"Without the spiritual world the material world is a disheartening enigma." Joseph Joubert, French moralist and essayist, 1754-1824

Jim 'Pee Wee' Martin, 93, recreates his paratrooper jump at Normandy.

Welcome back. We've pretty much already hit a really good impersonation of the dog days of summer even though we have a long way to go before that first big breath of autumn air hits us in the face. It is Monday, June 9, 2014, and I am glad to be here with you again. This life is filled with some really strange enigmas, don't you think? I read last week where a young wife and husband were killed on an isolated country road up in North Texas. Head on collision. Speed and the layout of the road are thought to have been a factor. Very strange. Why? They happened to be in separate cars but they met each other on that lonely highway that ended their lives in a colossal crash. It is being deemed an accident but that just boggles the mind. Life is like that. Often. What's that you say? Oh, I get it. That's why they use the phrase mind boggling. Thanks. Good call. Yet, there are things that renew our hope. I saw last week where one of the paratroopers from the D-Day invasion recreated his jump into a place near Normandy. That's right. He jumped out of an airplane. When he was asked why he did it he had a pretty good answer. "There's no other 93-year-old guy in the unit who could do it. I do it for those who can't." He went on to say that jumping this time was much easier because, "There wasn't anybody shooting at me today."

My dad, WW2 Veteran, (1923-1954)

They tell us we are losing the WW2 veterans at the rate of 600 per day. One of the things that was great about last week's 70th anniversary celebration of D-Day was how the French people greeted the allied veterans who returned this year. Some three thousand or so were able to make it. The next major celebration will be in five years. There likely will not be that many who will be able to make that trip in five years. The French people greeted these liberators as they should be greeted, as esteemed dignitaries. They showed their realization that because of the sacrifice of these men and so many others they are free today. The old veterans were taken aback by all the fuss being made over them. They were loudly greeted and applauded in every little town and village, by every age group. I recently listened to President Reagan's farewell speech as he neared the end of his eight years of leading our nation. He was most proud of seeing the American spirit rekindled but he said that if we didn't somehow get back to having pride and patriotism as a way of life for our children, we can lose what makes us who we are. That's what the French people in and around Normandy were doing last week. They were doing their part in passing down to younger generations the meaning and price of freedom.

Yeah. I am aware that on any given day I can be all over the page, in a manner of speaking. I suppose I do scatter brained pretty well on most days. I know that most everyone is clear on what many would see as my conservative political point of view. While this is true within a context, I am not enamored with those who dislike the President and his administration to the extent that no matter what is done, they find a reason, true or not true to try and turn it into a point of political gain. One supporter of the President recently said that he was convinced that if President Obama came up with a cure for cancer, the opposition would find some reason to criticize and tear him down. I believe that is true. This doesn't mean that I don't have the right to stand up for those things I believe in and to stand against those things that I believe to be harmful to our country. But given the state of how politics works today, I am pretty much sick and tired of being sick and tired of the entire bunch, because most, perhaps not all, (we can always hope), but most of them have perfected feeding at their own hog trough. One trough is marked conservative and keep it full so I can stuff myself. And the other is marked liberal and keep it full so I can stuff myself. That's how I see it. Sorry if that sounds negative but it just happens to reflect my take on how things work today. This does not mean that truth should not be pursued and that it should not shine a light on as much of the process as possible. When it comes down to where I put my trust and hope, it can only be in the Lord God of Heaven, period, end of story. Amen. ....More later.