candidates, it is time for a sober-- if not grim-- assessment of where we are. Not since 1972 have we been presented with two such painfully inadequate candidates. When election day came that year, I could not bring myself to vote for either George McGovern or Richard Nixon. I stayed home.

This year, none of us has that luxury. While all sorts of gushing is going on in the media, and posturing is going on in politics, the biggest national sponsor of terrorism in the world-- Iran-- is moving step by step toward building a nuclear bomb.

The point when they get that bomb will be the point of no return. Iran 's nuclear bomb will be the terrorists' nuclear bomb-- and they can make 9/11 look like child's play.

All the options that are on the table right now will be swept off the table forever. Our choices will be to give in to whatever the terrorists demand-- however outrageous those demands might be-- or to risk seeing American cities start disappearing in radioactive mushroom clouds.

All the things we are preoccupied with today, from the price of gasoline to health care to global warming, will suddenly no longer matter.

Just as the Nazis did not find it enough to simply kill people in their concentration camps, but had to humiliate and dehumanize them first, so we can expect terrorists with nuclear weapons to both humiliate us and force us to humiliate ourselves, before they finally start killing us.

They have already telegraphed their punches with their sadistic beheadings of innocent civilians, and with the popularity of videotapes of those beheadings in the Middle East .

They have already telegraphed their intention to dictate to us with such things as Osama bin Laden's threats to target those places in America that did not vote the way he prescribed in the 2004 elections. He could not back up those threats then but he may be able to in a very few years.

The terrorists have given us as clear a picture of what they are all about as Adolf Hitler and the Nazis did during the 1930s-- and our 'leaders' and intelligentsia have ignored the warning signs as resolutely as the 'leaders' and intelligentsia of the 1930s downplayed the dangers of Hitler.

We are much like people drifting down the Niagara River , oblivious to the waterfalls up ahead. Once we go over those falls, we cannot come back up again.

What does this have to do with today's presidential candidates? It has everything to do with them.

One of these candidates will determine what we are going to do to stop Iran from going nuclear-- or whether we are going to do anything other than talk, as Western leaders talked in the 1930s.

There is one big difference between now and the 1930s. Although the West's lack of military preparedness and its political irresolution led to three solid years of devastating losses to Nazi Germany and imperial Japan , nevertheless when all the West's industrial and military forces were finally mobilized, the democracies were able to turn the tide and win decisively.

But you cannot lose a nuclear war for three years and then come back. You cannot even sustain the will to resist for three years when you are first broken down morally by threats and then devastated by nuclear bombs.

Our one window of opportunity to prevent this will occur within the term of whoever becomes President of the United States next January.

At a time like this, we do not have the luxury of waiting for our ideal candidate or of indulging our emotions by voting for some third party candidate to show our displeasure-- at the cost of putting someone in the White House who is not up to the job.

Senator John McCain has been criticized in this column many times. But, when all is said and done,Senator McCain has not spent decades aiding and abetting people who hate America .

On the contrary, he has paid a huge price for resisting our enemies, even when they held him prisoner and tortured him. The choice between him and Barack Obama should be a no-brainer. By Thomas Sowell

The Beginning

I have no idea how to do a blog and or where this blog will take me and my readers. I hope that this blog's circulation grows out of passion, honesty, truth, and the love of God.