Do You Really Believe That Stuff?

Not long ago---just before I retired from full time employment---my boss came to work with me for two hectic days.  I was a sales rep for an equipment manufacturer and I traveled heavily.  I picked him up at the airport and we began our journey---a pounding drive that would take us to three states and seven sales calls.

We were scarcely on the highway when he reached over and picked up a little 1 1/2" high silver cross I keep in the storage area of my car, where it was intermingled with some loose change.  He stared at it a second before flipping it back into the coinage.

"You believe that stuff?", he probed.

I paused a few seconds, trying to consider why he would ask such a question.  I sensed that he was possibly struggling with his own faith.

"Yes", I answered.  "Why do you ask?"

Now it was his turn to get in touch with his true self.  "Well, I dunno......It just seems so far-fetched".

"What seems far-fetched?"

"Well....you know....all that Adam and Eve stuff and that Ark story and Jesus coming back to life.......You don't really believe that stuff really happened, do you?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Well.........there isn't any proof any of that happened."

"Look, Joe (I'll call him Joe)---What do you know about the Christian religion?"

"Well, my wife and I took our children to church for a few years---until they were teenagers, because we thought it would be good for them.  But I am no expert on religion.  I never could get past the fact that the bible seems to be just one big short story book and the stories are all like hocus pocus stuff that can't be verified or proven."

This conversation continued for the entire time we were together.  It was obvious to me that the man was struggling with his faith.  In short, if he couldn't see something with his own eyes or read a scientific investigation of it that proved its existence, he was unable to allow himself to believe.

I quietly did my best to point out that Christians "live by faith, not by sight", as the apostle Paul wrote (2 Corinthians 5:7).  I made sure Joe understood what this meant...that if one truly believes, one will truly see.  This was hard for Joe to grasp.  I mentioned "faith" over and over, and we discussed what that word means.

The discussion was long and the discussion was pleasing to me.  I know God put Joe in that car with me for two days because Joe was struggling with his faith, and God wanted me to help Joe.

I recall the last words I said to Joe upon returning home---the words of Jesus after he had returned to the disciples following the resurrection:  "Blessed are those who have seen and believe.  More blessed are those who have come to believe and have not seen."  (John 20:29)

I only saw Joe one more time---a brief encounter right before my retirement.  I do not know where Joe ended on his journey of seeking his faith.  But I am thankful to God for giving me the chance to perhaps make a small difference to another pilgrim seeking salvation.

The Last Leaf....

Sometimes it is really relaxing to examine an old poem and comprehend the truth and beauty in its meter, meaning and rhyme.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr  1809---1894

Oliver Wendell Holmes was a famous American poet, lecturer, essayist and anatomist at Harvard University.  He was also the father of famous supreme court justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

In 1831 he authored a wonderful poem entitled "The Last Leaf".  This poem was praised by no less a literary giant than Edgar Allan Poe.  Abraham Lincoln counted it as one of his favorites.

Funny, isn't it, how great works are sometimes largely forgotten over time?

Please read the poem slowly, and ponder the meaning of each verse. 

The old man that Holmes writes about was a well known person in Boston in the first few decades of the 19th century.  His name was Major Thomas Melville.  He was a participant in the Boston Tea Party of 1774, and was the grandfather of famous author Herman Melville. 

    The Last Leaf
            Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1831

I saw him once before,
As he passed by the door,
            And again
The pavement stones resound,
As he totters o'er the ground
            With his cane.

They say that in his prime,
Ere the pruning-knife of Time
             Cut him down,
Not a better man was found
By the crier on his round
             Through the town.

But now he walks the streets,
And he looks at all he meets
              Sad and wan,
And he shakes his feeble head,
That it seems as if he said,
             "They are gone!"

The mossy marbles rest
On the lips that he has prest
               In their bloom,
And the names he loved to hear
Have been carved for many a year
               On the tomb.

My grandmamma has said---
Poor old lady, she is dead
               Long ago---
That he had a Roman nose,
And his cheek was like a rose
               In the snow;

But now his nose is thin,
And it rests upon his chin
               Like a staff,
And a crook is in his back,
And a melancholy crack
               In his laugh.

I know it is a sin
For me to sit and grin
        At him here;
But the old three-cornered hat,
And the breeches, and all that,
        Are so queer!

And if I should live to be
The last leaf upon the tree
         In the spring,
Let them smile, as I do now,
At the old forsaken bough
         Where I cling.







                                          

Gold! Gold! Gold!

