From the Home Alone movie, Kevin McCallister: [preparing to meet bandits and loading the rifle] "This is it! Don't get scared now!"

Good morning out there in blogger land and welcome to my little station where I transmit a fairly good ration of this, that, or the other each time we visit, and, that just happens to be what I am up to on this Tuesday, June 11, 2013. My wife and her siblings are in Branson to have a good time. They are there. I am here. They had tried to make this trip back in March but it didn't work out so they rescheduled it. I told my class Sunday morning that I was thinking about writing a new series of books called 'Left Behind'. Then I was reminded how that series had already been done. Oh really? It's a joke because when people ask me why I am not with them I give them the answer I think my grandfather would have given. As far as I can tell I haven't lost or left anything in Branson. That's not to say that I would never go there or that I wouldn't enjoy whatever it is they have there. It's just not on my agenda at this particular time. I do, however, think it's a huge blessing for the two sisters and two brothers to be able to be together like this. And, based on the audiences I've seen on TV, they will be in good company, you know, the Metamucil brigade. Just a little funny ditty so don't get all stirred up. May God bless and keep them while they are away. Amen.

Meanwhile, back at that proverbial place where the rubber meets the road, we do our best to carry on. I will also do my best to keep the home fires burning. That figure of speech became popular during World War II when many husbands left our nation to go off to war in far away places. The idea is that those left behind would take care to keep everything in order while they were away. Everything in order. I didn't look that one up because it might imply what it is I'm supposed to be doing while she is away. The other day she told me that her mom had taught her to always make the bed as the first thing you do when you get up. Do what? I guess I had that stuck in my head because that's what I have been doing while she is away. I typically take a more pragmatic approach. You know. It is only going to be slept in again within a handful of hours, so why bother? But, I suppose her mom's words have come back to haunt me. There are applications of the don't ask, don't tell scenario that make a whole lot of sense. Especially when it has to do with keeping the home fires burning.

I've withheld comment recently on the machinations coming out of our nation's seat of government. One thing is clear: America is changing. I, for one, do not believe that many of the changes are good. Why? Because as I see it they undermine the foundations of who we are and why we are who we are. I don't know if any of the mud being slung around by all sides will end up sticking, but, it does give us all the opportunity to think seriously about the health of our nation. I'm not talking about the economy. It's stagnated at best. I'm talking about the fabric that is woven into the definition of who we are as a people and what it is that we stand for. Our motto may be In God We Trust and our children may be taught to say we are One Nation under God, but, it is the reality of our connection to the presence of the Almighty as defined in our founding documents, in our founder's actions, and in the history of our Republic that has always under girded our identity. Yes, it does come down to Who we believe has led and guided us, and yes, that does put us in opposition to those who think God to be irrelevant in our history and in our current experience. The psalmist put it this way: "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." (33rd Division, Verse 12) Amen.        ....More later.