The devout cowboy lost his favorite Bible while he was mending fences out on the range. Three weeks later, a snake walked up to him carrying the Bible in its mouth. The cowboy couldn't believe his eyes. He took the precious book out of the snake's mouth, raised his eyes heavenward and exclaimed, "It's a miracle!" "Not really," said the snake. "Your name is written inside the cover." ~ Copied

Welcome back folks. It's good to catch up with you as we do our best to get this whole shooting match on the move again. We are working on it today, Monday, June 27, 2016. I'm not into bad omens but it was interesting to consider the message being conveyed to the man who was bitten by a rattlesnake shortly after saying "I do." This was up in Colorado a week or so ago. The couple, both wilderness enthusiasts, had finished at the Church and were getting ready for the big reception at a special outdoors location. We've all heard snakebitten used as a metaphor for bad luck, misfortune, or tragedy. He felt a bump on his foot, looked down and saw the coiled snake, and they ended up in the emergency room where it was discovered that the bite on his ankle was dry, meaning the snake had not injected any venom into his body. After a several hours delay, they returned to their reception and got the party going. Someone found out that he was going to be okay and they went and purchased a bunch of rubber snakes to use at the reception. What a way to start their life together. But, it could have been worse. I would guess it made the words 'til death do us part' take on a whole new meaning. I could have thrown in some of my own jokes but I thought I would leave that to the imagination of my readers. Okay. Since you will not let me go without me telling at least one, here it is: If that snake that bit him worked for the government it would be called a civil serpent.

That will likely be a story they will tell for years to come. The legend will grow as it is retold again and again. When the wife and I were just starting out I worked for a while at a huge dam construction project. I was a helper to the fellow responsible for maintenance on all the equipment. We had photos from my days of working there. When the boys were young we would go by that huge dam and they began saying it was the dam that dad built. See what I mean? I would tell them that I was just a lowly worker there but in their eyes I was responsible for that dam. They saw it through the eyes and thoughts of a child. Over time this changed and their opinion of me did not always make me the hero of the story. That's part of how life works too. Here's something that describes that process that was printed in an Ann Landers column many years ago. It was entitled, "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!" ~ A Child  says at: 4 years: My daddy can do anything. 7 years: My dad knows a lot, a whole lot. 8 years: My father doesn't know quite everything. 12 years: Oh, well, naturally Father doesn't know that, either. 14 years: Father? Hopelessly old-fashioned. 21 years: Oh, that man is out-of-date. What did you expect? 25 years: He knows a little bit about it, but not much. 30 years: Maybe we ought to find out what Dad thinks. 35 years: A little patience.  Let's get Dad's assessment before we do anything. 50 years: I wonder what Dad would have thought about that. He was pretty smart. 60 years: My dad knew absolutely everything! 65 years: "I'd give anything if Dad were here so I could talk this over with  him.  I really miss that man."

Given the lack of connectedness on any given day, I may need to establish a chain of custody for my train of thought. I might be embellishing some to call what I put up on the electronic page a train of thought since it implies the interconnection in the sequence of ideas expressed during a connected discourse or thought, as well as the sequence itself, especially in discussion how this sequence leads from one idea to another. (That's according to Wikipedia.) If I understood that I might even be able to improve my work. You do know I'm kidding. Not about understanding it. About improving my work. I did read some interesting little ditties about this subject: ~ I've reached an age where my train of thought often leaves the station without me. ~ The right train of thought can take you to a better station in life. ~ My train of thought derailed, there were no survivors. ~ This train of thought leads nowhere. ~ That last one reminds me of how I often feel when I finish one of my daily episodes. Yet, I always know that something good can come from the effort when I remember to remember to point people to the One whose thoughts are always for our good. I'm talking about our Great God and His Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. You can count on that to be true! Amen. ....More later.