Gold Bars

Last time I checked, the price of gold was somewhere around $1,350 an ounce and headed up.  Back around when gold was $400 an ounce, I bought a bunch of it.  A few years later I sold it for about $280 an ounce; so, you see, I didn't fare too well profit-wise, and I vowed that my gold trading days were over.  Ha.

Gold Coins

But the topic of gold is a fascinating one, for a lot of reasons.  It is a remarkable and rare metal.  It has been used as the ornament of kings, served as currency and a standard for currencies.

It is the only metal that will not rust or tarnish.

In its pure form, gold has a sun-yellow metallic luster. But when it is in the presence of other metals, it has various colors ranging from silver-white to green and orange-red.


Gold Dust

Gold is present in quartz veins and as a free metal.  It is widely distributed throughout the earth, although it is rare.  It is 75th in order of abundance of the elements in the earth's crust.

It is also present in sea water, at the ratio of 5-25 parts to 100 million parts of water.

Gold has high electrical conductivity---excellent when used as electronic components.

Gold is Excellent as an Electronic Component

It is highly malleable.   One ounce can be drawn into a wire 50 miles long.  It can be hammered so thinly that sunlight will pass through it.

Gold Jewelry

Its most common use is jewelry.

Only approximately 175,000 tons have been mined in all of history, 75% of which has been mined since 1910.  This amount of gold is so small that if it were formed into a cube, it would be slightly smaller than a tennis court cubed.

Gold is so rare that the world pours more steel in one hour than it has poured gold in all of recorded history.

Edible Gold

Gold is edible.  It has been placed in fruits, jellies, coffee, tea and other foods.

Gold Nuggets

The largest gold nugget ever found was the "Welcome Stranger" nugget discovered in Australia in 1869.  It was 10"X25" and yielded 2,248 ounces of pure gold.  It was found just 2" below the earth's surface.

One cubic foot of gold weighs half a ton.

Olympic Gold Medal

The last time olympic gold metals were made entirely of pure gold was 1912.

There are more than 400 references to gold in the bible.

The first known gold coin was made by the Lydians in 560 BC.

Gold and copper are the only two non-white-colored metals.  Both were discovered around 5,000 BC.

Part of the Vault at Fort Knox, Kentucky

The world's largest stockpile of gold is 5 stories underground inside the vault of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Klondike Gold Rush, 1896

The first recorded discovery of gold in the United States was a 17 pound nugget found in Cabarrus, North Carolina in 1803.  This caused the first U. S. gold rush.

Facing Your Giants

I was up early. I was looking forward to my Tuesday morning meeting with my tight-knit group of men friends for our prayer breakfast.  It seemed I got stopped at every stop light on my way, but I still arrived at the Corner Bakery ahead of everyone else at 6:45.

Aaaahhhhhhh!......My First Hot, Strong Mug Of Black Coffee

Bill and Chuck couldn't make it today, but Terry, Darrel, Paul and Michael joined me.  Most of them ordered a paninni to go with their morning joe, but I was content to make quiet love to my mug of hot, bubbly, strong black coffee as we chatted.

Max Lucado's Book Tells Us How To Beat The Unbeatable Giants in Our Lives

After catching up on what we all had been doing since we last met, we began our discussion of the first two chapters of Max Lucado's book, "Facing Your Giants".

Michael Brought His NOOK, With "Facing Your Giants" Downloaded and Stored

This is a wonderful read.  We began by recounting the story of David and his battle with Goliath.  Mr Lucado points out that this complete mismatch would have been over with very quickly except for one deciding factor:  David's complete disregard for Goliath and his complete faith in God.

In short, when we put our faith in God and not in our own "abilities", we allow miracles to happen in our lives. 

Goliath was a seemingly unbeatable giant.  What are the unbeatable giants in your life?

Ten Questions....

1.   How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

2.   What is the one thing you'd most like to change about the world?

3.   Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

4.   To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

5.   If the average human life span was 40 years, how would you have lived your life differently?

6.   If you could offer a newborn child just one piece of advice, what would it be?

7.   Are you holding onto something you need to let go of?

8.   If you had to move to another state or country besides the one you currently live in, where would it be?  Why?

9.   Has worry ever benefitted you?

10. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive?

Obscenities

$1,100 Just To Park Near The Stadium?

Now, please don't get me wrong.  Anyone who knows me will tell you I love sports---especially football and baseball.  A love of sports began early in my life and has continued.

But there is something very, very wrong about sports today, especially in America.

I am reminded of that in a very big way today---the Super bowl will be played this evening in Cowboy's stadium in Dallas.  Two excellent representatives of their respective conferences will play for the title.  The game itself should be thrilling.

