"In life, as in a football game, the principle to follow is hit the line hard." ~ Theodore Roosevelt.

Good morning and welcome to our little visit for today. I've already downed 3 or 4, maybe more because I'm also not counting, cups of Community 100% Columbian blend. The good news is how imbibing that much caffeine has very little impact on me, it has very little impact on me, it has very little impact on me. It is back-to-work Monday, September 24, 2018, and we are ready to make the best of it. I've been seeing a particular meme circulating lately that caught my attention. It says, "Lord, please don't let me die before I am dead." I not only get that sentiment but, I've also seen it up close and personal. Back in the day, when I had a large organization I had a number of folks who were close to retirement. I had the habit of telling people I had several who had retired but they were still showing up every day. I also used to tell certain folks in my group that perhaps they should carry a small mirror in their pocket. That way they could use it to occasionally breathe on it to see if they were alive enough to make a sign on the mirror. These were folks who reminded one of why they invented the Slow Men Working signs. I will be the first to admit that at age 72 I am not as actively engaged as I have been in the past. However, I'm still ready and willing to contribute where I can. And, I do believe I am much more capable than some might think. Yep. I do use my age as an excuse to tell them how I see things or as they used to say back home, to tell them how the cow ate the cabbage.

Here at my workplace, somewhat off the beaten path, I look up in the sky on an early, dark morning and the stars seem to be brighter than ever and close enough to reach up and grab. When I was a youngster going hunting with my granddad we would sometimes spend the night out in the woods. We often referred to them as the 'big woods'. We would be miles away from civilization and I would be all wrapped up in some homemade quilts in the back of his old pickup truck. Laying there and looking into the night sky was an amazing experience. With very little ambient lighting, back then the stars looked maybe even ten times closer. And, the sheer number of them was breathtaking. For a long time now when I see those stars I think about that encounter between God and Abram (Abraham). "Then the LORD took Abram outside and said, 'Look at the sky and see if you can count the stars. That's how many descendants you will have.'" (Genesis 15:5) It's interesting to me how the LORD took him outside. He had an object lesson He wanted Abram to see. They say that even today in the Middle East where this took place, the stars almost look like lamps that can be touched. In Abram's day, there's no telling how brilliant they were. That's typically what I think about when I see them so clearly. The promise God made to Abraham. And, I also remember seeing them clearly as a kid out on a hunting expedition. The best news of all? I am a part of that promise through the Greater Son of Abraham, Jesus the Christ. (Matthew Chapter 1) You can be a part of that promise as well. Amen.

I saw a good one the other day. "I'm having a get together for a few friends who are going to come over and sit around and we all are going to stare at our phones, would you like to join us?" Another one of a couple sitting at the dinner table when the husband announces, "I just read on Facebook that you would like for me to pass the salt." Those may bring a chuckle, but, they also are a sad commentary on where we are today. At 72, I'm able to remember well when folks sat out on the front porch or in the den or around the kitchen table or around the piano and enjoyed each others' company. I've participated in all of the above. Many times. And, some of them were very politically incorrect. That's right. The menfolk sat out on the front porch laughing and carrying on while solving all of the issues of the day, while, the women folk were inside doing their thing. I'm not one of those who lampoons the use of technology. God has allowed some marvelous technological innovations that are very beneficial in every facet of our lives. If they are used with the proper caution and control. That same phone that allows parents to interact with their children and grandchildren in far-flung places using a video feed can also become the source of an obsessive behavior disorder. Talking about technology, I recently read about a school system in Colorado who contracted with and paid an outside data firm to grant children computer access to their huge educational databases. However, the elementary aged children could accidentally put in information that landed them on questionable responses and in some cases, on pornographic websites. Here's where we are today: It took a group of parents two years to get the district to cancel that contract in favor of a different system that protected against such access. And, the parents standing up to protect impressionable children were the ones who were lambasted as being against education and progress. I report. You decide. Take all of that for what it is worth and be reminded of this statement from the late Bible scholar, R. C. Sproul, "God is either sovereign or He is not God." Amen. ....More later.