President Franklin D. Roosevelt: "Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."

Welcome back. I do hope you had a wonderful holiday respite as well as remembering those who paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. It's back to short work week Tuesday, here on this 26th day of May, 2015. The other day I was watching a short travel video about a famous castle in Japan. The original was built by a ruler who is believed to be the first Shogun in Japan. It is dated back to the 15th century. Here's my point. The travel guide was telling about this place and said sadly it had to be rebuilt after the Americans destroyed it as they did so many other places around the world. Really? That's the way you want to describe this replica? Maybe this fellow never read about Pearl Harbor. Maybe he like so many others somehow believe that America was the aggressor and not his own country. We talk about revisionists that like to tamper with the historical narrative here in our country but much has been written about how places like Japan and Germany have downplayed their roles in WW2. I'm not talking about them taking responsibility at the governmental level, I'm talking about what the average school child is brought up to believe about their own country. Those who lived through it know the truth but generations since may be fuzzy on the facts. Here again, I'm not one that believes we should whitewash our own history but that particular comment from that travel person just caused my American hair on the back of my neck to stand up. What's that? It couldn't have caused the hair on my head to stand up because there's not that much of it left? Hey, it's way too early in the morning to deal with that type of observations.

I know. I know. We do have a lot to say grace over ourselves. The plight of native Americans. The civil war. Discrimination of all types and varieties. Rigged election outcomes. Greed. Extortion. And, just about every other form of evil intentions can be found in the history of our past and in the reporting of our present. It's almost as if it comes with human nature. Oh, that's right. It does. The fallen human condition. (Read all about it in the opening chapters of Genesis.) We do thank God for those who have given their lives on our behalf. But, especially, we can be thankful that God did send His one and only Son to die on The Cross for the sins of all. Sadly, the hearts of us all still have the potential for wrong, even for those of us who have been changed by the power of God through our relationship with Jesus Christ. The Prophet Jeremiah via inspiration made it crystal clear: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Chapter 17:9) Knowing this truth and seeking God's help individually each and every day is the best way to have victory in our day by day living. That's not only good advice, it's also potentially life changing. For me, for you, and for everyone, everywhere! Amen.

I do listen to NPR. Yes. They are not just tilted to the left, they pretty much own the left. However, it does inform me as to how the battle for hearts and minds is being pursued. They have recently had to retract a story. A big story. It was one touted in a respected scientific journal. It had the blessings of a lot of academics. It reported on a study that showed people's minds on gay marriage could be changed by active and agressive door to door canvassing. They thought this to be wonderful progress. Essentially, the study indicated that people could be convinced to support gay marriage through a screen door conversation. One problem. The study was shown to be bogus. Without merit. Okay. Now I get to have my say. They were so in love with the outcome they did no fact checking and instead chose to do a stop the presses heralding of these breakthrough results. When their high up press expert fellow was doing their confessional they drug all the other folks into the mix who didn't do their homework either. At any rate, the story could not be substantiated by the facts, and the presumed expert PhD who supposedly did the work, and was supposedly checked by another respected PhD, well, they are not available for comment. Here's a good question. How many people heard the first report but didn't catch the retraction? You think I might need to do some retracting on my own? While I don't disagree, I have no idea where I would start. Thanks for tuning in and may God help us all is my prayer. Amen.   ....More later.