$25,000 Per Ticket Near the 50 Yard Line?

---Cost of a Super Bowl ticket:           $2,700 to $25,000
---Parking ticket:                                      $55 to $1,100
---Ticket to view game from parking lot TV screen:  $200 to $750
---1 slice of Papa John's pizza:                                   $9
---Hot dog:                                                                  $6
---16 oz Miller Lite:                                                    $10
---Margarita:                                                               $19
---Packer or Steeler jersey:                                         $60 to $85

$85 for a Shirt?  What if People Just Gave the Money to Charity and Made a Difference in Someone's Life?

This is obscene.  Not only can I think of better ways to spend money (on charity, for example), but I know that God cannot be pleased when He sees this indulgence and waste. 

Your thoughts, please.

The Best Teacher On Earth....



Fifth Grade, 1955, Golfcrest Elementary School, Houston Texas.  Mrs Shoemake, Our Teacher, Is On The Right.  I Am Standing Next To Her, Second Row From The Bottom

 The year was 1955. I was in the fifth grade at Golfcrest Elementary School in Houston, Texas and I was a problem.  I was constantly having disciplinary problems at school.  I actually got an "F" in conduct once---in the third grade.  Usually, I got a "D", while all the other kids got "A"s and "B"s. 

My parents were furious with me.  My other grades were very poor, also.  My dad called me lazy and stupid.  Looking back, I don't blame him.  He was beyond frustrated and didn't know what to do to get me straightened out.

I hated school.  Every day at school was a day of constant daydreaming and tuning out the teacher.  I was a terrible student.

When I started the 1954/1955 school year, however, things would be different.  They would be very different.  The reason they would be different is because I happened to be entering the class of Mrs. Dorothy "Dot" Shoemake. 

Mrs. Shoemake was a no-nonsense genius of a teacher.  It took her about two months of my shenanigans to completely figure me out and begin to execute a plan of action.  This had never happened before.  Not at school, and not at home.  I was in for the shock of my young life.

In my class picture (above) Mrs. Shoemake is standing on the right.  I am on the second row from the bottom, standing right next to her.  Note in the picture that five of my male classmates are wearing a patrol belt, signifying a high level of academic achievement and responsibility.

I wanted to be a patrol, too.  There was nothing I wanted more than to wear that belt---that emblem of achievement.  But, of course, that was out of the question---my grades were horrible and I was pretty much uncontrollable.

One day Mrs. Shoemake overheard me being mean to one of my classmates who was wearing a patrol belt.  The next day in class, she struck with the slyness of a fox, the understanding of Freud and the wisdom of Solomon.

In front of the class, she said to me, "Clinton, why did you say those mean things to Tommy yesterday?"

I was embarrassed.  I looked down and said in a low voice, "I don't know."

The great lady then continued, in front of my classmates.  "I'll tell you why you did that, Clinton, since you are unwilling to tell us yourself."

After a moment of silence, she applied the coup-de-grace:  "You said those mean things to Tommy because you are jealous of him.  He has earned the right to be a patrol, and you have not.  But you really want to be a patrol, don't you, Clinton?---and that is why you were rude and mean to Tommy.  Please see me after class, Clinton."

After class, I approached Mrs. Shoemake, firm in the knowledge that I was yet again in trouble, that I would be required to take a note home to my mother which would inform her that her son had once again acted badly at school.

But that did not happen.  She asked me if she had been right about why I had said rude things to my classmate.  I did what any 10 year old American boy would do when he has been caught red handed by a superior intellect:  I cried.

Mrs. Shoemake had me in the palm of her hand.  That had never happened to me before.  She had me figured out and I knew it. 

She told me that I could be a patrol, too.  After all, she said that she was the person who appointed patrols for the school.  And, if I wanted to be a patrol, I would need to start making good grades and start being courteous and well behaved.  This little conversation got me to thinking.  One thing was for certain---I wasn't going to outsmart Mrs Shoemake.

I started to study.  My mom helped me with my homework.  My grades started going up!  I tried to turn my behavior around at school. 

This is a painting of me, age 10, in my beloved patrol  belt.  This painting was done from an old photograph.  The artist is my wife, Cindy.  Painting done in pastel and pastel pencil.

One day, Mrs. Shoemake asked me if I still wanted to be a patrol.  My heart leapt!  She said I had earned the right to wear the patrol belt.  She said she was proud of me.  I swear, I think I even slept in that white patrol belt for the rest of my 5th grade school year.

I don't know what ever happened to the legendary Mrs. Shoemake.  I pray she had a long and happy life.  But I do know that I will never forget her and her impact on my life.